Ecclesiastes 1:16-17 NIV

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Ecclesiastes 1:12-18

Solomon, having asserted in general that all is vanity, and having given some general proofs of it, now takes the most effectual method to evince the truth of it, 1. By his own experience; he tried them all, and found them vanity. 2. By an induction of particulars; and here he begins with that which bids fairest of all to be the happiness of a reasonable creature, and that is knowledge and learning; if this be vanity, every thing else must needs be so. Now as to this, I. Solomon tells us here... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Ecclesiastes 1:16

I communed with my own heart ,.... That is, looked into it, examined it, and considered what a stock and fund of knowledge he had in it, after all his researches into it; what happiness accrued to him by it, and what judgment upon the whole was to be formed upon it; and he spoke within himself after this manner: saying, lo, I am come to great estate ; or become a great man; famous for wisdom, arrived to a very great pitch of it; greatly increased in it, through a diligent application to... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Ecclesiastes 1:17

And I gave my heart to know wisdom ,.... Which is repeated, for the confirmation of it, from Ecclesiastes 1:13 , and that it might be taken notice of how assiduous and diligent he had been in acquiring it; a circumstance not to be overlooked; and to know madness and folly : that he might the better know wisdom, and learn the difference between the one and the other, since opposites illustrate each other; and that he might shun madness and folly, and the ways thereof, and expose the... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Ecclesiastes 1:16

I communed with mine own heart - Literally, "I spoke, I, with my heart, saying." When successful in my researches, but not happy in my soul, though easy in my circumstances, I entered into my own heart, and there inquired the cause of my discontent. He found that, though - He had gotten wisdom beyond all men; Wealth and honors more than any other; Practical wisdom more than all his predecessors; Had tried pleasure and animal gratification, even to their extremes; yet after all this... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Ecclesiastes 1:17

To know madness and folly - ושכלות הוללות holloth vesichluth . Παραβολας και επιστημην , "Parables and science." - Septuagint. So the Syriac; nearly so the Arabic. "What were error and foolishness." - Coverdale. Perhaps gayety and sobriety may be the better meaning for these two difficult words. I can scarcely think they are taken in that bad sense in which our translation exhibits them. "I tried pleasure in all its forms; and sobriety and self-abnegation to their utmost extent."... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ecclesiastes 1:12-18

Section 1. Vanity of striving for wisdom and knowledge. Esther 1:12 I the Preacher was king over Israel in Jerusalem . Koheleth relates his own experience as king, in accordance with his assumption of the person of Solomon. The use of the past tense in this verse is regarded by many as strong evidence against the Solomonic authorship of the book. "I have been king" (not "I have become king," as Gratz would translate) is a statement introducing the supposed speaker, not as a reigning... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ecclesiastes 1:16

Koheleth now arrives at his first conclusion, that wisdom is vanity. I communed with mine own heart . The expression suggests, as it were, an internal dialogue, as the Greek Venetian puts it, διείλεγμαι ἐγὼ ξὺν τῇ καρδίᾳ μου (comp. Ecclesiastes 2:1 , Ecclesiastes 2:15 ). Lo, I am come to great estate. If this be taken by itself, it makes Koheleth speak of his power and majesty first, and of his progress in wisdom afterwards; but it is best to connect it with what follows,... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ecclesiastes 1:17

And I gave my heart . He reiterates the expression in order to emphasize his earnestness and energy in the pursuit of wisdom. And knowing, as St. Jerome says, that "contrariis contraria inteiliguntur," he studies the opposite of wisdom, and learns the truth by contrasting it with error. And to know madness and folly ( Ecclesiastes 2:12 ). The former word, holeloth (intensive plural), by its etymology points to a confusion of thought, i . e . an unwisdom which deranges all ideas... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Ecclesiastes 1:16

I am come ... - Rather, I have accumulated (literally “enlarged and added”) wisdom more than etc.They that have been ... - The reference is probably to the line of Canaanite kings who lived in Jerusalem before David took it, such as Melchizedek Genesis 14:18, Adonizedek Joshua 10:1, and Araunah 2 Samuel 24:23; or, it may be, to Solomon’s contemporaries of his own country 1 Kings 4:31 and of other countries who visited him 1 Kings 4:34; 1 Kings 10:24. for “in” Jerusalem render over. read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Ecclesiastes 1:17

To know madness and folly - A knowledge of folly would help him to discern wisdom, and to exercise that chief function of practical wisdom - to avoid folly. read more

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Ecclesiastes 1:12-18

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Ecclesiastes 1:16

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Ecclesiastes 1:17

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Ecclesiastes 1:16

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Ecclesiastes 1:17

The Pulpit Commentary - Ecclesiastes 1:12-18

The Pulpit Commentary - Ecclesiastes 1:16

The Pulpit Commentary - Ecclesiastes 1:17

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Ecclesiastes 1:16

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Ecclesiastes 1:17

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