Ecclesiastes 2:2

2 Of laughter I said, `Foolish!' and of mirth, `What [is] this it is doing?'

Ecclesiastes 2:2 Meaning and Commentary

Ecclesiastes 2:2

I said of laughter, [it is] mad
The risible faculty in man is given him for some usefulness; and when used in a moderate way, and kept within due bounds, is of service to him, and conduces to the health of his body, and the pleasure of his mind; but when used on every trivial occasion, and at every foolish thing that is said or done, and indulged to excess, it is mere madness, and makes a man look more like a madman and a fool than a wise man; it lasts but for a while, and the end of it is heaviness, ( Ecclesiastes 7:6 ) ( Proverbs 14:13 ) . Or, "I said to laughter, [thou art] mad" ^F24; and therefore will have nothing to do with thee in the excessive and criminal way, but shun thee, as one would do a mad man: this therefore is not to be reckoned into the pleasure he bid his soul go to and enjoy; and of mirth, what doth it?
what good does do? of what profit and advantage is it to man? If the question is concerning innocent mirth, the answer may be given out of ( Proverbs 15:13 ) ( 17:22 ) ; but if of carnal sinful mirth, there is no good arises from that to the body or mind; or any kind of happiness to be enjoyed that way, and therefore no trial is to be made of it. What the wise man proposed to make trial of, and did, follows in the next verses.

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FOOTNOTES:

F24 (llwhm ytrma qwxvl) "risui dixi, insanis", Mercerus, Drusius, Amama; "vel insanus es", Piscator, Schmidt, Rambachius.

Ecclesiastes 2:2 In-Context

1 I said in my heart, `Pray, come, I try thee with mirth, and look thou on gladness;' and lo, even it [is] vanity.

2 Of laughter I said, `Foolish!' and of mirth, `What [is] this it is doing?'

3 I have sought in my heart to draw out with wine my appetite, (and my heart leading in wisdom), and to take hold on folly till that I see where [is] this -- the good to the sons of man of that which they do under the heavens, the number of the days of their lives.

4 I made great my works, I builded for me houses, I planted for me vineyards.

5 I made for me gardens and paradises, and I planted in them trees of every fruit.