New International Version
Ecclesiastes 2:17
17So 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.
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.
- 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.
- 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 to myself, “The fate of the fool will overtake me also. What then do I gain by being wise?” I said to myself, “This too is meaningless.” 16For the wise, like the fool, will not be long remembered; the days have already come when both have been forgotten. Like the fool, the wise too must die! 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. 18I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me. 19And who knows whether that person will be wise or foolish? Yet they will have control over all the fruit of my toil into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless.
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 this is how you are going to treat me, please go ahead and kill me—if I have found favor in your eyes—and do not let me face my own ruin.”
- 1 Kings 19:4while he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. He came to a broom bush, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.”
- Job 3:20“Why is light given to those in misery, and life to the bitter of soul,
- Job 7:15so that I prefer strangling and death, rather than this body of mine.
- Job 14:13“If only you would hide me in the grave and conceal me till your anger has passed! If only you would set me a time and then remember me!
- Jeremiah 20:14Cursed be the day I was born! May the day my mother bore me not be blessed!
- Jonah 4:3Now, Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.”
- Philippians 1:23I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far;
- Ecclesiastes 1:14I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
- Ecclesiastes 3:16And I saw something else under the sun: In the place of judgment—wickedness was there, in the place of justice—wickedness was there.
- Ezekiel 3:14The Spirit then lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness and in the anger of my spirit, with the strong hand of the Lord on me.
- Habakkuk 1:3Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrongdoing? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and conflict abounds.
- Ecclesiastes 2:11Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.
- Ecclesiastes 6:9Better what the eye sees than the roving of the appetite. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
- Psalms 89:47Remember how fleeting is my life. For what futility you have created all humanity!
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
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