Berean Standard Bible
Ecclesiastes 2:17
17So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. For everything is futile and a pursuit of the wind.
Ecclesiastes 2:17 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Therefore I hated life; because the work that is wrought under the sun is grievous unto me: for all is vanity and vexation of spirit.
- New International Version (NIV)So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
- English Standard Version (ESV)So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me, for all is vanity and a striving after wind.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Therefore I hated life because the work that was done under the sun was distressing to me, for all is vanity and grasping for the wind.
Context of Ecclesiastes 2:17
15So I said to myself, “The fate of the fool will also befall me. What then have I gained by being wise?” And I said to myself that this too is futile. 16For there is no lasting remembrance of the wise, just as with the fool, seeing that both will be forgotten in the days to come. Alas, the wise man will die just like the fool! So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. For everything is futile and a pursuit of the wind. 18I hated all for which I had toiled under the sun, because I must leave it to the man who comes after me. 19And who knows whether that man will be wise or foolish? Yet he will take over all the labor at which I have worked skillfully under the sun. This too is futile.
Read all of Ecclesiastes 2Ecclesiastes 2:17 word by word
וְשָׂנֵ֙אתִי֙ אֶת־הַ֣חַיִּ֔ים כִּ֣י רַ֤ע עָלַי֙ הַֽמַּעֲשֶׂ֔ה שֶׁנַּעֲשָׂ֖ה תַּ֣חַת הַשָּׁ֑מֶשׁ כִּֽי־הַכֹּ֥ל הֶ֖בֶל וּרְע֥וּת רֽוּחַ׃Read the interlinear
- So I hatedשָׂנֵאώânê' · to hateH8130
- ·אֵת'êth · [Obj.]H853
- lifeחַיִּיםchay · lifeH2416
- becauseכִּיkîy · forH3588
- the workמַעֲשֶׂהma‛ăώeh · deed: workH4639
- that is doneעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to make: doH6213
- underתַּחַתtachath · underneath: underH8478
- the sunשֶׁ֫מֶשׁshemesh · sunH8121
- was grievousרַעra‛ râ‛âh · bad: harmfulH7451
- to meעַל‛al · uponH5921
- everythingכֹּלkôl kôl · allH3605
- is futileהֶ֫בֶלhebel hăbêl · vanityH1892
- and a pursuitרְעוּתre‛ûth · longingH7469
- of the windרוּחַrûach · spirit: breathH7307
Cross-references for Ecclesiastes 2:17
- Numbers 11:15If this is how You are going to treat me, please kill me right now—if I have found favor in Your eyes—and let me not see my own wretchedness.”
- 1 Kings 19:4while he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. He sat down under a broom tree and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, LORD,” he said. “Take my life, for I am no better than my fathers.”
- Job 3:20Why is light given to the miserable, and life to the bitter of soul,
- Job 7:15so that I would prefer strangling and death over my life in this body.
- Job 14:13If only You would hide me in Sheol and conceal me until Your anger has passed! If only You would appoint a time for me and then remember me!
- Jeremiah 20:14Cursed be the day I was born! May the day my mother bore me never be blessed.
- Jonah 4:3And now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.”
- Philippians 1:23I am torn between the two. I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better indeed.
- Ecclesiastes 1:14I have seen all the things that are done under the sun, and have found them all to be futile, a pursuit of the wind.
- Ecclesiastes 3:16Furthermore, I saw under the sun that in the place of judgment there is wickedness, and in the place of righteousness there is wickedness.
- Ezekiel 3:14So the Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness and in the anger of my spirit, with the strong hand of the LORD upon me.
- Habakkuk 1:3Why do You make me see iniquity? Why do You tolerate wrongdoing? Destruction and violence are before me. Strife is ongoing, and conflict abounds.
- Ecclesiastes 2:11Yet when I considered all the works that my hands had accomplished and what I had toiled to achieve, I found everything to be futile, a pursuit of the wind; there was nothing to be gained under the sun.
- Ecclesiastes 6:9Better what the eye can see than the wandering of desire. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.
- Psalms 89:47Remember the briefness of my lifespan! For what futility You have created all men!
Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 2:17
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 17Therefore I hated life - החיים את et hachaiyim, the lives, both of the wise, the mad man, and the fool. Also all the stages of life, the child, the man, and the sage. There was nothing in it worth pursuing, no period worth re-living and no hope that if this were possible I could again be more successful.Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 12-17Verses 12-17 Solomon found that knowledge and prudence were preferable to ignorance and folly, though human wisdom and knowledge will not make a man happy. The most learned of men, who dies a stranger to Christ Jesus, will perish equally with the most ignorant; and what good can commendations on earth do to the body in the grave, or the soul in hell? And the spirits of just men made perfect cannot want them. So that if this were all, we might be led to…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. 1717. Disappointed in one experiment after another, he is weary of life. The backslider ought to have rather reasoned as the prodigal (Ho 2:6, 7; Lu 15:17, 18). grievous unto me--(Job 10:1).Read the comment
Topics related to Ecclesiastes 2:17
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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