Ecclesiastes 2:18

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 shall be no remembrance of the wise more than of the fool for ever; because everything is already forgotten in the days which come. And how dieth the wise even as the fool? 17And I hated life; for the work that is wrought under the sun was grievous unto me; for all is vanity and pursuit of the wind. And I hated all my labour wherewith I had been toiling under the sun, because I should leave it unto the man that shall be after me. 19And who knoweth whether he will be a wise [man] or a fool? yet shall he have rule over all my labour at which I have laboured, and wherein I have been wise under the sun. This also is vanity. 20Then I went about to cause my heart to despair of all the labour wherewith I had laboured under the sun.

Ecclesiastes 2:18 word by word

וְשָׂנֵ֤אתִֽי אֲנִי֙ אֶת־כָּל־עֲמָלִ֔י שֶׁאֲנִ֥י עָמֵ֖ל תַּ֣חַת הַשָּׁ֑מֶשׁ שֶׁ֣אַנִּיחֶ֔נּוּ לָאָדָ֖ם שֶׁיִּהְיֶ֥ה אַחֲרָֽי׃Read the interlinear

• hatedשָׂנֵאώânê' · to hateH8130
• beenהָיָהhâyâh · to beH1961
• sunשֶׁ֫מֶשׁshemesh · sunH8121
• manאָדָם'âdâm · manH120

Cross-references for Ecclesiastes 2:18

• Ecclesiastes 2:4I made me great works; I builded me houses; I planted me vineyards;
• Ecclesiastes 1:13And I applied my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all that is done under the heavens: this grievous occupation hath God given to the children of men to weary themselves therewith.
• Ecclesiastes 4:3and more fortunate than both is he who hath not yet been, who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.
• Ecclesiastes 5:18Behold what I have seen good and comely: [it is] to eat and to drink, and to enjoy good in all his labour wherewith [man] laboureth under the sun, all the days of his life which God hath given him: for that is his portion.
• Ecclesiastes 9:9Enjoy life with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity, which he hath given thee under the sun, all the days of thy vanity; for that is thy portion in life, and in thy labour wherein thou art labouring under the sun.
• Ecclesiastes 2:26For he giveth to a man that is good in his sight wisdom, and knowledge, and joy; but to the sinner he giveth travail to gather and to heap up, that he may give to him that is good in God's sight. This also is vanity and pursuit of the wind.
• Ecclesiastes 5:13There is a grievous evil that I have seen under the sun: riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt;
• 1 Kings 11:1But king Solomon loved many foreign women, besides the daughter of Pharaoh: women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, Hittites;
• Psalms 17:14From men [who are] thy hand, O Jehovah, from men of this age: their portion is in [this] life, and their belly thou fillest with thy hid [treasure]; they have their fill of sons, and leave the rest of their [substance] to their children.
• Psalms 39:6Verily, man walketh in a vain show; verily they are disquieted in vain; he heapeth up [riches], and knoweth not who shall gather them.
• Psalms 49:10For he seeth that wise men die; all alike, the fool and the brutish perish, and they leave their wealth to others.
• Luke 12:20But God said to him, Fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee; and whose shall be what thou hast prepared?
• Luke 16:27And he said, I beseech thee then, father, that thou wouldest send him to the house of my father,
• Acts 20:29[For] I know [this,] that there will come in amongst you after my departure grievous wolves, not sparing the flock;
• 1 Corinthians 3:10According to the grace of God which has been given to me, as a wise architect, I have laid the foundation, but another builds upon it. But let each see how he builds upon 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

• Death
• Heir
• Industry
• Inheritance
• Murmuring
• Wisdom

In the dictionaries

• Gather
• Laughter
• Labor
• Synagogue, the Great

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