Ecclesiasteschapter 2
26 verses · BSBEcclesiastes book hub →
Original Language
Ecclesiastes 2— Hebrew word study · with the Hebrew tradition
How to read a word below: the Hebrewword, then how it sounds, then what it means, then its number in Strong’s concordance, which is the key every lexicon and concordance uses (H for Hebrew and Aramaic, G for Greek). Square brackets hold a word the English supplies that the Hebrew does not, angle brackets name a word that does a grammatical job rather than carrying a meaning, and the mark ס or פ is where the Hebrew manuscripts end a paragraph.
I Made Me Great Works, and Behold, All Was Vanity1
1I said to myself, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy what is good!” But it proved to be futile.
Rashi on Ecclesiastes 2:1
I said to myself. Since that is so, I will refrain from wisdom, and I will indulge in drinking.
Read it in full at Sefaria · The Metsudah Five Megillot, Lakewood, N.J., 2001
Aramaic Targum to Ecclesiastes 2:1
I said in my heart, I will go now and try mirth, and behold the good of this world; and when pain and affliction befell me, I said by the divine word, Also this is vanity.
Read it in full at Sefaria · Coheleth, trans. by C.D.Ginsburg, London 1861
2I said of laughter, “It is folly,” and of pleasure, “What does it accomplish?”
3I sought to cheer my body with wine and to embrace folly—my mind still guiding me with wisdom—until I could see what was worthwhile for men to do under heaven during the few days of their lives.
4I expanded my pursuits. I built houses and planted vineyards for myself.
5I made gardens and parks for myself, where I planted all kinds of fruit trees.
6I built reservoirs to water my groves of flourishing trees.
7I acquired menservants and maidservants, and servants were born in my house. I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me,
8and I accumulated for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and provinces. I gathered to myself male and female singers, and the delights of the sons of men—many concubines.
9So I became great and surpassed all in Jerusalem who had preceded me; and my wisdom remained with me.
10Anything my eyes desired, I did not deny myself. I refused my heart no pleasure. For my heart took delight in all my work, and this was the reward for all my labor.
Rashi on Ecclesiastes 2:10
I did not deny. I did not distance myself to separate from them, and similarly, “and He held back some of the spirit [that was upon him] and he gave it unto.. the elders,” 13 Bamidbar:25.
Read it in full at Sefaria · The Metsudah Five Megillot, Lakewood, N.J., 2001
11Yet when I considered all the works that my hands had accomplished and what I had toiled to achieve, I found everything to be futile, a pursuit of the wind; there was nothing to be gained under the sun.
Rashi on Ecclesiastes 2:11
Then I looked. Now at all my deeds, and I see that there is no benefit in them, for from all of them I am lacking. 17 I.e., they do not yield the eternal benefit I had expected of them.
Read it in full at Sefaria · The Metsudah Five Megillot, Lakewood, N.J., 2001
One Event Happeneth to the Wise Man and the Fool12
12Then I turned to consider wisdom and madness and folly; for what more can the king’s successor do than what has already been accomplished?
Rashi on Ecclesiastes 2:12
I [then] turned my attention to behold wisdom. I turn away from all my affairs to delve into Torah, and madness and folly, [i.e.,] the punishment for transgressions.
Read it in full at Sefaria · The Metsudah Five Megillot, Lakewood, N.J., 2001
13And I saw that wisdom exceeds folly, just as light exceeds darkness:
14The wise man has eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. Yet I also came to realize that one fate overcomes them both.
15So I said to myself, “The fate of the fool will also befall me. What then have I gained by being wise?” And I said to myself that this too is futile.
16For there is no lasting remembrance of the wise, just as with the fool, seeing that both will be forgotten in the days to come. Alas, the wise man will die just like the fool!
17So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. For everything is futile and a pursuit of the wind.
I Hated My Labor, For I Must Leave It to the Man After Me18
18I hated all for which I had toiled under the sun, because I must leave it to the man who comes after me.
19And who knows whether that man will be wise or foolish? Yet he will take over all the labor at which I have worked skillfully under the sun. This too is futile.
20So my heart began to despair over all the labor that I had done under the sun.
21When there is a man who has labored with wisdom, knowledge, and skill, and he must give his portion to a man who has not worked for it, this too is futile and a great evil.
22For what does a man get for all the toil and striving with which he labors under the sun?
23Indeed, all his days are filled with grief, and his task is sorrowful; even at night, his mind does not rest. This too is futile.
24Nothing is better for a man than to eat and drink and enjoy his work. I have also seen that this is from the hand of God.
25For apart from Him, who can eat and who can find enjoyment?
26To the man who is pleasing in His sight, He gives wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner He assigns the task of gathering and accumulating that which he will hand over to one who pleases God. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.