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.
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.
- BSB 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.
- 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 2:11Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun.
- Jonah 4:8And it came to pass, when the sun did arise, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and wished in himself to die, and said, It is better for me to die than to live.
- Eccl 4:2Wherefore I praised the dead which are already dead more than the living which are yet alive.
- 1 Kgs 19:4But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers.
- Eccl 1:14I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit.
- Job 3:20–22Wherefore is light given to him that is in misery, and life unto the bitter in soul;
- Eccl 6:9Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desire: this is also vanity and vexation of spirit.
- Eccl 3:16And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, that wickedness was there; and the place of righteousness, that iniquity was there.
- Ezek 3:14So the spirit lifted me up, and took me away, and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit; but the hand of the LORD was strong upon me.
- Job 14:13O that thou wouldest hide me in the grave, that thou wouldest keep me secret, until thy wrath be past, that thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me!
- Eccl 2:22For what hath man of all his labour, and of the vexation of his heart, wherein he hath laboured under the sun?
- Ps 89:47Remember how short my time is: wherefore hast thou made all men in vain?
- Job 7:15–16So that my soul chooseth strangling, and death rather than my life.
- Jonah 4:3Therefore now, O LORD, take, I beseech thee, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live.
- Num 11:15And if thou deal thus with me, kill me, I pray thee, out of hand, if I have found favour in thy sight; and let me not see my wretchedness.
- Hab 1:3Why dost thou shew me iniquity, and cause me to behold grievance? for spoiling and violence are before me: and there are that raise up strife and contention.
- Jer 20:14–18Cursed be the day wherein I was born: let not the day wherein my mother bare me be blessed.
- Phil 1:23–25For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better:
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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
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