In this chapter, Solomon continues his personal experiment to discover meaning in life. Having already tested wisdom in chapter 1, he now turns to pleasure, wealth, and great accomplishments to see if these could provide lasting satisfaction.
He begins by pursuing laughter and pleasure, only to conclude that these too are meaningless (verses 1 to 3). He then embarks on an ambitious building program, constructing houses, planting vineyards, gardens, and orchards, and creating pools of water for irrigation (verses 4 to 6). Solomon amasses servants, livestock, silver, gold, and treasures beyond any king before him in Jerusalem. He also indulges in music and surrounds himself with luxury (verses 7 to 8).
Despite achieving greater wealth and status than anyone before him, Solomon denies himself nothing his eyes desired (verses 9 to 10). Yet when he reflects on all his labor and accomplishments, he declares it all “vanity and vexation of spirit,” profiting nothing under the sun (verse 11).
He then compares wisdom to folly, acknowledging that wisdom is indeed better than foolishness, just as light is better than darkness (verses 12 to 14). However, he observes a troubling reality: both the wise man and the fool share the same fate, death. This realization leads him to despair, for all his wisdom ultimately amounts to nothing in the face of mortality (verses 15 to 17).
Solomon further laments that all his labor will be inherited by someone who did not work for it, and this successor may be foolish rather than wise (verses 18 to 21). He questions the purpose of toiling and worrying when a person cannot even guarantee rest at night (verse 22 to 23).
The chapter concludes with a shift in perspective. Solomon acknowledges that the ability to eat, drink, and find satisfaction in one’s labor is a gift from God’s hand. He recognizes that God gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy to those who please Him, while the sinner’s accumulated wealth ultimately passes to those who are good in God’s sight (verses 24 to 26).
Chapter 2
1 I said in my heart, I will give you joy for a test; so take your pleasure–but it was to no purpose.
2 Of laughing I said, It is foolish; and of joy–What use is it?
3 I made a search with my heart to give pleasure to my flesh with wine, still guiding my heart with wisdom, and to go after foolish things, so that I might see what was good for the sons of men to do under the heavens all the days of their life.
4 I undertook great works, building myself houses and planting vine-gardens.
5 I made myself gardens and fruit gardens, planting in them fruit-trees of all sorts.
6 I made pools to give water for the woods with their young trees.
7 I got men-servants and women-servants, and they gave birth to sons and daughters in my house. I had great wealth of herds and flocks, more than all who were in Jerusalem before me.
8 I got together silver and gold and the wealth of kings and of countries. I got makers of song, male and female; and the delights of the sons of men–girls of all sorts to be my brides.
9 And I became great; increasing more than all who had been before me in Jerusalem, and my wisdom was still with me.
10 And nothing which was desired by my eyes did I keep from them; I did not keep any joy from my heart, because my heart took pleasure in all my work, and this was my reward.
11 Then I saw all the works which my hands had made, and everything I had been working to do; and I saw that all was to no purpose and desire for wind, and there was no profit under the sun.
12 And I went again in search of wisdom and of foolish ways. What may the man do who comes after the king? The thing which he has done before.
13 Then I saw that wisdom is better than foolish ways–as the light is better than the dark.
14 The wise man’s eyes are in his head, but the foolish man goes walking in the dark; but still I saw that the same event comes to them all.
15 Then said I in my heart: As it comes to the foolish man, so will it come to me; so why have I been wise overmuch? Then I said in my heart: This again is to no purpose.
16 Of the wise man, as of the foolish man, there is no memory for ever, seeing that those who now are will have gone from memory in the days to come. See how death comes to the wise as to the foolish!
17 So I was hating life, because everything under the sun was evil to me: all is to no purpose and desire for wind.
18 Hate had I for all my work which I had done, because the man who comes after me will have its fruits.
19 And who is to say if that man will be wise or foolish? But he will have power over all my work which I have done and in which I have been wise under the sun. This again is to no purpose.
20 So my mind was turned to grief for all the trouble I had taken and all my wisdom under the sun.
21 Because there is a man whose work has been done with wisdom, with knowledge, and with an expert hand; but one who has done nothing for it will have it for his heritage. This again is to no purpose and a great evil.
22 What does a man get for all his work, and for the weight of care with which he has done his work under the sun?
23 All his days are sorrow, and his work is full of grief. Even in the night his heart has no rest. This again is to no purpose.
24 There is nothing better for a man than taking meat and drink, and having delight in his work. This again I saw was from the hand of God.
25 Who may take food or have pleasure without him?
26 To the man with whom he is pleased, God gives wisdom and knowledge and joy; but to the sinner he gives the work of getting goods together and storing up wealth, to give to him in whom God has pleasure. This again is to no purpose and desire for wind.
Important Verses
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: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun.” This verse summarizes Solomon’s conclusion after pursuing pleasure and achievement, revealing the emptiness of life lived solely for personal gain.
Ecclesiastes 2:24 “There is nothing better for a man, than that he should eat and drink, and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labour. This also I saw, that it was from the hand of God.” This marks a turning point where Solomon begins to recognize that simple, God given enjoyment of life is more valuable than restless ambition.
Ecclesiastes 2:26 “For God giveth to a man that is good in his sight wisdom, and knowledge, and joy: but to the sinner he giveth travail, to gather and to heap up, that he may give to him that is good before God. This also is vanity and vexation of spirit.” This verse highlights the contrast between a life oriented toward God, which receives wisdom and joy, and a life oriented toward accumulation without divine purpose.
