Bible Commentaries

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Ecclesiastes 2

Clinging to a Counterfeit Cross
Introduction

1  The vanity of human courses in the works of pleasure.
12  Though the wise be better than the fool, yet both have one event.
18  The vanity of human labour, in leaving it they know not to whom.
24  Nothing better than joy in our labour; but that is God's gift.
Verse 1

I said in mine heart, Go to now, I will prove thee with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure: and, behold, this also is vanity.
said
15, 1:16,17, 3:17,18, Psalms 10:6, 14:1, 27:8, 30:6,7, Luke 12:19
Go to
Genesis 11:3,4,7, 2 Kings 5:5, Isaiah 5:5, James 4:13, 5:1
I will
8:15, 11:9, Isaiah 50:5,11, Luke 16:19,23, James 5:5, Titus 3:3, Revelation 18:7,8
Verse 2

I said of laughter, It is mad: and of mirth, What doeth it?
I said
Solomon is not speaking here of sober enjoyment of the things of the world, but of intemperate pleasure, whose two attendants, laughter and mirth, are introduced by a beautiful prosopopoeia, as two persons, whom he treats with the utmost contempt.
It is
7:2-6, Proverbs 14:13, Isaiah 22:12,13, Amos 6:3-6, 1 Peter 4:2-4
Verse 3

I sought in mine heart to give myself unto wine, yet acquainting mine heart with wisdom; and to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was that good for the sons of men, which they should do under the heaven all the days of their life.
sought
1:17, 1 Samuel 25:36
give myself unto wine
Heb. draw my flesh with wine. yet.
Proverbs 20:1, 31:4,5, Ephesians 5:18
and to lay
7:18, Proverbs 20:1, 23:29-35, Matthew 6:24, 2 Corinthians 6:15-17
till
6:12, 12:13
all
Heb. the number of.
Genesis 47:9, Job 14:14, Psalms 90:9-12
Verse 4

I made me great works; I builded me houses; I planted me vineyards:
made
Genesis 11:4, 2 Samuel 18:18, Daniel 4:30
I builded
Deuteronomy 8:12-14, 1 Kings 7:1,2,8-12, 9:1, 15:19, 10:19,20, 2 Chronicles 8:1-6,11, Psalms 49:11
I planted
1 Chronicles 27:27, 2 Chronicles 26:10, Song of Solomon 1:14, 7:12, 8:11,12, Isaiah 5:1
Verse 5

I made me gardens and orchards, and I planted trees in them of all kind of fruits:
me
Song of Solomon 4:12-16, 5:1, 6:2, Jeremiah 39:4
I planted
Genesis 2:8,9, Luke 17:27-29
Verse 6

I made me pools of water, to water therewith the wood that bringeth forth trees:
pools
Nehemiah 2:14, Song of Solomon 7:4
to water
Psalms 1:3, Jeremiah 17:8
Verse 7

I got me servants and maidens, and had servants born in my house; also I had great possessions of great and small cattle above all that were in Jerusalem before me:
servants
1 Kings 9:20-22, Ezra 2:58, Nehemiah 7:57
and had
Genesis 17:12,13
servants born in my house
Heb. sons of my house. also.
Genesis 13:2, 2 Kings 3:4, 1 Chronicles 27:29-31, 2 Chronicles 26:10, 32:27-29, Job 1:3, 42:12
Verse 8

I gathered me also silver and gold, and the peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces: I gat me men singers and women singers, and the delights of the sons of men, as musical instruments, and that of all sorts.
silver
1 Kings 9:14,28, 10:10, 14:21,22,27, 2 Chronicles 9:11,15-21
men singers
2 Samuel 19:35, Ezra 2:65
musical instruments, etc
Heb. musical instrument and instruments.
1 Chronicles 25:1,6, Job 21:11,12, Psalms 150:3-5, Daniel 3:5,7,15, Amos 6:5; The difficult words {shiddah weshiddoth} are variously rendered. The LXX. have [oinocoon kai oinochoas] "male and female cup-bearers," with which the Syriac and Arabic and Parkhurst agree; Aquila, [kulikon kai kulikia] "a cup and smaller cups;" Jerome, {scyphos et urceolos, (Vulg. {urceos,}) "goblets and pots;" Targum, "warm and cold baths;" others, as M. Desvoeux, "male and female captives;" others, "cooks and confectioners;" others, "a species of musical compositions," derived from Sido, a celebrated Phoenician woman, to whom Sanchoniatho attributes the invention of music; but others, with more probability, "wives and concubines;" and {siddoth} may be in this sense synonymous with the Arabic {seedat, domina, conjux} from {sada,} in {Conj. V. conjugium inivit.} Of the former, Solomon had three hundred, and of the latter, seven hundred; and if they are not mentioned here they are not mentioned at all, which is wholly unaccountable.
Verse 9

So I was great, and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem: also my wisdom remained with me.
1:16, 1 Kings 3:12, 10:7,23, 1 Chronicles 29:25, 2 Chronicles 1:1, 9:22,23
Verse 10

And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them, I withheld not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in all my labour: and this was my portion of all my labour.
whatsoever
3:22, 6:9, 11:9, Genesis 3:6, 6:2, Judges 14:2, Job 31:1, Psalms 119:37, Proverbs 23:5, 1 John 2:16
my heart rejoiced
22, 5:18, 9:9, Psalms 128:2
Verse 11

Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun.
I looked
1:14, Genesis 1:31, Exodus 39:43, 1 John 2:16,17
behold
17-23, 1:3,14, Habakkuk 2:13, 1 Timothy 6:6
Verse 12

And I turned myself to behold wisdom, and madness, and folly: for what can the man do that cometh after the king? even that which hath been already done.
I turned
1:17, 7:25
even that which hath already been done
or, in those things which have been already done.
Verse 13

Then I saw that wisdom excelleth folly, as far as light excelleth darkness.
I saw
7:11,12, 9:16, Proverbs 4:5-7, 16:16, Malachi 3:18, 4:1,2
that wisdom excelleth folly
Heb. that there is an excellency in wisdom more than in folly, etc. light.
11:7, Psalms 119:105,130, Proverbs 4:18,19, Matthew 6:23, Luke 11:34,35, Ephesians 5:8
Verse 14

The wise man's eyes are in his head; but the fool walketh in darkness: and I myself perceived also that one event happeneth to them all.
wise
8:1, 10:2,3, Proverbs 14:8, 17:24, 1 John 2:11
one
9:1-3,11,16, Psalms 19:10, 49:10
Verse 15

Then said I in my heart, As it happeneth to the fool, so it happeneth even to me; and why was I then more wise? Then I said in my heart, that this also is vanity.
even to me
Heb. to me, even to me. and why.
1:16,18, 1 Kings 3:12
Then I
1, 1:2,14
Verse 16

For there is no remembrance of the wise more than of the fool for ever; seeing that which now is in the days to come shall all be forgotten. And how dieth the wise man? as the fool.
there is
1:11, Exodus 1:6,8, Psalms 88:12, 103:16, Malachi 3:16
how
6:8, 2 Samuel 3:33, Psalms 49:10, Hebrews 9:27
Verse 17

Therefore I hated life; because the work that is wrought under the sun is grievous unto me: for all is vanity and vexation of spirit.
I hated
Numbers 11:15, 1 Kings 19:4, Job 3:20-22, 7:15,16, 14:13, Jeremiah 20:14-18, Jonah 4:3,8, Philippians 1:23-25
work
1:14, 3:16, Ezekiel 3:14, Habakkuk 1:3
for
11,22, 6:9, Psalms 89:47
Verse 18

Yea, I hated all my labour which I had taken under the sun: because I should leave it unto the man that shall be after me.
I hated
4-9, 1:13, 4:3, 5:18, 9:9
taken
Heb. laboured. I should.
26, 5:13,14, 1 Kings 11:11-13, Psalms 17:14, 39:6, 49:10, Luke 12:20, 16:27,28, Acts 20:29,30, 1 Corinthians 3:10
Verse 19

And who knoweth whether he shall be a wise man or a fool? yet shall he have rule over all my labour wherein I have laboured, and wherein I have shewed myself wise under the sun. This is also vanity.
who knoweth
3:22, 1 Kings 12:14-20, 14:25-28, 2 Chronicles 10:13-16, 12:9,10
wise under
9:13, Luke 16:8, James 1:17, 3:17
Verse 20

Therefore I went about to cause my heart to despair of all the labour which I took under the sun.
Genesis 43:14, Job 17:11-15, Psalms 39:6,7, 1 Corinthians 15:19, 2 Corinthians 1:8-10, 1 Thessalonians 3:3,4
Verse 21

For there is a man whose labour is in wisdom, and in knowledge, and in equity; yet to a man that hath not laboured therein shall he leave it for his portion. This also is vanity and a great evil.
whose
17,18, 9:18, 2 Chronicles 31:20,21, 33:2-9, 34:2, 35:18, 36:5-10, Jeremiah 22:15,17
leave
Heb. give.
Verse 22

For what hath man of all his labour, and of the vexation of his heart, wherein he hath laboured under the sun?
hath man
1:3, 3:9, 5:10,11,17, 6:7,8, 8:15, Proverbs 16:26, 1 Timothy 6:8
and of the
4:6,8, Psalms 127:2, Matthew 6:11,25,34, 16:26, Luke 12:22,29, Philippians 4:6, 1 Peter 5:7
Verse 23

For all his days are sorrows, and his travail grief; yea, his heart taketh not rest in the night. This is also vanity.
all
Genesis 47:9, Job 5:7, 14:1, Psalms 90:7-10,15, 127:2
his heart
5:12, Esther 6:1, Job 7:13,14, Psalms 6:6,7, 32:4, 77:2-4, Daniel 6:18, Acts 14:22
Verse 24

There is nothing better for a man, than that he should eat and drink, and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labour. This also I saw, that it was from the hand of God.
nothing
3:12,13,22, 5:18, 8:15, 9:7-9, 11:9,10, Deuteronomy 12:12,18, Nehemiah 8:10, Acts 14:17, 1 Timothy 6:17
make his soul enjoy good
or, delight his senses. that it.
3:13, 5:19, 6:2, Malachi 2:2, Luke 12:19,20
Verse 25

For who can eat, or who else can hasten hereunto, more than I?
who can
1-12, 1 Kings 4:21-24
Verse 26

For God giveth to a man that is good in his sight wisdom, and knowledge, and joy: but to the sinner he giveth travail, to gather and to heap up, that he may give to him that is good before God. This also is vanity and vexation of spirit.
in his sight
Heb. before him.
Genesis 7:1, Luke 1:6
wisdom
2 Chronicles 31:20,21, Proverbs 3:13-18, Isaiah 3:10,11, John 16:24, Romans 14:17,18, 1 Corinthians 1:30,31, Galatians 5:22,23, Colossians 1:9-12, 3:16,17, James 3:17
to the sinner
Job 27:16,17, Proverbs 13:22, 28:8

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