Ecclesiastes 1:16-18

Ecclesiastes 1:16-18

[16] 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.  [17] And I gave  my heart  to know  wisdom,  and to know  madness  and folly:  I perceived  that this  also is vexation  of spirit.  [18] For in much  wisdom  is much  grief:  and he that increaseth  knowledge  increaseth  sorrow. 

What does Ecclesiastes 1:16-18 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

To conduct his investigation of human achievements, Solomon had employed the tool of wisdom. Wisdom here does not refer to living life with God in view. It means using human intelligence as an instrument to ferret out truth and significance. However, he discovered it inadequate to turn up any truly meaningful activity. Consequently, wisdom was in this respect no better than "madness and folly" ( Ecclesiastes 1:17; i.e, foolish ideas and pleasures).
". . . in Scripture both "madness" and "folly" imply moral perversity rather than mental oddity." [1]
Greater wisdom had only brought him greater "grief" (mental anguish) and "pain" (emotional sorrow, Ecclesiastes 1:18). The phrase "I perceived" and its synonyms occur frequently in Ecclesiastes (cf. Ecclesiastes 1:13; Ecclesiastes 2:1; Ecclesiastes 2:3; Ecclesiastes 2:14-15; Ecclesiastes 3:17-18; Ecclesiastes 3:22; Ecclesiastes 7:25; Ecclesiastes 8:9; Ecclesiastes 8:16; Ecclesiastes 9:1).
""Heart" points to the combined use of mind and will in the quest for knowledge. Biblical Hebrew has no specific words for mind or brain. Thinking and understanding and deciding are all done by the "heart."" [2]