Ecclesiastes 2:20
in Ecclesiastes 2So my heart began to despair over all the labor that I had done under the sun.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Therefore I turned about to cause my heart to despair concerning all the labor wherein I had labored under the sun.
KJV
Therefore I went about to cause my heart to despair of all the labour which I took under the sun.
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This verse in Ecclesiastes 2
Commentary
8 notes on this verseThere 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.
This site's exposition
I hated all for which I had toiled
on Ecclesiastes 2:18-21
The labor must be left to the man who comes after me, and who knows whether that man will be wise or foolish. The Teacher calls it futile and a great evil, the sharpest language the chapter uses against a single finding.
This site's exposition
my heart began to despair
Gill defines the despair: the Teacher gave up hope of finding happiness in anything under the sun. Henry hears a long argument with the heart, which is slow to let go of what it hoped from its labor. Clarke adds that the evil has no remedy.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"So I turned my heart to despair of all that I had achieved by toiling under the sun. For there is a man who laboured with wisdom, knowledge and skill, yet he must hand on his portion to one who has not toiled for it. This too is vanity and a great evil. For what has a man in return for all his toil and his stress, which he toils beneath the sun? For all his days are painful, and his business is a vexation; even at night his mind has no rest. This, too, is vanity!"
The Medieval Church1 voice
A commentator
BonaventureCommentary on Ecclesiastes, Chapter 2 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
From the consideration of this vanity, therefore, he ceased from curiosity; whence he says: "Wherefore I ceased, and my heart renounced laboring under the sun," that is, for temporal goods. "I ceased," in deed; "and my heart renounced," in will. But the miser does not …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Our hearts are very loth to quit their expectations of great things from the creature; we must go about, must fetch a compass, in arguing with them, to convince them that there is not that in the things of this world which we are apt to promise ourselves from them.
Therefore I went about to cause my heart to despair,.... Of ever finding happiness in anything here below.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
I 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.
The words behind it
11 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְסַבּ֥וֹתִֽי | vesaboti | and I turned | H5437 → | 161 times |
| אֲנִ֖י | ʾani | I | H589 → | 874 times |
| לְיַאֵ֣שׁ | leyaesh | to make despair | H2976 → | |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| לִבִּ֑י | libi | heart my | H3820 → | 595 times |
| עַ֚ל | ʾal | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הֶ֣עָמָ֔ל | heamal | the toil | H5999 → | 55 times |
| שֶׁעָמַ֖לְתִּי | sheamalti | that I have toiled | H5998 → | 11 times |
| תַּ֥חַת | tachat | under | H8478 → | 505 times |
| הַשָּֽׁמֶשׁ׃ | hashamesh | the sun | H8121 → | 134 times |
וְסַבּ֥וֹתִֽיand I turned
vesabotiH5437 →161 times
אֲנִ֖יI
ʾaniH589 →874 times
לְיַאֵ֣שׁto make despair
leyaeshH2976 →
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
לִבִּ֑יheart my
libiH3820 →595 times
עַ֚לon
ʾalH5921 →5755 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
הֶ֣עָמָ֔לthe toil
heamalH5999 →55 times
שֶׁעָמַ֖לְתִּיthat I have toiled
sheamaltiH5998 →11 times
תַּ֥חַתunder
tachatH8478 →505 times
הַשָּֽׁמֶשׁ׃the sun
hashameshH8121 →134 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
1 Corinthians 15:19If our hope in Christ is for this life alone, we are to be pitied more than all men.
it leads to
- Revelation 14:13
And I heard a voice from heaven telling me to write, “Blessed are the dead—those who die in the Lord from this moment on.” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “they will rest from their labors,…
- 1 Peter 1:21
Through Him you believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and glorified Him; and so your faith and hope are in God.
- 2 Timothy 1:12
For this reason, even though I suffer as I do, I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have…
- 1 Corinthians 4:9–13
For it seems to me that God has displayed us apostles at the end of the procession, like prisoners appointed for death. We have become a spectacle to the whole world, to angels as…
- 2 Timothy 3:12
Indeed, all who desire to live godly lives in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,
- Revelation 14:13
Through
Genesis 43:14May God Almighty grant you mercy before the man, that he may release your other brother along with Benjamin. As for me, if I am bereaved, I am bereaved.”
it leads to
- Esther 4:16
“Go and assemble all the Jews who can be found in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day, and I and my maidens will fast…
- Genesis 17:1
When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty. Walk before Me and be blameless.
- Acts 21:14
When he would not be dissuaded, we fell silent and said, “The Lord’s will be done.”
- Esther 4:16
Where this verse is studied
About Ecclesiastes
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Bonaventure, Commentary on Ecclesiastes, Chapter 2; Jerome, Commentary on Ecclesiastes; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.