Ecclesiastes 2:9 Komentář

Solomon having pronounced all vanity, and particularly knowledge and learning, which he was so far from giving himself joy of that he found the increase of it did but increase his sorrow, in this chapter he goes on to show what reason he has to be tired of this world, and with what little reason most men are fond of it. I. He shows that there is no true happiness and satisfaction to be had in mirth and pleasure, and the delights of sense (Ecc 2:1-11). II. He reconsiders the pretensions of wisdom, and allows it to be excellent and useful, and yet sees it clogged with such diminutions of its worth that it proves insufficient to make a man happy (Ecc 2:12-16). III. He enquires how far the business and wealth of this world will go towards making men happy, and concludes, from his own experience, that, to those who set their hearts upon it, "it is vanity and vexation of spirit," (Ecc 2:17-23), and that, if there be any good in it, it is only to those that sit loose to it (Ecc 2:24-26).

INTRODUCTION TO ECCLESIASTES 2 Solomon, having made trial of natural wisdom and knowledge in its utmost extent, and found it to be vanity, proceeds to the experiment of pleasure, and tries whether any happiness was in that, Ecc 2:1. As for that which at first sight was vain, frothy, and frolicsome, he dispatches at once, and condemns it as mad and unprofitable, Ecc 2:2; but as for those pleasures which were more manly, rational, and lawful, he dwells upon them, and gives a particular enumeration of them, as what he had made full trial of; as good eating and drinking, in a moderate way, without abuse; fine and spacious buildings; delightful vineyards, gardens, and orchards; parks, forests, and enclosures; fish pools, and fountains of water; a large retinue, and equipage of servants; great possessions, immense riches and treasure; a collection of the greatest rarities, and curiosities in nature; all kinds of music, vocal and instrumental, Ecc 2:3; in all which he exceeded any that went before him; nor did he deny himself of any pleasure, in a lawful way, that could possibly be enjoyed, Ecc 2:9. And yet on a survey of the whole, and after a thorough experience of what could be found herein, he pronounces all vanity and vexation of spirit, Ecc 2:11; and returns again to his former subject, wisdom; and looks that over again, to see if he could find real happiness in it, being sadly disappointed in that of pleasure, Ecc 2:12. He indeed commends wisdom, and prefers it to folly, and a wise man to a fool; Ecc 2:13; and yet observes some things which lessen its value; and shows there is no happiness in it, the same events befalling a wise man and a fool; both alike forgotten, and die in like manner, Ecc 2:15. And then he takes into consideration business of life, and a laborious industry to obtain wealth; and this he condemns as grievous, hateful, and vexatious, because, after all a man's acquisitions, he knows not to whom he shall leave them, whether to a wise man or a fool, Ecc 2:17. And because a man himself has no rest all his days, nothing but sorrow and grief, Ecc 2:22; wherefore he concludes it is best for a man to enjoy the good things of this life himself; which he confirms by his own experience, and by an, antithesis between a good man and a wicked one, Ecc 2:24.

So I was great,.... Became famous for the great works wrought by him before mentioned; and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem; the Targum adds, "in riches"; but it seems rather to respect his fame and glory among men; though in general it may include his increase of wealth, power, and honour, and everything that contributed to his external happiness; also my wisdom remained with me; the Targum adds, "and it helped me"; which he exercised and showed in the government of his kingdom, in the conduct of his family, in his personal deportment and behaviour; amidst all his pleasures, he did not neglect the study of natural knowledge, nor give himself up to sordid and sinful lusts; and so was a better judge of pleasure, whether true happiness consisted in it or not.

"Thus I grew and surpassed any of my predecessors in Jerusalem; still, my wisdom stayed with me." It seems to me that Ecclesiastes, acting grandly, agrees less with the Lord, unless by chance we adapt this to him: "He [Jesus] increased in wisdom and age and grace" [Luc. 2, 52.]. And, "on account of which God took him on high [Phil. 2, 9.]". He also says "those who were before me in Jerusalem" and is referring to those who, before he arrived, steered the congregation of holy men and the Church. If we explain the text in a spiritual way then Christ is richer than all men; and he only perceives the Synagogue better in bodily form than the Church. Therefore he wears a veil, because it was placed over the face of Moses and he let us see his face in daylight. [Cfr Ex. 34,33. ; II Cor. 3, 13.] More precisely "wisdom has stayed with me", means even in respect to the temptations of the body wisdom stayed with him. For he who receives a profit from his wisdom will not keep wisdom long, but he who does not receive a gain, nor grows through change, but always has plenty- he is able to say, "and wisdom has stayed with me".

The wise person always finds himself “increasing” when he prospers. But in life, it is the last and the first thing to reach perfection. In Scripture it is said, “When human beings have finished, they are just beginning.” Of course, even if human beings reach the perfection possible in this life, still, as it is said, “We know only in part.” In the activity of “increasing” there is always something virtuous.… [The prophets and Moses] prophesied what Jesus would do and teach. But Jesus fulfilled the prophecy. The actualization of potentialities is always an “increase.” These prepared the way, but he has perfected the way when he declared about himself: “I am the way, the truth.” And he says to his disciples: “Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees.” In this you see that Jesus’ disciples had more righteousness than the previous ones.

(Ecc. 2:1-26) I said . . . heart-- (Luk 12:19). thee--my heart, I will test whether thou canst find that solid good in pleasure which was not in "worldly wisdom." But this also proves to be "vanity" (Isa 50:11).

great--opulent (Gen 24:35; Job 1:3; see Kg1 10:23). remained-- (Ecc 2:3).

"And I became great, and was always greater than all that were before me in Jerusalem: also my wisdom remained with me. And all that mine eyes desired I kept not from them, I refused not any kind of joy to my heart; for my heart had joy of all my labour: and this was my portion of all my labour. And I turned myself to all the works which my hands had done, and to the labour which I had laboured to accomplish: and, behold, all was vain, and windy effort, and there was no true profit under the sun." In vehosaphti there is here no obj. as at Ecc 1:16; the obj. is the gedullah, the greatness, to be concluded and thought of from vegadalti, "and I became great." To the impers. היה for היוּ, 7b, cf. 7a, Ecc 1:16, Ecc 1:10. He became great, and always greater, viz., in the possession of all the good things, the possession of which seemed to make a man happy on this earth. And what he resolved upon, in the midst of this dulcis insania, viz., to deport himself as a wise man, he succeeded in doing: his wisdom forsook him not, viz., the means adapted to the end, and ruling over this colossal apparatus of sensual lust; אף, as e.g., at Psa 16:6, belongs to the whole clause; and עמד, with ל, does not mean here to stand by, sustain (Herzfeld, Ewald, Elster), which it might mean as well as על עמד, Dan 12:1, but to continue, as Jerome, and after him, Luther, translates: sapientia quoquo perseveravit mecum; the Targ. connects the ideas of continuance (lxx, Syr., Venet.) and of help; but the idea intended is that of continuance, for נהג, e.g., does not refer to helping, but self-maintaining. Ecc 2:10 Thus become great and also continuing wise, he was not only in a condition to procure for himself every enjoyment, but he also indulged himself in everything; all that his eyes desired, i.e., all that they saw, and after which they made him lust (Deu 14:26) (cf. Jo1 2:16), that he did not refuse to them (אצל, subtrahere), and he kept not back his heart from any kind of joy (מנע, with min of the thing refused, as at Num 24:11, etc., oftener with min, of him to whom it is refused, e.g., Gen 30:2), for (here, after the foregoing negations, coinciding with immo) his heart had joy of all his work; and this, viz., this enjoyment in full measure, was his part of all his work. The palindromic form is like Ecc 1:6; Ecc 4:1. We say in Heb. as well as in German: to have joy in (an, ב), anything, joy over (ber, על) anything, or joy of (von, מן) anything; Koheleth here purposely uses min, for he wishes to express not that the work itself was to him an object and reason of joy, but that it became to him a well of joy (cf. Pro 5:18; Ch2 20:27). Falsely, Hahn and others: after my work (min, as e.g., Psa 73:20), for thereby the causative connection is obliterated: min is the expression of the mediate cause, as the concluding sentence says: Joy was that which he had of all his work - this itself brought care and toil to him; joy, made possible to him thereby, was the share which came to him from it. Ecc 2:11 But was this חלק a יתרון - was this gain that fell to him a true, satisfying, pure gain? With the words uphanithi ani he proposes this question, and answers it. פּנה (to turn to) is elsewhere followed by expressions of motion to an end; here, as at Job 6:28, by בּ, by virtue of a constructio praegnans: I turned myself, fixing my attention on all my works which my hands accomplished. La'asoth is, as at Gen 2:3 (vid., l.c.), equivalent to perficiendo, carrying out, viz., such works of art and of all his labour. The exclamation "behold" introduces the summa summarum. Regardingיתרון, vid., Ecc 1:3. Also this way of finding out that which was truly good showed itself to be false. Of all this enjoyment, there remained nothing but the feeling of emptiness. What he strove after appeared to him as the wind; the satisfaction he sought to obtain at such an expense was nothing else than a momentary delusion. And since in this search after the true happiness of life he was in a position more favourable for such a purpose than almost any other man, he is constrained to draw the conclusion that there is no יתרון, i.e., no real enduring and true happiness, from all labour under the sun.