[2:11-3:1] Whatever Solomon saw & wanted he went after! He denied himself nothing. He says that he stepped back and looked at all he had done and it was all so meaningless – like chasing the wind. Solomon compared wisdom and foolishness and discovered that both the wise and the fool die. They are both forgotten. This disturbed Solomon… he says in verse 17, “So I came to hate life because everything done here under the sun is so troubling. Everything is meaningless – like chasing the wind.”
Solomon was angered that he would leave all the reward of his hard labor to others whenever he died. He makes a point that no one can tell if the successor would be wise or foolish. He says, “So I gave up in despair, questioning the value of all my hard work in this world.” He discovered that there is no point in worrying about it because there was nothing that he could do about it.
