King James Version

Ecclesiastes 2:20

Therefore I went about to cause my heart to despair of all the labour which I took under the sun.

Study

Hebrew

Tap a word to see its meaning. Words run left to right in English reading order.

וְסַבּ֥וֹתִֽיvesabotiand bringסָבַבconjunction, verb, qal, perfect, 1st person, common, singular — “and bring”, a completed actionH5437to revolve, surround, or border; used in various applications, literally and figurativelybring, cast, fetch, lead, make, walk, [idiom] whirl, [idiom] round about, be about on every side, apply, avoid, beset (about), besiege, bring again, carry (about), change, cause to come about, [idiom] circuit, (fetch a) compass (about, rou…אֲנִ֖יanimineאֲנִיpronoun, personal, 1st person, common, singular — “mine”H589II, (as for) me, mine, myself, we, [idiom] which, [idiom] who.לְיַאֵ֣שׁleyaeshto despairיָאַשׁpreposition, verb, piel, infinitive construct — “to despair”, the to-form of the verbH2976to desist, i.e. (figuratively) to despond(cause to) despair, one that is desperate, be no hope.אֶתetobject markerאֵתparticle, direct object marker — “object marker”H853properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)(as such unrepresented in English).לִבִּ֑יlibicomfortablyלֵבnoun, common, masculine, singular, construct, suffix, pronominal, 1st person, common, singular — “comfortably”, the of-form, joined to the next wordH3820the heart; also used (figuratively) very widely for the feelings, the will and even the intellect; likewise for the centre of anything[phrase] care for, comfortably, consent, [idiom] considered, courag(-eous), friend(-ly), ((broken-), (hard-), (merry-), (stiff-), (stout-), double) heart(-ed), [idiom] heed, [idiom] I, kindly, midst, mind(-ed), [idiom] regard(-ed), [idiom]…עַ֚לalaboveעַלpreposition — “above”H5921above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applicationsabove, according to(-ly), after, (as) against, among, and, [idiom] as, at, because of, beside (the rest of), between, beyond the time, [idiom] both and, by (reason of), [idiom] had the charge of, concerning for, in (that), (forth, out) of,…כָּלkalallכֹּלnoun, common, masculine, singular, construct — “all”, the of-form, joined to the next wordH3605properly, the whole; hence, all, any or every (in the singular only, but often in a plural sense)(in) all (manner, (ye)), altogether, any (manner), enough, every (one, place, thing), howsoever, as many as, (no-) thing, ought, whatsoever, (the) whole, whoso(-ever).הֶ֣עָמָ֔לheamalthe toilעָמָלdefinite article, noun, common, both genders, singular, absolute — “the toil”, the ordinary formH5999toil, i.e. wearing effort; hence, worry, wheth. of body or mindgrievance(-vousness), iniquity, labour, mischief, miserable(-sery), pain(-ful), perverseness, sorrow, toil, travail, trouble, wearisome, wickedness.שֶׁעָמַ֖לְתִּיsheamaltiwho labourעָמַלparticle, relative, verb, qal, perfect, 1st person, common, singular — “who labour”, a completed actionH5998to toil, i.e. work severely and with irksomeness(take) labour (in).תַּ֥חַתtachatwithתַּחַתpreposition — “with”H8478the bottom (as depressed); only adverbially, below (often with prepositional prefix underneath), in lieu of, etc.as, beneath, [idiom] flat, in(-stead), (same) place (where...is), room, for...sake, stead of, under, [idiom] unto, [idiom] when...was mine, whereas, (where-) fore, with.הַשָּֽׁמֶשׁhashameshthe sunשֶׁמֶשׁdefinite article, noun, common, both genders, singular, absolute — “the sun”, the ordinary formH8121the sun; by implication, the east; figuratively, a ray, i.e. (architectural) a notched battlement[phrase] east side(-ward), sun (rising), [phrase] west(-ward), window. See also H1053 (בֵּית שֶׁמֶשׁ).

Jewish translation (JPS 1917)

Therefore I turned about to cause my heart to despair concerning all the labour wherein I had laboured under the sun.

Compare Public-Domain Translations

The King James Version remains the text of this page and the canonical URL.

American Standard Version (1901)

Therefore I turned about to cause my heart to despair concerning all the labor wherein I had labored under the sun.

Young’s Literal Translation

And I turned round to cause my heart to despair concerning all the labour that I laboured at under the sun.

World English Bible

Therefore I began to cause my heart to despair concerning all the labor in which I had labored under the sun.

Darby Translation

Then I went about to cause my heart to despair of all the labour wherewith I had laboured under the sun.

Douay-Rheims

Wherefore I left off and my heart renounced labouring any more under the sun.

Jewish Publication Society (1917)

Therefore I turned about to cause my heart to despair concerning all the labour wherein I had laboured under the sun.

Brenton’s Septuagint (1851), English

So I went about to dismiss from my heart all my labour wherein I had laboured under the sun.

Septuagint (Brenton’s Greek, 1851)

Καὶ ἐπέστρεψα ἐγὼ τοῦ ἀποτάξασθαι τὴν καρδίαν μου ἐν παντὶ μόχθῳ μου ᾧ ἐμόχθησα ὑπὸ τὸν ἥλιον·