What is the meaning of Ecclesiastes 2:17? So I hated life “ So I hated life ” (Ecclesiastes 2:17a) is Solomon’s raw confession that life, viewed only on the horizontal plane, left him disgusted. • The same sense appears in Job 10:1—“My soul loathes my life.” • David felt a similar heaviness in Psalm 42:5, yet he eventually looked upward for hope. • Earlier Solomon declared, “I have seen all the deeds that are done under the sun; and behold, everything is futile” (Ecclesiastes 1:14). Taken literally, Solomon isn’t denying the gift of life; he is exposing life’s emptiness when God is ignored. because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me The daily grind “under the sun” (life lived with only earthly horizons) felt burdensome. • After the fall, God told Adam, “Through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life” (Genesis 3:17-19), explaining why work can feel grievous. • Solomon echoes his earlier lament: “What does a man gain from all his labor at which he toils under the sun?” (Ecclesiastes 1:3). • Even believers can feel this weight, yet Paul encourages, “Your labor in the Lord is not in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:58), showing that work gains eternal value when done for Him. For everything is futile Here Solomon restates his theme—“Vanity of vanities” (Ecclesiastes 1:2). • Romans 8:20 notes that creation “was subjected to futility” until Christ’s return. • Isaiah 40:6-8 (quoted in 1 Peter 1:24) reminds us that human achievements wither like grass. Without an eternal anchor, every pursuit—pleasure, wisdom, wealth—falls flat. and a pursuit of the wind Chasing satisfaction apart from God is like “striving after wind” (Ecclesiastes 1:14). • Hosea 12:1 says Ephraim “feeds on the wind,” picturing empty pursuits. • In contrast, Paul urges believers to “press on toward the goal” (Philippians 3:14)—a chase that actually leads somewhere. Solomon’s metaphor underscores that worldly gain escapes our grasp the moment we reach for it. summary Ecclesiastes 2:17 captures Solomon’s mid-life verdict: life divorced from God is intolerable, labor is exhausting, achievements are hollow, and every earthly chase dissolves like mist. His honesty is meant to drive us beyond “under the sun” living and into joyful submission to the One who “has set eternity in their hearts” (Ecclesiastes 3:11). Only when Christ is central does work become worship, life regain delight, and the wind-chase turn into a Spirit-led race with eternal reward. |
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