Ecclesiastes 2:18

18 I hated the things I worked so hard for here under the sun, because I will have to leave them to someone who comes after me.

Ecclesiastes 2:18 Meaning and Commentary

Ecclesiastes 2:18

Yea, I hated all my labour which I had taken under the sun,
&c.] The great works he made, the houses he built; the vineyards, gardens, and orchards he planted what he got by his labour, his riches and wealth; and what he also got, not by the labour of his hands, but of his mind. Some understand this of the books he wrote; which were a weariness to his body, and fatigue to his mind; and which he might fear some persons would make an ill use of: Aben Ezra interprets it of his labour in this book. All which he had no great regard unto, since it was to be left to another; because I should leave it unto the man that shall be after me;
because he could not enjoy the fruits of his labour himself, at least but a very short time: but must be obliged to leave all to another, his possessions, estates, riches, and treasure; which a man cannot carry with him when he dies, but must leave all behind him, to his heirs and successors F24. The Targum is,

``because I shall leave it to Rehoboam my son, who shall come after me; and Jeroboam his servant shall come and take ten tribes out of his hands, and possess half the kingdom.''

FOOTNOTES:

F24 "Rape, congere, aufer, posside, relinquendum est." Martial. Epigr. l. 8. Ep. 43.

Ecclesiastes 2:18 In-Context

16 There is no eternal memory of the wise any more than the foolish, because everyone is forgotten before long. How can the wise die just like the fool?
17 So I hated life, because the things that happen under the sun were troublesome to me. Definitely, everything is pointless—just wind chasing.
18 I hated the things I worked so hard for here under the sun, because I will have to leave them to someone who comes after me.
19 And who knows whether that one will be wise or foolish? Either way, that person will have control over the results of all my hard work and wisdom here under the sun. That too is pointless.
20 I then gave myself up to despair, as I thought about all my laborious hard work under the sun,
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