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

15So I thought to myself, “The fate of the fool will happen even to me! Then what did I gain by becoming so excessively wise?” So I lamented to myself, “The benefits of wisdom are ultimately meaningless!” 16For the wise man, like the fool, will not be remembered for very long, because in the days to come, both will already have been forgotten. Alas, the wise man dies – just like the fool! So I loathed life because what happens on earth seems awful to me; for all the benefits of wisdom are futile – like chasing the wind. 18So I loathed all the fruit of my effort, for which I worked so hard on earth, because I must leave it behind in the hands of my successor. 19Who knows if he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will be master over all the fruit of my labor for which I worked so wisely on earth! This also is futile!

Ecclesiastes 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 11:15But if you are going to deal with me like this, then kill me immediately. If I have found favor in your sight then do not let me see my trouble.”
• 1 Kings 19:4while he went a day’s journey into the desert. He went and sat down under a shrub and asked the Lord to take his life: “I’ve had enough! Now, O Lord, take my life. After all, I’m no better than my ancestors.”
• Job 3:20“Why does God give light to one who is in misery, and life to those whose soul is bitter,
• Job 7:15so that I would prefer strangling, and death more than life.
• Job 14:13“O that you would hide me in Sheol, and conceal me till your anger has passed! O that you would set me a time and then remember me!
• Jeremiah 20:14Cursed be the day I was born! May that day not be blessed when my mother gave birth to me.
• Jonah 4:3So now, Lord, kill me instead, because I would rather die than live!”
• Philippians 1:23I feel torn between the two, because I have a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far,
• Ecclesiastes 1:14I reflected on everything that is accomplished by man on earth, and I concluded: Everything he has accomplished is futile – like chasing the wind!
• Ecclesiastes 3:16I saw something else on earth: In the place of justice, there was wickedness, and in the place of fairness, there was wickedness.
• Ezekiel 3:14A wind lifted me up and carried me away. I went bitterly, my spirit full of fury, and the hand of the Lord rested powerfully on me.
• Habakkuk 1:3Why do you force me to witness injustice? Why do you put up with wrongdoing? Destruction and violence confront me; conflict is present and one must endure strife.
• Ecclesiastes 2:11Yet when I reflected on everything I had accomplished and on all the effort that I had expended to accomplish it, I concluded: “All these achievements and possessions are ultimately profitless – like chasing the wind! There is nothing gained from them on earth.”
• Ecclesiastes 6:9It is better to be content with what the eyes can see than for one’s heart always to crave more. This continual longing is futile – like chasing the wind.
• Psalms 89:47Take note of my brief lifespan! Why do you make all people so mortal?

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