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;
- 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)