Ecclesiastes 2:23

For all his days are sorrows, and his travail grief; yea, his heart taketh not rest in the night. This is also vanity. ALL HIS DAYS ARE SORROWS AND HIS TRAVAIL GRIEF. Same sentiment as , interrogatively. The only fruit he has is, not only sorrows in his days, but "all his days are sorrow and his travail" (not only has griefs connected with it, but is itself) "grief....

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 what fools they are, who make themselves drudges to the world, which affords a man nothing better than subsistence for the body. And the utmost he can attain in this respect is to allow himself a sober, cheerful use thereof, according to his rank and condition. But we must enjoy good in our labour; we must use those things to make us diligent and cheerful in worldly business. And this is the gift of God. Riches are a blessing or a curse to a man, according as he has, or has not, a heart to make a good use of them. To those that are accepted of the Lord, he gives joy and satisfaction in the knowledge and love of him. But to the sinner he allots labour, sorrow, vanity, and vexation, in seeking...

Verse 23. _HIS DAYS_ ARE _SORROWS_] What a picture of human life where the heart is not filled with the peace and love of God! All his _days_ are _sorrows_; all his _labours griefs_; all his _nights_ _restless_; for he has no portion but merely what _earth_ can give; and that is embittered by the labour of _acquisition_, and the disappointment in the using. _THIS IS ALSO VANITY._] Emptiness of good and substantial misery....

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 the wise man and the feel alike from without - death and oblivion Ecclesiastes 2:16, uncertainty Ecclesiastes 2:19, disappointment Ecclesiastes 2:21 - all happening by an external law beyond human control. Amidst this vanity, the good (see...

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 sensual pleasure, if so be this may yield some effect more substantial and permanent. I SAID IN MINE HEART, GO TO NOW, I WILL PROVE THEE WITH MIRTH. The heart is addressed as the seat of the emotions and affections. The Vulgate misses the direct address to the heart, which the words, rightly interpreted, imply, translating, _Vadam et offluam delieiis_._ _The Septuagint correctly gives, Δεῦρο δὴ πειράσω σε ἐν εὐφροσύνῃ._ _It is like the rich fool's language in Christ's parable, "I will sa

FOR ALL HIS DAYS [ARE] SORROWS, AND HIS TRAVAIL GRIEF,.... All his days are full of sorrows, of a variety of them; and all his affairs and transactions of life are attended with grief and trouble; not only the days of old age are evil ones, in which he can take no pleasure; or those times which exceed the common age of man, when he is got to fourscore years or more, and when his strength is labour and sorrow; but even all his days, be they fewer or more, from his youth upward, are all evil and full of trouble, Genesis 47:9; YEA, HIS HEART TAKETH NOT REST IN THE NIGHT; which is appointed for rest and ease; and when laid down on his bed for it, as the word signifies; yet, either through an eager desire of getting wealth, or through anxious and distressing cares for the keeping it when gotten, he cannot sleep quietly and comfortably, his carking cares and anxious thoughts keep

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. Here we find first of all the king's personal experience. He experimented, so to speak, with that which is the possession of the natural man, a fallen nature. In that nature are found three things: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. We can trace these three things in the opening verses. The lust of the flesh in verses 1-3; the lust of the eyes in Ecclesiastes 2:4, and

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

TRAVAIL. toil that brings about fatigue. The same word as in Ecclesiastes 1:13; Ecclesiastes 2:26; Ecclesiastes 3:10; Ecclesiastes 4:8; Ecclesiastes 5:14. Not the same word as in Ecclesiastes 4:4; Ecclesiastes 4:6. Occurs only in Ecclesiastes....

_yea, his heart taketh not rest in the night_ The verse speaks out the experience of the men who labour for that which does not profit. There is no real pleasure, even at the time. The "cares of this world" come together with "the pleasures of this life" (Luke 8:14). We trace the same yearning after the "sweet sleep" that lies in the far-off past as in ch. Ecclesiastes 5:12, perhaps also in the "almond tree" of ch. Ecclesiastes 12:5. So has the great master-poet portrayed the wakefulness of successful ambition, the yearning for the sleep of the "smoky crib," or even of the ship-boy on the mast, the terrible conclusion, "Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown." Shakespeare, _Henry IV_. Part II. A