New International Version
Ecclesiastes 2:20
20So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun.
Ecclesiastes 2:20 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Therefore I went about to cause my heart to despair of all the labour which I took under the sun.
- English Standard Version (ESV)So I turned about and gave my heart up to despair over all the toil of my labors under the sun,
- New King James Version (NKJV)Therefore I turned my heart and despaired of all the labor in which I had toiled under the sun.
- New Living Translation (NLT)So I gave up in despair, questioning the value of all my hard work in this world.
Context of Ecclesiastes 2:20
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. So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun. 21For a person may labor with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then they must leave all they own to another who has not toiled for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune. 22What do people get for all the toil and anxious striving with which they labor under the sun?
Read all of Ecclesiastes 2Ecclesiastes 2:20 word by word
וְסַבּ֥וֹתִֽי אֲנִ֖י לְיַאֵ֣שׁ אֶת־לִבִּ֑י עַ֚ל כָּל־הֶ֣עָמָ֔ל שֶׁעָמַ֖לְתִּי תַּ֥חַת הַשָּֽׁמֶשׁ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Ecclesiastes 2:20
- Genesis 43:14And may God Almighty grant you mercy before the man so that he will let your other brother and Benjamin come back with you. As for me, if I am bereaved, I am bereaved.”
- Job 17:11My days have passed, my plans are shattered. Yet the desires of my heart
- Psalms 39:6“Surely everyone goes around like a mere phantom; in vain they rush about, heaping up wealth without knowing whose it will finally be.
- 1 Corinthians 15:19If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.
- 2 Corinthians 1:8We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself.
- 1 Thessalonians 3:3so that no one would be unsettled by these trials. For you know quite well that we are destined for them.
Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 2:20
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 20I went about to cause my heart to despair - What makes all worse, there is no remedy. It is impossible in the present state of things to prevent these evils.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. 2020. I gave up as desperate all hope of solid fruit from my labor.Read the comment
Topics related to Ecclesiastes 2:20
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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