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Ecclesiastes 2

Eccl. 2:1 KJV (With Strong’s)

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I said
'amar (Hebrew #559)
to say (used with great latitude)
KJV usage: answer, appoint, avouch, bid, boast self, call, certify, challenge, charge, + (at the, give) command(-ment), commune, consider, declare, demand, X desire, determine, X expressly, X indeed, X intend, name, X plainly, promise, publish, report, require, say, speak (against, of), X still, X suppose, talk, tell, term, X that is, X think, use (speech), utter, X verily, X yet.
Pronounce: aw-mar'
Origin: a primitive root
c in mine heart
leb (Hebrew #3820)
the heart; also used (figuratively) very widely for the feelings, the will and even the intellect; likewise for the centre of anything
KJV usage: + care for, comfortably, consent, X considered, courag(-eous), friend(-ly), ((broken-), (hard-), (merry-), (stiff-), (stout-), double) heart((-ed)), X heed, X I, kindly, midst, mind(-ed), X regard((-ed)), X themselves, X unawares, understanding, X well, willingly, wisdom.
Pronounce: labe
Origin: a form of 3824
, Go to now
yalak (Hebrew #3212)
to walk (literally or figuratively); causatively, to carry (in various senses)
KJV usage: X again, away, bear, bring, carry (away), come (away), depart, flow, + follow(-ing), get (away, hence, him), (cause to, made) go (away, -ing, -ne, one's way, out), grow, lead (forth), let down, march, prosper, + pursue, cause to run, spread, take away ((-journey)), vanish, (cause to) walk(-ing), wax, X be weak.
Pronounce: yaw-lak'
Origin: a primitive root (compare 1980)
, I will prove
nacah (Hebrew #5254)
to test; by implication, to attempt
KJV usage: adventure, assay, prove, tempt, try.
Pronounce: naw-saw'
Origin: a primitive root
thee with mirth
simchah (Hebrew #8057)
blithesomeness or glee, (religious or festival)
KJV usage: X exceeding(-ly), gladness, joy(-fulness), mirth, pleasure, rejoice(-ing).
Pronounce: sim-khaw'
Origin: from 8056
d, therefore enjoy
ra'ah (Hebrew #7200)
to see, literally or figuratively (in numerous applications, direct and implied, transitive, intransitive and causative)
KJV usage: advise self, appear, approve, behold, X certainly, consider, discern, (make to) enjoy, have experience, gaze, take heed, X indeed, X joyfully, lo, look (on, one another, one on another, one upon another, out, up, upon), mark, meet, X be near, perceive, present, provide, regard, (have) respect, (fore-, cause to, let) see(-r, -m, one another), shew (self), X sight of others, (e-)spy, stare, X surely, X think, view, visions.
Pronounce: raw-aw'
Origin: a primitive root
pleasure
towb (Hebrew #2896)
good (as an adjective) in the widest sense; used likewise as a noun, both in the masculine and the feminine, the singular and the plural (good, a good or good thing, a good man or woman; the good, goods or good things, good men or women), also as an adverb (well)
KJV usage: beautiful, best, better, bountiful, cheerful, at ease, X fair (word), (be in) favour, fine, glad, good (deed, -lier, -liest, -ly, -ness, -s), graciously, joyful, kindly, kindness, liketh (best), loving, merry, X most, pleasant, + pleaseth, pleasure, precious, prosperity, ready, sweet, wealth, welfare, (be) well ((-favoured)).
Pronounce: tobe
Origin: from 2895
e: and, behold, this also is vanity
hebel (Hebrew #1892)
from 1891; emptiness or vanity; figuratively, something transitory and unsatisfactory; often used as an adverb
KJV usage: X altogether, vain, vanity.
Pronounce: heh'bel
Origin: or (rarely in the abs.) habel {hab-ale'}
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c
Luke 12:19‑20• 19and I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much good things laid up for many years; repose thyself; eat, drink, be merry.
 20But God said unto him, Fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee; and whose shall be what thou hast prepared? (Luke 12:19‑20)
d
Eccl. 8:15• 15Then I commended mirth,{HR}Because a man hath no better thing under the sun,{HR}Than to eat, and to drink, and to be merry:{HR}For that shall abide with him in his labour the days of his life{HR}Which God hath given him under the sun. (Eccl. 8:15)
e
Titus 3:3• 3For at one time even we were foolish, disobedient, gone astray, in slavery to divers lusts and pleasures, passing time in malice and envy, abominable, hating one another. (Titus 3:3)

More on:

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Heart

Cross References

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Ministry on This Verse

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1-11:  The vanity of human courses in the works of pleasure.
12-17:  Though the wise be better than the fool, yet both have one event.
18-23:  The vanity of human labour, in leaving it they know not to whom.
24-26:  Nothing better than joy in our labour; but that is God's gift.
said.
Eccl. 2:15• 15Then said I in my heart,{HR}As it happeneth to the fool,{HR}So will it happen even to me;{HR}And why was I then more wise?{HR}Then I said in my heart,{HR}That this also [was] vanity. (Eccl. 2:15)
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Eccl. 1:16‑17• 16I communed with mine own heart, saying,{HR}Lo, I have gotten me great wisdom{HR}Above all that were before me in Jerusalem:{HR}Yea, my heart hath had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.
 17And I applied my heart to know wisdom,{HR}And to know madness and folly:{HR}I perceived that this also was a striving after wind. (Eccl. 1:16‑17)
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Eccl. 3:17‑18• 17I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked:{HR}For there is a time for every purpose and every work.
 18I said in mine heart,{HR}It is because of the sons of men that God may prove them,{HR}And that they may see that they themselves are but as beasts. (Eccl. 3:17‑18)
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Psa. 10:6• 6He hath said in his heart, I shall not be moved;{HR}To generation and generation [I am] he which shall not [be] in any evil. (Psa. 10:6)
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Psa. 14:1• 1To the chief musician, by David.{HR}The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.{HR}They have acted corruptly, they have acted abominably [in] work;{HR}There is none doing good. (Psa. 14:1)
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Psa. 27:8• 8Unto thee my heart said, Seek ye my face:{HR}Thy face, O Jehovah, I seek; (Psa. 27:8)
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Psa. 30:6‑7• 6And I, I said in my prosperity I shall not be moved forever.
 7O Jehovah, in thy favour thou hast established strength for my mountain;{HR}Thou hast hidden thy face: I have been confounded. (Psa. 30:6‑7)
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Luke 12:19• 19and I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much good things laid up for many years; repose thyself; eat, drink, be merry. (Luke 12:19)
Go to.
Gen. 11:3‑4,7• 3And they said one to another, Come, let us make bricks and burn [them] thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and asphalt had they for mortar.
 4And they said, Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower, whose top [may reach] to the heavens; and let us make ourselves a name, lest we be scattered over the face of the whole earth.
 7Come, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech . (Gen. 11:3‑4,7)
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2 Kings 5:5• 5And the king of Syria said, Well! go, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel. And he departed, and took with him ten talents of silver, and six thousand shekels of gold, and ten changes of raiment. (2 Kings 5:5)
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Isa. 5:5• 5And now let me tell you what I am about to do to my vineyard; I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; and break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down; (Isa. 5:5)
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James 4:13• 13Go to now, ye that say, Today or tomorrow we will go to this city here, and spend there a year, and traffic and make gain, (James 4:13)
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James 5:1• 1Come then, ye rich, weep, howling over your miseries that are coming on. (James 5:1)
I will.
Eccl. 8:15• 15Then I commended mirth,{HR}Because a man hath no better thing under the sun,{HR}Than to eat, and to drink, and to be merry:{HR}For that shall abide with him in his labour the days of his life{HR}Which God hath given him under the sun. (Eccl. 8:15)
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Eccl. 11:9• 9Rejoice, young man, in thy youth;{HR}And let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth,{HR}And walk in the ways of thy heart,{HR}And in the sight of thine eyes;{HR}But know that for all these [things]{HR}God will bring thee into judgment.{HR} (Eccl. 11:9)
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Isa. 50:5,11• 5The Lord Jehovah hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, I turned not away back.
 11Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that compass [yourselves] about with sparks: walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks [that] ye have kindled. This shall ye have of my hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow. (Isa. 50:5,11)
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Luke 16:19,23• 19Now there was a rich man and he was clothed in purple and fine linen, making good cheer in splendour every day.
 23And in Hades lifting up his eyes, being in torments, he seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. (Luke 16:19,23)
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James 5:5• 5Ye lived luxuriously on the earth and indulged yourselves; ye nourished your hearts in a day of slaughter. (James 5:5)
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Titus 3:3• 3For at one time even we were foolish, disobedient, gone astray, in slavery to divers lusts and pleasures, passing time in malice and envy, abominable, hating one another. (Titus 3:3)
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Rev. 18:7‑8• 7How much she glorified herself and lived luxuriously, so much torment and mourning give her. Because in her heart she saith, I sit a queen and am no widow and shall in no wise see mourning;
 8therefore in one day shall her plagues come, death and mourning and famine; and she shall be utterly burnt with fire: for strong is the Lord God that judged her. (Rev. 18:7‑8)
• The wise man, having found that wisdom brought with it but increased sorrow, turns to the other side to all those pleasures that the flesh, as we speak, enjoys. (“Ecclesiastes 2” by F.C. Jennings)
• ‘I will prove thee [that is, I will see if I cannot satisfy thee,] with mirth; therefore enjoy pleasure:’ (“Ecclesiastes 2” by F.C. Jennings)

J. N. Darby Translation

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I said in my heart, Come now, I will try thee with mirth, therefore enjoyd pleasure. But behold, this also is vanity.

JND Translation Notes

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d
Lit. "see." so ver. 24; chs. 3.13; 6.6, &c

W. Kelly Translation

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I said in mine heart, Go to now, I will prove thee with mirth;{HR}Therefore enjoy pleasure: and, behold, this also [was] vanity.