Ecclesiastes 2:20

So I began to despair ¹  about all the fruit of ²  my labor ³  for which I worked so hard ⁴  on earth. ⁵ 

So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labour under the sun.

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

So I turned in despair from hard work. It was not the answer to my search for satisfaction in this life.

That's when I called it quits, gave up on anything that could be hoped for on this earth.

So my mind was turned to grief for all the trouble I had taken and all my wisdom under the sun.

So I turned and gave my heart up to despair concerning all the toil of my labors under the sun,

Therefore I turned my heart and despaired of all the labor in which I had toiled under the sun.

So I began to despair ¹  about all the fruit of ²  my labor ³  for which I worked so hard ⁴  on earth. ⁵ 

¹ tn Heb “I turned aside to allow my heart despair.” The term לִבִּי (libbi, “my heart”) is a synecdoche of part (i.e., heart) for the whole (i.e., whole person); see E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 648.

² tn The phrase “the fruit of” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity (see the following note on the word “labor”).

³ tn Heb “all my toil.” As in 2:18-19, the term עֲמָלִי (’amali, “my labor”) is a metonymy of cause (i.e., my labor) for effect (i.e., the fruit of my labor). The metonymy is recognized by several translations: “all the fruits of my labor” (NAB); “all the fruit of my labor” (NASB); “all the gains I had made” (NJPS).

⁴ tn Here the author uses an internal cognate accusative construction (accusative noun and verb from the same root) for emphasis: שֶׁעָמַלְתִּי הֶעָמָל (he’amal she’amalti, “the toil for which I had toiled”); see IBHS 167 §10.2.1g.

⁵ tn Heb “under the sun.”