Ecclesiastes Chapter 2 verse 18 Holy Bible
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.
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Hate had I for all my work which I had done, because the man who comes after me will have its fruits.
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And I hated all my labour wherewith I had been toiling under the sun, because I should leave it unto the man that shall be after me.
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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.
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I hated all my labor in which I labored under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to the man who comes after me.
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And I have hated all my labour that I labour at under the sun, because I leave it to a man who is after me.
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Pulpit Commentary
Pulpit CommentaryVerse 18. - Such had been his general view of men's actions; he now brings the thought home to his own case, which makes his distress more poignant. Yea (and), I hated all my labor which I had taken under the sun. He is disgusted to reflect upon all the trouble he has taken in life, when he thinks of what will become of the productions of his genius and the treasures which he has amassed. Because I should leave it (my labor, i.e. its results) unto the man that shall be after me. It is impossible that Solomon could thus have spoken of Rehoboam; and to suppose that he wrote thus after Jeroboam's attempt (1 Kings 2:26, etc.), and in contemplation of a possible usurper, is not warranted by any historical statement, the absolute security of the succession being all along expected, and the growing discontent being perfectly unknown to, or contemptuously disregarded by, the king. The sentiment is general, and recurs more than once; e.g., Ecclesiastes 4:8; Ecclesiastes 5:14; Ecclesiastes 6:2. Thus Horace, 'Epist.,' 2:2. 175 - "Sic quia perpetuus nulli datur usus, et heresHeredem alterius velut unda supervenit undam,Quid vici prosunt aut horrea?"
Ellicott's Commentary
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(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.