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Charles Box Commentaries

Ecclesiastes 2:24-26

The vanity of Gathering -- Ecclesiastes 2:24-26: Solomon said that the best thing that a man can do is enjoy in a cheerful and comfortable manner the good he has received from the hand of God. He should be content, thankful, and look upon the things that he has as blessings of divine goodness. No person had a greater opportunity to enjoy life than did Solomon. Yet he found that to have the heart to do so was a precious gift from God. He concluded that if God had not given a person the heart to use these possessions, he never would really be able to enjoy them.

The person that can enjoy the comforts of this life is the person that is good in God's sight. Keeping God's commandments is the way to enjoy the goods of this world. Things will not make a soul happy. The good we can have from them is for our body only. There is nothing better for a man than to make a sober and cheerful use of the things he has in God's service. The good things that we enjoy are gifts of God's providential bounty to us. Riches are a blessing or a curse to a man according to the use he makes of them.

The sinner has a life of disappointment because he is an enemy of God. Sinners miss true happiness because they are focused on this world instead of God.

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See also Ecclesiastes 2:24-26 in other biblical comments:

  • Adam Clarke Bible Commentary

    Verse 24. THERE IS _NOTHING BETTER FOR A MAN_] The sense of this passage is well expressed in the following lines: - "For these disorders wouldst thou find a cure, Such cure as human frailty would a...

  • Albert Barnes' Bible Commentary

    Solomon having found that wisdom and folly agree in being subject to vanity, now contrasts one with the other Ecclesiastes 2:13. Both are brought under vanity by events Ecclesiastes 2:14 which come on...

  • 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

    The best thing for a man is to get what pleasure he can out of life. And after all this is the Divine scheme of life, the ordinance of God. No one can eat or be happy apart from Him (see _mg.)._ Eccle...

  • Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes

    NOTHING BETTER. no goodness. BETTER. Occurs in Ecclesiastes 2:24; Ecclesiastes 3:22; Ecclesiastes 4:3; Eccl

  • Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

    _There is nothing better for a man_ The Hebrew, as it stands, gives a meaning which is partly represented by the LXX., "There is no good for a man which he shall eat and drink," as though the simplest...

  • Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

    THERE IS NOTHING BETTER FOR A MAN, &C.— This verse literally runs thus; _No good in man that he eateth and drinketh, and maketh his soul to see good in his labour; that itself I perceived, that it com...

  • College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

    c. Labor is good only when it is acknowledged as from the hand of God. Ecclesiastes 2:24-26 TEXT 2:24-26 24 There is nothing better for a man than to eat and drink and tell himself that his labor i...

  • Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

    There is nothing better for a man, than that he should eat and drink, and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labour. This also I saw, that it was from the hand of God. (THERE IS) NOTHIN...

  • Darby's translation notes (1890)

    2:24 enjoy (e-21) Lit. 'see,' as ver. 1....

  • Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible

    EAT AND DRINK] enjoy in moderation the good things of life: cp. Jeremiah 22:15....

  • 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

    NOTHING BETTER. — “Not good” is the sense of the Hebrew as it stands, for it will be observed that the word “than” is in italics. But as this word might easily have dropped out by a transcriber’s erro...

  • ETCBC data on Hebrew bible

    אֵֽין ־טֹ֤וב בָּ † אָדָם֙ שֶׁ יֹּאכַ֣ל...

  • 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

    [There is] nothing better for a man, [than] that he should eat and drink, and [that] he should (p) make his soul enjoy good in his labour. This also I saw, that it [was] from the hand of God. (p) Whe...

  • George Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary

    _Drink, using with moderation the things which we have acquired, rather than to be solicitous for more, (Worthington) --- which may fall into the hands of an idle heir, who is appointed by God, ver. 2...

  • Hawker's Poor man's commentary

    For there is no remembrance of the wise more than of the fool forever; seeing that which now is in the days to come shall all be forgotten. And how dieth the wise man? as the fool. (17) Therefore I ha...

  • 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

    [THERE IS] NOTHING BETTER FOR A MAN [THAN] THAT HE SHOULD EAT AND DRINK,.... Not in an immoderate and voluptuous manner, like the epicure and the atheist, that disbelieve a future state and the resurr...

  • John Trapp Complete Commentary

    Ecclesiastes 2:24 [There is] nothing better for a man, [than] that he should eat and drink, and [that] he should make his soul enjoy good in his labour. This also I saw, that it [was] from the hand of...

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

    _There is nothing better_ Or, _Is there any thing better for a man?_ Which implies that there is nothing better, namely, for man's present comfort and satisfaction; _than that he should make his soul...

  • Kretzmann's Popular Commentary of the Bible

    There is nothing better for a man than that he should eat and drink and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labor, cheerfully making use of all the blessings which God bestows on His childr...

  • Kretzmann's Popular Commentary of the Bible

    THE VANITY OF LABOR IN ITSELF...

  • Marginal Notes in the King James Version (1611)

    SHOULD MAKE HIS SOUL ENJOY: Or, delight his senses...

  • Mark Dunagan Commentaries

    "THERE IS NOTHING BETTER FOR. MAN THAN TO EAT AND DRINK AND TELL HIMSELF THAT HIS LABOR IS GOOD. THIS ALSO. HAVE SEEN, THAT IT IS FROM THE HAND OF GOD." Points To Note: 1 Solomon isn't saying, "Eat,...

  • Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible

    18-26 Our hearts are very loth to quit their expectations of great things from the creature; but Solomon came to this at length. The world is a vale of tears, even to those that have much of it. See...

  • Matthew Poole's Concise Commentary On The Bible

    THERE IS NOTHING BETTER FOR A MAN; or, Is there _any thing better for a man_ ? which implies that there is nothing better, to wit, for man's present comfort and satisfaction; this is the chief, and in...

  • Patchworkid's Personal Study Bible Notes

    Ecclesiastes 2:24 better H2896 man H120 eat H398 (H8799) drink H8354 (H8804) soul H5315 enjoy H7200 ...

  • Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible

    HIS PRELIMINARY CONCLUSION (ECCLESIASTES 2:24). Ecclesiastes 2:24 ‘There is nothing better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and make his soul enjoy good as a result of (in) his efforts. I...

  • 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 Biblical Illustrator

    _There is nothing better for a man, than that he should eat and drink, and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labour._ THE SIMPLE JOYS OF GODLY INDUSTRY We are not to regard these words a...

  • The ESV Global Study Bible's Study Notes

    ECCLESIASTES—NOTE ON ECCLESIASTES 2:24 If a person does not believe his work will have a lasting impact on the world, the best he can hope for is to FIND ENJOYMENT in TOIL and in God’s simple gifts of...

  • The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary

    CRITICAL NOTES.— ECCLESIASTES 2:24. THERE IS NOTHING BETTER FOR A MAN THAN THAT HE SHOULD EAT AND DRINK] Not in the Epicurean sense, worshipping the triad of sensual life—eat, drink, and be merry; bu...

  • 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 Timothy 6:17; Acts 14:17; Deuteronomy 12:12; Deuteronomy 12:18;...

  • Wells of Living Water Commentary

    WHAT IS GOOD IN THIS LIFE Ecclesiastes 2:24; Ecclesiastes 3:1 INTRODUCTORY WORDS We come now to the second great question in the Book of Ecclesiastes. It is expressed in Chapter s 6 and 12: "Who kno...

  • 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

    Enjoy — That he should thankfully take, and freely and chearfully enjoy the comforts which God gives him. It was — A singular gift of God....

  • When Critics Ask: A Popular Handbook on Bible Difficulties, Norman L. Geisler and Thomas Howe, 1960

    Is Solomon commending hedonism here? PROBLEM: Solomon concluded, “There is nothing better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and that his soul should enjoy good in his labor.” But this is h...

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