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 is no lasting remembrance of the wise man as with the fool, inasmuch as in the coming days all will be forgotten. And how the wise man and the fool alike die! 17So I hated life, for the work which had been done under the sun was grievous to me; because everything is futility and striving after wind. Thus I hated all the fruit of my labor for which I had labored under the sun, for I must leave it to the man who will come after 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. 20Therefore I completely despaired of all the fruit of my labor for which I had labored 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

• Thus I hatedשָׂנֵאώânê' · to hateH8130
• allכֹּלkôl kôl · allH3605
• the fruitעָמָל‛âmâl · troubleH5999
• for whichשֶׁלshel · whichH7945
• I had laboredעָמֵל‛âmêl · laboriousH6001
• underתַּחַתtachath · underneath: underH8478
• the sunשֶׁ֫מֶשׁshemesh · sunH8121
• leaveנוּחַnûach · to restH5117
• it to the manאָדָם'âdâm · manH120
• will comeהָיָהhâyâh · to beH1961
• afterאַחַר'achar · afterH310

Cross-references for Ecclesiastes 2:18

• Ecclesiastes 2:4I enlarged my works: I built houses for myself, I planted vineyards for myself;
• Ecclesiastes 1:13And I set my mind to seek and explore by wisdom concerning all that has been done under heaven. It is a grievous task which God has given to the sons of men to be afflicted with.
• Ecclesiastes 4:3But better off than both of them is the one who has never existed, who has never seen the evil activity that is done under the sun.
• Ecclesiastes 5:18Here is what I have seen to be good and fitting: to eat, to drink and enjoy oneself in all one’s labor in which he toils under the sun during the few years of his life which God has given him; for this is his reward.
• Ecclesiastes 9:9Enjoy life with the woman whom you love all the days of your fleeting life which He has given to you under the sun; for this is your reward in life and in your toil in which you have labored under the sun.
• Ecclesiastes 2:26For to a person who is good in His sight He has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, while to the sinner He has given the task of gathering and collecting so that he may give to one who is good in God’s sight. This too is vanity and striving after wind.
• Ecclesiastes 5:13There is a grievous evil which I have seen under the sun: riches being hoarded by their owner to his hurt.
• 1 Kings 11:1Now King Solomon 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, whose portion is in this life, And whose belly You fill with Your treasure; They are satisfied with children, And leave their abundance to their babes.
• Psalms 39:6Surely every man walks about as a phantom; Surely they make an uproar for nothing; He amasses riches and does not know who will gather them.
• Psalms 49:10For he sees that even wise men die; The stupid and the senseless 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 what you have prepared?’
• Luke 16:27And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, that you send him to my father’s house--
• Acts 20:29I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock;
• 1 Corinthians 3:10According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each man 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

• 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