Ec 2:1
2:1 I said in my heart, Come now, I will tempt {a} thee with
    mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure: and, behold, this also [is]
    vanity.

    (a) Solomon makes this discourse with himself, as though he
        would try whether there was contentment in ease and
        pleasures.

Ec 2:3
2:3 I sought in my heart to give myself to wine, yet acquainting
    my heart with {b} 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.

    (b) Even though I gave myself to pleasures, yet I thought to
        keep wisdom and the fear of God in my heart, and govern
        my affairs by the same.

Ec 2:7
2:7 I procured [me] male and female servants, and had servants
    born in my {c} house; also I had great possessions of herds
    and flocks above all that were in Jerusalem before me:

    (c) Meaning, of the servants or slaves which he had bought,
        so the children born in their servitude, were the
        masters.

Ec 2:8
2:8 I gathered me also silver and gold, and the special treasure
    of kings and of the provinces: I procured me male and female
    singers, and the {d} delights of the sons of men, {e} [as]
    musical instruments, and of all sorts.

    (d) That is, whatever men take pleasure in.
    (e) Or, the most beautiful of the women that were taken in
        war, as in @Jud 5:30.

Ec 2:9
2:9 So I was great, and increased more than all that were before
    me in Jerusalem: also my wisdom {f} remained with me.

    (f) For all this God did not take his gift of wisdom from
        me.

Ec 2:10
2:10 And whatever my 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 {g} portion of all my
     labour.

     (g) This was the fruit of all my labour, a certain pleasure
         mixed with care, which he calls vanity in the next
         verse.

Ec 2:12
2:12 And I turned myself to behold {h} wisdom, and madness, and
     folly: for what [can] the man [do] that cometh after the
     king? [even] that which hath been already done.

     (h) I thought to myself whether it was better to follow
         wisdom, or my own affections and pleasures, which he
         calls madness.

Ec 2:14
2:14 The wise man's {i} eyes [are] in his head; but the fool
     walketh in darkness: and I myself perceived also that one
     {k} event happeneth to them all.

     (i) Meaning, in this world.
     (k) For both die and are forgotten as in @Ec 2:16 or
         they both alike have prosperity or adversity.

Ec 2:16
2:16 For [there is] no remembrance of the wise more than of the
     fool {l} for ever; seeing that which now [is] in the days
     to come shall all be forgotten. And {m} how dieth the wise
     [man]? as the fool.

     (l) Meaning, in this world.
     (m) He wonders that men forget a wise man, being dead, as
         soon as they do a fool.

Ec 2:20
2:20 Therefore I went about to cause my heart {n} to despair of
     all the labour which I took under the sun.

     (n) That I might seek the true happiness which is in God.

Ec 2:21
2:21 For there is a man whose labour [is] in wisdom, and in
     knowledge, and in equity; yet to a man that hath not
     laboured in it shall he {o} leave it [for] his portion.
     This also [is] vanity and a great evil.

     (o) Among other griefs that was not the least, to leave
         that which he had gotten by great travail, to one who
         had taken no pain therefore and whom he know not
         whether he were a wise man or a fool.

Ec 2:24
2:24 [There is] nothing better for a man, [than] that he should
     eat and drink, and [that] he should {p} make his soul enjoy
     good in his labour. This also I saw, that it [was] from the
     hand of God.

     (p) When man has all laboured, he can get no more than food
         and refreshing, yet he confesses also that this comes
         from God's blessing, as in @Ec 3:13.

Ec 2:25
2:25 For who can eat, or who else can hasten {q} [to it], more
     than I?

     (q) Meaning, to pleasures.



This document (last modified July 21, 1997) from Believerscafe.com
Home | Bible versions | Bible Dictionary | Christian Classics | Christian Articles | Daily Devotions

Sister Projects: Wikichristian | WikiMD

BelieversCafe is a large collection of christian articles with over 40,000 pages


Our sponsors:   sleep and weight loss center W8MD sleep and weight loss center