---
title: "Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible -  Ecclesiastes 2"
description: "CHAPTER 2   :-. He next tries pleasure and luxury,
retaining however, his worldly \"wisdom\" ( :-), but all proves \"vanity\" in respect to the chief
good. 1."
image: "/images/missing.jpg"
url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/ecclesiastes/2"
---

CHAPTER 2

.
He next tries pleasure and luxury,
retaining however, his worldly "wisdom" (), but all proves "vanity" in respect to the chief
good.

**1. I said . . . heart**— ().
**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" ([Isaiah 50:11](../../../kjv/isaiah/50/11)).

**2. laughter**—including
*prosperity,* and *joy* in general ().
**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? ([Ecclesiastes 7:6](../../../kjv/ecclesiastes/7/6);
[Proverbs 14:13](../../../kjv/proverbs/14/13)).

**3-11.** Illustration more at large
of [Ecclesiastes 2:1](../../../kjv/ecclesiastes/2/1); [Ecclesiastes 2:2](../../../kjv/ecclesiastes/2/2).
**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 ([Romans 6:16](../../../kjv/romans/6/16);
[Romans 6:19](../../../kjv/romans/6/19); [1 Corinthians 12:2](../../../kjv/1-corinthians/12/2));
or, one "allured" ([2 Peter 2:18](../../../kjv/2-peter/2/18);
[2 Peter 2:19](../../../kjv/2-peter/2/19)).
**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 [2 Peter 2:19](../../../kjv/2-peter/2/19) confirms *English Version.*
**folly**—namely, pleasures
of the flesh, termed "mad," [2 Peter 2:19](../../../kjv/2-peter/2/19).
**all the days,** c.—(See
*Margin* and [Ecclesiastes 6:12](../../../kjv/ecclesiastes/6/12)
[Job 15:20](../../../kjv/job/15/20)).

**4.** ([1 Kings 7:1-8](../../../kjv/1-kings/7/1-8);
[1 Kings 9:1](../../../kjv/1-kings/9/1); [1 Kings 9:19](../../../kjv/1-kings/9/19);
[1 Kings 10:18](../../../kjv/1-kings/10/18), &c.).
**vineyards**— ([1 Kings 10:18](../../../kjv/1-kings/10/18)).

**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 ([Revelation 2:7](../../../kjv/revelation/2/7)).

**6. pools**—artificial, for
irrigating the soil ([Genesis 2:10](../../../kjv/genesis/2/10);
[Nehemiah 2:14](../../../kjv/nehemiah/2/14); [Isaiah 1:30](../../../kjv/isaiah/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 ([Genesis 14:14](../../../kjv/genesis/14/14);
[Genesis 15:2](../../../kjv/genesis/15/2); [Genesis 15:3](../../../kjv/genesis/15/3);
[Genesis 17:12](../../../kjv/genesis/17/12); [Genesis 17:13](../../../kjv/genesis/17/13);
[Genesis 17:27](../../../kjv/genesis/17/27); [Jeremiah 2:14](../../../kjv/jeremiah/2/14)),
called "*songs of* one's *handmaid*" ([Jeremiah 2:14](../../../kjv/jeremiah/2/14); compare [Genesis 12:16](../../../kjv/genesis/12/16);
[Job 1:3](../../../kjv/job/1/3)).

**8.** ([1 Kings 10:27](../../../kjv/1-kings/10/27);
[2 Chronicles 1:15](../../../kjv/2-chronicles/1/15); [2 Chronicles 9:20](../../../kjv/2-chronicles/9/20)).
**peculiar treasure of kings
and . . . provinces**—contributed by them, as tributary to him
([1 Kings 4:21](../../../kjv/1-kings/4/21); [1 Kings 4:24](../../../kjv/1-kings/4/24));
a poor substitute for the wisdom whose "gain is better than fine
gold" ([Proverbs 3:14](../../../kjv/proverbs/3/14); [Proverbs 3:15](../../../kjv/proverbs/3/15)).
**singers**—so David ([Proverbs 3:15](../../../kjv/proverbs/3/15)).
**musical instruments . . . of
all sorts**—introduced at banquets ([Isaiah 5:12](../../../kjv/isaiah/5/12);
[Amos 6:5](../../../kjv/amos/6/5); [Amos 6:6](../../../kjv/amos/6/6));
rather, "a princess and princesses," from an *Arabic*
root. One regular wife, or queen ([Amos 6:6](../../../kjv/amos/6/6)); Pharaoh's daughter ([Amos 6:6](../../../kjv/amos/6/6)); other secondary wives, "princesses," distinct
from the "concubines" ([1 Kings 11:3](../../../kjv/1-kings/11/3);
[Psalms 45:10](../../../kjv/psalms/45/10); [Song of Solomon 6:8](../../../kjv/song-of-solomon/6/8))
[WEISS, GESENIUS].
Had these been omitted, the enumeration would be incomplete.

**9. great**—opulent ([Genesis 24:35](../../../kjv/genesis/24/35);
[Job 1:3](../../../kjv/job/1/3); see [Job 1:3](../../../kjv/job/1/3)).
**remained**— ([Job 1:3](../../../kjv/job/1/3)).

**10. my labour**—in procuring
pleasures.
**this**—evanescent "joy"
was my only "portion out of all my labor" ([Ecclesiastes 3:22](../../../kjv/ecclesiastes/3/22);
[Ecclesiastes 5:18](../../../kjv/ecclesiastes/5/18); [Ecclesiastes 9:9](../../../kjv/ecclesiastes/9/9);
[1 Kings 10:5](../../../kjv/1-kings/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" (), showed me that these could not give solid happiness.

**12.** He had tried (worldly)
wisdom ([Ecclesiastes 1:12-18](../../../kjv/ecclesiastes/1/12-18)) and
folly (foolish pleasure) ([Ecclesiastes 1:12-21](../../../kjv/ecclesiastes/1/12-21)); he now compares them ([Ecclesiastes 1:12-21](../../../kjv/ecclesiastes/1/12-21)) and finds that while (worldly)
**wisdom excelleth folly**
([Ecclesiastes 2:13](../../../kjv/ecclesiastes/2/13); [Ecclesiastes 2:14](../../../kjv/ecclesiastes/2/14)),
yet the one event, death, befalls both ([Ecclesiastes 2:14](../../../kjv/ecclesiastes/2/14)), and that thus the wealth acquired by the wise man's
"labor" may descend to a "fool" that hath not
labored ([Ecclesiastes 2:18](../../../kjv/ecclesiastes/2/18); [Ecclesiastes 2:19](../../../kjv/ecclesiastes/2/19);
[Ecclesiastes 2:21](../../../kjv/ecclesiastes/2/21)); therefore all his
labor is vanity ([Ecclesiastes 2:22](../../../kjv/ecclesiastes/2/22);
[Ecclesiastes 2:23](../../../kjv/ecclesiastes/2/23)).
**what can the man do . . .
already done**— ([Ecclesiastes 1:9](../../../kjv/ecclesiastes/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.** (). 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 ().

**15. why was I**—so anxious to
become, c. ([2 Chronicles 1:10](../../../kjv/2-chronicles/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](../../../kjv/job/28/28); [Jeremiah 8:9](../../../kjv/jeremiah/8/9)).

**16. remembrance**—a great aim of
the worldly ([Genesis 11:4](../../../kjv/genesis/11/4)). The
righteous alone attain it ([Psalms 112:6](../../../kjv/psalms/112/6);
[Proverbs 10:7](../../../kjv/proverbs/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 ([Hosea 2:6](../../../kjv/hosea/2/6);
[Hosea 2:7](../../../kjv/hosea/2/7); [Luke 15:17](../../../kjv/luke/15/17);
[Luke 15:18](../../../kjv/luke/15/18)).
**grievous unto me**— ([Luke 15:18](../../../kjv/luke/15/18)).

**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 ([1 Chronicles 28:9](../../../kjv/1-chronicles/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 ([1 Kings 12:1-18](../../../kjv/1-kings/12/1-18);
[1 Kings 14:21-31](../../../kjv/1-kings/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 (), "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 , 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,
[Ecclesiastes 3:12](../../../kjv/ecclesiastes/3/12) [Ecclesiastes 3:22](../../../kjv/ecclesiastes/3/22)
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 [Ecclesiastes 3:12](../../../kjv/ecclesiastes/3/12); [Ecclesiastes 3:22](../../../kjv/ecclesiastes/3/22);
[Ecclesiastes 5:18](../../../kjv/ecclesiastes/5/18); [Ecclesiastes 5:19](../../../kjv/ecclesiastes/5/19),
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]
([Psalms 4:6](../../../kjv/psalms/4/6) [Isaiah 57:19-21](../../../kjv/isaiah/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
([Proverbs 7:23](../../../kjv/proverbs/7/23); [Proverbs 19:2](../../../kjv/proverbs/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](../../../kjv/job/27/16);
[Job 27:17](../../../kjv/job/27/17); [Proverbs 13:22](../../../kjv/proverbs/13/22);
[Proverbs 28:8](../../../kjv/proverbs/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 ([Psalms 84:11](../../../kjv/psalms/84/11);
[Matthew 5:5](../../../kjv/matthew/5/5); [Mark 10:29](../../../kjv/mark/10/29);
[Mark 10:30](../../../kjv/mark/10/30); [Romans 8:28](../../../kjv/romans/8/28);
[1 Timothy 4:8](../../../kjv/1-timothy/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 ([2 Chronicles 1:11](../../../kjv/2-chronicles/1/11);
[2 Chronicles 1:12](../../../kjv/2-chronicles/1/12)). 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 ([2 Chronicles 1:12](../../../kjv/2-chronicles/1/12)).

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