Ecclesiastes 2:11,Ecclesiastes 2:3

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 2:11

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 2:11

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 2:11

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

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Ecclesiastes 2:11

Ecclesiastes 2:11. I looked on all the works, &c. I made a serious review of my former works and labours, and considered whether I had obtained that satisfaction in them which I had expected to find; and behold, all was vanity I found myself disappointed, and wholly dissatisfied in this course. And there was no profit, &c. The pleasure was past, and I was never the better for it, but as empty as before. read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Ecclesiastes 2:1-26

Lessons from experience (1:12-2:26)Writing as Solomon, the author now looks back and describes the experiences of a truly wise and wealthy man who searched for a meaning to life. First he tried the study of wisdom, but it led only to misery and frustration. Some things could not be made to fit any sort of consistent pattern; others, which in theory may have solved some problems, in practice did not exist (12-15). His learning and experience enabled him to tell the difference between wisdom and... read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Ecclesiastes 2:11

Then = But when. looked = turned in order to look, as in Ecclesiastes 2:12 . vanity. See note on Ecclesiastes 1:2 . vexation of spirit = feeding on wind. Compare Ecclesiastes 1:14 . read more

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Ecclesiastes 2:11

Ecclesiastes 2:11. Then I looked on all, &c.— Then I turned myself on all, &c. See the next verse, where the same verb פנה panah, in the original is so rendered. The author represents himself as a man who, being uneasy at his not finding the wished-for happiness, turns from one object to another towards all that is about him; and yet cannot discover what he looks for. This is the more remarkable, as the figure is closely pursued in the following part of the discourse. Here Solomon turns... read more

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Ecclesiastes 2:11

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. read more

Ecclesiastes 2:11,ecclesiastes 2:3