Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Ecclesiastes 2:8

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Ecclesiastes 2:8. The peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces —

1. The taxes levied off his subjects.

2. The tribute given by the neighboring potentates. Both these make the "peculiar treasure of kings;" taxes and tribute.

Men singers and women singers — This includes all instrumental and vocal performers. These may be called the delights of the sons of men.

Musical instruments, and that of all sorts.] For these seven words, there are only two in the original, שדה ושדות shiddah veshiddoth. These words are acknowledged on all hands to be utterly unknown, if not utterly inexplicable. Some render them male and female captives; others, cups and flagons; others, cooks and confectioners; others, a species of musical compositions derived from a celebrated Phoenician woman named Sido, to whom Sanchoniatha attributes the invention of music. Others, with more probability, wives and concubines; of the former of whom Solomon had seven hundred, and of the latter, three hundred; and if these be not spoken of here, they are not mentioned at all; whereas music, and every thing connected with that, was referred to before. The author of Choheleth paraphrases thus: -

"To complete

This scene of earthly bliss, how large a span

Of that which most delights the sons of men

Fell to my portion! What a lovely train

Of blooming beauties, by connubial ties,

By purchase, or the gifts of neighboring kings,

Or spoils of war, made mine."

If, after all this, I may add one conjecture, it shall be this; שדה sadeh, in Hebrew, is a field, and occurs in various parts of the Bible. שדות sadoth is fields, 1 Samuel 22:7, the points in such a case are of no consideration. May not Solomon be speaking here of farms upon farms, or estates upon estates, which he had added by purchase to the common regal portion? We know that a king of Israel (Ahab) once desired to have a vineyard (Naboth's) which he could not obtain: now, Solomon having spoken before of gardens, orchards, and vineyards, why may he not here speak of supernumerary estates? Perhaps every man who critically examines the place will be dissatisfied, and have a conjecture of his own.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

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 folly, but they were unable to help him find a meaning to life. His greater wisdom only increased his frustration and bitterness (16-18).
Continuing his search, the great king turned to pleasures of various kinds, but they did not provide the answer (2:1-3). He used his knowledge and resources in extravagant building programs and agricultural projects, and his household had everything he needed for a life of luxury and pleasure (4-8). All his achievements brought him a certain amount of satisfaction. But as he looks back he confesses that they brought him no nearer to solving the mystery of life’s purpose (9-11).
Kings can build for themselves huge fortunes and accomplish impressive works, but even the wealthiest and most ambitious of kings found that all this did not bring satisfaction. What chance, then, does anyone else have? The frustrated searcher turned therefore to consider the subject of wisdom again (12). He reminded himself of the obvious truth that wisdom is better than folly (13), but he recalled also that the wise person dies the same as the fool, and both alike are soon forgotten (14-17).
Not only has wisdom no advantage over folly; diligence has no advantage over idleness. A person uses all his knowledge and skill in his work, spending long days labouring and sleepless nights worrying, but when he dies all that he has built up is left to someone else. Not only that, but the person who inherits all this did not work for it and may even foolishly waste it (18-23).
The writer now reaches one positive conclusion concerning the purpose of life. God intends people to enjoy the good things of life and to find enjoyment in their work. This is God’s gift. Those who accept this gift please God. To them God gives the wisdom and ability to enjoy his gift. Those who do not accept this gracious gift from God, but who spend their energies trying to achieve happiness by their own wisdom and efforts, find that all they build up for themselves will be lost. In despair they cry out again that life is useless (24-26).

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

Kings - Both tributary 1 Kings 10:15 and independent 1 Kings 5:1; 1 Kings 9:14; 1 Kings 10:2; the “provinces” probably correspond to the kingdoms mentioned in 1 Kings 4:21.

As musical ... sorts - Rather, Many women (compare 1 Kings 11:1-3).

Smith's Bible Commentary

Chapter 2

So I said in my heart, Go to now, I'm going to prove thee with [pleasure,] with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure: but, behold, this was vanity ( Ecclesiastes 2:1 ).

So we read in the New Testament the epistle of John, "All that is of the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life" ( 1 John 2:16 ), these are the aspects of the world by which man is seeking to find an answer, a fulfillment. These are the things that Solomon searched out. As you follow his search, it was in the lust of his flesh, the lust of his eyes, and the pride of life. He came to the conclusion, that these things are all empty.

First of all, the lust of the flesh. Giving myself over to pleasure. But behold, it was empty.

I said of laughter, It is mad: and of [the joy, the pleasures, the] mirth, What does it do? I sought in my heart to give myself unto wine, yet acquainting my heart with wisdom; and to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was good for the sons of men, that they should do under the heaven all of the days of their life ( Ecclesiastes 2:2-3 ).

So he got into the lust of the eyes.

I built me great works ( Ecclesiastes 2:4 );

Beautiful homes.

I planted vineyards: I made gardens and orchards, I planted trees with all kinds of fruits: Made pools of water, to water therewith the wood that bringeth forth the trees ( Ecclesiastes 2:4-6 ):

All of these beautiful gardens and buildings and all.

And then the pride of life.

I got servants and maidens, I had servants born in my house; I also had great possessions of great and small cattle above all that were in Jerusalem before me ( Ecclesiastes 2:7 ):

Great abundance of cattle. Do you realize that everyday in order to feed his household, his family, and his servants, that it took ten prime beef and twenty commercial grade beef everyday? A hundred lambs a day. That's 36,000 a year. That's over 10,000 beef that he slaughtered just for his servants and his family needs every year. Plus all of the fowl, and the deer, and the roebuck and so forth that were killed just to take care of the appetites of his family and of his servants. You have a thousand wives; you got to feed them. And they've got kids, they got to be fed. And then they each have to have their servants. Thirty beef a day. So he was right when he said, "I had cattle more than anybody who was in Jerusalem before me."

I gathered also silver and gold ( Ecclesiastes 2:8 ),

In Chronicles we read that he made silver as common as the stones in Jerusalem. Now, you that have been to Jerusalem know what a stony place that is. And he made silver as common as the stones in Jerusalem. There in Chronicles' fourth chapter it tells about that. Second Chronicles 2Ch 9:27 is where it talks about the silver.

I brought treasures of the kings and of the provinces: I developed [choirs,] men and women singers, the delights of the sons of men, [great orchestra,] all kinds of musical instruments, of all sorts. So I was great ( Ecclesiastes 2:8-9 ),

Pride of life.

I was great, and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem: also my wisdom remained with me ( Ecclesiastes 2:9 ).

He was a botanist, a zoologist.

And whatsoever my eyes desired I kept not from them, I withheld not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in all my labor: and this was my portion of all my labor ( Ecclesiastes 2:10 ).

Now notice that. Who could say this? "And whatsoever my eyes desired I kept not from them, I withheld not my heart from any joy." Very few people can make that kind of a statement. You have to have really the wealth of Solomon and all to be able to say that. It seems to us there's always that, you know, "If I only, if I only, if I only," and we aren't able to fulfill all of the desires of our eyes. We go down and we see a beautiful yacht, we think, "Oh, my, if I only had that yacht." With Solomon, "Buy it." You know, I mean, he didn't withhold anything. Whatever he desired, whatever he wanted, he had. Very few men can say that. "Oh, I would be so happy. Oh man, I'd be so satisfied." Was he?

Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, on the labor that I had labored to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun ( Ecclesiastes 2:11 ).

No profit in any of it. It was empty. I was still empty. I was still frustrated. You see, this is life on the human level. This is the denying of the spiritual nature. It is trying to live your life apart from God. Trying to find satisfaction and meaning apart from God. You'll never do it.

So I turned myself to behold the wisdom, and madness, and folly: for what can a man do that cometh after the king? ( Ecclesiastes 2:12 )

What can anybody do after me? I mean, I've done it all.

even that which hath been already done ( Ecclesiastes 2:12 ).

There's nothing left. I did it all.

And then I saw that wisdom excels folly, as far as light excels darkness. The wise man's eyes are in his head; but the fool walks in darkness: and I perceived also that one event happens to them all. I said in my heart, As it happens to the fool, so it happens even to me; so why am I any wiser? ( Ecclesiastes 2:13-15 )

With all of my wisdom I can't prolong my life. With all of the understanding and knowledge that I have, I can't prolong life. I'm going to die just like the fool out there who doesn't know anything. He's going to die. I'm going to die. And when we die, it's all over. So what good is it to have all of the wisdom that I have because we're coming towards the grave, both of us together. We're both going to die. My wisdom isn't going to keep me from death. How dies the wise man? As the fool. Then I said in my heart, as it happens to the fool so it happens even to me. So why am I any wiser?

Then I said in my heart, this also is emptiness. For there is no remembrance of the wise any more than the fool for ever; seeing that which now is in the days to come shall be forgotten. And how dies the wise man? as the fool. Therefore I hated life ( Ecclesiastes 2:15-17 );

Now, hey, wait a minute. This is the guy that has everything. This is the guy who has every kind of pleasure, every kind of possession that you could possibly hope to have. Anything under the sun, he's got it. And what is he saying? I hated life.

because the work that is wrought under the sun is grievous unto me: for all is vanity and vexation of spirit. Yes, I hated all my labor which I had taken under the sun: because I was going to have to leave it unto the man that shall be after me. And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? ( Ecclesiastes 2:17-19 )

Everything that I've built. Everything that I've amassed. Everything that I've done, I'm going to die and going to have to leave it to some nut. And I don't know if the guy's going to be wise or foolish. He may just go out and look at the history. Rehoboam's son left the throne and all to Rehoboam. What did he do? He no sooner gets on the throne than he angers the tribes of the north and they have a revolution and he loses the kingdom and starts downhill. The whole glory that Solomon had built up, his son, dumb, foolish actions, blew it. And so Solomon's worries were not really unfounded. His son was a fool.

yet he's going to have rule over all of my labor wherein I have labored, and wherein I have showed myself wise under the sun. So it was emptiness. Therefore I went about to cause my heart to despair of all of the labor which I took under the sun. For there is a man whose labor is in wisdom, and in knowledge, and in equity; yet to a man that hath not laboured therein shall he leave it for his portion ( Ecclesiastes 2:19-21 ).

You do all of the work, you do all of the effort, you do all of the sacrifice, you do all of the strain, you do all of the saving, you do all of the wise prudent planning and everything else, and you die and if you can really amass a great fortune, million dollars or so, the government will come in and get seventy percent. And you know how foolishly they're going to spend it.

This also is vanity and a great evil. For what hath man of all of his labor, and of the vexation of his heart, wherein he hath labored under the sun? ( Ecclesiastes 2:21-22 )

What do you get for it?

For all of his days are sorrows, and his travail grief; yea, his heart takes no rest in the night. And this also is vanity. There is nothing better ( Ecclesiastes 2:23-24 )

Now this is the conclusion. Earthly wisdom. I've done it all, empty. So "there's nothing better."

for a man, than that he should eat and drink, that he should make his soul to enjoy good in his labour. This also I saw, was from the hand of God. For who can eat, or who else can hasten hereunto, more than I? For God giveth to a man that is good in his sight wisdom, and knowledge, and joy: but to the sinner he gives travail, to gather and to heap up, that he may give unto him that is good before God. This also is vanity and vexation of spirit ( Ecclesiastes 2:24-26 ). "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

3. Solomon’s investigation of pleasure 2:1-11

"After having proved that secular wisdom has no superiority to folly in bringing true happiness to man, he [the writer] seeks his happiness in a different way, and gives himself up to cheerful enjoyment." [Note: Delitzsch, p. 232.]

"Solomon . . . decided to test his own heart to see how he would respond to two very common experiences of life: enjoyment (1-3) and employment (4-11)." [Note: Wiersbe, p. 487.]

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

"A sensible use of money may be a form of creativity; so Solomon expressed himself in extensive buildings and the planting of vineyards, fruit trees, and gardens (Ecclesiastes 2:4-6). [Note: J. S. Wright, p. 1156. Cf. 1 Kings 9:19.]

Some of this experimentation involved sin (Ecclesiastes 2:8; cf. Numbers 15:39; Psalms 131:1). Solomon did not say he experienced no pleasure; he did. Nevertheless, his final evaluation was that pleasure does not yield long-term profit, i.e., real significance in this life (Ecclesiastes 2:11).

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

I gathered me also silver and gold,.... In great quantities: the weight of gold which came to him in one year was six hundred threescore and six talents; see 1 Kings 9:14;

and the peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces; whatsoever was valuable and precious, such as is laid up in the cabinets of kings, as jewels and precious stones; and everything rare and curious, to be found in all provinces of the earth, or which were brought from thence as presents to him; the Targum is,

"and the treasures of kings and provinces, given to me for tribute:''

wherefore, if any pleasure arises from these things, as do to the virtuosi, Solomon enjoyed it. Moreover, among the treasures of kings were precious garments of various sorts, as were in the treasury of Ahasuerus l; and when Alexander took Shushan, he found in the king's treasures, of Hermionic purple, to the value of five thousand talents, which had been laid up there almost two hundred years m; and to such treasure Christ alludes, Matthew 6:19;

I got me men singers and women singers; the harmony and music of whose voices greatly delight; see 2 Samuel 19:35; the Targum interprets it both of instruments of music for the Levites to use in the temple, and of singing men and women at a feast: and such persons were employed among other nations n, on such occasions, to entertain their guests; and are called the ornaments of feasts o; as were also "choraules", or pipers p;

and the delights of the sons of men; [as] musical instruments, and that of all sorts; such as David his father invented; and to which he might add more, and indeed got all that were to be obtained; see Amos 6:5. The two last words, rendered "musical instruments, of all sorts", are differently interpreted; the Targum interprets them of hot waters and baths, having pipes to let out hot water and cold; Aben Ezra, of women taken captive; Jarchi, of chariots and covered wagons; the Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic versions, of cup bearers, men, and women, that pour out wine and serve it; and the Vulgate Latin version, of cups and pots, to pour out wine. It seems best to understand it of musical instruments, or of musical compositions q; sung either with a single voice, or in concert; which, according to Bochart r, were called "sidoth", from Sido, a Phoenician woman of great note, the inventor of them or rather from giving unequal sounds, which, by their grateful mixture and temperament, broke and destroyed s one another.

l Targum Sheni in Esther vi. 10. m Plutarch. in Alexandro, p. 686. Vid. Homer. Iliad. 24. v. 224-234. n Vid. A. Geli. Noct. Attic. l. 19. c. 9. Homer. Odyss. 8. v. 62, 73, 74. & 9. v. 5-7. o Homer. Odyss. 21. v. 430. p Vid. Gutberleth. Conjectanea, &c. p. 162, &c. q Vid. Gusset. Comment. Heb. p. 832. r Hierozoic. par. 2. l. 6. c. 13. col. 847. s Buxtorf. in voce שדד, See Weemse's Christian Synagog. p. 144.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      1 I said in mine heart, Go to now, I will prove thee with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure: and, behold, this also is vanity.   2 I said of laughter, It is mad: and of mirth, What doeth it?   3 I sought in mine heart to give myself unto wine, yet acquainting mine heart with wisdom; and to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was that good for the sons of men, which they should do under the heaven all the days of their life.   4 I made me great works; I builded me houses; I planted me vineyards:   5 I made me gardens and orchards, and I planted trees in them of all kind of fruits:   6 I made me pools of water, to water therewith the wood that bringeth forth trees:   7 I got me servants and maidens, and had servants born in my house; also I had great possessions of great and small cattle above all that were in Jerusalem before me:   8 I gathered me also silver and gold, and the peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces: I gat me men singers and women singers, and the delights of the sons of men, as musical instruments, and that of all sorts.   9 So I was great, and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem: also my wisdom remained with me.   10 And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them, I withheld not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in all my labour: and this was my portion of all my labour.   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.

      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 noble pleasures of the intellect to the brutal ones of sense; yet, if he resolve to make a thorough trial, he must knock at this door, because here a great part of mankind imagine they have found that which he was in quest of.

      I. He resolved to try what mirth would do and the pleasures of wit, whether he should be happy if he constantly entertained himself and others with merry stories and jests, banter and drollery; if he should furnish himself with all the pretty ingenious turns and repartees he could invent or pick up, fit to be laughed over, and all the bulls, and blunders, and foolish things, he could hear of, fit to be ridiculed and laughed at, so that he might be always in a merry humour. 1. This experiment made (Ecclesiastes 2:1; Ecclesiastes 2:1): "Finding that in much wisdom is much grief, and that those who are serious are apt to be melancholy, I said in my heart" (to my heart), "Go to now, I will prove thee with mirth; I will try if that will give thee satisfaction." Neither the temper of his mind nor his outward condition had any thing in them to keep him from being merry, but both agreed, as did all other advantages, to further it; therefore he resolved to take a lease this way, and said, "Enjoy pleasure, and take thy fill of it; cast away care, and resolve to be merry." So a man may be, and yet have none of these fine things which he here got to entertain himself with; many that are poor are very merry; beggars in a barn are so to a proverb. Mirth is the entertainment of the fancy, and, though it comes short of the solid delights of the rational powers, yet it is to be preferred before those that are merely carnal and sensual. Some distinguish man from the brutes, not only as animal rationale--a rational animal, but as animal risibile--a laughing animal; therefore he that said to his soul, Take thy ease, eat and drink, added, And be merry, for it was in order to that that he would eat and drink. "Try therefore," says Solomon, "to laugh and be fat, to laugh and be happy." 2. The judgment he passed upon this experiment: Behold, this also is vanity, like all the rest; it yields no true satisfaction, Ecclesiastes 2:2; Ecclesiastes 2:2. I said of laughter, It is mad, or, Thou art mad, and therefore I will have nothing to do with thee; and of mirth (of all sports and recreations, and whatever pretends to be diverting), What doeth it? or, What doest thou? Innocent mirth, soberly, seasonable, and moderately used, is a good thing, fits for business, and helps to soften the toils and chagrins of human life; but, when it is excessive and immoderate, it is foolish and fruitless. (1.) It does no good: What doeth it? Cui bono--of what use is it? It will not avail to quiet a guilty conscience; no, nor to ease a sorrowful spirit; nothing is more ungrateful than singing songs to a heavy heart. It will not satisfy the soul, nor ever yield it true content. It is but a palliative cure to the grievances of this present time. Great laughter commonly ends in a sigh. (2.) It does a great deal of hurt: It is mad, that is, it makes men mad, it transports men into many indecencies, which are a reproach to their reason and religion. They are mad that indulge themselves in it, for it estranges the heart from God and divine things, and insensibly eats out the power of religion. Those that love to be merry forget to be serious, and, while they take the timbrel and harp, they say to the Almighty, Depart from us,Job 21:12; Job 21:14. We may, as Solomon, prove ourselves, with mirth, and judge of the state of our souls by this: How do we stand affected to it? Can we be merry and wise? Can we use it as sauce, and not as food? But we need not try, as Solomon did, whether it will make a happiness for us, for we may take his word for it, It is mad; and What does it? Laughter and pleasure (says Sir William Temple) come from very different affections of the mind; for, as men have no disposition to laugh at things they are most pleased with, so they are very little pleased with many things they laugh at.

      II. Finding himself not happy in that which pleased his fancy, he resolved next to try that which would please the palate, Ecclesiastes 2:3; Ecclesiastes 2:3. Since the knowledge of the creature would not satisfy, he would see what the liberal use of it would do: I sought in my heart to give myself unto wine, that is, to good meat and good drink. Many give themselves to these without consulting their hearts at all, not looking any further than merely the gratification of the sensual appetite; but Solomon applied himself to it rationally, and as a man, critically, and only to make an experiment. Observe, 1. He did not allow himself any liberty in the use of the delights of sense till he had tired himself with his severe studies. Till his increase of sorrow, he never thought of giving himself to wine. When we have spent ourselves in doing good we may then most comfortably refresh ourselves with the gifts of God's bounty. Then the delights of sense are rightly used when they are used as we use cordials, only when we need them; as Timothy drank wine for his health's sake, 1 Timothy 5:23. I thought to draw my flesh with wine (so the margin reads it) or to wine. Those that have addicted themselves to drinking did at first put a force upon themselves; they drew their flesh to it, and with it; but they should remember to what miseries they hereby draw themselves. 2. He then looked upon it as folly, and it was with reluctance that he gave himself to it; as St. Paul, when he commended himself, called it a weakness, and desired to be borne with in his foolishness,2 Corinthians 11:1. He sought to lay hold on folly, to see the utmost that that folly would do towards making men happy; but he had like to have carried the jest (as we say) too far. He resolved that the folly should not take hold of him, not get the mastery of him, but he would lay hold on it, and keep it at a distance; yet he found it too hard for him. 3. He took care at the same time to acquaint himself with wisdom, to manage himself wisely in the use of his pleasures, so that they should not do him any prejudice nor disfit him to be a competent judge of them. When he drew his flesh with wine he led his heart with wisdom (so the word is), kept up his pursuits after knowledge, did not make a sot of himself, nor become a slave to his pleasures, but his studies and his feasts were foils to each other, and he tried whether both mixed together would give him that satisfaction which he could not find in either separately. This Solomon proposed to himself, but he found it vanity; for those that think to give themselves to wine, and yet to acquaint their hearts with wisdom, will perhaps deceive themselves as much as those do that think to serve both God and mammon. Wine is a mocker; it is a great cheat; and it will be impossible for any man to say that thus far he will give himself to it and no further. 4. That which he aimed at was not to gratify his appetite, but to find out man's happiness, and this, because it pretended to be so, must be tried among the rest. Observe the description he gives of man's happiness--it is that good for the sons of men which they should do under the heaven all their days. (1.) That which we are to enquire after is not so much the good we must have (we may leave that to God), but the good we must do; that ought to be our care. Good Master, what good thing shall I do? Our happiness consists not in being idle, but in doing aright, in being well employed. If we do that which is good, no doubt we shall have comfort and praise of the same. (2.) It is good to be done under the heaven, while we are here in this world, while it is day, while our doing time lasts. This is our state of work and service; it is in the other world that we must expect the retribution. Thither our works will follow us. (3.) It is to be done all the days of our life. The good we are to do we must persevere in the doing of to the end, while our doing time lasts, the number of the days of our life (so it is in the margin); the days of our life are numbered to us by him in whose hand our times are and they are all to be spent as he directs. But that any man should give himself to wine, in hopes to find out in that the best way of living in this world, was an absurdity which Solomon here, in the reflection, condemns himself for. Is it possible that this should be the good that men should do? No; it is plainly very bad.

      III. Perceiving quickly that it was folly to give himself to wine, he next tried the most costly entertainments and amusements of princes and great men. He had a vast income; the revenue of his crown was very great, and he laid it out so as might most please his own humour and make him look great.

      1. He gave himself much to building, both in the city and in the country; and, having been at such vast expense in the beginning of his reign to build a house for God, he was the more excusable if afterwards he pleased his own fancy in building for himself; he began his work at the right end (Matthew 6:33), not as the people (Haggai 1:4), that ceiled their own houses while God's lay waste, and it prospered accordingly. In building, he had the pleasure of employing the poor and doing good to posterity. We read of Solomon's buildings (1 Kings 9:15-19), and they were all great works, such as became his purse, and spirit, and great dignity. See his mistake; he enquired after the good works he should do (Ecclesiastes 2:3; Ecclesiastes 2:3), and, in pursuit of the enquiry, applied himself to great works. Good works indeed are truly great, but many are reputed great works which are far from being good, wondrous works which are not gracious, Matthew 7:22.

      2. He took to love a garden, which is to some as bewitching as building. He planted himself vineyards, which the soil and climate of the land of Canaan favoured; he made himself fine gardens and orchards (Ecclesiastes 2:5; Ecclesiastes 2:5), and perhaps the art of gardening was no way inferior then to what it is now. He had not only forests of timber-trees, but trees of all kinds of fruit, which he himself had planted; and, if any worldly business would yield a man happiness, surely it must be that which Adam was employed in while he was in innocency.

      3. He laid out a great deal of money in water-works, ponds, and canals, not for sport and diversion, but for use, to water the wood that brings forth trees (Ecclesiastes 2:6; Ecclesiastes 2:6); he not only planted, but watered, and then left it to God to give the increase. Springs of water are great blessings (Joshua 15:19); but where nature has provided them art must direct them, to make them serviceable, Proverbs 21:1.

      4. He increased his family. When he proposed to himself to do great works he must employ many hands, and therefore procured servants and maidens, which were bought with his money, and of those he had servants born in his house,Ecclesiastes 2:7; Ecclesiastes 2:7. Thus his retinue was enlarged and his court appeared more magnificent. See Ezra 2:58.

      5. He did not neglect country business, but both entertained and enriched himself with that, and was not diverted from it either by his studies or by his pleasures. He had large possessions of great and small cattle, herds and flocks, as his father had before him (1 Chronicles 27:29; 1 Chronicles 27:31), not forgetting that his father, in the beginning, was a keeper of sheep. Let those that deal in cattle neither despise their employment nor be weary of it, remembering that Solomon puts his having possessions of cattle among his great works and his pleasures.

      6. He grew very rich, and was not at all impoverished by his building and gardening, as many are, who, for that reason only, repent it, and call it vanity and vexation. Solomon scattered and yet increased. He filled his exchequer with silver and gold, which yet did not stagnate there, but were made to circulate through his kingdom, so that he made silver to be in Jerusalem as stones (1 Kings 10:27); nay, he had the segullah, the peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces, which was, for richness and rarity, more accounted of than silver and gold. The neighbouring kings, and the distant provinces of his own empire, sent him the richest presents they had, to obtain his favour and the instructions of his wisdom.

      7. He had every thing that was charming and diverting, all sorts of melody and music, vocal and instrumental, men-singers and women-singers, the best voices he could pick up, and all the wind and band-instruments that were then in use. His father had a genius for music, but it should seem he employed it more to serve his devotion than the son, who made it more for his diversion. These are called the delights of the sons of men; for the gratifications of sense are the things that the generality of people set their affections upon and take the greatest complacency in. The delights of the children of God are of quite another nature, pure, spiritual, and heavenly, and the delights of angels.

      8. He enjoyed, more than ever any man did, a composition of rational and sensitive pleasures at the same time. He was, in this respect, great, and increased more than all that were before him, that he was wise amidst a thousand earthly enjoyments. It was strange, and the like was never met with, (1.) That his pleasures did not debauch his judgment and conscience. In the midst of these entertainments his wisdom remained with him,Ecclesiastes 2:9; Ecclesiastes 2:9. In the midst of all these childish delights he preserved his spirit manly, kept the possession of his own soul, and maintained the dominion of reason over the appetites of sense; such a vast stock of wisdom had he that it was not wasted and impaired, as any other man's would have been, by this course of life. But let none be emboldened hereby to lay the reins on the neck of their appetites, presuming that they may do that and yet retain their wisdom, for they have not such a strength of wisdom as Solomon had; nay, and Solomon was deceived; for how did his wisdom remain with him when he lost his religion so far as to build altars to strange gods, for the humouring of his strange wives? But thus far his wisdom remained with him that he was master of his pleasures, and not a slave to them, and kept himself capable of making a judgment of them. He went over into the enemies' country, not as a deserter, but as a spy, to discover the nakedness of their land. (2.) Yet his judgment and conscience gave no check to his pleasures, nor hindered him from exacting the very quintessence of the delights of sense, Ecclesiastes 2:10; Ecclesiastes 2:10. It might be objected against his judgment in this matter that if his wisdom remained with him he could not take the liberty that was necessary to a full experimental acquaintance with it: "Yea," said he, "I took as great a liberty as any man could take, for whatsoever my eyes desired I kept not from them, if it could be compassed by lawful means, though ever so difficult or costly; and as I withheld not any joy from my heart that I had a mind to, so I withheld not my heart from any joy, but, with a non-obstante--with the full exercise of my wisdom, I had a high gust of my pleasures, relished and enjoyed them as much as ever any Epicure did;" nor was there any thing either in the circumstances of his condition or in the temper of his spirit to sour or embitter them, or give them any alloy. In short, [1.] He had as much pleasure in his business as ever any man had: My heart rejoiced in all my labour; so that the toil and fatigue of that were no damp to his pleasures. [2.] He had no less profit by his business. He met with no disappointment in it to give him any disturbance: This was my portion of all my labour; he had this added to all the rest of his pleasures that in them he did not only see, but eat, the labour of his hands; and this was all he had, for indeed it was all he could expect, from his labours. It sweetened his business that he enjoyed the success of it, and it sweetened his enjoyments that they were the product of his business; so that, upon the whole, he was certainly as happy as the world could make him.

      9. We have, at length, the judgment he deliberately gave of all this, Ecclesiastes 2:11; Ecclesiastes 2:11. When the Creator had made his great works he reviewed them, and behold, all was very good; every thing pleased him. But when Solomon reviewed all his works that his hands had wrought with the utmost cost and care, and the labour that he had laboured to do in order to make himself easy and happy, nothing answered his expectation; behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit; he had no satisfaction in it, no advantage by it; there was no profit under the sun, neither by the employments nor by the enjoyments of this world.