Ecclesiastes 2:17

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

15Then I said to myself, “As is the fate of the fool, it will also happen to me. Why then have I been extremely wise?” So I said to myself, “This too is futility.” 16For there is no lasting remembrance of the wise, along with the fool, since in the coming days everything will soon be forgotten. And how the wise and the fool alike die! So I hated life, for the work which had been done under the sun was unhappy to me; because everything is futility and striving after wind. 18So I hated all the fruit of my labor for which I had labored under the sun, because 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 have control over all the fruit of my labor for which I have labored by acting wisely under the sun. This too is futility.

Ecclesiastes 2:17 word by word

וְשָׂנֵ֙אתִי֙ אֶת־הַ֣חַיִּ֔ים כִּ֣י רַ֤ע עָלַי֙ הַֽמַּעֲשֶׂ֔ה שֶׁנַּעֲשָׂ֖ה תַּ֣חַת הַשָּׁ֑מֶשׁ כִּֽי־הַכֹּ֥ל הֶ֖בֶל וּרְע֥וּת רֽוּחַ׃Read the interlinear

• hatedשָׂנֵאώânê' · to hateH8130
• for the workמַעֲשֶׂהma‛ăώeh · deed: workH4639
• whichשֶׁלshel · whichH7945
• had been doneעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to make: doH6213
• underתַּחַתtachath · underneath: underH8478
• the sunשֶׁ֫מֶשׁshemesh · sunH8121
• unhappyרַעra‛ râ‛âh · bad: harmfulH7451
• to me; becauseכִּיkîy · forH3588
• everythingכֹּלkôl kôl · allH3605
• is futilityהֶ֫בֶלhebel hăbêl · vanityH1892
• and strivingרְעוּתre‛ûth · longingH7469
• after windרוּחַrûach · spirit: breathH7307

Cross-references for Ecclesiastes 2:17

• Numbers 11:15So if You are going to deal with me this way, please kill me now, if I have found favor in Your sight, and do not let me see my misery.”
• 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 for himself to die, and said, “Enough! Now, Lord, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers.”
• Job 3:20“Why is light given to one burdened with grief, And life to the bitter of soul,
• Job 7:15So that my soul would choose suffocation, Death rather than my pains.
• Job 14:13“Oh that You would hide me in Sheol, That You would conceal me until Your wrath returns to You, That You would set a limit for me and remember me!
• Jeremiah 20:14Cursed be the day when I was born; May the day when my mother gave birth to me not be blessed!
• Jonah 4:3So now, Lord, please take my life from me, for death is better to me than life.”
• Philippians 1:23But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better;
• Ecclesiastes 1:14I have seen all the works which have been done under the sun, and behold, all is futility and striving after wind.
• Ecclesiastes 3:16Furthermore, I have seen under the sun that in the place of justice 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 embittered in the rage of my spirit, and the hand of the Lord was strong on me.
• Habakkuk 1:3Why do You make me see disaster, And make me look at destitution? Yes, devastation and violence are before me; Strife exists and contention arises.
• Ecclesiastes 2:11So I considered all my activities which my hands had done and the labor which I had exerted, and behold, all was futility and striving after wind, and there was no benefit under the sun.
• Ecclesiastes 6:9What the eyes see is better than what the soul desires. This too is futility and striving after wind.
• Psalms 89:47Remember what my lifespan is; For what futility You have created all the sons of mankind!

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

• Death
• Industry
• Life
• Murmuring
• Wisdom

In the dictionaries

• Gather
• Laughter
• 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