Ecc 2:20 | NETfull | STEP | So I began to despair about all the fruit of my labor for which I worked so hard on earth.

Ecclesiastes 2:20

20 So I began to despair ^{▼▼ Heb “I turned aside to allow my heart despair.” The term לִבִּי (libbi, “my heart”) is a synecdoche of part (i.e., heart) for the whole (i.e., whole person); see E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 648.} about all the fruit of ^{▼▼ The phrase “the fruit of” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity (see the following note on the word “labor”).} my labor ^{▼▼ Heb “all my toil.” As in 2:18–19, the term עֲמָלִי (’amali, “my labor”) is a metonymy of cause (i.e., my labor) for effect (i.e., the fruit of my labor). The metonymy is recognized by several translations: “all the fruits of my labor” (NAB); “all the fruit of my labor” (NASB); “all the gains I had made” (NJPS).}
for which I worked so hard ^{▼▼ Here the author uses an internal cognate accusative construction (accusative noun and verb from the same root) for emphasis: שֶׁעָמַלְתִּי הֶעָמָל (he’amal she’amalti, “the toil for which I had toiled”); see IBHS 167 #10.2.1g.} on earth. ^{▼▼ Heb “under the sun.”}