For what hath man of all his labour, and of the vexation of his heart, wherein he hath laboured under the sun? Ecclesiastes 2:22 (KJV)
‘Vexation (H7475)[1] of the heart,’ where heart (H3820)[2] stands for desire – the phrase means, ‘disappointment of our earthly desires.’ The phrase ‘for what hath man,’ basically reads as – to what purpose? The verse continues from the v21, a reflection of a vain labour. In essence, the verse seems to be a reflection of all motivation that finds no inspiration in YHWH – and that, it eventually fails.
Comments: The reference to desire is an interesting read. The spiritual state of our being is defined by our desires: the reprobates’ desires are tied to this world; the born-again person’s desires are tied to the Spirit. (Rom 8) The person who is not born of the Spirit desires earthly things; which are things tied to the mystery of vanity. This makes the motivation, i.e., the persuasion of such desires hopelessly disappointing. A cautionary note here: it is not clear that the verse definitely refers to reprobates, but the vanity of such labour – one that seeks profit under the sun is clearly vain.
[1] https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h7475/kjv/wlc/0-1/
[2] https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h3820/kjv/wlc/0-1/
Semper Reformanda 