I hated all for which I had toiled under the sun, because I must leave it to the man who comes after me.
Parallel translations
- WEB I hated all my labor in which I labored under the sun, because I must leave it to the man who comes after me.
- KJV Yea, I hated all my labour which I had taken under the sun: because I should leave it unto the man that shall be after me.
- NKJV Then I hated all my labor in which I had toiled under the sun, because I must leave it to the man who will come after me.
- NASB So I hated all the fruit of my labor for which I had labored under the sun, because I must leave it to the man who will come after me.
- NLT I came to hate all my hard work here on earth, for I must leave to others everything I have earned.
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 hated his toil because he must leave its fruit to whoever comes after him. Losing control of one's life work to a successor feels futile.
Overview
Qoheleth laments that all his labor must be handed over to an heir he cannot choose or control. The inability to keep or direct the fruit of one's work intensifies the sense of vanity. This points to the truth that we are stewards, not owners, and that lasting reward is found not in earthly inheritance but in treasure stored up with God.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- Ps 39:6Surely every man goes about like a phantom; surely he bustles in vain; he heaps up riches not knowing who will haul them away.
- Ps 49:10For it is clear that wise men die, and the foolish and the senseless both perish and leave their wealth to others.
- Luke 16:27–28‘Then I beg you, father,’ he said, ‘send Lazarus to my father’s house,
- 1 Kgs 11:11–13Then the LORD said to Solomon, “Because you have done this and have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, I will tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your servant.
- Eccl 5:18Here is what I have seen to be good and fitting: to eat and drink, and to find satisfaction in all the labor one does under the sun during the few days of life that God has given him—for this is his lot.
- Luke 12:20But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be required of you. Then who will own what you have accumulated?’
- Eccl 2:26To the man who is pleasing in His sight, He gives wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner He assigns the task of gathering and accumulating that which he will hand over to one who pleases God. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.
- Acts 20:29–30I know that after my departure, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock.
- Eccl 4:3But better than both is he who has not yet existed, who has not seen the evil that is done under the sun.
- Eccl 9:9Enjoy life with your beloved wife all the days of the fleeting life that God has given you under the sun—all your fleeting days. For this is your portion in life and in your labor under the sun.
- Eccl 2:4–9I expanded my pursuits. I built houses and planted vineyards for myself.
- Eccl 5:13–14There is a grievous evil I have seen under the sun: wealth hoarded to the harm of its owner,
- 1 Cor 3:10By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one must be careful how he builds.
- Eccl 1:13And I set my mind to seek and explore by wisdom all that is done under heaven. What a heavy burden God has laid upon the sons of men to occupy them!
- Eccl 1:3What does a man gain from all his labor, at which he toils under the sun?
- Ps 17:14from such men, O LORD, by Your hand—from men of the world whose portion is in this life. May You fill the bellies of Your treasured ones and satisfy their sons, so they leave their abundance to their children.
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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 2:18 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.