Translation
Therefore I changed directions
Go to footnote numberin life and I began to despair in my heart over all the toilsome toil at which I had toiled here on earth.
Paraphrase
Therefore I changed directions from my previous perspective about life to one in which I surrounded my inner core with despair over all the irksome work at which I had worked during my life here on earth.
Footnotes
1: “changed directions”
This verb means two things, “to turn or turn around, and also to surround or encompass.” I have tried to express both meanings in the paraphrase column because I think both are relevant in this passage. At some point in his past Solomon had experienced a change in perspective taking him from one understanding of work and accomplishments to a different one. This new perspective is more mature and realistic, but also dark and gloomy. It is a perspective shaped by suffering and heartache.