Ecclesiastes 2:17

So I loathed ¹  life ²  because what happens ³  on earth ⁴  seems awful to me; for all the benefits of wisdom ⁵  are futile – like chasing the wind.

So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.

So I hated life, for the work which had been done under the sun was grievous to me; because everything is futility and striving after wind.

So now I hate life because everything done here under the sun is so irrational. Everything is meaningless, like chasing the wind.

I hate life. As far as I can see, what happens on earth is a bad business. It's smoke--and spitting into the wind.

So I was hating life, because everything under the sun was evil to me: all is to no purpose and desire for wind.

So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me; for all is vanity and a chasing after wind.

Therefore I hated life because the work that was done under the sun was distressing to me, for all is vanity and grasping for the wind.

So I loathed ¹  life ²  because what happens ³  on earth ⁴  seems awful to me; for all the benefits of wisdom ⁵  are futile – like chasing the wind.

¹ tn Or “I hated.”

² tn The term הַחַיִּים (hakhayyim, “life”) functions as a metonymy of association, that is, that which is associated with life, that is, the profitlessness and futility of human secular achievement.

³ tn Heb “the deed that is done.” The root עָשָׂה (’asah, “to do”) is repeated in הַמַּעֲשֶׂה שֶׁנַּעֲשָׂה (hamma’aseh shenna’asah, “the deed that is done”) for emphasis. Here, the term “deed” does not refer to human accomplishment, as in 2:1-11, but to the fact of death that destroys any relative advantage of wisdom over folly (2:14a-16). Qoheleth metaphorically describes death as a “deed” that is “done” to man.

⁴ tn Heb “under the sun.”

⁵ tn Heb “all,” referring here to the relative advantage of wisdom.