Verse Lens · Concise explanation
Ecclesiastes 2:20 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 20. 20Therefore I went about to cause my heart to despair of all the labour which I took under the sun.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
This verse describes the heart turning toward despair over all the labor under the sun.
Read It With
- Ecclesiastes 2:18-23
Read Ecclesiastes 2:20 with 2:18-23. This verse describes the heart turning toward despair over all the labor under the sun. The full unit establishes this movement: Qoheleth despairs because skilled labor and its accumulated results pass to someone whose wisdom is unknown and who did not perform the work, while anxiety continues through the night.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Inheritance exposes why labor cannot create lasting ownership: death transfers control and anxiety can consume even the present portion. Within that movement, this verse describes the heart turning toward despair over all the labor under the sun.
What Remains True
Attempts at permanent control can drain hope from the present worker.
How It Can Shape Life
- Set limits on work and seek support when anxiety about outcomes becomes despair.
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Ecclesiastes 2:18-23 — Labor Passes to an Unknown HeirSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
Where care is needed
The wording reports Qoheleth's interior turn rather than prescribing hopelessness.
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed Scripture wording, paragraph markers, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
Exact location: Ecclesiastes 2:18-23, repository-pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Ecclesiastes
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology used for lexical, grammatical, repeated-word, and translation questions.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Eccl.xml, 2:18-23
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: Ecclesiastes with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Verse-level textual, grammatical, lexical, literary, and translation alternatives.
Exact location: NET Bible Ecclesiastes PDF, printed pp. 1193-1194, translation and notes on 2:18-23
Open source ↗