Bible Chapter Summary
Ecclesiastes 2 Summary
The Futility of Pleasure and Accomplishment
The Preacher determines to prove the value of mirth and pleasure, pursuing wine, great works, houses, vineyards, gardens, servants, cattle, silver, gold, and music. Though he accumulated more than any before him in Jerusalem and denied himself nothing his eyes desired, he perceived that all his labor and accomplishment was vanity and vexation. He recognizes that wisdom excels folly as light exceeds darkness, yet both the wise man and the fool die equally, making his labor and acquisitions ultimately profitless.
Key themes
Key verses
Ecclesiastes 2:1
“I said in mine heart, Go to now, I will prove thee with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure: and, behold, this also is vanity.”
Ecclesiastes 2:11
“Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun.”
Ecclesiastes 2:14-16
“The wise man's eyes are in his head; but the fool walketh in darkness: and I myself perceived also that one event happeneth to them all.”
Ecclesiastes 2:22-23
“For what hath man of all his labour, and of the vexation of his heart, wherein he hath laboured under the sun?”
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