21 I said to myself , "Come now , I will test you with pleasure . So enjoy yourself." And behold , it too was futility . 2 I said of laughter , "It is madness ," and of pleasure , "What does it accomplish ?" 3 I explored with my mind how to stimulate my body with wine while my mind was guiding me wisely , and how to take hold of folly , until e I could see what e good there is for the sons of men to do under heaven the few years of their lives . 4 I enlarged my works : I built houses for myself, I planted vineyards for myself; 5 I made gardens and parks for myself and I planted in them all kinds of fruit trees ; 6 I made ponds of water for myself from which to irrigate a forest of growing trees . 7 I bought male and female slaves e and I had homeborn e slaves . Also I possessed flocks and herds larger than all who preceded me in Jerusalem . 8 Also , I collected for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and provinces . I provided for myself male and female singers and the pleasures of men e -many concubines . 9 Then I became great and increased more than all who preceded me in Jerusalem . My wisdom also stood by me. 10 All that my eyes desired I did not refuse them. I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure , for my heart was pleased because of all my labor and this was my reward for all my labor . 11 Thus I considered all my activities which my hands had done and the labor which I had exerted , and behold all was vanity and striving after wind and there was no profit under the sun .
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Ecclesiastes 2:1-11
Commentary on Ecclesiastes 2:1-11
(Read Ecclesiastes 2:1-11)
Solomon soon found mirth and pleasure to be vanity. What does noisy, flashy mirth towards making a man happy? The manifold devices of men's hearts, to get satisfaction from the world, and their changing from one thing to another, are like the restlessness of a man in a fever. Perceiving it was folly to give himself to wine, he next tried the costly amusements of princes. The poor, when they read such a description, are ready to feel discontent. But the remedy against all such feelings is in the estimate of it all by the owner himself. All was vanity and vexation of spirit: and the same things would yield the same result to us, as to Solomon. Having food and raiment, let us therewith be content. His wisdom remained with him; a strong understanding, with great human knowledge. But every earthly pleasure, when unconnected with better blessings, leaves the mind as eager and unsatisfied as before. Happiness arises not from the situation in which we are placed. It is only through Jesus Christ that final blessedness can be attained.