ECCLESIASTES 2.1-11

1. I said in my heart, "Come, I will test you with pleasure [plunge into pleasure] and enjoy myself!" But behold, this also was vanity.

2. To Laughter, I said "O mad one!" and to Mirth,"What is this one doing?"

3. I searched in my heart how to cherish my flesh with wine, my heart guiding me with wisdom; and how to lay hold on folly, till I should see what was that good for the children of men which they should do under the heavens all the days of their life.

4. I made me great works; I built me houses; I planted me vineyards;

5. I made me gardens and parks, and I planted trees in them of every kind of fruit;

6. I made me ponds of water (reservoirs, aqueducts), to water therewith the wood, where the trees are reared.

7. I acquired servants and maidens, and had servants born in my house; also I had great possessions of herds and flocks, above all that had been in Jerusalem before me.

8. I gathered me also silver and gold, and the peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces; I hired wonderful singers, both men and women, and had many beautiful concubines [a harem]. I had everything a man could desire!

9. And I became great, and increased more than all that had been before me in Jerusalem: also my wisdom remained with me.

10. And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them: I withheld not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in all my labour, and this was my reward from all my labour.

11. Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that it had cost me to do; and behold, all was vanity and pursuit of the wind, and there was no profit under the sun.

It seems axiomatic that life is to be enjoyed, and having observed the unhappiness, lack of fulfillment and self-imposed misery of so many people, the Koheleth next sets out to live the apparently perfect life for himself – in effect to perform a scientific experiment in living, in order to find out the very best way for people to live and find enjoyment, to find out what was good (verse 3).

Backed by the resources of the throne and armed with massive intellect and wisdom, Solomon is determined to live life to the full, pursuing pleasure for its own sake, adopting a lifestyle that the vast majority of men and women can only dream about. These verses describe the investigation, which evidently spanned several decades -- and also the unfortunate and inevitable outcome.

The inclination of the natural man, of which Solomon as the Koheleth was the perfect type, is to pursue personal success – and maximize wealth, possessions and pleasure at almost any cost. The counsel of the Godly man, on the other hand, as described throughout the New Testament, involves a creative reversal -- to love our neighbour as much as we love ourselves, to care for self but to care equally, even more so, for the welfare of others, to support, encourage, serve, contribute, and do good works. There lies the crucial change of direction known as repentance (Philippians 2:3-10) – and there is the kind of life God intends us all to live once our eyes have been opened (Ephesians 2:10, Titus 3:8).

As he commences his experiment, the Koheleth "plunges into pleasure", says one version, immersing himself in pleasure, making it the consuming purpose of each day. However, according to the commentators, he immediately and quite curtly dismisses Laughter and Mirth, whom he apparently addressed as individuals, as being trivial and unworthy of his attention as ends in themselves.

When Solomon then says that he cherished his flesh with wine, I suspect he means that he became a connoisseur of fine wines and drank them daily to relax and to aid meditation as he pondered how best to advance his investigation. Notice, however, that he always kept his wits about him, and so did not drink to excess or let is get a grip on him, as one translation renders it.

Such was the character of Solomon, that behind this simple statement, I suspect, also lay the design and building of vineyards, the scientific choice and possibly systematic testing of various grape varieties, the employment of the most skilled managers that royal money could buy, and the production of the finest quality vintages. It is interesting that fine wines still hold a fascination and their production a challenge for rich and successful people today.

Solomon next devoted his energy to the pursuit of "folly" -- the accomplishment of great creative projects for their own sake, a term employed in the eighteenth century to describe to ornate but functionless towers built in the gardens of country mansions for no logical purpose other than personal pleasure.

As he begins to list those projects, such as the construction of vineyards, orchards, parks and gardens ("paradises"), stables and houses, notice the repetition of the phrase I made me -- which provides another deliberate clue to the self-consumed character of the Koheleth. Every project into which he poured his dynamic energy, wisdom, skill and creative genius was for his own pleasure -- hence the frequent and deliberate use of the personal pronoun "I".

Such was the genius of Solomon, that when he planted a garden or built a park, it would have been done at a level of extreme excellence, meticulously planned and executed, and stocked with the most appropriate selection of grasses, trees, shrubs and flowers. Solomon was in fact an avid student and lecturer in zoology and botany (1 Kings 4:33-34).

Like many successful business men today, Solomon says that he found great joy and pleasure in these creative projects, one of which involved the breeding of thousands of horses -- however, when he stood back and considered the final outcome, there was no lasting profit, and no doubt, having completed one project, he became unsettled and bored and eager to undertake yet another. Although he achieved great things, for his own pleasure, he saw that all would be lost when he died and returned to dust, as all men must.

Notice that, true to the selfish character of the Koheleth , none of his projects were undertaken for the good of others. Although he would have been eminently qualified to do, there were apparently no public works such as roads, wells, schools, public parks, colleges or libraries amongst his accomplishments.

Notice also Solomon’s more direct pursuit of sensual pleasure -- the procurement of talented entertainers to sing and dance for him in his palace, plus an endless supply of women, and, as some versions render it, a harem (verse 8). True to character, Solomon no doubt became the most capable and sophisticated of lovers, and those in charge of his harem would have every herbal preparation and perfume known to intensify and extend his pleasure.

More specific detail of the opulence of the Koheleth's life-style, of the extent of his wealth, his building projects, the vast daily consumption of his household, his zoo, his wives and women, his stables of thousands of horses, as well as his intellectual and creative prowess are found in other Biblical accounts (I Kings 4:20-28, 7:1-12, 10:14-29, 11:1-13, 2 Chronicles 9:1-28).

Although Solomon derived pleasure from his creative works as he was doing them (verse 10), when they were complete and he considered the massive effort he had put into them, he apparently saw them rather cynically as mere piles of bricks, a few plants and puddles of water – all in all, quite un-satisfying, and the happiness he had sought as elusive as chasing the wind, or searching for the end of the rainbow.

Although he was wiser and probably more creative than any other person before or since, Solomon used those assets for selfish ends. This is why, in writing as an older and wiser man, he labels himself as the Koheleth -- the Accumulator, the Gatherer, the Selfish One.

This section of Ecclesiastes, with its stress on the emptiness of self-centred grasping and getting, no matter how successfully carried out, is almost certainly the basis for Jesus's teaching, as mentioned earlier, that, Quote: “ It is more blessed [happy] to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35).