'Person' in the Bible

What does a person gain in all his toil with which he toils under the sun?

Next I turned to examine wisdom, insanity, and foolishness, because what can a person do who succeeds the king except what has already been accomplished?

Then I despised everything I had worked for on earth, that is, the things that I will leave to the person who will succeed me.

For sometimes people who strive to obtain wisdom, knowledge, and equity leave everything as an inheritance to a person who never worked for it. This, too, is pointless and greatly troublesome.

For what does a person gain from everything that he accomplishes and from his inner life struggles that he undergoes while working on earth?

There is nothing better for a person than to eat and drink and {find delight} in his toil. For I also realized that this [is] from the hand of God!

After all, to the person who is good in God's sight, he gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy, but to the sinner he gives the troublesome task of acquiring and accumulating in order to leave it to someone who is good in the sight of God. This also is pointless and chasing after the wind.

He made everything appropriate in its time. He also placed eternity within them yet, no person can fully comprehend what God is doing from beginning to end.

moreover, every person should eat, drink, and enjoy the benefits of everything that he undertakes, since it is a gift from God.

I have seen that there is nothing better than for a person to enjoy his activities, because that is his reward. For who can enable him to see what will happen after he dies?

Then I considered all the skillful work that is done: Surely it is nothing more than competition between one person and another. This also is profitless -- like chasing the wind.

There is a person without a companion, without even a son or brother, and though there is no end to all his struggles, his eyes are still not content with riches. "So who am I struggling for," [he asks,] "and depriving myself from good?" This too is futile and a miserable task.

For if they fall, one will help his companion up, but pity the person who falls down and has no one to help him up.

Also, if two lie down together, they can keep warm; but how can one person alone keep warm?

And if somebody overpowers one person, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not easily broken.

This is also a painful tragedy: However a person comes, he also departs; so what does he gain as he labors after the wind?

Furthermore, for every person to whom God has given wealth, riches, and the ability to enjoy them, to accept this allotment, and to rejoice in his work this is a gift from God.

Every person works for his own self-interests, but his desires remain unsatisfied.

What advantage then does the wise man have over the fool? What [advantage] is there for the poor person who knows how to conduct himself before others?

Whatever exists has been named already; people know what it means to be human and a person cannot defeat one who is more powerful than he.

For no one knows what is best for a person during his life -- during the few days of his fleeting life -- for they pass away like a shadow. Nor can anyone tell him what the future will hold for him on earth.

It is better to go to a funeral than a feast. For death is the destiny of every person, and the living should take this to heart.

For the wise person thinks carefully when in mourning, but fools focus their thoughts on pleasure.

It is better to listen to rebuke from a wise person than to listen to the song of fools.

Surely, the practice of extortion turns a wise person into a fool, and a bribe destroys the mind.

I have seen it all during my pointless life: both a righteous person who dies while he is righteous, and a wicked person who lives to an old age, while remaining wicked.

Wisdom given as strength to a wise person is better than having ten powerful men in the city.

For there is not one truly righteous person on the earth who continually does good and never sins.

Who is like the wise person, and who knows the interpretation of a matter? A man's wisdom brightens his face, and the sternness of his face is changed.

Whoever obeys his command will not experience harm, and a wise person knows the proper time and procedure.

Surely no one knows the future, and no one can tell another person what will happen.

While applying my mind to everything that happens in this world, I have seen all this: Sometimes one person dominates other people to their harm.

But things will not go well for the wicked person: he will not lengthen his life like a shadow, since he has no fear before God.

So I recommend the enjoyment of life, for there is nothing better on earth for a person to do except to eat, drink, and enjoy life. So joy will accompany him in his toil during the days of his life which God gives him on earth.

then I discerned all that God has done: No one really comprehends what happens on earth. Despite all human efforts to discover it, no one can ever grasp it. Even if a wise person claimed that he understood, he would not really comprehend it.

So I reflected on all this, attempting to clear it all up. I concluded that the righteous and the wise, as well as their works, are in the hand of God; whether a person will be loved or hated -- no one knows what lies ahead.

Everyone shares the same experience: a single event affects the righteous, the wicked, the good, the clean, the unclean, whoever sacrifices, and whoever does not sacrifice. As it is with the good person, so also it is with the sinner; as it is with someone who takes an oath, so also it is with someone who fears taking an oath.

Now there was found within it a poor, but wise man. He delivered the city by his wisdom, but not one person remembered that poor man.

The words of a wise person win him favor, but the words of a fool are self-destructive.

Do not curse the king even in your thoughts, and do not curse a rich person even in your bedroom, for a bird of the sky may carry the message, and a winged creature may report the matter.

Light is sweet, and it is pleasant for a person to see the sun.

Even if a person lives many years, let him enjoy them all, recalling that there will be many days of darkness to come all of which are pointless.

At that time they will fear climbing heights and dangers along the road while the almond tree will blossom, and the grasshopper is weighed down. Desire will cease, because the person goes to his eternal home, and mourners will gather in the marketplace.

The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person.