the Week of Proper 15 / Ordinary 20
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THE MESSAGE
Ecclesiastes 2:1
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I said to myself, “Go ahead, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy what is good.” But it turned out to be futile.
I said in my heart, "Come now, I will test you with mirth: therefore enjoy pleasure;" and, behold, this also was vanity.
I said in mine heart, Go to now, I will prove thee with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure: and, behold, this also is vanity.
I said in my heart, "Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy yourself." But behold, this also was vanity.
I said to myself, "Come now, I will test you with pleasure. So enjoy yourself." And behold, it too was futility.
I said to myself, "I will try having fun. I will enjoy myself." But I found that this is also useless.
I said to myself, "Come now, I will test you with pleasure and gratification; so enjoy yourself and have a good time." But behold, this too was vanity (futility, meaninglessness).
I said in my heart, "Come now, I will test you with mirth: therefore enjoy pleasure;" and, behold, this also was vanity.
I said in mine heart, Goe to nowe, I will proue thee with ioy: therefore take thou pleasure in pleasant things: and beholde, this also is vanitie.
I said in my heart, "Come now, I will test you with gladness, so that you shall see good things." And behold, it too was vanity.
I said to myself, "Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy what is good!" But it proved to be futile.
I said to myself, "Have fun and enjoy yourself!" But this didn't make sense.
I said to myself, "Come now, I will test myself with pleasure and enjoying good things"; but this too was pointless.
I said in my heart, Come now, I will try thee with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure. But behold, this also is vanity.
I said to myself, "I should have fun—I should enjoy everything as much as I can." But I learned that this is also useless.
I SAID to my heart, Come now, I will prove you with joy; therefore enjoy good things; and, behold, this also is vanity.
I decided to enjoy myself and find out what happiness is. But I found that this is useless, too.
I said to myself, "Come! I will test pleasure to see whether it is worthwhile." But look, "This also is vanity!"
I said in my heart, Come now, I will test you with mirth. Therefore, consider with goodness. And behold, this also is vanity.
The sayde I thus in my hert: Now go to, I wil take myne ease & haue good dayes. But lo, that was vanite also:
I said in my heart, Come now, I will prove thee with mirth; therefore enjoy pleasure: and, behold, this also was vanity.
I said in my heart, I will give you joy for a test; so take your pleasure--but it was to no purpose.
I said in my heart: 'Come now, I will try thee with mirth, and enjoy pleasure'; and, behold, this also was vanity.
I said in mine heart, Goe to now, I wil prooue thee with mirth, therfore enioy pleasure: and behold, this also is vanitie.
Then sayde I thus in my heart: Nowe go to, I will take myne ease, and haue good dayes: But lo, that is vanitie also.
I said in my heart, Come now, I will prove thee with mirth, and behold thou good: and, behold, this is also vanity.
I SAID in mine heart, Go to now, I will prove thee with mirth; therefore enjoy pleasure: and, behold, this also was vanity.
Therfor Y seide in myn hertez, Y schal go, and Y schal flowe in delicis, and Y schal vse goodis; and Y siy also that this was vanyte.
I said in my heart, Come now, I will prove you with mirth; therefore enjoy pleasure: and, look, this also was vanity.
I said in my heart, Come now, I will prove thee with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure: and behold, this also [is] vanity.
I thought to myself, "Come now, I will try self-indulgent pleasure to see if it is worthwhile." But I found that it also is futile.
1 Kings 4:20-28">[xr] I said in my heart, "Come now, I will test you with mirth; therefore enjoy pleasure"; but surely, this also was vanity.
I said to myself, "Come on, let's try pleasure. Let's look for the ‘good things' in life." But I found that this, too, was meaningless.
I said to myself, "Come now, I will test you with things that are fun. So have a good time." But see, this also was for nothing.
I said to myself, "Come now, I will make a test of pleasure; enjoy yourself." But again, this also was vanity.
Said, I, in my heart, Come now! I will prove thee with gladness, and look thou on blessedness, - but lo! even that, was vanity.
I said in my heart: I will go, and abound with delights, and enjoy good things. And I saw that this also was vanity.
I said to myself, "Come now, I will make a test of pleasure; enjoy yourself." But behold, this also was vanity.
I said in my heart, `Pray, come, I try thee with mirth, and look thou on gladness;' and lo, even it [is] vanity.
I said to myself, "Come now, I will test you with pleasure. So enjoy yourself." And behold, it too was futility.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
said: Ecclesiastes 2:15, Ecclesiastes 1:16, Ecclesiastes 1:17, Ecclesiastes 3:17, Ecclesiastes 3:18, Psalms 10:6, Psalms 14:1, Psalms 27:8, Psalms 30:6, Psalms 30:7, Luke 12:19
Go to: Genesis 11:3, Genesis 11:4, Genesis 11:7, 2 Kings 5:5, Isaiah 5:5, James 4:13, James 5:1
I will: Ecclesiastes 8:15, Ecclesiastes 11:9, Isaiah 50:5, Isaiah 50:11, Luke 16:19, Luke 16:23, James 5:5, Titus 3:3, Revelation 18:7, Revelation 18:8
Reciprocal: Psalms 127:2 - vain Ecclesiastes 2:25 - who can Ecclesiastes 7:25 - I applied mine heart Ecclesiastes 10:19 - feast Ecclesiastes 11:8 - All that
Cross-References
First this: God created the Heavens and Earth—all you see, all you don't see. Earth was a soup of nothingness, a bottomless emptiness, an inky blackness. God's Spirit brooded like a bird above the watery abyss.
At the time God made Earth and Heaven, before any grasses or shrubs had sprouted from the ground— God hadn't yet sent rain on Earth, nor was there anyone around to work the ground (the whole Earth was watered by underground springs)— God formed Man out of dirt from the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life. The Man came alive—a living soul!
Then God planted a garden in Eden, in the east. He put the Man he had just made in it. God made all kinds of trees grow from the ground, trees beautiful to look at and good to eat. The Tree-of-Life was in the middle of the garden, also the Tree-of-Knowledge-of-Good-and-Evil.
He wrote on, "Blessed be the God of Israel, who made heaven and earth, and who gave King David a son so wise, so knowledgeable and shrewd, to build a temple for God and a palace for himself. I've sent you Huram-Abi—he's already on his way—he knows the construction business inside and out. His mother is from Dan and his father from Tyre. He knows how to work in gold, silver, bronze, iron, stone, and wood, in purple, violet, linen, and crimson textiles; he is also an expert engraver and competent to work out designs with your artists and architects, and those of my master David, your father.
Then on the twenty-fourth day of this month, the People of Israel gathered for a fast, wearing burlap and faces smudged with dirt as signs of repentance. The Israelites broke off all relations with foreigners, stood up, and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their parents. While they stood there in their places, they read from the Book of The Revelation of God , their God, for a quarter of the day. For another quarter of the day they confessed and worshiped their God . A group of Levites—Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Kenani—stood on the platform and cried out to God , their God, in a loud voice. The Levites Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah said, "On your feet! Bless God , your God, for ever and ever!" Blessed be your glorious name, exalted above all blessing and praise! You're the one, God , you alone; You made the heavens, the heavens of heavens, and all angels; The earth and everything on it, the seas and everything in them; You keep them all alive; heaven's angels worship you!
The skies were made by God 's command; he breathed the word and the stars popped out. He scooped Sea into his jug, put Ocean in his keg.
God 's Message, the God who created the cosmos, stretched out the skies, laid out the earth and all that grows from it, Who breathes life into earth's people, makes them alive with his own life: "I am God . I have called you to live right and well. I have taken responsibility for you, kept you safe. I have set you among my people to bind them to me, and provided you as a lighthouse to the nations, To make a start at bringing people into the open, into light: opening blind eyes, releasing prisoners from dungeons, emptying the dark prisons. I am God . That's my name. I don't franchise my glory, don't endorse the no-god idols. Take note: The earlier predictions of judgment have been fulfilled. I'm announcing the new salvation work. Before it bursts on the scene, I'm telling you all about it."
God , Creator of the heavens— he is, remember, G od. Maker of earth— he put it on its foundations, built it from scratch. He didn't go to all that trouble to just leave it empty, nothing in it. He made it to be lived in. This God says: "I am God , the one and only. I don't just talk to myself or mumble under my breath. I never told Jacob, ‘Seek me in emptiness, in dark nothingness.' I am God . I work out in the open, saying what's right, setting things right. So gather around, come on in, all you refugees and castoffs. They don't seem to know much, do they— those who carry around their no-god blocks of wood, praying for help to a dead stick? So tell me what you think. Look at the evidence. Put your heads together. Make your case. Who told you, and a long time ago, what's going on here? Who made sense of things for you? Wasn't I the one? God ? It had to be me. I'm the only God there is— The only God who does things right and knows how to help. So turn to me and be helped—saved!— everyone, whoever and wherever you are. I am God , the only God there is, the one and only. I promise in my own name: Every word out of my mouth does what it says. I never take back what I say. Everyone is going to end up kneeling before me. Everyone is going to end up saying of me, ‘Yes! Salvation and strength are in God !'" All who have raged against him will be brought before him, disgraced by their unbelief. And all who are connected with Israel will have a robust, praising, good life in God !
"Pay close attention now: I'm creating new heavens and a new earth. All the earlier troubles, chaos, and pain are things of the past, to be forgotten. Look ahead with joy. Anticipate what I'm creating: I'll create Jerusalem as sheer joy, create my people as pure delight. I'll take joy in Jerusalem, take delight in my people: No more sounds of weeping in the city, no cries of anguish; No more babies dying in the cradle, or old people who don't enjoy a full lifetime; One-hundredth birthdays will be considered normal— anything less will seem like a cheat. They'll build houses and move in. They'll plant fields and eat what they grow. No more building a house that some outsider takes over, No more planting fields that some enemy confiscates, For my people will be as long-lived as trees, my chosen ones will have satisfaction in their work. They won't work and have nothing come of it, they won't have children snatched out from under them. For they themselves are plantings blessed by God , with their children and grandchildren likewise God -blessed. Before they call out, I'll answer. Before they've finished speaking, I'll have heard. Wolf and lamb will graze the same meadow, lion and ox eat straw from the same trough, but snakes—they'll get a diet of dirt! Neither animal nor human will hurt or kill anywhere on my Holy Mountain," says God .
But the Portion-of-Jacob is the real thing. He put the whole universe together And pays special attention to Israel. His name? God -of-the-Angel-Armies!
Gill's Notes on the Bible
I said in mine heart,.... He communed with his heart, he thought and reasoned within himself, and came to this resolution in his own mind; that since he could not find happiness in natural wisdom and knowledge, he would seek for it elsewhere, even in pleasure; in which, he observed, some men placed their happiness; or, however, sought for it there: or, "I said to my heart", as the Syriac version;
Go to now; or, "go, I pray thee" u listen to what I am about to say, and pursue the track I shall now point out to thee;
I will prove thee with mirth; with those things which will cause mirth, joy, and pleasure; and try whether any happiness can be enjoyed this way, since it could not be had in wisdom and knowledge. Jarchi and Aben Ezra render it, "I will mingle", wine with water, or with spices; or, "I will pour out", wine in plenty to drink of, "with joy", and to promote mirth: but the Targum, Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic versions, interpret it as we do, and which sense Aben Ezra makes mention of;
therefore enjoy pleasure; which man is naturally a lover of; he was so in his state of innocency, and this was the bait that was laid for him, and by which he was drawn into sin; and now he loves, lives in, and serves sinful pleasures; which are rather imaginary than real, and last but for a season, and end in bitterness: but such sordid lusts and pleasures are not here meant; Solomon was too wise and good a man to give into these, as the "summum bonum"; or ever to think there could be any happiness in them, or even to make a trial of them for that purpose: not criminal pleasures, or an impure, sottish, and epicurean life, are here intended; but manly, rational, and lawful pleasures, for no other are mentioned in the detail of particulars following; and, in the pursuit of the whole, he was guided and governed by his wisdom, and that remained in him, Ecclesiastes 2:3. It may be rendered, "therefore see good" w; look upon all the good, pleasant, and delectable things of life; and enjoy them in such a manner as, if possible, happiness may be attained in them;
and, behold, this also [is] vanity; it will be found, by making the experiment, that there is no solid and substantial happiness in it, as it was by himself.
u לכה נא "age, quaeso", Tigurine version, Vatablus, Rambachius. w וראה בטוב "et vide in bonum", Montanus; "et vide bonum", Vatablus, Mercerus, Cocceius, Gejerus; "fraere bono", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Drusius, Amama, Rambachius.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
Solomon’s trial of God’s second gift, namely, riches, and the enjoyment which riches supply; this brought him to the sane result (compare Ecclesiastes 1:12).
Comparing Solomon’s action with Luke 12:16-21, it must be remembered that Solomon’s object was the acquisition of wisdom, not self-indulgence, and that he did not fail to look forward to the certainty of death overtaking him.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
CHAPTER II
The vanity of human courses in the works of pleasure,
planting, equipage, amassing wealth, c., 1-11.
Wisdom preferable to folly, 12-14
yet little difference between the wise and the foolish in
the events of life, 15-17.
The vanity of amassing wealth for heirs, when whether they
will be foolish or wise cannot be ascertained, 18-21.
There is much sorrow in the labour of man, 22, 23.
We should enjoy what the providence of God gives, 25, 26.
NOTES ON CHAP. I
Verse Ecclesiastes 2:1. I will prove thee with mirth — This is well expressed by the author so often referred to. Having tried speculative knowledge in vain, passion and appetite whisper, -
"From the rugged thorny road
Of wisdom, which so ill repays thy toil,
Turn back, and enter pleasure's flowery paths.
Go, take thy fill of joy; to passion give
The reins; nor let one serious thought restrain
What youth and affluence prompt."
