Ecclesiastes 2:1-11

Ecclesiastes 1:12 to Ecclesiastes 2:26 . Qoheleth’ s Investigations.— Assuming the character of Solomon the writer tells of his search for happiness under many forms. The pursuit of wisdom ( Ecclesiastes 2:12-Job :), absorption in pleasure ( Ecclesiastes 2:1-1 Kings :), the study of human nature ( Ecclesiastes 2:12-Esther :), the acquisition of wealth ( Ecclesiastes 2:18-Isaiah :), alike fail to yield satisfaction. After all his experience the only verdict he can reach is that there is “ nothing better for a man than that he should eat and drink” and enjoy life as well as he can while he has it ( Ecclesiastes 2:24-Ezekiel :).

Ecclesiastes 2:1-1 Kings : . The Epicurean mood is just as ineffective. Like Omar, he “ divorces barren reason” and takes “ the daughter of the vine for spouse.” Merriment, and the pleasures of the table (all by way of deliberate experiment, laying hold of folly with a spirit guided by wisdom; cf. Ecclesiastes 2:3, ; wisdom cf. Ecclesiastes 2:9), the happy and healthy delights of a country gentleman’ s life when the king (like Edward VII at Sandringham) is a simple squire, are tried in turn. There is a last attempt here to keep up the part of Solomon, though the phrase “ all that were before me over Jerusalem” (there was only David), as in Ecclesiastes 1:16, gives the disguise away. Nor were less innocent pleasures left unexplored; see mg. for the difficulty of the word rendered “ concubines,” though this probably comes nearest to the meaning; there is a cognate Assyrian root which means “ to love.” Thus gratifying every taste, Qoheleth for a while seemed to have found satisfaction ( Ecclesiastes 2:10), but when mere absorption gave place to reflection he found that there was nothing substantial or abiding in all his labours and all his pleasures. Ecclesiastes 2:12 b, “ What can a man do . . . already been done” ( i.e. by the king) may perhaps have stood immediately after Ecclesiastes 2:11. Apparently the meaning is that where a Solomon has failed, though equipped with wisdom and wealth, no ordinary man has any chance.