Eccl. 2:18. I hated all my toil in which I had toiled under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to the man who will come after me;

19. and who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will be master of all for which I toiled.

This is exactly the same sentiment as the preceding. For Solomon is abundant in his use of words and treats this subject at great length. “Thus,” he says, “I am tired of life. For even though I have carried on and administered all my affairs very well, I still do not know whether I am going to have a wise heir or a foolish one. If a wise one, he will grow weary and look for something else, since after all I myself grow tired of my own things and wish for something new. If he is a madman, he will destroy things and will have the same labor in wrecking that I had in establishing them.” As the proverb says, “One man builds and the other destroys.” Thus Octavius Caesar decorated the city, and Nero laid it waste. Pompey had collected an enormous amount of money in the public treasury, with the intention of helping the state. Caesar later confiscated it, and that money contributed more to the downfall of the state than to its welfare. “Therefore regardless of whether my heir is wise or foolish, I have labored in vain and have destroyed my life with silly cares by wanting to provide for the future instead of using the present.” Therefore he adds: (Luther’s Works, v.15 p.45)

Eccl. 2:17.  So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me; for all is vanity and vexation of spirit.

That is, whatever was being done under the sun was completely displeasing to me, because it was nothing but vain labor and a source of useless trouble. This does not imply that Solomon wishes for death, but that he regards it as a misery and a calamity to deal with these matters. He intends to say: “I became sick and tired of it.” For who can bear having nothing but labor in establishing something and nothing but contempt once it has been established or done? In Scriptural phraseology, “to live” or “life” means to live well, to live in plenty. Ps. 22:29 says: “And they did not keep their soul alive,” that is, their soul did not live well, they lived a difficult and grinding life like paupers, like those who have been oppressed and who are otherwise miserable and destined for death. Such people are called in Scripture “not living.” Therefore he is not saying that he yearns for death, but he is displeased with the way of life that wearies and afflicts a man with human counsels. Therefore Solomon means that we should stand ready for death or for life, and he recalls us to the use of things in the present. We should be content with these things, without anxiety about the future, and should commit everything to God, who does indeed want to work through us but in such a way as though we were ignorant of the process. As an ox that threshes and eats does not know what he is doing and has no anxiety about food or about the success of his labor, so we also ought to do what the Lord has assigned and carry out what He has willed. Yet all these things ought to be like a crust of bread that we have on earth, so that we do not strive for the cultivation of this life by our own efforts; for that way lies perpetual disquiet, as now follows: (Luther’s Works, v.15 p.44-45)