# Ecclesiastes 2.1-11 **Book:** [Ecclesiastes](/codex/ecclesiastes/) · NASB95 ## Immediate context (±2 verses) **ASV** ([ASV](/codex/asv/)) > **1. I said in my heart, Come now, I will prove thee with mirth; therefore enjoy pleasure: and, behold, this also was vanity. 2. I said of laughter, It is mad; and of mirth, What doeth it? 3. I searched in my heart how to cheer my flesh with wine, my heart yet guiding me with wisdom, and how to lay hold on folly, till I might see what it was good for the sons of men that they should do under heaven all the days of their life. 4. I made me great works; I builded me houses; I planted me vineyards; 5. I made me gardens and parks, and I planted trees in them of all kinds of fruit; 6. I made me pools of water, to water therefrom the forest where trees were reared; 7. I bought men-servants and maid-servants, and had servants born in my house; also I had great possessions of herds and flocks, above all that were before me in Jerusalem; 8. I gathered me also silver and gold, and the treasure of kings and of the provinces; I gat me men-singers and women-singers, and the delights of the sons of men, musical instruments, and that of all sorts. 9. So I was great, and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem: also my wisdom remained with me. 10. And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them; I withheld not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced because of all my labor; and this was my portion from all my labor. 11. Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labor that I had labored to do; and, behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was no profit under the sun.** > > 12. And I turned myself to behold wisdom, and madness, and folly: for what can the man do that cometh after the king? even that which hath been done long ago. 13. Then I saw that wisdom excelleth folly, as far as light excelleth darkness. (Ecclesiastes 2:1-13, ASV) **WEB** ([WEB](/codex/web/)) > **1. I said in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with mirth: therefore enjoy pleasure”; and behold, this also was vanity. 2. I said of laughter, “It is foolishness”; and of mirth, “What does it accomplish?” 3. I searched in my heart how to cheer my flesh with wine, my heart yet guiding me with wisdom, and how to lay hold of folly, until I might see what it was good for the sons of men that they should do under heaven all the days of their lives. 4. I made myself great works. I built myself houses. I planted myself vineyards. 5. I made myself gardens and parks, and I planted trees in them of all kinds of fruit. 6. I made myself pools of water, to water from it the forest where trees were reared. 7. I bought male servants and female servants, and had servants born in my house. I also had great possessions of herds and flocks, above all who were before me in Jerusalem; 8. I also gathered silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and of the provinces. I got myself male and female singers, and the delights of the sons of men, musical instruments, and that of all sorts. 9. So I was great, and increased more than all who were before me in Jerusalem. My wisdom also remained with me. 10. Whatever my eyes desired, I didn’t keep from them. I didn’t withhold my heart from any joy, for my heart rejoiced because of all my labor, and this was my portion from all my labor. 11. Then I looked at all the works that my hands had worked, and at the labor that I had labored to do; and behold, all was vanity and a chasing after wind, and there was no profit under the sun.** > > 12. I turned myself to consider wisdom, madness, and folly: for what can the king’s successor do? Just that which has been done long ago. 13. Then I saw that wisdom excels folly, as far as light excels darkness. (Ecclesiastes 2:1-13, WEB) **KJV** ([KJV](/codex/kjv/)) > **1. I said in mine heart, Go to now, I will prove thee with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure: and, behold, this also is vanity. 2. I said of laughter, It is mad: and of mirth, What doeth it? 3. I sought in mine heart to give myself unto wine, yet acquainting mine heart with wisdom; and to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was that good for the sons of men, which they should do under the heaven all the days of their life. to give: Heb. to draw my flesh with wine all: Heb. the number of the days of their life 4. I made me great works; I builded me houses; I planted me vineyards: 5. I made me gardens and orchards, and I planted trees in them of all kind of fruits: 6. I made me pools of water, to water therewith the wood that bringeth forth trees: 7. I got me servants and maidens, and had servants born in my house; also I had great possessions of great and small cattle above all that were in Jerusalem before me: servants born: Heb. sons of my house 8. I gathered me also silver and gold, and the peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces: I gat me men singers and women singers, and the delights of the sons of men, as musical instruments, and that of all sorts. musical: Heb. musical instrument and instruments 9. So I was great, and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem: also my wisdom remained with me. 10. And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them, I withheld not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in all my labour: and this was my portion of all my labour. 11. Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun.** > > 12. And I turned myself to behold wisdom, and madness, and folly: for what can the man do that cometh after the king? even that which hath been already done. even: or, in those things which have been already done 13. Then I saw that wisdom excelleth folly, as far as light excelleth darkness. that: Heb. that there is an excellency in wisdom more than in folly, etc (Ecclesiastes 2:1-13, KJV) **YLT** ([YLT](/codex/ylt/)) > **1. I said in my heart, 'Pray, come, I try thee with mirth, and look thou on gladness;' and lo, even it [is] vanity. 2. Of laughter I said, 'Foolish!' and of mirth, 'What [is] this it is doing?' 3. I have sought in my heart to draw out with wine my appetite, (and my heart leading in wisdom), and to take hold on folly till that I see where [is] this, the good to the sons of man of that which they do under the heavens, the number of the days of their lives. 4. I made great my works, I builded for me houses, I planted for me vineyards. 5. I made for me gardens and paradises, and I planted in them trees of every fruit. 6. I made for me pools of water, to water from them a forest shooting forth trees. 7. I got men-servants, and maid-servants, and sons of the house were to me; also, I had much substance, herd and flock, above all who had been before me in Jerusalem. 8. I gathered for me also silver and gold, and the peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces. I prepared for me men-singers and women-singers, and the luxuries of the sons of man, a wife and wives. 9. And I became great, and increased above every one who had been before me in Jerusalem; also, my wisdom stood with me. 10. And all that mine eyes asked I kept not back from them; I withheld not my heart from any joy, for my heart rejoiced because of all my labour, and this hath been my portion, from all my labour, 11. and I have looked on all my works that my hands have done, and on the labour that I have laboured to do, and lo, the whole [is] vanity and vexation of spirit, and there is no advantage under the sun!** > > 12. And I turned to see wisdom, and madness, and folly, but what [is] the man who cometh after the king? that which [is] already, they have done it! 13. And I saw that there is an advantage to wisdom above folly, like the advantage of the light above the darkness. (Ecclesiastes 2:1-13, YLT) ## Setting - **Speaker:** _TBD_ - **Audience:** _TBD_ - **Location:** _TBD_ - **Time period:** _TBD_ ## Theological reading _Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added._ ## Key words _Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word._ - _TBD_ - _TBD_ - _TBD_ - _TBD_ ## Quoted in **People:** - [Gregory of Nyssa](/codex/gregory-of-nyssa/), via [Ecclesiastes 2.7](/codex/ecclesiastes-2-7/) ## Notes _Your annotations._ ## Why these four translations ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the **most literal English translations available** (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the **public domain in the United States**, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance. The four: - **[ASV](/codex/asv/)** (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition. - **[WEB](/codex/web/)** (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English. - **[KJV](/codex/kjv/)** (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base. - **[YLT](/codex/ylt/)** (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff. See [Bibles](/codex/bibles/) for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.