Ecclesiastes 2:1
I said in mine heart, Go to now, I will prove thee with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure: and, behold, this also is vanity.
Ecclesiastes 2:1 in other translations
| BSB | I said to myself, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy what is good!” But it proved to be futile. |
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| WEB | I said in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with mirth; therefore enjoy pleasure;” and behold, this also was vanity. |
| ASV | I said in my heart, Come now, I will prove thee with mirth; therefore enjoy pleasure: and, behold, this also was vanity. |
| YLT | I said in my heart, ‘Pray, come, I try thee with mirth, and look thou on gladness;' and lo, even it is vanity. |
| DARBY | I said in my heart, Come now, I will try thee with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure. But behold, this also is vanity. |
| BBE | I said in my heart, I will give you joy for a test; so take your pleasure--but it was to no purpose. |
| Webster | I said in my heart, Come now, I will prove thee with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure: and behold, this also is vanity. |
What does Ecclesiastes 2:1 mean?
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain
Adam Clarke's Commentary
Introduction
The vanity of human courses in the works of pleasure, planting, building, equipage, amassing wealth, etc., Ecc 2:1-11. Wisdom preferable to folly, Ecc 2:12-14; yet little difference between the wise and the foolish in the events of life, Ecc 2:15-17. The vanity of amassing wealth for heirs, when whether they will be foolish or wise cannot be ascertained, Ecc 2:18-21. There is much sorrow in the labor of man, Ecc 2:22, Ecc 2:23. We should enjoy what the providence of God gives, Ecc 2:25, Ecc 2:26. Verse 1 I will prove thee with mirth - This is well expressed by the author so often referred to. Having tried speculative knowledge in vain, passion and appetite whisper: - "From the rugged thorny road Of wisdom, which so ill repays thy toil, Turn back, and enter pleasure's flowery paths. Go, take thy fill of joy, to passion give The reins; nor let one serious thought restrain What youth and affluence prompt."Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Ecclesiastes 2:1-11
Matthew Henry, 1706 · public domain
Ecclesiastes 2:1 in the original Hebrew
Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.
Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).
Cross references for Ecclesiastes 2:1
- Luke 12:19
And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.
- Ecclesiastes 8:15
Then I commended mirth, because a man hath no better thing under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be merry: for that shall abide with him of his labour the days of his life, which God giveth him under the sun.
- James 5:1
Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.
- James 5:5
Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter.
- Psalms 27:8
When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek.
- Psalms 30:6-7
And in my prosperity I said, I shall never be moved. Lord, by thy favour thou hast made my mountain to stand strong: thou didst hide thy face, and I was troubled.
- 2 Kings 5:5
And the king of Syria said, Go to, go, and I will send a letter unto the king of Israel. And he departed, and took with him ten talents of silver, and six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of raiment.
- Ecclesiastes 1:16-17
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. And I gave my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly: I perceived that this also is vexation of spirit.
- James 4:13
Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain:
- Genesis 11:7
Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.
- Revelation 18:7-8
How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow. Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.
- Ecclesiastes 11:9
Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment.
Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).
Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
12 Though the wise be better than the fool, yet both have one event.
18 The vanity of human labour, in leaving it they know not to whom.
24 Nothing better than joy in our labour; but that is God's gift.
said.
15; 1:16,17; 3:17,18; Ps 10:6; 14:1; 27:8; 30:6,7; Lu 12:19
Go to.
Ge 11:3,4,7; 2Ki 5:5; Isa 5:5; Jas 4:13; 5:1
I will.
8:15; 11:9; Isa 50:5,11; Lu 16:19,23; Jas 5:5; Tit 3:3; Re 18:7,8
Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain
Context
- Ecclesiastes 2:1
I said in mine heart, Go to now, I will prove thee with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure: and, behold, this also is vanity.
- Ecclesiastes 2:2
I said of laughter, It is mad: and of mirth, What doeth it?
Ecclesiastes 2:1 in other languages
| Spanish Reina-Valera 1909 | DIJE yo en mi corazón: Ven ahora, te probaré con alegría, y gozarás de bienes. Mas he aquí esto también era vanidad. |
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| French Bible J.N. Darby 1885 | J’ai dit en mon cœur: Allons! je t’éprouverai par la joie: jouis donc du bien-être. Et voici, cela aussi est vanité. |
| German Elberfelder 1871 | Ich sprach in meinem Herzen: Wohlan denn, ich will dich prüfen durch Freude und genieße das Gute! Aber siehe, auch das ist Eitelkeit. |
| Latin Clementine Vulgate | Dixi ego in corde meo: Vadam, et affluam deliciis, et fruar bonis; et vidi quod hoc quoque esset vanitas. |