So 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.
Parallel translations
- WEB So I hated life, because the work that is worked under the sun was grievous to me; for all is vanity and a chasing 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.
- 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.
- NASB So I hated life, for the work which had been done under the sun was unhappy to me; because everything is futility and striving after wind.
- NLT So I came to hate life because everything done here under the sun is so troubling. Everything is meaningless—like chasing the wind.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
He came to hate life because all the work under the sun seemed grievous and vain. The weight of life's futility produced deep weariness and despair.
Overview
The Preacher reaches an emotional low, hating life because its labors feel burdensome and empty. This raw honesty validates the despair that comes from facing meaninglessness apart from God. It is a cry that exposes the limits of life 'under the sun' and quietly urges the reader to seek life 'above the sun' in the God who gives purpose and hope.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 18
- Eccl 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 be gained under the sun.
- 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 to die than to live.”
- Eccl 4:2So I admired the dead, who had already died, above the living, who are still alive.
- 1 Kgs 19:4while he himself traveled on a day’s journey into the wilderness. He sat down under a broom tree and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, LORD,” he said. “Take my life, for I am no better than my fathers.”
- Eccl 1:14I have seen all the things that are done under the sun, and have found them all to be futile, a pursuit of the wind.
- Job 3:20–22Why is light given to the miserable, and life to the bitter of soul,
- Eccl 6:9Better what the eye can see than the wandering of desire. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.
- Eccl 3:16Furthermore, I saw under the sun that in the place of judgment there is wickedness, and in the place of righteousness there is wickedness.
- Ezek 3:14So the Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness and in the anger of my spirit, with the strong hand of the LORD upon me.
- Job 14:13If only You would hide me in Sheol and conceal me until Your anger has passed! If only You would appoint a time for me and then remember me!
- Eccl 2:22For what does a man get for all the toil and striving with which he labors under the sun?
- Ps 89:47Remember the briefness of my lifespan! For what futility You have created all men!
- Job 7:15–16so that I would prefer strangling and death over my life in this body.
- Jonah 4:3And now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.”
- Num 11:15If this is how You are going to treat me, please kill me right now—if I have found favor in Your eyes—and let me not see my own wretchedness.”
- Hab 1:3Why do You make me see iniquity? Why do You tolerate wrongdoing? Destruction and violence are before me. Strife is ongoing, and conflict abounds.
- Jer 20:14–18Cursed be the day I was born! May the day my mother bore me never be blessed.
- Phil 1:23–25I am torn between the two. I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better indeed.
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Christ at the center
The search that finds everything 'under the sun' to be vapor exposes the emptiness of life without God and drives us to the one who alone gives meaning, the resurrection that makes our labor not in vain.
How Ecclesiastes 2:17 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.