Tree of Life Version
Ecclesiastes 2:20
20So I turned my heart over to despair over all the things for which I had toiled 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.
- New International Version (NIV)So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor 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.
Context of Ecclesiastes 2:20
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. So I turned my heart over to despair over all the things for which I had toiled under the sun. 21For sometimes a man, who has labored with wisdom, knowledge and skill, must hand over as an inheritance to someone who did not work for it. This also is futile and a great misfortune. 22For what does a man get for all his toil and longing of his heart for which he labors 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 43:14May El Shaddai grant you mercy before the man, so that he may release your other brother to you, along with Benjamin. As for me, if I am bereaved, I am bereaved.”
- Job 17:11My days have passed, my plans are torn apart. Yet the desires of my heart
- Psalms 39:6Behold, You made my days mere hand-breadths, and my lifetime as nothing before You. Surely all humanity is but vapor. Selah
- 1 Corinthians 15:19If we have hoped in Messiah in this life alone, we are to be pitied more than all people.
- 2 Corinthians 1:8For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, of our trouble that happened in Asia. We were under great pressure—so far beyond our strength that we despaired even of living.
- 1 Thessalonians 3:3so that no one would be shaken by these afflictions. For you yourselves know we are destined for this.
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
Tree of Life Version — © 2015 The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society
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