Ecclesiastes 2:24 - Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

There is nothing better for a man, &c.— This verse literally runs thus; No good in man that he eateth and drinketh, and maketh his soul to see good in his labour; that itself I perceived, that it cometh from the hand of God. That Solomon does not pretend to question the reality of pleasurable enjoyments has been observed by others, and is plain from many passages in this book; but it is plain likewise, that he does not assert it in this place, the meaning of which is so obvious from the context, that I wonder it has escaped the notice of commentators; for the opposition between באדם baadam, in man, and מיד miad, in the hand, is manifest: The advantage of enjoying life is not in man, or within the power of man: but it comes from the hand of the Almighty, &c. The sense is apparently the same with Job 21:16. Lo! their good is not in their hand. See the paraphrase on Ecclesiastes 2:26. Houbigant renders the present verse, Neither is there felicity in the man who eats and drinks, and refreshes himself with the good things gained by his labour. This also I considered to be from the hand of God; and he reads the next verse, For who eateth or drinketh, but through his gift?