12 Call me "the Quester." I've been king over Israel in Jerusalem. 13 I looked most carefully into everything, searched out all that is done on this earth. And let me tell you, there's not much to write home about. God hasn't made it easy for us. 14 I've seen it all and it's nothing but smoke - smoke, and spitting into the wind. 15 Life's a corkscrew that can't be straightened, A minus that won't add up. 16 I said to myself, "I know more and I'm wiser than anyone before me in Jerusalem. I've stockpiled wisdom and knowledge." 17 What I've finally concluded is that so-called wisdom and knowledge are mindless and witless - nothing but spitting into the wind. 18 Much learning earns you much trouble. The more you know, the more you hurt.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Ecclesiastes 1:12-18
Commentary on Ecclesiastes 1:12-18
(Read Ecclesiastes 1:12-18)
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.