Ecclesiastes 2:20 describes a moment when the Preacher, the author who calls himself Qoheleth, decides to stop hoping that his hard work will give his life lasting meaning. He has looked at all the effort he poured into projects “under the sun” and found that it may not last or satisfy. Speaking as the teacher of the book, he tells his readers, and himself, about this turn of mind after long reflection on how much of human labor seems to slip away.
Therefore I began to cause my heart to despair concerning all the labor in which I had labored under the sun.
Ecclesiastes 2:20 (WEB)
What Ecclesiastes 2:20 Means
The phrase “I began to cause my heart to despair” describes a deliberate choice, not a passing mood. The Preacher is saying that he turned his heart away from expecting anything lasting from his labor. The word “despair” here means giving up hope of finding permanent gain in the work itself, not a collapse into general hopelessness about God or about living.
“All the labor in which I had labored under the sun” refers to the whole span of his work: building, acquiring, planning, and striving during his time on earth. “Under the sun” is his recurring phrase for life viewed from within the visible world, apart from any eternal perspective he has not yet reached. The verse does not promise that work is worthless in every sense. It describes how it looked to him when he tried to find ultimate value in it.
The Context of Ecclesiastes 2:20
Ecclesiastes is a wisdom book traditionally attributed to Solomon, whose name is linked to the title “the son of David, king in Jerusalem” in the opening verse. Its audience is largely the reader who wonders whether life adds up to anything. The book circles around the repeated word “vanity,” which means breath or vapor, something fleeting and hard to hold.
The verses just before this one (2:17 to 2:19) describe the Preacher hating life because his achievements may pass to someone who did not earn them and who might be foolish. Verse 2:20 is the emotional result of that worry. Verses 2:21 to 2:23 follow with the same concern, noting that a person may leave everything to someone who did not labor for it. Reading the verse inside this run shows that its despair is rooted in a specific fear about inheritance and fairness, not in a generic gloom.
Key Phrases in Ecclesiastes 2:20
Ecclesiastes 12:13
This is the end of the matter. All has been heard. Fear God, and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man.
(WEB)
This verse closes the book with the conclusion that fearing God and keeping his commandments is the whole duty of a person. It answers the despair of 2:20 by pointing to a foundation beyond the labor under the sun.
Matthew 6:19-21
19 “Don’t lay up treasures for yourselves on the earth, where moth and rust consume, and where thieves break through and steal; 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consume, and where thieves don’t break through and steal; 21 for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
(WEB)
Jesus teaches his listeners not to store up treasure on earth, where it can decay or be lost, but to store it in heaven. The passage echoes the Preacher’s concern about what our labor ultimately secures.
A Short Prayer From Ecclesiastes 2:20
Lord, you know how often I pour myself into work and then wonder whether any of it will last. When my heart starts to sink under the weight of my effort, help me hold my labor with open hands. Teach me to work faithfully, to enjoy the good gifts you give along the way, and to find my lasting hope in you rather than in what I can build or keep. Steady my heart when the questions about legacy and inheritance rise up, and remind me that you see what I cannot. Amen.
