English Standard Version
Ecclesiastes 2:17
17So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me, for all is vanity and a striving after 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.
- 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.
- New Living Translation (NLT)So I came to hate life because everything done here under the sun is so troubling. Everything is meaningless—like chasing the wind.
Context of Ecclesiastes 2:17
15Then I said in my heart, "What happens to the fool will happen to me also. Why then have I been so very wise?" And I said in my heart that this also is vanity. 16For of the wise as of the fool there is no enduring remembrance, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. How the wise dies just like the fool! So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me, for all is vanity and a striving after wind. 18I 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, 19and who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will be master of all for which I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun. This also is vanity.
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
Words taken from the KJV.
- Therefore I hatedשָׂנֵאώânê' · to hateH8130
- lifeחַיִּיםchay · lifeH2416
- because the workמַעֲשֶׂהma‛ăώeh · deed: workH4639
- that is wroughtעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to make: doH6213
- under the sunשֶׁ֫מֶשׁshemesh · sunH8121
- grievousרַעra‛ râ‛âh · bad: harmfulH7451
- vanityהֶ֫בֶלhebel hăbêl · vanityH1892
- and vexationרְעוּתre‛ûth · longingH7469
- of spiritרוּחַrûach · spirit: breathH7307
Cross-references for Ecclesiastes 2:17
- Numbers 11:15If you will treat me like this, kill me at once, if I find favor in your sight, that I may not see my wretchedness."
- 1 Kings 19:4But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he asked that he might die, saying, "It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers."
- Job 3:20"Why is light given to him who is in misery, and life to the bitter in soul,
- Job 7:15so that I would choose strangling and death rather than my bones.
- Job 14:13Oh that you would hide me in Sheol, that you would conceal me until your wrath be past, that you would appoint me a set time, and remember me!
- Jeremiah 20:14Cursed be the day on which I was born! The day when my mother bore me, let it not be blessed!
- Jonah 4:3Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live."
- Philippians 1:23I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.
- Ecclesiastes 1:14I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind.
- Ecclesiastes 3:16Moreover, I saw under the sun that in the place of justice, even there was wickedness, and in the place of righteousness, even there was wickedness.
- Ezekiel 3:14The Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness in the heat of my spirit, the hand of the Lord being strong upon me.
- Habakkuk 1:3Why do you make me see iniquity, and why do you idly look at wrong? Destruction and violence are before me; strife and contention arise.
- Ecclesiastes 2:11Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun.
- Ecclesiastes 6:9Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the appetite: this also is vanity and a striving after wind.
- Psalms 89:47Remember how short my time is! For what vanity you have created all the children of man!
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
English Standard Version — © 2001 Crossway Bibles
Commentaries