Ecclesiastes 2:18 - Exposition

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 heres

Heredem alterius velut unda supervenit undam,

Quid vici prosunt aut horrea?"