Qo 2:17 is a shocking text, both from the anthropological point of view and from the theological point of view, and that is probably why it was sometimes neglected, sometimes sweetened. However, a textual criticism and structural and literary analysis shows that this text has an ethical connotation: Qohelet hates life, because it is in no way the result of wisdom (Qo 2:14b–16); God’s work reflects "badly upon Qohelet," because it is unjust: indeed, the wise man, like the fool, must die and will not be long remembered.