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Adam Clarke Bible Commentary

Ecclesiastes 2:3

Verse Ecclesiastes 2:3. To give myself unto wine, (yet acquainting [נהג noheg, "guiding"] mine heart with wisdom,)] I did not run into extremes, as when I gave up myself to mirth and pleasure. There, I threw off all restraint; here, I took the middle course, to see whether a moderate enjoyment of the things of the world might not produce that happiness which I supposed man was created to enjoy here below.

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See also Ecclesiastes 2:3 in other biblical comments:

  • Albert Barnes' Bible Commentary

    I SOUGHT ... - Rather, I resolved (literally “I turned in my heart”) to draw my flesh with wine (see the margin), my heart guiding me with wisdom. In the course of his attempt to answer the question o...

  • 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

    IN MINE HEART: i.e. resolved. TO GIVE MYSELF UNTO: or, how to enlist, by wine, my very flesh [in the work]: i.e. the work of proving the heart with mirth "yet retaining wisdom". WINE. Hebrew. _yayin...

  • Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

    _to give myself unto wine_ Literally, and more vividly, TO CHERISH MY FLESH WITH WINE. The Hebrew word for "give" is unusual and obscure. The primary meaning is "to draw out," that of the word for "ac...

  • 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

    I SOUGHT, &C.— _I sought in mine heart that I might force my senses into a habit of drinking wine,_ (_yet leading my heart into wisdom,_) _and that I might apprehend what is in folly, until I should s...

  • 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)

    2:3 men (b-38) Or 'sons of the _ Adam_ ;' often in this book. The _ Adam_ is also frequent. see Genesis 1:27 . practising (e-14) Or 'exercising.' all (f-46) Lit. 'the number of.' so chs. 5.18; 6.12....

  • Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible

    TO GIVE MYSELF UNTO] RV'to cheer my flesh with.' YET ACQUAINTING MINE HEART] RV'mine heart yet guiding me.' Whatever indulgences he may yield to, he is careful not to drift, and so vitiate his experim...

  • 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....

  • 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

    SOUGHT. — The word translated “search out” (Ecclesiastes 1:13). “Draw,” margin. There is no Biblical parallel for the use of the word in this sense. The general meaning is plain. ACQUAINTING. — Rathe...

  • ETCBC data on Hebrew bible

    תַּ֣רְתִּי בְ לִבִּ֔י לִ מְשֹׁ֥וךְ בַּ †...

  • Expositor's Bible Commentary (Nicoll)

    FIRST SECTION The Quest Of The Chief Good In Wisdom And In Pleasure Ecclesiastes 1:12; Ecclesiastes 2:1 OPPRESSED by his profound sense of the vanity of the life which man lives amid the play of pe...

  • 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...

  • Geneva Study Bible Commentary

    I sought in my heart to give myself to wine, yet acquainting my heart with (b) 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 t...

  • George Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary

    _Wine, and to lead a temperate life. (Calmet) --- Protestants, "to give myself unto wine, (yet acquainting mine heart with wisdom) and to lay hold on folly," &c. (Haydock) --- I wished to indulge myse...

  • 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

    I SOUGHT IN MINE HEART TO GIVE MYSELF UNTO WINE,.... Not in an immoderate way, so as to intoxicate himself with it, in which there can be no pleasure, nor any show of happiness; but in a moderate, yet...

  • John Trapp Complete Commentary

    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...

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

    _I sought to give myself unto wine_ To gratify myself with delicious meats and drinks; _yet acquainting_, &c. Yet resolving to use my wisdom, that I might try whether I could not arrive at satisfactio...

  • Kretzmann's Popular Commentary of the Bible

    I sought in mine heart to give myself unto wine, to comfort himself by its use, either with the object of nourishing the body or to have the sensual pleasure afforded by the exhilaration produced by t...

  • Kretzmann's Popular Commentary of the Bible

    Solomon's own Example...

  • Marginal Notes in the King James Version (1611)

    TO GIVE MYSELF UNTO WINE: _ Heb._ to draw my flesh with wine ALL THE DAYS OF THEIR LIFE: _ Heb._ the number of the days of their life...

  • Mark Dunagan Commentaries

    "I EXPLORED WITH MY MIND HOW TO STIMULATE MY BODY WITH WINE WHILE MY MIND WAS GUIDING ME WISELY, AND HOW TO TAKE HOLD OF FOLLY, UNTIL. COULD SEE WHAT GOOD THERE IS FOR THE SONS OF MEN TO DO UNDER HEAV...

  • 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

    TO GIVE MYSELF UNTO WINE; to relax and gratify my flesh with delicious meats and drinks, synecdochically expressed by _wine_ here, as also PROVERBS 9:2 SONG OF SOLOMON 2:4, &c., as necessary food is b...

  • Patchworkid's Personal Study Bible Notes

    Ecclesiastes 2:3 searched H8446 (H8804) heart H3820 gratify H4900 (H8800) flesh H1320 wine H3196 guiding H5090

  • 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 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

    _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 2:3 The Preacher did not drink so much wine that he lost his ability to think clearly. On his attempt TO LAY HOLD ON FOLLY, see the note on...

  • 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 Samuel 25:36; 2 Corinthians 6:15; Ecclesiastes 1:17; Ecclesiastes 12:13;...

  • Wesley's Explanatory Notes

    To wine — To gratify myself with delicious meats and drinks. Yet — Yet resolving to use my wisdom, that I might try whether I could not arrive at satisfaction, by mixing wine and wisdom together. To l...

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