God’s Word Translation
Ecclesiastes 2:18
18I came to hate everything for which I had worked so hard under the sun, because I will have to leave it to the person who replaces 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
16Neither the wise person nor the fool will be remembered for long, since both will be forgotten in the days to come. Both the wise person and the fool will die. 17So I came to hate life because everything done under the sun seemed wrong to me. Everything was pointless. ⌞It was like⌟ trying to catch the wind. I came to hate everything for which I had worked so hard under the sun, because I will have to leave it to the person who replaces me. 19Who knows whether that person will be wise or foolish? He will still have control over everything under the sun for which I worked so hard and used my wisdom. Even this is pointless. 20Then I fell into despair over everything for which I had worked so hard 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 accomplished some great things: I built houses for myself. I planted vineyards for myself.
- Ecclesiastes 1:13With all my heart I used wisdom to study and explore everything done under heaven. Mortals are weighed down with a terrible burden that God has placed on them.
- Ecclesiastes 4:3But the person who hasn’t been born yet is better off than both of them. He hasn’t seen the evil that is done under the sun.
- Ecclesiastes 5:18At last I have seen what is good and beautiful: It is to eat and drink and to enjoy the good in all our hard work under the sun during the brief lives God gives us. That is our lot ⌞in life⌟.
- Ecclesiastes 9:9Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love, during all your brief, pointless life. God has given you your pointless life under the sun. This is your lot ⌞in life⌟ and what you get for the hard work that you do under the sun.
- Ecclesiastes 2:26God gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy to anyone who pleases him. But to the person who continues to sin, he gives the job of gathering and collecting ⌞wealth⌟. The sinner must turn his wealth over to the person who pleases God. Even this is pointless. ⌞It’s like⌟ trying to catch the wind.
- Ecclesiastes 5:13There is a painful tragedy that I have seen under the sun: Riches lead to the downfall of those who hoard them.
- 1 Kings 11:1King Solomon loved many foreign women in addition to Pharaoh’s daughter. He loved Hittite women and women from Moab, Ammon, Edom, and Sidon.
- Psalms 17:14With your power rescue me from mortals, O Lord, from mortals who enjoy their inheritance only in this life. You fill their bellies with your treasure. Their children are satisfied ⌞with it⌟, and they leave what remains to their children.
- Psalms 39:6Each person who walks around is like a shadow. They are busy for no reason. They accumulate riches without knowing who will get them.”
- Psalms 49:10Indeed, one can see that wise people die, that foolish and stupid people meet the same end. They leave their riches to others.
- Luke 12:20“But God said to him, ‘You fool! I will demand your life from you tonight! Now who will get what you’ve accumulated?’
- Luke 16:27“The rich man responded, ‘Then I ask you, Father, to send Lazarus back to my father’s home.
- Acts 20:29I know that fierce wolves will come to you after I leave, and they won’t spare the flock.
- 1 Corinthians 3:10As a skilled and experienced builder, I used the gift that God gave me to lay the foundation ⌞for that building⌟. However, someone else is building on it. Each person 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
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
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