Question 1

What does Solomon mean when he calls pleasure and mirth vanity?

Accepted Answer

When Solomon calls pleasure and mirth “vanity,” he is not saying that laughter or joy are always wrong. He is saying that when a person chases pleasure as the main purpose of life, it slips through their fingers. He tried loud laughter, parties, and all kinds of entertainment. For a moment it felt good, but it did not answer the deep questions of his heart. It did not last, it did not bring him closer to God, and it left him empty once it was over.

Question 2

Why does Solomon give himself to wine while keeping wisdom in his heart?

Accepted Answer

Solomon says he gave himself to wine while still trying to guide his heart with wisdom. He wanted to test whether a life of careful enjoyment, not wild drunkenness, could be the “good” way for people to live. He tried to taste pleasure and at the same time watch it with a clear mind. In the end he saw that using wine to search for life’s true meaning was foolish. Even when he stayed smart about it, wine could not show him the real purpose of life.

Question 3

What is the point of all Solomon’s houses, vineyards, and treasures in this passage?

Accepted Answer

Solomon lists his houses, vineyards, gardens, orchards, pools, servants, herds, silver, gold, and singers to show he lacked nothing this world could offer. He had great projects, beauty, comfort, honour, and constant music. If anything under the sun could have filled his heart, this would have done it. Yet after enjoying all these things, he looked back and called it “vanity and vexation of spirit.” The point is that even the largest success and wealth cannot give lasting gain without God.

Question 4

Why does Solomon say wisdom is better than folly but still calls it vanity?

Accepted Answer

Solomon sees that wisdom is better than folly the way light is better than darkness. A wise person can see where he is going, while a fool stumbles. Wisdom helps in daily life. Yet he also notices that the same end comes to both: both wise and fool die and are soon forgotten. That thought troubles him. So, while wisdom is better for a time, it cannot stop death or give lasting gain by itself. Without God, even wisdom, taken alone, is still empty in the end.

Question 5

Why does Solomon say he hated life and hated all his labour?

Accepted Answer

Solomon says he hated life because everything done under the sun seemed painful and empty to him. He had worked hard with wisdom and skill, but knew he must die and leave it all to someone else, who might be a fool. That thought made his heart sink. The more he thought about toil without God, the more bitter it seemed. His words show the frustration of working only for this world. When work is cut off from God, it feels heavy and pointless, no matter how successful it looks.

Question 6

What does it mean that a man leaves his work to one who has not laboured in it?

Accepted Answer

Solomon notices that a person may labour with wisdom, knowledge, and fairness, yet when he dies, all he has built goes to another who did not toil for it. He calls this a vanity and a great evil, because the first man bears the burden, and the second enjoys the fruit, whether he is wise or foolish. This shows how uncertain earthly gain is. You cannot keep it, you cannot control who comes after you, and you cannot know how they will use what you leave behind.

Question 7

What does Solomon mean by saying there is nothing better than to eat and drink and enjoy good?

Accepted Answer

When Solomon says there is nothing better than to eat and drink and make the soul enjoy good in labour, he is not telling people to live only for food and comfort. He is saying that, in this short life, simple daily joys received from God’s hand are a kind gift. After seeing how empty riches and fame are, he values ordinary meals, rest, and honest work when they are seen as blessings from God, not as idols. This quiet contentment is far different from wild pleasure-seeking.

Question 8

What does this passage teach about God’s gifts to the good and to the sinner?

Accepted Answer

Solomon says God gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy to the person who is good in his sight. To the sinner, God gives the hard task of gathering and heaping up wealth, only for it to end up in the hands of one who pleases God. This shows that God rules over gain and loss. A person may work only for himself and still lose what he has stored. Another, who fears God, may receive what he did not work for. Real joy and lasting good come from God’s favour, not from effort alone.

Question 9

How can this passage guide how we view success, pleasure, and work today?

Accepted Answer

This passage warns us not to expect success, pleasure, or hard work to fill the emptiness in our hearts. Like Solomon, a person may gain much, enjoy many things, and still feel restless. It reminds us that death and forgetting stand at the end of every human plan. So instead of chasing pleasure or status as our main goal, we should see daily food, rest, and work as small gifts from God, and seek our deepest joy in knowing him, not in what we build or collect.

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.

The Futility of Pleasure

The Wise and the Foolish

The Futility of Work

The Futility of Pleasure

Cross References

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.

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The Futility of Pleasure

The Wise and the Foolish

The Futility of Work

The Futility of Pleasure

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