Ecclesiastes 2:17
in Ecclesiastes 2So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. For everything is futile and a pursuit of the wind.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
So I hated life, because the work that is wrought under the sun was grievous unto me; for all is vanity and a striving after wind.
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.
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This verse in Ecclesiastes 2
Commentary
12 notes on this verseTherefore I hated life,.... Not strictly and simply understood, since life is the gift of God; and a great blessing it is, more than raiment, and so dear to a man, that he will give all he has for it: but comparatively, in comparison of the lovingkindness of God, which is better than life; or in comparison of eternal life, which a good man desires to depart from this world, for the sake of enjoying it.
This site's exposition
The fate of the fool will also befall me
on Ecclesiastes 2:15-17
The finding turns personal, The fate of the fool will also befall me, and the king's advantage falls under the same death. The Teacher's own word for the discovery is So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me.
This site's exposition
So I hated life
Gill reads the hatred as comparative: life is the gift of God, and the Teacher hated it beside the lovingkindness, which is better than life. Wesley adds that all the work done under the sun only increased his discontent. Bonaventure sets the verse beside Job 10:1.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
"So I hated life, for I was depressed by all that goes on under the sun, because everything is vain and a vexation of the spirit." The world has been given over to unkindness [Cfr I John. 5, 19.] and the apostle moans about the tabernacle saying "I am a wretched man, who will free me from the body of this death?" [Rom. 7, 24.], and he hates quite rightly everything that is done under the sun. That is however only in comparison with paradise and the beatitude of that life, in which we would enjoy the fruits of wisdom and the pleasures of virtues. But now as if we are in a prison camp or cell, and with a wall of tears, we eat our bread in the sweat of our brow.
Therefore incline to him of whom the psalmist says, "He has not taken his soul in vain." To speak now of the troubles of this life, the person has taken his soul in vain who is constructing the things of the world and building the things of the body. We arise each day to eat and drink; yet no one is filled so that he does not hunger and thirst after a short time. Daily we seek profit, and to greed there is set no limit. "The eye will not be satisfied with seeing, nor the ear with hearing."
The Medieval Church1 voice
A commentator
BonaventureCommentary on Ecclesiastes, Chapter 2 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
And from this he concludes: "Therefore I was weary of my life," as if he refused to live on account of weariness, as Job 10: "My soul is weary of my life": on account of occasions of sin: Genesis 27, Rebecca said: "I am weary …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
There is business above the sun, perpetual business, which is perpetual blessedness; what we do in conformity to that business (doing God's will as it is done in heaven ) and in pursuance of that blessedness, will turn to a good account; we shall have no reason to hate that labour, nor to despair of it.
Life - My life was a burden to me. Is grievous - All human designs and works are so far from yielding me satisfaction, that the consideration of them increases my discontent.
4 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
The reasons of this quarrel with his life and labours. Two things made him weary of them:-- 1. That his business was so great a toil to himself: The work that he had wrought under the sun was grievous unto him,
His thoughts and cares about it, and that close and constant application of mind which was requisite to it, were a burden and fatigue to him, especially when he grew old. It is the effect of a curse on that we are to work upon.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Therefore I hated life - את החיים 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.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Lu 15:17, 18). grievous unto me-- (Job 10:1). One hope alone was left to the disappointed worldling, the perpetuation of his name and riches, laboriously gathered, through his successor. For selfishness is mostly at the root of worldly parents' alleged providence for their children.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
The words behind it
15 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְשָׂנֵ֙אתִי֙ | vesaneti | and I hated | H8130 → | 146 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַ֣חַיִּ֔ים | hachaiyim | <the> life | H2416 → | 498 times |
| כִּ֣י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| רַ֤ע | ra' | [was] evil | H7451 → | 662 times |
| עָלַי֙ | ʾalai | on me | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| הַֽמַּעֲשֶׂ֔ה | hamaaseh | the work | H4639 → | 236 times |
| שֶׁנַּעֲשָׂ֖ה | shenaasah | that <it> was done | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| תַּ֣חַת | tachat | under | H8478 → | 505 times |
| הַשָּׁ֑מֶשׁ | hashamesh | the sun | H8121 → | 134 times |
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| הַכֹּ֥ל | hakol | <the> everything | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הֶ֖בֶל | hevel | [is] futility | H1892 → | 73 times |
| וּרְע֥וּת | ureut | and striving of | H7469 → | 7 times |
| רֽוּחַ׃ | ruach | wind | H7307 → | 378 times |
וְשָׂנֵ֙אתִי֙and I hated
vesanetiH8130 →146 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַ֣חַיִּ֔ים<the> life
hachaiyimH2416 →498 times
כִּ֣יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
רַ֤ע[was] evil
ra'H7451 →662 times
עָלַי֙on me
ʾalaiH5921 →5755 times
הַֽמַּעֲשֶׂ֔הthe work
hamaasehH4639 →236 times
שֶׁנַּעֲשָׂ֖הthat <it> was done
shenaasahH6213 →2628 times
תַּ֣חַתunder
tachatH8478 →505 times
הַשָּׁ֑מֶשׁthe sun
hashameshH8121 →134 times
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
הַכֹּ֥ל<the> everything
hakolH3605 →5413 times
הֶ֖בֶל[is] futility
hevelH1892 →73 times
וּרְע֥וּתand striving of
ureutH7469 →7 times
רֽוּחַ׃wind
ruachH7307 →378 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Ecclesiastes 2:11Yet when I considered all the works that my hands had accomplished and what I had toiled to achieve, I found everything to be futile, a pursuit of the wind; there was nothing to…
it leads to
- Ecclesiastes 1:14
I have seen all the things that are done under the sun, and have found them all to be futile, a pursuit of the wind.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 John 2:16–17
For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not from the Father but from the world.
- Ecclesiastes 1:3
What does a man gain from all his labor, at which he toils under the sun?
- Ecclesiastes 1:14
Through
Psalms 89:47Remember the briefness of my lifespan! For what futility You have created all men!
it leads to
- Job 14:1
“Man, who is born of woman, is short of days and full of trouble.
- Job 14:1
Through
Jonah 4:8As the sun was rising, God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint and wished to die, saying, “It is better for me…
it leads to
- Psalms 121:6
The sun will not strike you by day, nor the moon by night.
- Jonah 4:3
And now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.”
- Psalms 121:6
Through
Ecclesiastes 4:2So I admired the dead, who had already died, above the living, who are still alive.
it leads to
- Job 3:11–26
Why did I not perish at birth; why did I not die as I came from the womb?
- Job 3:11–26
Through
Ecclesiastes 6:9Better what the eye can see than the wandering of desire. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.
it leads to
- Job 31:7
If my steps have turned from the path, if my heart has followed my eyes, or if impurity has stuck to my hands,
- Job 31:7
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies2
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About Ecclesiastes
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Ambrose of Milan, DEATH AS A GOOD 7:28; Bonaventure, Commentary on Ecclesiastes, Chapter 2; Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Ecclesiastes; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Ecclesiastes; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.