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 said I in my heart: “I, even I, will have the same destiny as a fool. So why have I become so wise?” I said in my heart, “This too is meaningless.” 16For the wise man, together with the fool, is not remembered forever. For in the days to come both will be forgotten. Alas, the wise, just like the fool, must die! And so I hated life, because the work done under the sun was grievous to me. All is but vapor and chasing after the wind. 18I also hated all the fruit of my toil for which I had labored under the sun, because I must leave it to the one who comes after me. 19Who knows if he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will be master over all the fruit of my toil for which I had wisely labored under the sun. This too 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 11:15If this is how You are treating me, kill me now! If I have found favor in Your eyes, kill me please—don’t let me see my own misery!”
• 1 Kings 19:4But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom bush. He prayed that he might die. “It’s too much!” he said. “Now, Adonai, take my life! For I’m no better than my fathers.”
• Job 3:20Why is light given to one who suffers and life to the bitter of soul,
• Job 7:15so that my soul prefers strangulation, and my bones death.
• Job 14:13“Oh that You would hide me in Sheol, and conceal me until Your wrath has passed! Oh that You would set a time for me and then remember me!
• Jeremiah 20:14Cursed be the day I was born! The day that my mother bore me— may it never be blessed!
• Jonah 4:3So please, Adonai, take my soul from me—because better is my death than my life.”
• Philippians 1:23I am torn between the two—having a desire to leave and be with Messiah, which is far better;
• Ecclesiastes 1:14I have seen all the deeds done under the sun; and behold, all is meaningless and chasing after the wind.
• Ecclesiastes 3:16I have also seen under the sun: In the place of justice there was wickedness, and in the place of righteousness there was wickedness.
• Ezekiel 3:14The Ruach lifted me up and took me away. I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit. The hand of Adonai was strong upon me.
• Habakkuk 1:3Why do You show me wickedness, and why must I behold mischief? Yes, devastation and violence are before me. There is strife, and contention arises.
• Ecclesiastes 2:11Yet when I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended to accomplish it, behold, it all was futile and chasing after the wind. There was nothing to be gained under the sun.
• Ecclesiastes 6:9Better is what the eyes see than the pursuit of the soul’s desires. This too is fleeting and striving after wind.
• Psalms 89:47How long, Adonai, will You hide Yourself? Forever? Will Your fury keep burning like fire?

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