Ecclesiastes 2

Ec 2:1-26.

He next tries pleasure and luxury, retaining however, his worldly

"wisdom"

(Ec 3:9),

but all proves "vanity" in respect to the chief good.

1. I said . . . heart--

(Lu 12:19).

thee--my heart, I will test whether thou canst find that solid good

in pleasure which was not in "worldly wisdom." But this also proves to

be "vanity"

(Isa 50:11).

2. laughter--including prosperity, and joy

in general

(Job 8:21).

mad--that is, when made the chief good; it is harmless in

its proper place.

What doeth it?--Of what avail is it in giving solid good?

(Ec 7:6;

Pr 14:13).

3-11. Illustration more at large of

Ec 2:1, 2.

I sought--I resolved, after search into many plans.

give myself unto wine--literally, "to draw my flesh," or "body to

wine" (including all banquetings). Image from a captive drawn after a

chariot in triumph

(Ro 6:16, 19;

1Co 12:2);

or, one "allured"

(2Pe 2:18, 19).

yet acquainting . . . wisdom--literally, "and my heart

(still) was behaving, or guiding itself," with wisdom

[GESENIUS]. MAURER

translates: "was weary of (worldly) wisdom." But the end of

Ec 2:9

confirms English Version.

folly--namely, pleasures of the flesh, termed "mad,"

Ec 2:2.

all the days, &c.--(See Margin and

Ec 6:12;

Job 15:20).

4.

(1Ki 7:1-8; 9:1, 19; 10:18,

&c.).

vineyards--

(So 8:11).

5. gardens--Hebrew, "paradises," a foreign word; Sanskrit, "a

place enclosed with a wall"; Armenian and Arabic, "a pleasure

ground with flowers and shrubs near the king's house, or castle." An

earthly paradise can never make up for the want of the heavenly

(Re 2:7).

6. pools--artificial, for irrigating the soil

(Ge 2:10;

Ne 2:14;

Isa 1:30).

Three such reservoirs are still found, called Solomon's cisterns, a

mile and a half from Jerusalem.

wood that bringeth forth--rather, "the grove that flourisheth with trees"

[LOWTH].

7. born in my house--These were esteemed more trustworthy servants

than those bought

(Ge 14:14; 15:2, 3; 17:12, 13, 27;

Jer 2:14),

called "songs of one's handmaid"

(Ex 23:12;

compare

Ge 12:16;

Job 1:3).

8.

(1Ki 10:27;

2Ch 1:15; 9:20).

peculiar treasure of kings and . . . provinces--contributed by them,

as tributary to him

(1Ki 4:21, 24);

a poor substitute for the wisdom whose "gain is better than fine gold"

(Pr 3:14, 15).

singers--so David

(2Sa 19:35).

musical instruments . . . of all sorts--introduced at banquets

(Isa 5:12;

Am 6:5, 6);

rather, "a princess and princesses," from an Arabic root. One

regular wife, or queen

(Es 1:9);

Pharaoh's daughter

(1Ki 3:1);

other secondary wives, "princesses," distinct from the "concubines"

(1Ki 11:3;

Ps 45:10;

So 6:8)

[WEISS, GESENIUS]. Had these

been omitted, the enumeration would be incomplete.

9. great--opulent

(Ge 24:35;

Job 1:3;

see

1Ki 10:23).

remained--

(Ec 2:3).

10. my labour--in procuring pleasures.

this--evanescent "joy" was my only "portion out of all my labor"

(Ec 3:22; 5:18; 9:9;

1Ki 10:5).

11. But all these I felt were only "vanity," and of "no profit" as

to the chief good. "Wisdom" (worldly common sense, sagacity), which

still "remained with me"

(Ec 2:9),

showed me that these could not give solid happiness.

12. He had tried (worldly) wisdom

(Ec 1:12-18)

and folly (foolish pleasure)

(Ec 2:1-11);

he now compares them

(Ec 2:12)

and finds that while (worldly)

wisdom excelleth folly

(Ec 2:13, 14),

yet the one event, death, befalls both

(Ec 2:14-16),

and that thus the wealth acquired by the

wise man's "labor" may descend to a "fool" that hath not labored

(Ec 2:18, 19, 21);

therefore all his labor is vanity

(Ec 2:22, 23).

what can the man do . . . already done--

(Ec 1:9).

Parenthetical. A future investigator can strike nothing out "new," so

as to draw a different conclusion from what I draw by comparing "wisdom

and madness." HOLDEN, with less ellipsis,

translates, "What, O man, shall come after the king?" &c. Better,

GROTIUS, "What man can come after (compete with)

the king in the things which are done?" None ever can have the same

means of testing what all earthly things can do towards satisfying the

soul; namely, worldly wisdom, science, riches, power, longevity, all

combined.

13, 14.

(Pr 17:24).

The worldly "wise" man has good sense in managing his affairs,

skill and taste in building and planting, and keeps

within safe and respectable bounds in pleasure, while the

"fool" is wanting in these respects ("darkness," equivalent to fatal

error, blind infatuation), yet one event, death, happens to both

(Job 21:26).

15. why was I--so anxious to become, &c.

(2Ch 1:10).

Then--Since such is the case.

this--namely, pursuit of (worldly) wisdom; it can never fill the place

of the true wisdom

(Job 28:28;

Jer 8:9).

16. remembrance--a great aim of the worldly

(Ge 11:4).

The righteous alone attain it

(Ps 112:6;

Pr 10:7).

for ever--no perpetual memorial.

that which now is--MAURER,

"In the days to come all things shall be

now long ago forgotten."

17. Disappointed in one experiment after another, he is weary of life.

The backslider ought to have rather reasoned as the prodigal

(Ho 2:6, 7;

Lu 15:17, 18).

grievous unto me--

(Job 10:1).

18, 19. One hope alone was left to the disappointed worldling, the

perpetuation of his name and riches, laboriously gathered, through his

successor. For selfishness is mostly at the root of worldly parents'

alleged providence for their children. But now the remembrance of how

he himself, the piously reared child of David, had disregarded his

father's dying charge

(1Ch 28:9),

suggested the sad misgivings as to what Rehoboam, his son by an

idolatrous Ammonitess, Naamah, should prove to be; a foreboding too

fully realized

(1Ki 12:1-18; 14:21-31).

20. I gave up as desperate all hope of solid fruit from

my labor.

21. Suppose "there is a man," &c.

equity--rather "with success," as the Hebrew is rendered

(Ec 11:6),

"prosper," though Margin gives "right" [HOLDEN and MAURER].

evil--not in itself, for this is the ordinary course of things, but

"evil," as regards the chief good, that one should have toiled so

fruitlessly.

22. Same sentiment as in

Ec 2:21,

interrogatively.

23. The only fruit he has is, not only sorrows in his days, but

all his days are sorrows, and his travail (not only has griefs

connected with it, but is itself), grief.

24. English Version gives a seemingly Epicurean sense,

contrary to the general scope. The Hebrew, literally is, "It is

not good for man that he should eat," &c., "and should make his

soul see good" (or "show his soul, that is, himself, happy"),

&c. [WEISS]. According to HOLDEN and WEISS,

Ec 3:12, 22

differ from this verse in the text and meaning; here he means, "It is

not good that a man should feast himself, and falsely make as though

his soul were happy"; he thus refers to a false pretending of

happiness acquired by and for one's self; in

Ec 3:12, 22; 5:18, 19,

to real seeing, or finding pleasure when God gives

it. There it is said to be good for a man to enjoy with

satisfaction and thankfulness the blessings which God gives; here it is

said not to be good to take an unreal pleasure to one's

self by feasting, &c.

This also I saw--I perceived by experience that good (real pleasure)

is not to be taken at will, but comes only from the hand of God

[WEISS]

(Ps 4:6;

Isa 57:19-21).

Or as HOLDEN, "It is the appointment from the hand

of God, that the sensualist has no solid satisfaction" (good).

25. hasten--after indulgences

(Pr 7:23; 19:2),

eagerly pursue such enjoyments. None can compete with me in

this. If I, then, with all my opportunities of enjoyment, failed

utterly to obtain solid pleasure of my own making, apart from God, who

else can? God mercifully spares His children the sad experiment which

Solomon made, by denying them the goods which they often desire. He

gives them the fruits of Solomon's experience, without their paying the

dear price at which Solomon bought it.

26. True, literally, in the Jewish theocracy; and in some measure in

all ages

(Job 27:16, 17;

Pr 13:22; 28:8).

Though the retribution be not so visible and immediate now as then, it

is no less real. Happiness even here is more truly the portion of the

godly

(Ps 84:11;

Mt 5:5;

Mr 10:29, 30;

Ro 8:28;

1Ti 4:8).

that he--the sinner

may give--that is, unconsciously and in spite of himself. The godly

Solomon had satisfaction in his riches and wisdom, when God gave them

(2Ch 1:11, 12).

The backsliding Solomon had no happiness when he sought it in them

apart from God; and the riches which he heaped up became the prey of

Shishak

(2Ch 12:9).