Ecclesiastes 2:9

"And I became great, and was always greater than all that were before me in Jerusalem: also my wisdom remained with me. And all that mine eyes desired I kept not from them, I refused not any kind of joy to my heart; for my heart had joy of all my labour: and this was my portion of all my labour. And I turned myself to all the works which my hands had done, and to the labour which I had laboured to accomplish: and, behold, all was vain, and windy effort, and there was no true profit under the sun." In vehosaphti there is here no obj. as at Ecc 1:16; the obj. is the gedullah, the greatness, to be concluded and thought of from vegadalti, "and I became great." To the impers. היה for היוּ, 7b, cf. 7a, Ecc 1:16, Ecc 1:10. He became great, and always greater, viz., in the possession of all the good things, the possession of which seemed to make a man happy on this earth. And what he resolved upon, in the midst of this dulcis insania, viz., to deport himself as a wise man, he succeeded in doing: his wisdom forsook him not, viz., the means adapted to the end, and ruling over this colossal apparatus of sensual lust; אף, as e.g., at Psa 16:6, belongs to the whole clause; and עמד, with ל, does not mean here to stand by, sustain (Herzfeld, Ewald, Elster), which it might mean as well as על עמד, Dan 12:1, but to continue, as Jerome, and after him, Luther, translates: sapientia quoquo perseveravit mecum; the Targ. connects the ideas of continuance (lxx, Syr., Venet.) and of help; but the idea intended is that of continuance, for נהג, e.g., does not refer to helping, but self-maintaining. Ecc 2:10 Thus become great and also continuing wise, he was not only in a condition to procure for himself every enjoyment, but he also indulged himself in everything; all that his eyes desired, i.e.,…

Solomon having pronounced all vanity, and particularly knowledge and learning, which he was so far from giving himself joy of that he found the increase of it did but increase his sorrow, in this chapter he goes on to show what reason he has to be tired of this world, and with what little reason most men are fond of it. I. He shows that there is no true happiness and satisfaction to be had in mirth and pleasure, and the delights of sense (Ecc 2:1-11). II. He reconsiders the pretensions of wisdom, and allows it to be excellent and useful, and yet sees it clogged with such diminutions of its worth that it proves insufficient to make a man happy (Ecc 2:12-16). III. He enquires how far the business and wealth of this world will go towards making men happy, and concludes, from his own experience, that, to those who set their hearts upon it, "it is vanity and vexation of spirit," (Ecc 2:17-23), and that, if there be any good in it, it is only to those that sit loose to it (Ecc 2:24-26).

2:9 I became greater: Cp. 1 Kgs 10:23. • Solomon’s wisdom enabled his successful rise in power and prosperity (see 1 Kgs 3:2-14; 4:20-34).