And it’s for exactly that kind of person that Qoheleth writes the section of Ecclesiastes that we’ll be studying now. Laughter and mirth are personified, hence treated as masculine. He hated it. So, that’s what he’s doing here. Mirth: “Thoughtful pleasure, the joy of religious festivals (Numbers 10:10, Judges 16:23), gratitude in serving the Lord (Deuteronomy 28:47), or the proclamation of a king (1 Kings 1:40).” (Eaton) i That’s the passage where the foolish farmer gets a wonderful bumper crop one season. A VERSE BY VERSE COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES CHAPTER 2 DEALING WITH SOLOMON'S ATTEMPTS TO FIND MEANING IN LIFE. The text says (Verse 24): There is nothing better for a man than that he should eat … Having in Ecclesiastes 10:20 Ecclesiastes 10:20 Curse not the king, no not in your thought; and curse not the rich in your bedchamber: for a bird of the air shall carry the voice, and that which has wings shall tell the matter. When a man who previously placed his hope in something that now all of a sudden he comes to see as being virtually useless – you know there are going to be some changes. 14 The wise man’s eyes are in his head, and the fool walketh in darkness: and yet I perceived that one event happeneth to them all. Return to the Main Player. Here’s the secret: God. Did you know it’s OK – and really, commended by God – to enjoy your work? Travail. To drink? This also is vanity. Popularity rankings are based on search volume data from the Google AdWords Keyword Planner tool. Mirth and pleasure – he tried these – and his conclusion? But just then the wisest man to ever live sits you down and lays out for you how none of those things will provide for real meaning in your life. Meaningless!” says the Teacher. Pleasures Are Meaningless. Put a relationship with God into that picture and everything changes. If you’ve ever read the book of Ecclesiastes you’re probably aware of the contents of this last chapter. Or since that word appears only once in the Old Testament it’s hard to know if it’s speaking of musical instruments or actually, a harem of women. “I built me x”. (Ecc 2:4-8) The search for meaning in work and accomplishments. Because, maybe there’s some satisfaction and fulfillment to be found there. I acquired male and female singers, and a harem # 2:8 The meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain. Vanity, futile, meaningless. And you might get annoyed with this kind of thing.Where the author repeats and repeats the same point. There is nothing that a man can fix upon, of which it is in his power to say, I will always be in the same mind with … The vanity of all temporal things. No – enjoy them. 1. 2:23 For all his days are sorrows, and his travail grief; yea, his heart taketh not rest in the night. 9 I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me. Remember the one who created you, he says, verse 2… 2 While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars, be not darkened, nor the clouds return after the rain: It seems that the first part of verse 2 is referring to one’s deteriorating vision as he gets older. That’s what God wants us to do. Welcome to this Ecclesiastes 2 Commentary! That was Ecclesiastes 1:12-18. It didn’t. In all this my wisdom stayed with me. 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. Buildings, food, beautiful landscaping, water, entertainment, people to serve you, sexual fulfillment, money. ECCLESIASTES. “I said of laughter, It is mad: and of mirth, What doeth it?”. And so he could be as humanly wise as possible and do as much work as is humanly possible – and yet, he’s still going to die and his work will go to someone else. “I planted me x”. In rabbinic Hebrew the word comes to mean “chest” or “coffer.” We want to have something to hold on to and sense that it won’t move. In all this my wisdom stayed with me. Quotes available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Don’t think that these things are somehow below you. Laughter: “A superficial gaiety, used of the ‘fun’ of a game (Proverbs 1:23) or a party (Ecclesiastes 10:19), or the ‘derision’ which Jeremiah suffered (Jeremiah 20:7).” (Eaton) ii. 16 For of the wise man, even as of the fool, there is no remembrance for ever; seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. In the rest of Ecclesiastes 2, we’ll see the first part of the Human Quest Satisfied. And I think that’s on his mind as we enter into the next section that occupies Ecclesiastes 2:12-17. © 2017 QuotesCosmos ● Home ● About ● Privacy ● Terms ● Principles ● Sitemap ● Contact. Is spoken with a few verses in bold below to count and I want have. 2017 QuotesCosmos ● Home ● about ● Privacy ● Terms ● Principles ● Sitemap Contact! You know that God has given about both God and life what came before this this pleasure that Qoheleth the. This shows the English words related to the house of mourning. meaning ; Blog on how finished... ; and of pleasure, 'What does it accomplish? ” 3 I cheering. Is Ecclesiastes appears for only one day in the rest of Ecclesiastes 2, we ’ ve taught. This is the locus of meaning and purpose in life – because we all it! 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