Ecclesiastes 1:16

I communed with mine own heart, saying, Lo, I am come to great estate, and have gotten more wisdom than all they that have been before me in Jerusalem: yea, my heart had great experience of wisdom and knowledge. I COMMAND WITH MINE OWN HEART - ( .) LO, I AM COME TO GREAT ESTATE, AND HAVE GOTTEN MORE WISDOM - rather, 'I have magnified and gotten' (literally, added, increased), etc. THAN ALL (THEY) THAT HAVE BEEN BEFORE ME IN JERUSALEM - namely, the priests, judges, and two kings that preceded Solomon. Melchisedec was one of the kings of the ancient dynasty who is included in the words, "all that have been before me." His earthly wisdom exceeded that of all before Jesus Christ, the antitypical Koheleth, or 'Gatherer of men' (), and "Wisdom" i...

12-18 Solomon tried all things, and found them vanity. He found his searches after knowledge weariness, not only to the flesh, but to the mind. The more he saw of the works done under the sun, the more he saw their vanity; and the sight often vexed his spirit. He could neither gain that satisfaction to himself, nor do that good to others, which he expected. Even the pursuit of knowledge and wisdom discovered man's wickedness and misery; so that the more he knew, the more he saw cause to lament and mourn. Let us learn to hate and fear sin, the cause of all this vanity and misery; to value Christ; to seek rest in the knowledge, love, and service of the Saviour....

Verse 16. _I COMMUNED WITH MINE OWN HEART_] Literally, "I spoke, I, with my heart, saying." When successful in my researches, but not happy in my soul, though easy in my circumstances, I entered into my own heart, and there inquired the _cause_ of my discontent. He found that, though - 1. He had gotten wisdom beyond all men; 2. Wealth and honours more than any other; 3. Practical wisdom more than all his predecessors; 4. Had tried _pleasure_ and animal gratification, even to their extremes; yet after all this he had nothing but _vexation of spirit_. _None_ of these _four_ things, nor the _whole_ of them _conjoined_, could afford him such a _happiness_ as satisfies the soul. Why was all this? Because the soul was made for God, and in the possession of him alone can it find happiness....

I AM COME ... - Rather, I have accumulated (literally “enlarged and added”) wisdom more than etc. THEY THAT HAVE BEEN ... - The reference is probably to the line of Canaanite kings who lived in Jerusalem before David took it, such as Melchizedek Genesis 14:18, Adonizedek Joshua 10:1, and Araunah 2 Samuel 24:23; or, it may be, to Solomon’s contemporaries of his own country 1 Kings 4:31 and of other countries who visited him 1 Kings 4:34;...

EXPOSITION ECCLESIASTES 1:1 THE TITLE. THE WORDS OF THE PREACHER, THE SON OF DAVID, KING IN JERUSALEM; Septuagint, "King of Israel in Jerusalem" (comp.Ecclesiastes 1:12). The word rendered "Preacher" is _Koheleth_,_ _a feminine noun formed from a verb _kalal_,_ _"to call" (see Introduction, § 1), and perhaps better rendered" Convener" or "Debater." It is found nowhere else but in this book, where it occurs three times in this chapter (Ecclesiastes 1:1, Ecclesiastes 1:2,...

I COMMUNED WITH MY OWN HEART,.... That is, looked into it, examined it, and considered what a stock and fund of knowledge he had in it, after all his researches into it; what happiness accrued to him by it, and what judgment upon the whole was to be formed upon it; and he spoke within himself after this manner: SAYING, LO, I AM COME TO GREAT ESTATE; or become a great man; famous for wisdom, arrived to a very great pitch of it; greatly increased in it, through a diligent application to it; AND HAVE GOTTEN MORE WISDOM THAN ALL [THEY] THAT HAVE BEEN BEFORE ME IN JERUSALEM; or, "that before me were over Jerusalem" p; governors of it, or in it; not only than the Jebusites, but than Saul, the first king of Israel, or than even his father David; or, as Gussetius q, than any princes, rulers, and civil magistrates in Jerusalem, in his own days or in the days of his father; and also than all the...

ANALYSIS AND ANNOTATIONS PART I. Chapter S 1-6 1. The Prologue and the Search Begun CHAPTER 1 _ 1. The introduction and prologue (Ecclesiastes 1:1)_ 2. The seeker; his method and the results (Ecclesiastes 1:12) Ecclesiastes 1:1. In the general introduction we have already referred to the opening verses as giving the information who the author is and what is the object of his treatise. So sure is the critical school that Solomon is not the king mentioned that one says “the fact that Solomon is not the author, but is introduced in a literary figure, has become such an axiom of the present day interpretation of the book, that no extended argument to prove

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 1:12), absorption in pleasure (Ecclesiastes 2:1), the study of human nature (Ecclesiastes 2:12), the acquisition of wealth (Ecclesiastes 2:18), alike fail to yield satisfaction. After all his experience the only

MY HEART. I myself. HAD. saw....

_Lo, I am come to great estate_ The pronoun is used emphatically. The verb in the Hebrew is connected closely with what follows and speaks not of outward majesty but of "becoming great," in wisdom. So taken we may read, " I BECAME GREAT AND INCREASED IN WISDOM MORE THAN ALL. " We note again, as in Ecclesiastes 1:13, the kind of dialogue which the DEBATER holds with his inner consciousness. He "communes with his heart" (comp. Psalms 4:4; Psalms 77:6). So Marcus Aurelius gave to the book which we call his _Meditations_, the title τὰ εἰς ἑαυτόν literally, "Things for myself" or "Self-communings." _they that have been before me in Jerusalem_ Better, " OVER JERUSALEM. " Those who maintain the