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So I hated life, because the work that is worked under the sun was grievous to me; for all is vanity and a chasing after wind.
Verse Takeaways
1
Not Despair, But Disillusionment
Commentators clarify that Solomon's 'hatred' of life is not a simple desire for death but a profound disillusionment. John Gill explains it's a comparative statement: this earthly life is 'hated' when compared to the superior value of God's lovingkindness or eternal life. It's a recognition that life 'under the sun,' on its own terms, is ultimately grievous and unsatisfying.
See 3 Verse Takeaways
Book Overview
Ecclesiastes
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4
18th Century
Presbyterian
Solomon, having found that wisdom and folly agree in being subject to vanity, now contrasts one with the other (Ecclesiastes 2:13). Bot…
19th Century
Anglican
Is grievous—Rather, was.
17th Century
Reformed Baptist
Therefore I hated life. Not strictly and simply understood, since life is the gift of God; and a great blessing it is, mo…
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Solomon found that knowledge and prudence were preferable to ignorance and folly, though human wisdom and knowledge will not make a man happy. The …