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a. The conclusion: Pleasure has little value (2:1-2)

2:1-2. Solomon stated that in his quest to find something worthwhile in life (to find out what is good; cf. v. 3, "to see what was worthwhile [same Heb. word as the word 'good'] for men to do"), he experimented with pleasure. But he concluded that it was futile or meaningless because it was foolish and accomplished little or nothing. Solomon's question, And what does pleasure accomplish? is again rhetorical, expecting a negative answer (cf. 1:3).

b. The experiment: Pleasure-seeking is futile (2:3-11)

2:3. In Solomon's quest to find something worthwhile to do, he even experimented though deliberately and with restraint, not blindly or in uncontrolled excess (my mind still guiding me with wisdom; cf. v. 9 b) - with sensual indulgence (e.g., cheering myself with wine) and with what he would otherwise have characterized as a foolish or frivolous lifestyle (embracing folly). He wanted to test the effects of pleasure-seeking and frivolity to see if they were really worthwhile.

2:4-10. In his inquiry into the value of pleasure he denied himself no avenue through which pleasure might be gained. As the richest and most powerful man who had ever lived in Jerusalem (v. 9; cf. 1 Kings 10), he surrounded himself with pleasureful objects such as magnificent buildings and vineyards (Ecclesiastes 2:4; cf. 1 Kings 7:1-11), luxuriant gardens and parks (Ecclesiastes 2:5) filled with trees (vv. 5-6), a great retinue of slaves (v. 7; cf. 1 Kings 10:5) who were available to serve him, musicians to meet his aesthetic needs, and a large harem (Ecclesiastes 2:8; cf. 1 Kings 11:1-3) to satisfy his physical desires. Moreover, with the wealth from his great herds and flocks (Ecclesiastes 2:7) and his great treasures of silver and gold (v. 8; cf. 1 Kings 10:14-15,27) he could buy anything his heart desired and indulge in every pleasure (Ecclesiastes 2:10).

2:11. However, though he could gain some satisfaction from the joy of accomplishment and had indeed experienced pleasure from it all (cf. v. 10), when he reflected on the real value of what he had accomplished, he concluded that it was meaningless and a chasing after the wind (cf. 1:14,17; 2:17,26; 4:4,6,16; 6:9). There was no real or ultimate gain (cf. 1:3) from all his accomplishments under the sun (cf. comments on "under the sun" in 1:3).

2:12-16. The reason Solomon passed this verdict on the ultimate value of his accomplishments was the sad fact of the universality of death. Pointing out that his experiment with the value of pleasure could perhaps be duplicated but not exceeded ("for what can the man do who comes after the king? Only what he has already done," v. 12 b, RSV), Solomon reflected on the relationship between wisdom and folly, namely, that wisdom enabled him to enjoy pleasure and the fruits of his labor judiciously (cf. vv. 3,9) as opposed to riotous hedonism (madness and folly, v. 12; cf. 1:17). He concluded that there was indeed some advantage to wisdom. (Better translates the word yitron rendered "gain" in 1:3 [see comments there]. It refers to something excelling over something else.)

A wise man has the foresight to avoid danger while a fool gets into trouble as though he stumbles around in the dark (2:14; cf. Proverbs 4:18-19 for a similar metaphorical use of light and darkness).
However, because both the wise man and the fool share the same fate (Ecclesiastes 2:14) - they both die and are ultimately forgotten (v. 16; cf. 9:5) - he concluded that there was no real advantage to being wise, that is, to living wisely as opposed to living foolishly (2:15).

2:17. This also led Solomon to view life as repugnant or distasteful. He said he hated life, because the work... was grievous to him. (The word trans. "grievous" [ra') is the antonym for the word trans. "good" or "worthwhile" in vv. 1,3.) If, he concluded, it does not ultimately make any difference how one lives and if there is nothing ultimately worthwhile to do, then all of life and all its accomplishments are futile or meaningless, a chasing after the wind (cf. 1:14,17; 2:11,17,26; 4:6,16; 6:9).

Having discussed the futility of human achievements in general (1:12-15) and the futility of his own achievements (2:1-11) in view of death (2:12-17), Solomon then turned to consider the value of the toil he had expended in accomplishing them (2:18-20) and the value of human toil in general (2:21-6:9). He shifted from using 'T' and "my" in 2:1-18 to using "he," "a man," and "his" in 2:19-20. Twenty-three of the 34 occurrences of the Hebrew word for "toil" and "labor" in Ecclesiastes appear in this section, which may be divided into four paragraphs (2:18-26; 3:1-4:3,4-16; 5:1-6:9) on the basis of the recurring formula "meaningless, a chasing after the wind."

1. LABOR'S FRUITS MAY BE SQUANDERED BY SOMEONE ELSE (2:18-26)

a. Labor's fruits may be squandered by one's heir (2:18-21)

2:18-21. Life was not the only thing Solomon found to be ultimately repugnant; he also viewed all his labor with distaste. I hated all the things I had toiled for is literally, "I hated all my toil." Thus he viewed his work under the sun (vv. 18-20; cf. comments on 1:3) with despair (2:20) because there was no permanence to its fruits, to the things he accomplished through it. Though what he accomplished (vv. 4-6) and accumulated (vv. 7-8) might survive him, he would have no control over how it would be used after his death (v. 19; cf. Psalms 49:10). A person who inherited it, who had not had to work for it (Ecclesiastes 2:21), and who consequently had no real appreciation for it, might be a fool (v. 19) who would squander it. So Solomon declared toil to be futile or meaningless (vv. 19, 21) and the loss of its fruits a great misfortune (v. 21).

b. Thus labor is not worth the effort (2:22-23)

2:22-23. Viewed in the light of the impermanence of its fruits Solomon asked whether a man's labor in this life (under the sun; cf. comments on 1:3) was really worth it all. In the final analysis, he declared, all that really resulted from it was the expenditure of a lot of painful labor and restless activity which is futile or meaningless.

c. It is best to enjoy labor's fruits as God enables (2:24-26)

2:24-26. In view of the impermanence of the fruits of a man's toil, Solomon recommended that a man enjoy its fruits (eating and drinking are only metaphorical for partaking of all its fruits) and find satisfaction in his work (cf. 3:13; 5:18; 8:15) as he himself had done (2:10). However, he warned that this was possible only if God enabled one to do so: without Him, who can eat or find enjoyment? Moreover, he warned that God only enables those who please Him to do so. Often sinners amass wealth which ultimately is enjoyed by one who pleases God, a task he identified as futile or meaningless, a chasing after the wind (cf. 1:14,17; 2:11,17; 4:4,6,16; 6:9).

Two points from 2:24-26 should be noted. First, Solomon stated that God's disposition of wealth and the enjoyment of one's labors and its fruits are based on whether a man is pleasing to God or is a sinner. As is clear from the words "the man who pleases" God and "the sinner" elsewhere in Ecclesiastes (7:26; cf. 8:12), this implies that a person will be judged on the basis of his ethical behavior and his trust in God or lack of it. Second, Solomon wrote that this judgment would take place in this life (not in a life after death) and would involve temporal not eternal rewards. These two points (enjoyment of life and judgment), which are brought together only here, are crucial in the development of the book. The enjoyment theme, mentioned at crucial times in the book (3:12-13,22; 5:18-20; 8:15; 9:7-10), is here specifically related to the theme of judgment (11:9; 12:14), and to the advice to fear God and keep His commandments (12:13).

The argument in this section revolves around the repetition of the word "time" in 3:1-8,11,17 and other repeated phrases such as "I have seen" or "I saw" (3:10,16; 4:1), "I know" (3:12,14), and "I thought" (3:17-18). Solomon argued that God has appointed a time for everything (3:11), even for injustice (3:16-17) and oppression (4:1-3). All this is part of the eternal (3:14), immutable (3:14), inscrutable (3:11) providence of God which renders a person's toil profitless (3:9).

a. Thesis: Everything has its time (3:1-8)

(1) Thesis stated.
3:1. Solomon said, There is a time... for every activity under heaven (cf. 8:6). By the word "activity" Solomon meant people's deliberate, willful acts. The Hebrew word for "activity," always used of people, literally means "desire," and then by metonymy "what one desires" (cf. Isaiah 58:13). For these willful acts people are held accountable (cf. Ecclesiastes 3:17). Each activity, wrote Solomon, has its proper "time" (point in time) and season (duration).

(2) Thesis illustrated (3:2-8). Solomon followed his general statement with a poem on 14 opposites, each of which happens in its time. The fact that Solomon utilized polar opposites in a multiple of seven and began his list with birth and death is highly significant. The number seven suggests the idea of completeness and the use of polar opposites - a well-known poetical device called merism - suggests totality (cf. Psalms 139:2-3). Though the exact meaning of some of these "activities" is uncertain, Solomon intended to affirm that all a person's activities, both constructive and destructive, and all his responses to people, objects, and events happen in their times.

3:2-3. The list begins with a reference to the beginning and end of a person's life, two events over which he really has no control. Solomon continued by referring to the deliberate acts of one who begins and ends vegetable life (a time to plant and a time to uproot), takes and saves human life, and constructs and destroys buildings. Perhaps all these are suggested by the concept of birth and death.

3:4. From the concept of death and destruction, Solomon wrote of the human responses to those events. People experience weeping and mourning, and their opposites, laughing and dancing, two activities by which joy is expressed.

3:5-6. How the two opposites in verse 5 are related to each other and to those in verses 2-4 is uncertain. Many interpretations have been suggested for the meaning of the phrases a time to scatter (or "cast away," KJV) stones and a time to gather them. Perhaps it is best to see them as referring to the gathering and rejecting of building materials. This relates these opposites both to the idea of building (v. 3) and to the thought of keeping and throwing away (v. 6).

Solomon then spoke of the display of affections (v. 5 b), probably of a man to a woman and perhaps also of a woman to a man. He then wrote about searching for a thing or giving it up as lost and about keeping a thing or throwing it away (v. 6). All the opposites in verses 5-6 seem to involve man's interest in things or affection for persons.

3:7. This verse may refer to actions associated with mourning (tearing one's clothes and remaining silent; cf. Job 2:12-13), and its end (sewing one's clothes and speaking out). If so, it would relate to the mourning in Ecclesiastes 3:4.

3:8. Solomon closed his list of opposites by referring to life's two basic emotions, love and hate, and the most hostile expression of the latter, war, and its opposite, peace. It may be significant that the list closes, somewhat as it began, with a set of opposites (war and peace) over which a person has little control.

b. Significance: Toil is profitless (3:9)

3:9. Turning from the thesis that every activity has its time, Solomon again raised the question of the value of a person's work, expecting rhetorically the same somber answer as before (cf. 1:3; 2:11), that there is no profit (gain, yitron; cf. comments on 1:3) in one's toil.

c. Reason: God's design is inscrutable (3:10-11)

3:10-11. To support the implied negative answer to his question in verse 9, Solomon referred to three observations he had drawn from his reflection on all the human activity represented in the opposites, verses 2-8. This activity is suggested by the word burden ('inyan), which is translated "task" in the NASB. (1) Solomon observed that God... has made everything beautiful (or, "appropriate"; the same word is trans. "proper" in 5:18) in its time, that is, God in His providential plans and control has an appropriate time for every activity. (2) Solomon observed that God has put eternity in the hearts of men. People have a longing or desire to know the extra temporal significance of themselves and their deeds or activities. (3) Solomon added that people cannot know the works of God... from beginning to end, that is, they cannot know the sovereign, eternal , plan of God. Human labor is without profit because people are ignorant of God's eternal plan, the basis by which He evaluates the appropriateness and eternal significance of all their activities. Because of this ignorance there is an uncertainty and latent temporality to the value of all one's labor.

d. Recommendation: Enjoy life as God enables (3:12-13)

3:12-13. Since man in his ignorance of God's plan cannot be sure of the appropriateness or lasting significance of his labor, Solomon again recommended the present enjoyment of life (cf. 2:24), stating that there is nothing better for men than to be happy as long as they live (cf. 5:18; 8:15). The words do good (in the NIV and NASB) should be rendered "enjoy themselves" (RSV). No moral qualification is suggested here as a requirement for receiving God's gift of enjoyment (as there is in 2:26). Most commentators are undoubtedly correct in pointing to the parallel words find satisfaction (lit., "see good") in 3:13. There "good" is used in a nonethical sense (cf. 2:24; 5:18 for the same idiom).

Again Solomon indicated that this ability to enjoy life comes as a gift of God (cf. 2:25). Christian D. Ginsburg properly renders 3:13 as a conditional sentence: "If any man eats and drinks and finds satisfaction in all his toil, it is a gift of God" (The Song of Songs and Coheleth, pp. 311-2).

e. Purpose: That man may fear God (3:14-15)

3:14-15. Anticipating that people who cannot understand God's plan might accuse Him of being arbitrary, Solomon described the nature of God's plan and the response it should elicit. Solomon said the work of God is eternal (everything God does will endure forever) and perfect and immutable (nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it; cf. 7:13). In support of this last point Solomon referred as he did in 1:9 to the repetition of natural events: Whatever is has already been, and what will be has been before. He added that this is part of God's deliberate plan. God will call the past to account may also be rendered "God calls back the past" (NIV marg.) or "God seeks what has passed by" (NASB). Some commentators suggest the paraphrase, "God seeks to repeat what has passed." Franz Delitzsch summarizes the thought of this statement: "The government of God... does not change; His creative as well as His moral ordering of the world produces with the same laws the same phenomena .... His government remains always, and brings... up again that which hath been" ("Ecclesiastes" in Commentary on the Old Testament in Ten Volumes, 6:264). The response God wants people to have to His immutable, inscrutable plan is one of fear, reverence, and humble submission: so men will revere Him.

f. Application: The place of injustice in God's plan (3:16-4:3)

The most likely exception to the appropriateness of any activity and the perfection of God's plan is the problem of injustice and oppression in the world.

(1) Observation: Injustice in the world.