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Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ecclesiastes 2:18

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Yea, I hated all my labor which I had taken under the sun: because I should leave it unto the man that shall be after me.

18. because I should leave it unto the man that shall be after me ] The history of the great ones of the earth presents not a few parallel utterances. Mazarin walks through the galleries of his palace and says to himself, “ Il faut quitter tout cela.” Frederick William IV. of Prussia turns to his friend Bunsen as they stand on the terrace at Potsdam, and says, as they look out on the garden, “ Das auch, das soll ich lassen,” (“This too I must leave behind me”.) The thought recurs again and again (chs. Ecc 4:8, Ecc 5:14, Ecc 6:2).

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Ecc 2:18-19

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.

The dirge of the dead hand

Solomons life was complete from the naturalistic standpoint. He sought pleasure with a zest we should condemn as licence nowadays, but which the spirit of those times was accustomed to count lawful, at least for kings. And more than that, he gave himself to great and imposing enterprises, diligently seeking the welfare of his people as well as his own personal and family aggrandizement. And yet work upon an unspiritual plane of ideas could not altogether satisfy him. He had an unhappy forecast of pending changes, for Rehoboam was not an ideal youth. He already seems to be hearing the cry, The king is dead: long live the king! And how sick at heart he feels as all the signs seem to show that the new king will be an iconoclast, a reactionary, a fool, or at least a man who does not think in the same groove as his predecessor! But this heartsick pessimism, like the same temper everywhere, was misjudging. That which was ignoble in his work perished, and deserved to perish. His heart-ache, as he thought of how much in the schemes he had tried to carry out would be altered by his successors, was relevant only to the lower ranges of his work. But the royal preacher was thinking not so much of his work as of himself. He wanted to invest his own dead hand with perpetual power; but that is not permitted to the best of the children of men in this lament we can find traces of self-idolatry, and self-idolatry is allied with contempt of our fellows and disbelief of the living God.

I. This temper represents the mood of one who is doing much of his work under the unwholesome stimulus of pride and ambition. Why should even Solomon flatter himself that all his works were so perfect that they were beyond the need of modification and readjustment? There were wise men before him, and wise men were destined to come after him, and he had contemporaries who, if not equalling him in the range of his knowledge, had at least kept themselves from plunging into the same abysses of folly and self-indulgence; and yet the great king was under the impression that he was probably the last of the sages, and that the distinguished race would vanish at his own funeral. We know now how groundless his assumption was; for in every age the world has had in it men whose gifts, acquisitions, and practical sagacity have far outmatched those of this much-bepraised king, who was sybarite as well as sage, and who, through untempered success, over-deep draughts of intoxicating flattery, and polygamistic animalism, was spoiled into an ignoble old age. The man who looks upon life from Solomons standpoint has obviously set his heart upon achieving what will be an enduring monument of his own reputation, and, like the Pyramids, which defend nothing, shelter nothing, protect nothing, teach nothing, will immortalize, in an indestructible edifice of colossal barrenness, the faded empire of a royal mummy. The vain man wants to do something that will be sacred from the hands of the would-be reformer, or it will be no true tribute to his infallibility. Why should posterity, out of mere respect for us, refrain from trying to improve upon our work? Men are sent into the world in ever fresh tides of young hope and vitality to help the common good of the race, and not to be our minions and satellites. Others may succeed in cultivating finer blooms to put into our gardens, trees of nobler stature to adorn our parks, herbs of more medicinal virtue to plant in our fields: in substituting rarer and more translucent stones for the crude add unwrought material with which we reared temples and palaces.

II. This utterance implied an ungracious disdain of the men who were shortly to step into power. Of all men in the world Solomon ought not to have been hard upon the fools. He had not uniformly set the wisest example in his own person, and the luxurious harems he had acclimatized upon Jewish soil were not likely to be schools of the sublimest philosophy and breeding-places of the most stalwart virtue. And in a lukewarm and unspiritual state of society an evil prophecy of this sort always tends to fulfil itself. Not to trust those who are around us, and who expect to take up our work, is just the way to corrupt and demoralize them. The effect is the same as that produced by the suspicious head of a household who keeps every cheap trifle under lock and key. The mistrust of posterity is, perhaps, a meaner and a more wicked thing than the mistrust of our contemporaries, for posterity cannot speak for itself and lift up its voice in protest against this unjust and wholesale condemnation. We do our utmost to imperil our own work, when we assume that no one will be fit to carry it on after the sceptre has fallen from our lifeless grasp.

III. This temper of soul implies a gloomy view of the future of the human race. The wise man lacked faith in humanity and its unknown possibilities, lacked that faith which it was the specific intention of the promise made to his forefathers to produce. To his own complacent estimate it seemed that the race had touched the high-water mark of intelligence and character in himself, and that now the inevitable decline must begin. How lure, riot in faith to Samuel, and Elijah, and Elisha, who nurtured schools for the future prophets, and who, in spite of the stern work they had to do, turned an undespairing outlook upon the future. Jesus and His apostles expected unbroken files of sowers and reapers to co-operate with each other and to carry on the victorious work of the kingdom to the end of time. The Church could not fail, although the gates of hell might send forth red-hot torrents of rage and opposition; and the lineage of godly and discerning workers would never be cut off root and branch, like the house of Eli. If we think, and speak, and act as though future workers would spring up and worthily carry on our modest beginnings, unborn and ungrown generations will respond to our confidence, and we shall not lack men to stand before the Lord in our room for ever. The man is both an atheist and a hater of his kind who asserts that the world is moving backward into the abyss of barbarism and folly.

IV. This temper indicates a deep and ominous lack of religious faith. He who speaks in any such strain has for the time being lost faith in the providential sovereignty of God. There is a touch of Manichaeism in this heartsick pessimism. It sees a mere Puck installed over the universe and clothed with infinite attributes, satisfying his soul with mischief, and encouraging the fools who make havoc with the achievements of the wise. All such vapourings show that there is a heathen or an infidel half in our personalities, sadly needing to be exorcised so that we may become sane, and useful, and happy men. Faith in God is one with the gift of prophecy; and if this royal preacher had always stirred up the gift which was in him, he would have felt how all that was best in his work would be preserved through apparent decline and reaction, till at last one wiser and greater than Solomon had appeared, to gather up into His plans all the true and unselfish work of the past, and to fulfil the fair and holy dreams of the worlds ardent youth.

V. This unhappy, corrosive temper may eat into our hearts, not so much because we repudiate the doctrine of Gods providential sovereignty, but because we are not living and working in high harmony with His counsels. In catering so lavishly for his own lusts and luxuries, this king was doing his own will and work, rather than Gods, and it may have been the appointed penalty of his ornate selfishness that fools should make havoc of his accomplished dreams just as soon as he had passed away. He speaks of parks, pleasure gardens, fountains, artificial lakes, palace orchestras, fortune making, personal enrichment, material aggression. It is true there was a point at which he became patriotic, and sought his peoples prosperity; but that seems to have been his second thought rather than his first. And this policy of self-aggrandize-ment was identified with foreign marriages and heathen coalitions, which had such a demoralizing effect upon his own successors and the nation at large, and which prepared the way for the schisms and tragic apostasies of the coming times. If we cherish no higher views of life, we cannot fairly count upon the good offices of Divine Providence in protecting our enterprise from the pranks of fools. What right has that man to look for the enduring blessing of God who chooses his tasks in selfishness and pride? Let our work be holy, unselfish, spiritual, and God will accept it as a sacrifice for Himself, and preserve it in the unknown future from violation; for the sons of light, seen by the seer of Patmos, who compass the divine altar in heaven, hover in their strong ministries about every altar upon earth where lies the accepted oblation of unselfish toil. (Thomas G. Selby.)

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

Verse 18. I hated all my labour] Because,

1. It has not answered the end for which it was instituted.

2. I can enjoy the fruits of it but a short time.

3. I must leave it to others, and know not whether a wise man, a knave, or a fool will possess it.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

I hated all my labour which I had taken under the sun; all these riches and buildings, and other fruits of my labour, were the matter of my repentance, and aggravations of my misery, because I must, and that everlastingly, part with them, and leave them all behind me.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

18, 19. One hope alone was leftto the disappointed worldling, the perpetuation of his name andriches, laboriously gathered, through his successor. For selfishnessis mostly at the root of worldly parents’ alleged providence fortheir children. But now the remembrance of how he himself, thepiously reared child of David, had disregarded his father’s dyingcharge (1Ch 28:9), suggestedthe sad misgivings as to what Rehoboam, his son by an idolatrousAmmonitess, Naamah, should prove to be; a foreboding too fullyrealized (1Ki 12:1-18;1Ki 14:21-31).

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

Yea, I hated all my labour which I had taken under the sun,…. The great works he made, the houses he built; the vineyards, gardens, and orchards he planted, c. 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 x. 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.”

x “Rape, congere, aufer, posside, relinquendum est.” Martial. Epigr. l. 8. Ep. 43.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

“And I hated all my labour with which I laboured under the sun, that I should leave it to the man who shall be after me;” i.e., not: who shall come into existence after me, but: who shall occupy my place after me. The fiction discovers itself here in the expression: “The king,” who would not thus express himself indefinitely and unsympathetically regarding his son and successor on the throne, is stripped of his historical individuality. The first and third are relat. pron. ( quem , after the schema egymologicum , Ecc 2:11, Ecc 9:9, and qui), the second is relat. conj. ( eo ) quod . The suffix of refers to the labour in the sense of that which is obtained by wearisome labour, accomplished or collected with labour; cf. , product, fruit, Gen 4:12; , effect, Isa 32:17.

How this man will be circumstanced who will have at his disposal that for which he has not laboured, is uncertain.

Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament

WILL A DESERVING PERSON BE HEIR?

Verses 18-23 reveal Solomon’s troubling thoughts regarding who would inherit the fruit of his labors under the sun:

1) He was troubled that he knew not whether his heir would be a wise man or a fool, Vs 18, 19; Psa 49:10.

2) He despaired that one who had not labored might inherit that which he had gained through wisdom and diligence, Vs 20, 21.

3) He was troubled by the knowledge that his days of labor under the sun, often attended by sorrow and vexation, should boring uncertainty and despair as he approached the end of his days, Vs 22, 23; Job 5:7; Job 14:1.

4) Repeatedly, he expresses awareness that all these concerns

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

b. The legacy of ones labor is often lost to fools when one dies. Ecc. 2:18-23

TEXT 2:1823

Thus I hated all the fruit of my labor for which I had labored under the sun, for I must leave it to the man who will come after me.

And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have control over all the fruit of my labor for which I have labored by acting wisely under the sun. This too is vanity.

Therefore I completely despaired of all the fruit of my labor for which I had labored under the sun.

When there is a man who has labored with wisdom, knowledge and skill, then he gives his legacy to one who has not labored with them. This too is vanity and a great evil.

For what does a man get in all his labor and in his striving with which he labors under the sun?

Because all his days his task is painful and grievous; even at night his mind does not rest. This too is vanity.

THOUGHT QUESTIONS 2:1823

52.

Why did Solomon hate the fruit of his labor (Ecc. 2:18-20)?

53.

What three tools did Solomon use to accumulate his legacy?

54.

State the qualifying phrase found in verse twenty and twenty-two that proves Solomons labor had no eternal value.

55.

Find the verse in this passage that corresponds with the basic question asked in Ecc. 1:3.

56.

What keeps men from restful sleep (Ecc. 2:23)?

PARAPHRASE 2:1823

I labored and achieved more than any man who had been before me. Yet, I hated my achievements because now I must leave them to some man who will follow me. The basic tragedy is that I have no knowledge of the one who shall follow me. He could be a wise man, or he could be a fool. I have collected everything through wisdom, and now who ever follows me will have complete control over my fortune. What fleeting satisfaction! What vanity! Therefore, I turned my heart aside to despair as I thought of all the works I had accomplished, and the great fortune I had accumulated upon the earth. Why do I despair? I labored with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and now I must give this legacy to one who had not labored in this manner. This is not only futility it is a great evil. I ask again, What profit does man have in all his toil and stress as he struggles upon the earth in the few days of his short life? For all his days he labors at his task accompanied by pain and grief. Even at night he remembers the vexation of his work and his mind has no rest. This too is vanity.

COMMENT 2:1823

The Preacher turned toward the past and surveyed the fruit of his life-long endeavor. He had amassed a fortune and collected riches beyond his highest expectations. However, as he contemplated the future and the one who would inherit all that he had gathered together, he grew bitter and cynical. He could designate the next king, but the people would not likely listen to the advice of an old and foolish king. He might dream of the kingdom remaining united but in his heart he realized it was but a dream. He would have little control over these matters. What if the one who follows him is a fool? He had acquired the greatness of his kingdom through wisdom, knowledge and skill. He now senses that it could slip into the hands of one who exercises little of these attributes and thus he will inherit wealth and power which he neither deserves nor can properly handle. His conclusion is that he thus hated life. There are no forthcoming answers which satisfy him. He carries his burden into his bedchamber and is thus robbed of sleep (Ecc. 2:23).

Did Solomon have cause to worry? One has sufficient evidence to recite the history of Israel following Solomons death, and he discovers not one but two men who ascended to his throne. The kingdom did divide. In Solomons closing years, his foreign wives turned away his heart from the Lord (1Ki. 11:1-8). The author of Chronicles is silent on his closing years, but in I Kings we read that he loved many foreign women (1Ki. 11:1). Solomon also had many adversaries. Among them were Hadad the Edomite and Rezon of Damascus (1Ki. 11:9-25). However, the most dangerous of his foes had to be Jeroboam. Jeroboam had been appointed to a prominent position in Solomons kingdom. In addition to his own personal designs on the throne, he had the encouragement of the prophet Ahijah. The aggression and zeal of Jeroboam were manifested throughout the kingdom, and when Solomon suspected him he fled to Egypt for his life (1Ki. 11:26-40). It is thought by some that the lad who comes out of prison to take the place of the king (Ecc. 4:14) is a direct reference to Jeroboam. It is true that upon Solomons death, Jeroboam did return from Egypt to assume the leadership of the ten tribes. Rehoboam, Solomons son, was proclaimed king in Jerusalem.

Perhaps there is a prophetic sense in which the words of Solomon predict the historical situation of his day. However, this interpretation is not vital to understanding the message of the book. One may readily see that Solomons despair is based on two entirely different premises: (1) he will not be remembered for all his great works, and (2) he is uncertain who will inherit his fortune. It could easily be a person who has little regard for wisdom and much regard for silliness and jest.

Either way, Solomon will lose control over all the fruit of his labor. This is the inevitable result of laboring under the sun. How different is the picture for the Christian who one day shall rest from his labor with the sweet peace that his works will follow after him (Rev. 14:13)!

The legacy is of major consequences to the one who has acquired it because he applied wisdom, knowledge, and skill in the task of gathering and collecting. The term skill may also be translated efficiency which suggests hours of toiling and perfecting of trades. He is not like the one who came upon his fortune through happenstance or chance. Solomon has designed and labored toward such an end. He has placed his whole heart in his work. His fortune represents an entire lifetime of tireless effort and toil. Some of the magnitude of his despair is sharpened by his question concerning profit. He asks, For what does a man get in all his labor and in his striving with which he labors under the sun (Ecc. 2:22)? His answer: He gets nothing! Thus he declares, I hated all the fruit of my labor. In addition he says, I completely despaired of all the fruit of my labor. He places a label on the fruit of his labor. It reads: This too is vanity and a great evil.

Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

(18) Eccles. 9:19. There seems to be no special reference to Rehoboam, but only the assertion of the general principle that the wisest of men must leave all that his labour has gained to be enjoyed by another who may be destitute of wisdom. The thought is not so much that it is a hardship for the wise man to leave what he has gained, as that it is that he should have no advantage over the fool who enjoys the same without any merit.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

18. Hated all my labour He not only gets no satisfaction from his works, but he must leave all to a stranger, a thought which makes all look odious to him.

The man that shall be after me Solomon speaks as if he knew well his son Rehoboam, who was perhaps impatient to get upon the throne, where he made such disastrous work.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

What Use Our Efforts When We Must Leave All Behind To Those Who Will Misuse It? ( Ecc 2:18-23 ).

Ecc 2:18-19

‘And I hated all my effort with which I exerted myself under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to the man who will be after me. And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have control (‘rule’) over all that has been produced by my great efforts (‘all my labour in which I have laboured’), and in which I have shown wisdom under the sun. This also is vanity.’

Another thing that perturbed him was that he would have to leave the results of all his great efforts to others. And who knew what they would do with them? What men build up, other men pull down. They have no permanence. So all his great efforts would finally have been in vain. What his wisdom had produced would eventually come to nothing. It would be dismissed by the next generation. It could not bear thinking about.

Ecc 2:20-21

‘So I changed my way of thinking (turned about) to make my heart despair about all the efforts in which I had exerted myself under the sun. For here is a man whose efforts are with wisdom, and with knowledge, and with skill, and yet he will give it for a bequest to a man who has not exerted himself with regard to it. This also is vanity, and a great evil.’

Especially disillusioning was the fact that he having exerted himself with wisdom, understanding and skill, the one to whom it was all passed on might well treat all his hard efforts as irrelevant, looking on it as unimportant and not worth bothering about, and making no effort to maintain what had been passed on to him. The thought of this happening had changed his whole way of thinking with regard to matters. It was not only an indication of the meaninglessness of things, but a positive evil. (Thus it was not quite so meaningless after all. The writer does not deny that things have meaning, only that they have final meaning).

‘Skill.’ The word is found at Ugarit, and in Akkadian sources. It can therefore no longer be described as ‘late Hebrew’. (The findings at Ugarit have made much ‘late Hebrew’ into early Hebrew. Had the Preacher but known this it would have given him a good illustration).

Ecc 2:22-23

‘For what has a man for all his efforts, and for the striving of his heart with which he exerts himself under the sun? For all his days are spent in painful effort, and his exertions are vexatious. Yes, even in the night his heart is restless. This also is vanity.’

He concludes by asking what point there is for a person to wear himself down and exert painful effort, seeking to build up for the future, when the future is so insecure and transient. The very thought of it upsets him. It makes all his exertions vexatious. It makes him unable to sleep at night. It is further evidence of the temporary nature of things, of the meaninglessness of it all.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Ecc 2:18 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.

Ver. 18. Yea, I hated all my labour, ] i.e., I was sorry to think that I had been so eager and earnest in getting a great estate, which now I must leave, and to whom I know not; sure I am to those that never took any pains for it. And herein we see the corruption of our nature discover itself, in that we are so wedded to the things of this world – especially if gotten by our own art and industry – that we think much to be divorced from them by death, and to leave them to others, when ourselves can enjoy them no longer. Henry Beaufort, that rich and wretched cardinal, bishop of Winchester, and chancellor of England, in the reign of Henry VI, when he perceived that he must die, and that there was no remedy, murmured at death, that his riches could not reprieve him till a further time. For he asked, ‘Why should I die, being so rich? If the whole realm would save my life, I am able either by policy to get it, or by riches to buy it. Fie, quoth he, will not death be hired? will money do nothing?’ a

Latimer, in a sermon before King Edward VI, tells a story of a rich man, that when he lay upon his sick bed, there came one to him and told him that certainly, by all reason they can judge by, he was like to be a man for another world, a dead man. As soon as ever he hears but these words, saith Latimer; What! must I die? said he. Send for a physician; wounds, sides, heart, must I die? wounds, sides, heart, must I die? and thus he goes on, and there could be nothing got from him, but Wounds, sides, heart, must I die? Must I die and go from these? Here was all, here is the end of a man that made his portion to be in this world. If this man’s heart had been ripped up after he was dead, there might have been found written in it, ‘The god of this present world.’

Mr Jeremy Burroughs relates in print b of another rich man, that had sometime lived near unto him, who, when he heard his sickness was deadly, sent for his bags of money, and hugged them in his arms, saying, Oh! must I leave you? Oh! must I leave you? And of another, who, when he lay upon his sick bed, called for his bags, and laid a bag of gold to his heart, and then bade them take it away, It will not do, it will not do.

Mr Rogers in his “Treatise of Love,” tells of one that, being near death, clapped a twenty shillings piece of gold into his own mouth, saying, Some wiser than some, I will take this with me howsoever.

a Acts and Mon., fol. 925.

b Serm. on Psa 17:14 , April 3, 1643, before the Lord Mayor.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Ecc 2:18-23

18Thus I hated all the fruit of my labor for which I had labored under the sun, for I must leave it to the man who will come after me. 19And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have control over all the fruit of my labor for which I have labored by acting wisely under the sun. This too is vanity. 20Therefore I completely despaired of all the fruit of my labor for which I had labored under the sun. 21When there is a man who has labored with wisdom, knowledge and skill, then he gives his legacy to one who has not labored with them. This too is vanity and a great evil. 22For what does a man get in all his labor and in his striving with which he labors under the sun? 23Because all his days his task is painful and grievous; even at night his mind does not rest. This too is vanity.

Ecc 2:18-21 There is an obvious poetic parallel between Ecc 2:18-19 and Ecc 2:20-21 (cf. NET Bible, p. 1119).

Ecc 2:18 I must leave it to the man who will come after me Traditional wisdom teachers put great faith in one’s prosperity, not so Qoheleth. Everyone leaves everything (cf. Psa 39:6).

Ecc 2:19; Ecc 2:21 he gives his legacy to one who has not labored with them Often that which is passed on to us is not appreciated, even squandered away!

Ecc 2:20 What a lament! What a realization! In Hebrew there is a repetition (NOUN and VERB, BDB 765, KB 845) of the term labor, toil, which strengthens the lament.

The VERBAL (BDB 384, KB 382, Piel INFINITIVE CONSTRUCT) means despair, be hopeless, desperate. Qoheleth uses strong language to describe the depth of his emotions about the utter futility of human effort!

Ecc 2:21 there is This Hebrew phrase (BDB 441) introduces a hypothetical, but often occurring, human experience or example (cf. Ecc 2:21; Ecc 4:8; Ecc 5:13; Ecc 6:1; Ecc 6:11; Ecc 7:15[twice]; Ecc 8:14[thrice]; Ecc 10:5). It is used many times in Wisdom Literature (e.g., Pro 11:24; Pro 12:8; Pro 13:7; Pro 14:12; Pro 16:25; Pro 18:24; Pro 20:15).

NASB, NKJV,

NRSVa great evil

TEVit isn’t right

NJBgrossly evil

JPSOAa grave evil

REBa great wrong

These translations reflect the Hebrew word evil (BDB 948-949). It is used in this context as grievous injustice (cf. Ecc 2:17; Ecc 5:13[twice],16; Ecc 6:1; Ecc 9:12; Ecc 10:5). The unfairness and randomness of this fallen world lies heavy on this author! See note at Ecc 5:13.

Ecc 2:22 What does a man get in all his labor What are the ultimate results of physical labors? Is there anything beyond the grave?

Ecc 2:23 even at night his mind does not rest Those who possess worldly things worry about them constantly (i.e. day, Ecc 2:23 a and night, Ecc 2:23 b; i.e., no rest). Those who seek wisdom realize the more you know, the more you know you do not know! There is a race no one can win (cf. Ecc 1:18).

Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley

labour. Put by Figure of speech Metonymy (of Cause), App-6, for all that is produced by toil.

taken = toiled.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

Ecc 2:18-26

DEATH ROBS A MAN OF THE FRUITS OF HIS LABOR

“And I hated all my labor wherein I labored under the sun, seeing that I must leave it unto the man that shall be after me. And who knoweth whether he shall be a wise man or a fool? yet will he rule over all my labor wherein I have labored, and wherein I have showed myself wise under the sun. This also is vanity. Therefore I turned about to cause my heart to despair concerning all the labor wherein I had labored under the sun. For there is a man whose labor is with wisdom, and with knowledge, and with skillfulness; yet to a man that hath not labored therein shall he leave it for his portion. This also is vanity and a great evil. For what hath a man of all his labor, and of the striving of his heart, wherein he laboreth under the sun? For all his days are but sorrows, and his travail is grief; yea, even in the night his soul taketh no rest. This also is vanity.

There is nothing better for a man than that his soul should eat and drink, and make his soul enjoy good in his labor. This also I saw, that it was from the hand of God. For who can eat, or who can have enjoyment more than I? For to the man that pleaseth him, God giveth wisdom, and knowledge, and joy; but to the sinner he giveth travail, to gather and to heap up, that he may give to him that pleaseth God. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.”

“Seeing that I must leave it unto the man that shall be after me” (Ecc 2:18). “Here we learn that Solomon had some misgivings about his son Rehoboam”; and there were plenty of reasons why he should have had them. Under the stupid government of his son Rehoboam, his fool of a son soon liquidated the once-powerful empire of his father; and when Shishak, king of Egypt, came up and captured Jerusalem, even the gold-plated treasures of the sacred Temple itself were carried away to Egypt.

Dean wrote that, “It is impossible that Solomon could thus have spoken concerning Rehoboam”; but our opinion is that if Solomon was a tenth as wise as the Bible says he was, he would certainly have had sense enough to know that any son raised like a hot-house flower in a godless harem would not have the judgment to govern any nation, much less a worldwide empire; nor would Solomon himself have had such sense, if God had not supernaturally endowed him. Of course, Solomon did indeed have misgivings about Rehoboam.

“Who knoweth whether he will be a wise man or a fool” (Ecc 2:19)? As Solomon thought upon the certainty that he would soon leave his vast riches to another, there was increased bitterness in his heart at the possibility that his heir might be a fool (as indeed he proved to be). Many another rich man has been haunted by the same uncertainty. It was this very question that God Himself hurled in the teeth of the rich fool (Luk 12:20), “Thou foolish one, this night is thy soul required of thee; and the things which thou hast prepared, WHOSE SHALL THEY BE”? This is the question that every rich man should contemplate. Solomon contemplated it here, but he did not like the obvious answer.

The argument from all of this was thus stated by Loader: “By toil and wisdom Solomon had made great gains, but his successor may well be a fool; and, in that case, wisdom has only served the interests of folly. Therefore wisdom is worthless.

Returning again to that example Jesus gave us in Luke 12, “So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” Right here lies the secret of why despair, disillusionment, disappointment and frustration settled like a dark cloud over Solomon’s heart. No wonder he hated life.

“Yet to a man that hath not labored therein shall he leave it” (Ecc 2:21). The great paradox mentioned here is that great reward should go to the wise and the industrious; but, lo, and behold, some lazy and foolish heir inherits every bit of it! No wonder that Solomon’s verdict on all this was that, “This also is vanity and a great evil.” It seems never to have occurred to Solomon that he should have made himself rich toward God with all that wealth. Instead of that, he spent his last days fretting over whether or not a fool would get everything that his wisdom and labor had produced. And sure enough, the fool got it, and promptly lost it. This is a true description of what has happened to many another vast estate.

“Even in the night his heart taketh no rest” (Ecc 2:23). This is indeed an accurate description of people with great possessions whose lives are oriented to this life alone and who neither believe in God nor try to serve him. The result: sleepless nights, one headache after another, and endless worry and apprehension.

“There is nothing better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and make his soul enjoy good in his labor” (Ecc 2:24). Scholars dispute the obvious meaning here; but what appears is that basic enjoyment comes to the man who works for a living and is blessed of God to enjoy his food and drink. The king with all of his wealth here seems to sense the fact that it has brought him no more, actually, than that which comes from the working man’s livelihood.

Waddey, however, interpreted this passage to mean that Solomon concluded that the best policy for life was Epicureanism: “Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die. If that is what the passage means, it is, of course, a false viewpoint. This was the philosophy of the rich fool in Luke 12, but God Himself condemned it.

“The real value of Ecclesiastes is that it portrays life as it must ever be without Christ. And the picture that emerges in these chapters is so terrible that it should frighten every unbeliever on earth out of his atheism and turn his thoughts to God, who alone is able to bless man eternally.

“To the man that pleaseth him, God giveth wisdom, and knowledge, and joy; but to the sinner he giveth travail” (Ecc 2:26). As Cook said, “Here is the doctrine of Retribution, and God is the moral Governor of the world.” One may chase any earthly rainbow that he may choose, but, apart from the blessing of God, the utmost futility, despair and destruction will be his eternal reward. The forcefulness with which Ecclesiastes teaches this truth is the secret of its value.

Did Solomon have cause to worry? One has sufficient evidence to recite the history of Israel following Solomons death, and he discovers not one but two men who ascended to his throne. The kingdom did divide. In Solomons closing years, his foreign wives turned away his heart from the Lord (1Ki 11:1-8). The author of Chronicles is silent on his closing years, but in I Kings we read that he loved many foreign women (1Ki 11:1). Solomon also had many adversaries. Among them were Hadad the Edomite and Rezon of Damascus (1Ki 11:9-25). However, the most dangerous of his foes had to be Jeroboam. Jeroboam had been appointed to a prominent position in Solomons kingdom. In addition to his own personal designs on the throne, he had the encouragement of the prophet Ahijah. The aggression and zeal of Jeroboam were manifested throughout the kingdom, and when Solomon suspected him he fled to Egypt for his life (1Ki 11:26-40). It is thought by some that the lad who comes out of prison to take the place of the king (Ecc 4:14) is a direct reference to Jeroboam. It is true that upon Solomons death, Jeroboam did return from Egypt to assume the leadership of the ten tribes. Rehoboam, Solomons son, was proclaimed king in Jerusalem.

The legacy is of major consequences to the one who has acquired it because he applied wisdom, knowledge, and skill in the task of gathering and collecting. The term skill may also be translated efficiency which suggests hours of toiling and perfecting of trades. He is not like the one who came upon his fortune through happenstance or chance. Solomon has designed and labored toward such an end. He has placed his whole heart in his work. His fortune represents an entire lifetime of tireless effort and toil. Some of the magnitude of his despair is sharpened by his question concerning profit. He asks, For what does a man get in all his labor and in his striving with which he labors under the sun (Ecc 2:22)? His answer: He gets nothing! Thus he declares, I hated all the fruit of my labor. In addition he says, I completely despaired of all the fruit of my labor. He places a label on the fruit of his labor. It reads: This too is vanity and a great evil.

This is the first time in Solomons book that he reaches above the sun and speaks of God. As previously noted, however, it is not in the sense of a warm, covenant relationship. Rather, he speaks of God as the Creator who is in complete control of His universe. Gods laws govern our world. There is enjoyment to be found in ones labor, but it is only when God blesses or permits. There are two classes of people who are identified. One is the good man who receives approval from God, and thus enjoys his labor. The other is the sinner who does not find this approval from God. Perhaps the intention here is to explain that a wise man, in this instance the good man, works in harmony with Gods laws as he interprets them through the revelation of God through nature. As a result he pleases God and finds favor. On the other hand, the sinner is literally one who offends God. He sets aside the rules he discovers in this world. As a result he runs contrary to what he knows to be the better way to live. When one does this, he does not discover wisdom, knowledge or joy.

Solomon employs the term joy in much the same way that it is understood today. It carries the idea of cheerfulness and satisfaction with life. It is used three other times in Ecclesiastes and in each case the NASV renders it differently. They are: pleasure, (Ecc 2:10); joy, (Ecc 2:26); gladness, (Ecc 5:20); cheerful, (Ecc 9:7). In each reference it speaks to the excitement of discovery and living life to its fullest each day. This kind of joy does not come to the man who is motivated by greed, or gathering wealth and possessions for his own use. The sinner has a grievous task because he gathers and collects with selfish intent. The good man is quite different. His wisdom does not bring grief. His knowledge does not bring sorrow. His joy comes to him because he finds satisfaction in the labor within a single day. This conclusion is clearly stated: Here is what I have seen to be good and fitting: to eat, to drink and enjoy oneself in all ones labor in which he toils under the sun during the few years of his life which God has given him; for this is his reward (Ecc 5:18).

The sinner does not enjoy what he has gathered. This has been the basic premise of the book thus far. Not only has Solomon demonstrated this to be true, but what the sinner has gathered and collected for his own use will be inherited by one who is good in Gods sight. This principle of retribution is taught in Pro 28:8 which reads: He who increases his wealth by interest and usury, gathers it for him who is gracious to the poor. Again he writes: The wealth of the sinner is stored up for the righteous (Pro 13:22).

The vanity of striving after wind of Ecc 2:26, does not refer to the activities of the good man. It has reference to the sinner who is collecting and gathering fruit of his labor, but will not enjoy it because it will soon belong to another. (Read carefully Ecc 2:11; Ecc 2:17-18.)

The fact that the good man recognizes that his enjoyment is from the hand of God, should not be interpreted in the context that God has given him a detailed rule book by which he works and lives to increase his joy. Rather, it is simply that the good man realizes that food and drink are gifts, which he acknowledges to be from God, and he finds genuine joy in the use of them. There is a definite moral involved. If avarice is the foe which keeps one from enjoying life, then setting oneself free from such a vain sin would result in the daily satisfaction with life that Solomon is discussing.

To try and discover happiness where God has not ordained that happiness can be found, has always been mans failing. Jesus redirects mens minds to those higher and nobler efforts which result in genuine happiness. Never has it been that joy results from the pursuit of joy. Our Lords beatitudes underscore the truth that when one seeks higher values such as purity, peace, and righteousness, that blessedness, in this case joy, overtakes him, and he discovers that he is experiencing real joy where God has ordained that it is to be found.

The division of chapter three at this particular verse is unfortunate. The same theme is under consideration in all twenty-two verses. In Ecc 3:9 the basic question is asked once again: What profit is there to the worker from that in which he toils? The entire chapter is an amplification of chapter two. How can man discover a profit from his labor? First, by submitting to the fact that God does things appropriately in His own time. Second, eat, drink, work, and do good in ones lifetime. Third, do not be discouraged by the similar fate (death) of both man and beast as man does not have the knowledge to see his future, and thus he should be happy in his activities day-by-day. The profit is limited but it is there. Joy is his reward. Solomon states it clearly: Here is what I have seen to be good and fitting: to eat, to drink and enjoy one-self in all ones labor in which he toils under the sun during the few years of his life which God has given him; for this is his reward (Ecc 5:18).

Pleasure, Wisdom, Folly, Toil – Ecc 2:1-26

Open It

1. Why do you think the entertainment industry (movies, television, etc.) is such a booming business?

2. What priority do you think a person should give to leisure and fun?

3. What is something about work that you find satisfying?

Explore It

4. What did Solomon say about his pursuit of pleasure? (Ecc 2:1-2)

5. What sort of activities did Solomon find meaningless? (Ecc 2:1-26)

6. How did Solomon try to cheer himself? (Ecc 2:3)

7. What projects did Solomon undertake? (Ecc 2:4-8)

8. In what way did Solomon indulge himself? (Ecc 2:10)

9. What conclusion did Solomon reach when he considered all he had achieved? (Ecc 2:11)

10. To what did Solomon turn his thoughts? (Ecc 2:12)

11. What conclusion did Solomon reach about wisdom and folly? (Ecc 2:12-14)

12. What did Solomon say would be the fate of the fool and the wise person? (Ecc 2:15-16)

13. Why did Solomon hate life and all the things for which he had worked? (Ecc 2:17-21)

14. According to Solomon, what does a person get for all his or her strivings? (Ecc 2:22-23)

15. In what did Solomon say a person should find satisfaction? Why? (Ecc 2:24)

16. What do we require to find enjoyment? (Ecc 2:24-25)

17. What does God give? (Ecc 2:26)

Get It

18. When does pleasure become meaningless or even harmful?

19. With what sort of activities do people try to fill their life?

20. What sorts of distractions do you pursue to give your life meaning or significance?

21. To what extent are the fates of the fool and the wise the same?

22. Why did Solomon conclude that a person can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his or her work?

23. Why is it so hard to find satisfaction in our relationship with God?

24. How should we please God with our life?

Apply It

25. In what way can you seek to please God with your life today?

26. What is one thing you can do to find satisfaction in your work this week?

27. How do you need to reprioritize your commitment to pleasure in light of its unimportance?

Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary

I hated: Ecc 2:4-9, Ecc 1:13, Ecc 4:3, Ecc 5:18, Ecc 9:9

taken: Heb. laboured

I should: Ecc 2:26, Ecc 5:13, Ecc 5:14, 1Ki 11:11-13, Psa 17:14, Psa 39:6, Psa 49:10, Luk 12:20, Luk 16:27, Luk 16:28, Act 20:29, Act 20:30, 1Co 3:10

Reciprocal: Exo 1:8 – a new king 1Ki 14:26 – the shields of gold 2Ch 6:10 – I am risen Est 8:1 – give the house Est 8:2 – Esther set Job 14:21 – he knoweth it not Job 20:22 – the fulness Job 21:21 – For what Pro 15:16 – great Pro 17:25 – General Pro 19:13 – foolish Pro 27:11 – be wise Ecc 2:21 – whose Ecc 5:10 – this Ecc 9:6 – have they Dan 11:4 – and shall be Zec 9:6 – General

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Ecc 2:18-23. Even if one has amassed wealth there is the bitterness of not knowing who will inherit it or how the heir will use it. Everything has to be left behind to an uncertain fate, for there is no guarantee of character as there is of property. The latter can be entailed, not so the former. Well may a man begin to despair as he sees that for which he has toiled with sagacity and shrewd insight passing into the hands of one who has not laboured and so does not properly appreciate. The thought of Ecc 2:21 is different from that of Ecc 2:19. For another discussion of the vanity of riches see Ecc 6:10-12.

Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible

1. The outcome of labor 2:18-26

In Ecc 2:18-26, the emphasis is on what happens to the fruits of labor that one accumulates over a lifetime of toil. These fruits include: money and all it can buy, fame, and happiness.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

Solomon viewed all his labor during his lifetime ("under the sun," Ecc 2:18) with despair, because there was no real permanence to its fruits. He could not take them with him.

"A Jewish proverb says, ’There are no pockets in shrouds.’" [Note: Wiersbe, p. 490.]

Solomon would have no control over what he had accumulated or accomplished after he died, either (Ecc 2:19). The idea so common today that a good job is more desirable than a bad job because it yields benefits the worker can enjoy is a very short-sighted, selfish view. It seems to contradict Solomon’s conclusion, but it does not. Solomon’s perspective was much broader and more altruistic. He was thinking about what long-range changes for good could come out of all human toil.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

B. General Observations 2:18-6:9

Thus far, Solomon had reflected on the futility of all human endeavor generally (Ecc 1:3-11), and the futility of human achievement (Ecc 1:12-15) and his own achievements in particular (Ecc 2:1-17). Next, he turned to an evaluation of labor, his own (Ecc 2:18-20), as well as that of all other people (Ecc 2:21 to Ecc 6:9). What he described in this section did not require a privileged position; it can be observed by anyone.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

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