Amplified Bible
Ecclesiastes 2:18
18So I hated all the fruit (gain) of my labor for which I had labored under the sun, because I must leave it to the man who will succeed me.
Ecclesiastes 2:18 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Yea, I hated all my labour which I had taken under the sun: because I should leave it unto the man that shall be after me.
- New International Version (NIV)I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me.
- English Standard Version (ESV)I hated all my toil in which I toil under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to the man who will come after me,
- New King James Version (NKJV)Then I hated all my labor in which I had toiled under the sun, because I must leave it to the man who will come after me.
Context of Ecclesiastes 2:18
16For there is no [more] lasting remembrance of the wise man than of the fool, since in the days to come all will be long forgotten. And how does the wise man die? Even as the fool! 17So I hated life, for the work which had been done under the sun caused me only great sorrow; because all is futility and chasing after the wind. So I hated all the fruit (gain) of my labor for which I had labored under the sun, because I must leave it to the man who will succeed me. 19And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have control over all the fruit of my labor for which I have labored by acting wisely under the sun. This too is vanity (futility, self-conceit). 20So I turned aside and let my heart despair over all the fruit of my labor for which I had labored under the sun.
Read all of Ecclesiastes 2Ecclesiastes 2:18 word by word
וְשָׂנֵ֤אתִֽי אֲנִי֙ אֶת־כָּל־עֲמָלִ֔י שֶׁאֲנִ֥י עָמֵ֖ל תַּ֣חַת הַשָּׁ֑מֶשׁ שֶׁ֣אַנִּיחֶ֔נּוּ לָאָדָ֖ם שֶׁיִּהְיֶ֥ה אַחֲרָֽי׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Ecclesiastes 2:18
- Ecclesiastes 2:4I made great works: I built houses for myself; I planted vineyards for myself;
- Ecclesiastes 1:13And I set my mind to seek and explore by [man’s] wisdom all [human activity] that has been done under heaven. It is a miserable business and a burdensome task which God has given the sons of men with which to be busy and distressed.
- Ecclesiastes 4:3But better off than either of them is the one who has not yet been born, who has not seen the evil deeds that are done under the sun.
- Ecclesiastes 5:18Behold, here is what I have seen to be good and fitting: to eat and drink, and to find enjoyment in all the labor in which he labors under the sun during the few days of his life which God gives him—for this is his [allotted] reward.
- Ecclesiastes 9:9Live joyfully with the wife whom you love all the days of your fleeting life which He has given you under the sun—all the days of vanity and futility. For this is your reward in life and in your work in which you have labored under the sun.
- Ecclesiastes 2:26For to the person who pleases Him God gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy; but to the sinner He gives the work of gathering and collecting so that he may give to one who pleases God. This too is vanity and chasing after the wind.
- Ecclesiastes 5:13There is a grievous evil which I have seen under the sun: riches being kept and hoarded by their owner to his own misery.
- 1 Kings 11:1Now king Solomon [defiantly] loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women,
- Psalms 17:14From men with Your hand, O Lord, From men of the world [these moths of the night] whose portion [of enjoyment] is in this life—idle and vain, And whose belly You fill with Your treasure; They are satisfied with children, And they leave what they have left [of wealth] to their children.
- Psalms 39:6Surely every man walks around like a shadow [in a charade]; Surely they make an uproar for nothing; Each one builds up riches, not knowing who will receive them.
- Psalms 49:10For he sees that even wise men die; The fool and the stupid alike perish And leave their wealth to others.
- Luke 12:20But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own all the things you have prepared?’
- Luke 16:27So the rich man said, ‘Then, father [Abraham], I beg you to send Lazarus to my father’s house—
- Acts 20:29I know that after I am gone, [false teachers like] ferocious wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock;
- 1 Corinthians 3:10According to the [remarkable] grace of God which was given to me [to prepare me for my task], like a skillful master builder I laid a foundation, and now another is building on it. But each one must be careful how he builds on it,
Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 2:18
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 18I hated all my labor - Because, It has not answered the end for which it was instituted. I can enjoy the fruits of it but a short time. 3. I must leave it to others, and know not whether a wise man, a knave, or a fool will possess it.Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 18-26Verses 18-26 Our hearts are very loth to quit their expectations of great things from the creature; but Solomon came to this at length. The world is a vale of tears, even to those that have much of it. See what fools they are, who make themselves drudges to the world, which affords a man nothing better than subsistence for the body. And the utmost he can attain in this respect is to allow himself a sober, cheerful use thereof, according to his rank and…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 17-20The Teacher began to dislike life because of its: Sorrows (Ecclesiastes 1:18) Hard work (Ecclesiastes 2:18) Seeming pointlessness (Ecclesiastes 2:19–20)Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 18-1918-19. One hope alone was left to the disappointed worldling, the perpetuation of his name and riches, laboriously gathered, through his successor. For selfishness is mostly at the root of worldly parents' alleged providence for their children. But now the remembrance of how he himself, the piously reared child of David, had disregarded his father's dying charge (1Ch 28:9), suggested the sad misgivings as to what Rehoboam, his son by an idolatrous…Read the comment
Topics related to Ecclesiastes 2:18
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 2
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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