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Adam Clarke Bible Commentary

Ecclesiastes 2:11

Verse Ecclesiastes 2:11. And, behold, all was vanity] Emptiness and insufficiency in itself.

And vexation of spirit] Because it promised the good I wished for, but did not, could not, perform the promise; and left my soul discontented and chagrined.

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See also Ecclesiastes 2:11 in other biblical comments:

  • Annotated Bible by A.C. Gaebelein

    CHAPTER 2THE RESULTS OF THE SEARCH AND DIFFERENT VANITIES _ 1. His personal experience (Ecclesiastes 2:1)_ 2. Various vanities and a conclusion (Ecclesiastes 2:12) Ecclesiastes 2:1

  • Arthur Peake's Commentary on the Bible

    ECCLESIASTES 1:12 TO ECCLESIASTES 2:26. QOHELETH'S INVESTIGATIONS. Assuming the character of Solomon the writer tells of his search for happiness under many forms. The pursuit of wisdom (Ecclesiastes...

  • Arthur Peake's Commentary on the Bible

    ECCLESIASTES 1:12 TO ECCLESIASTES 2:26. QOHELETH'S INVESTIGATIONS. Assuming the character of Solomon the writer tells of his search for happiness under many forms. The pursuit of wisdom (Ecclesiastes...

  • Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes

    THEN. But when. LOOKED. turned in order to look, as in Ecclesiastes 2:12. VANITY. See note on Ecclesiastes 1:2. VEXATION OF SPIRIT. feeding on wind. Compare Ecclesiastes 1:1

  • Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

    _Then I looked_ Here also, however, the result was as before. There came the afterthought which scrutinised the enjoyments and found them wanting. The pursuit of pleasure was as unsatisfying as the pu...

  • Charles Box Commentaries

    _THE VANITY OF SELF-INDULGENCE -- ECCLESIASTES 2:1-11:_ All through the book of Ecclesiastes we observe Solomon as he thought and reasoned within himself. He had looked upon and tried all the good, pl...

  • Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

    THEN I LOOKED ON ALL, &C.— _Then I turned myself on all,_ &c. See the next verse, where the same verb פנה _panah,_ in the original is so rendered. The author represents himself as a man who, being une...

  • College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

    c. Wisdom is used in the exploration of sensuous pleasure. Ecclesiastes 2:1-11 TEXT 2:1-11 1 I said to myself, Come now, I will test you with pleasure. So enjoy yourself. And behold, it too was fut...

  • Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

    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...

  • Darby's translation notes (1890)

    2:11 me (g-21) Lit 'that I had laboured,' as vers. 19,20....

  • Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible

    EPICUREANISM AND WISDOM ALIKE PROFITLESS 1-3. The writer makes enjoyment his quest, while aware that it is folly, and avoiding excess in a philosophic spirit....

  • Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible

    VEXATION OF SPIRIT] cp. Ecclesiastes 1:14. None of these could satisfy the cravings of his spirit. 12-17. Wisdom is to folly as light to darkness; yet the same end awaits both. Life, therefore, is no...

  • EasyEnglish Bible Commentaries

    THE TEACHER SEARCHES FOR THE PURPOSE OF OUR LIVES BOOK OF ECCLESIASTES _HILDA BRIGHT AND KITTY PRIDE_ CHAPTER 2 THE TEST TO DISCOVER WHAT MAKES A PERSON HAPPY – ECCLESIASTES 2:1-11...

  • Ellicott's Commentary On The Whole Bible

    (9-11) Kohéleth carried out his plan of tempering his enjoyment with discretion, but while he took his fill of the pleasure that fell to his lot, he found in it no abiding profit. He goes on in the fo...

  • ETCBC data on Hebrew bible

    וּ פָנִ֣יתִֽי אֲנִ֗י בְּ כָל ־מַעֲשַׂי֙ שֶֽׁ

  • Frederick Brotherton Meyer's Commentary

    24-26, VAIN UNDERTAKINGS Ecclesiastes 2:1-17 At the beginning of his search for happiness Solomon erected a splendid home and planned all kinds of delights of an artistic and sensuous nature. There w...

  • G. Campbell Morgan's Exposition on the Whole Bible

    Turning from the pursuit of knowledge to the pathway of pleasure, the king had given himself up to mirth, seeking the false stimulus of wine. In this also he had been disappointed, finding that mirth...

  • Hawker's Poor man's commentary

    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...

  • John Darby's Synopsis

    THE FOLLOWING COMMENTARY COVERS CHAPTER S 1 THROUGH 12. The Book of Ecclesiastes is, up to a certain point, the converse of the Book of Proverbs. (see NOTE TO PROVERBS below) It is the experience of a...

  • John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

    THEN I LOOKED ON ALL THE WORKS THAT MY HANDS HAD WROUGHT, AND ON THE LABOUR THAT I HAD LABOURED TO DO,.... He had looked at them, and on them, over and over again, and had taken pleasure therein; but...

  • John Trapp Complete Commentary

    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. V...

  • Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

    _I looked on all the works_, &c. I made a serious review of my former works and labours, and considered whether I had obtained that satisfaction in them which I had expected to find; _and behold, all...

  • Kretzmann's Popular Commentary of the Bible

    Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, he carefully surveyed the results of his experiment, AND ON THE LABOR THAT I HAD LABORED TO DO, which he had planned and carried out with so m...

  • Kretzmann's Popular Commentary of the Bible

    Solomon's own Example...

  • Mark Dunagan Commentaries

    "THUS. CONSIDERED ALL MY ACTIVITIES WHICH MY HANDS HAD DONE AND THE LABOR WHICH. HAD EXERTED, AND BEHOLD ALL WAS VANITY AND STRIVING AFTER WIND AND THERE WAS NO PROFIT UNDER THE SUN."ALL MY ACTIVITIES...

  • Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible

    1-11 Solomon soon found mirth and pleasure to be vanity. What does noisy, flashy mirth towards making a man happy? The manifold devices of men's hearts, to get satisfaction from the world, and their...

  • Matthew Poole's Concise Commentary On The Bible

    I made a serious review of my former works and labours, and considered whether I had obtained that satisfaction in them which I designed and expected; AND, BEHOLD, ALL WAS VANITY AND VEXATION OF SPIRI...

  • Patchworkid's Personal Study Bible Notes

    Ecclesiastes 2:11 looked H6437 (H8804) works H4639 hands H3027 done H6213 (H8804) labor H5999 toiled H5998

  • Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible

    CHAPTER 2 THE SEARCH FOR PLEASURE. Experimenting With Good Things (Ecclesiastes 2:1). Ecclesiastes 2:1 ‘I said in my heart, “Go at it now, I will test out merriment. Therefore enjoy pleasure (or ‘g...

  • Sermon Bible Commentary

    Ecclesiastes 2:11 The general practice of men of business, their custom of year by year taking stock, examining their books, and striking a balance to know how they stand, is a lesson of the highest v...

  • Sermon Bible Commentary

    Ecclesiastes 1:12-2 I. As was natural in so wise a man, the Preacher turns first to wisdom. It is the wisdom that is born of wide and varied experience, not of abstract study. He acquaints himself wit...

  • Summarized Bible Commentary

    CONTENTS: Solomon shows that there is no true happiness and satisfaction to be had in mirth, pleasure and the delights of sense. CHARACTERS: God, Solomon. CONCLUSION: True and lasting happiness and...

  • Sutcliffe's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

    Ecclesiastes 2:1. _Enjoy pleasure._ The first doctrine of Epicurus, whose system is here rebutted. Acts 17:18. Ecclesiastes 2:2. _I said of laughter,_ of all forced and frantic joy, _it is mad._ Chald...

  • The Biblical Illustrator

    _I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do._ THE REVIEW Our Lord pronounced the children of this world “wise in their generation”: and who can d...

  • The Biblical Illustrator

    _Go to now, I will prove thee with mirth._ THE THREEFOLD VIEW OF HUMAN LIFE Three views of human life are given in this remarkable chapter. I. The theatrical view of life (Ecclesiastes 2:1). The wri...

  • The ESV Global Study Bible's Study Notes

    ECCLESIASTES—NOTE ON ECCLESIASTES 2:10 The Preacher finally realizes that his work resulted in no permanent gain UNDER THE SUN. Nevertheless, he did receive a REWARD in return for his work: the...

  • The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary

    CRITICAL NOTES.— ECCLESIASTES 2:3. I SOUGHT IN MINE HEART.] The word has the meaning not of thinking or reflecting, but to prove or assay—to make a moral experiment. ECCLESIASTES 2:8. THE PECULIAR TR...

  • The Pulpit Commentaries

    EXPOSITION ECCLESIASTES 2:1 Section 2. _Vanity of striving after pleasure and wealth._ ECCLESIASTES 2:1 Dissatisfied with the result of the pursuit of wisdom, Koheleth embarks on a course of sensua...

  • Through The Bible C2000 Serie by Chuck Smith

    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 ep...

  • Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

    1 John 2:16; 1 John 2:17; 1 Timothy 6:6; Ecclesiastes 1:14;...

  • Wells of Living Water Commentary

    VANITY AND VEXATION UNDER THE SUN Ecclesiastes 2:11 INTRODUCTORY WORDS We shall introduce our study with quotations from our booklet on Ecclesiastes. Solomon had tried everything which his heart co...

  • Wesley's Explanatory Notes

    Vexation — I found myself wholly dissatisfied. No profit — The pleasure was past, and I was never the better for it, but as empty as before....

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