The Meaning of Ecclesiastes 2:2 Explained

Ecclesiastes 2:2

KJV: I said of laughter, It is mad: and of mirth, What doeth it?

YLT: Of laughter I said, 'Foolish!' and of mirth, 'What is this it is doing?'

Darby: I said of laughter, Madness! and of mirth, What availeth it?

ASV: I said of laughter, It is mad; and of mirth, What doeth it?

KJV Reverse Interlinear

I said  of laughter,  [It is] mad:  and of mirth,  What  doeth  it? 

What does Ecclesiastes 2:2 Mean?

Context Summary

Ecclesiastes 2:1-17 - 24-26, Vain Undertakings
At the beginning of his search for happiness Solomon erected a splendid home and planned all kinds of delights of an artistic and sensuous nature. There were gardens, pools of crystal water, fruit trees, meadows filled with cattle, regal splendor, musicians who poured into the palace their sweet melodies. He went further, adding to architecture and art his intellectual pursuits. But when he had gone to the furthest limit, he turned from it all, with the old gnawing at his heart-Vanity of vanities!
A few days before the death of the great Cardinal Mazarin, he was heard by a friend to utter something of the same sad refrain. "I was walking," says this friend, "in one of the apartments of the palace, when I recognized the approach of the Cardinal by the sound of his slippered feet, which he dragged one after the other as a man suffering from a mortal malady. I concealed myself behind the tapestry and heard him say, as he looked at one picture and rare treasure after another, "˜I must leave all these.'" Let us, in the light of these things, ponder again those words of Christ in Luke 12:33. [source]

Chapter Summary: Ecclesiastes 2

1  the vanity of human courses is the work of pleasure
12  Though the wise be better than the fool, yet both have one event
18  The vanity of human labor, in leaving it they know not to whom
24  Nothing better than joy in our labor but that is God's gift

What do the individual words in Ecclesiastes 2:2 mean?

Of laughter I said Madness and of mirth what this does accomplish
לִשְׂח֖וֹק אָמַ֣רְתִּי מְהוֹלָ֑ל וּלְשִׂמְחָ֖ה מַה־ זֹּ֥ה ؟ עֹשָֽׂה

לִשְׂח֖וֹק  Of  laughter 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, masculine singular
Root: שְׂחֹוק  
Sense: laughter, laughing stock, mocking, derision.
אָמַ֣רְתִּי  I  said 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, first person common singular
Root: אָמַר 
Sense: to say, speak, utter.
מְהוֹלָ֑ל  Madness 
Parse: Verb, Pual, Participle, masculine singular
Root: הָלַל 
Sense: to shine.
וּלְשִׂמְחָ֖ה  and  of  mirth 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Preposition-l, Noun, feminine singular
Root: שִׂמְחָה  
Sense: joy, mirth, gladness.
זֹּ֥ה  this 
Parse: Pronoun, feminine singular
Root: זׄה  
Sense: this.
؟ עֹשָֽׂה  does  accomplish 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Participle, feminine singular
Root: עָשָׂה 
Sense: to do, fashion, accomplish, make.

What are the major concepts related to Ecclesiastes 2:2?

Loading Information...