Ecclesiastes 2:10-11 NIV

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Ecclesiastes 2:1-11

Solomon here, in pursuit of the summum bonum?the felicity of man, adjourns out of his study, his library, his elaboratory, his council-chamber, where he had in vain sought for it, into the park and the playhouse, his garden and his summer-house; he exchanges the company of the philosophers and grave senators for that of the wits and gallants, and the beaux-esprits, of his court, to try if he could find true satisfaction and happiness among them. Here he takes a great step downward, from the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Ecclesiastes 2:10

And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them ,.... Though this sense is only mentioned, all are designed; he denied himself of nothing that was agreeable to him, that was pleasing to the eye, to the ear, to the taste, or any other sense; he indulged himself in everything, observing a proper decorum, and keeping himself within the due bounds of sobriety and good sense; I withheld not my heart from any joy : the Targum says, "from all joy of the law"; but it is to be understood of... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Ecclesiastes 2:11

Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do ,.... He had looked at them, and on them, over and over again, and had taken pleasure therein; but now he sits down and enters into a serious consideration of them, what prodigious expenses he had been at; what care and thought, what toil and labour of mind, he had taken in contriving, designing, and bringing these works to perfection; what pleasure and delight he had found in them, and what... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Ecclesiastes 2:10

I withheld not my heart from any joy - He had every means of gratification; he could desire nothing that was not within his reach; and whatever he wished, he took care to possess. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Ecclesiastes 2:11

And, behold, all was vanity - Emptiness and insufficiency in itself. And vexation of spirit - Because it promised the good I wished for, but did not, could not, perform the promise; and left my soul discontented and chagrined. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ecclesiastes 2:1-11

Section 2. Vanity of striving after pleasure and wealth. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ecclesiastes 2:10

Whatsoever mine eyes desired . The lust of the eyes ( 1 John 2:16 ), all that he saw and desired, he took measures to obtain. He denied himself no gratification, however foolish ( Ecclesiastes 2:3 ). For my heart rejoiced in all my labor ; i . e . found joy in what my labor procured for it (comp. Proverbs 5:18 ). This was the reason why he withheld not his heart from any joy ; kept it, as it were, ready to taste any pleasure which his exertions might obtain. This was my... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ecclesiastes 2:11

Then I looked on —I turned to contemplate— all the works which my hands had wrought . He examined carefully the effects of the conduct and proceedings mentioned in Ecclesiastes 2:1-10 , and he now gives his matured judgment concerning them. They had contributed nothing to his anxious inquiry for man's real good. His sorrowful conclusion again is that all was vanity, a hunting of wind; in all the pursuits and labors that men undertake there is no real profit ( Ecclesiastes 1:3 ), no... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Ecclesiastes 2:10

Portion - A word of frequent occurrence. By it Solomon describes the pleasure found in the act of working and also perhaps the pleasure felt in the process of acquiring wisdom; this pleasure is admitted to be good, if received from God (Ecclesiastes 2:26; Ecclesiastes 5:18; compare 1 Timothy 4:4); but being transitory it is subject to vanity, and therefore does not afford a sufficient answer to the repeated question, “What profit etc.?” Ecclesiastes 1:3. read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Ecclesiastes 2:9-10

Ecclesiastes 2:9-10. So I was great In riches, and power, and glory. My wisdom remained As yet I was not wholly seduced from God. And whatsoever mine eyes desired Whatsoever was grateful to my senses, or my heart desired; I kept not from them I denied myself nothing, at least, of lawful delights, but went to the very bounds of them; which was the occasion of his falling afterward into sinful pleasures. I withheld not my heart, &c. As my heart was vehemently set upon pleasure, so... read more

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Ecclesiastes 2:1-11

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Ecclesiastes 2:10

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Ecclesiastes 2:11

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Ecclesiastes 2:10

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Ecclesiastes 2:11

The Pulpit Commentary - Ecclesiastes 2:1-11

The Pulpit Commentary - Ecclesiastes 2:10

The Pulpit Commentary - Ecclesiastes 2:11

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Ecclesiastes 2:10

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Ecclesiastes 2:9-10

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