Berean Standard Bible
Ecclesiastes 2:4
4I expanded my pursuits. I built houses and planted vineyards for myself.
Ecclesiastes 2:4 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)I made me great works; I builded me houses; I planted me vineyards:
- New International Version (NIV)I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards.
- English Standard Version (ESV)I made great works. I built houses and planted vineyards for myself.
- New King James Version (NKJV)I made my works great, I built myself houses, and planted myself vineyards.
Context of Ecclesiastes 2:4
2I said of laughter, “It is folly,” and of pleasure, “What does it accomplish?” 3I sought to cheer my body with wine and to embrace folly—my mind still guiding me with wisdom—until I could see what was worthwhile for men to do under heaven during the few days of their lives. I expanded my pursuits. I built houses and planted vineyards for myself. 5I made gardens and parks for myself, where I planted all kinds of fruit trees. 6I built reservoirs to water my groves of flourishing trees.
Read all of Ecclesiastes 2Ecclesiastes 2:4 word by word
הִגְדַּ֖לְתִּי מַעֲשָׂ֑י בָּנִ֤יתִי לִי֙ בָּתִּ֔ים נָטַ֥עְתִּי לִ֖י כְּרָמִֽים׃Read the interlinear
Cross-references for Ecclesiastes 2:4
- Genesis 11:4“Come,” they said, “let us build for ourselves a city with a tower that reaches to the heavens, that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of all the earth.”
- 2 Samuel 18:18During his lifetime, Absalom had set up for himself a pillar in the King’s Valley, for he had said, “I have no son to preserve the memory of my name.” So he gave the pillar his name, and to this day it is called Absalom’s Monument.
- Daniel 4:30the king exclaimed, “Is this not Babylon the Great, which I myself have built as a royal residence by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?”
- Deuteronomy 8:12Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses in which to dwell,
- 1 Kings 7:1Solomon, however, took thirteen years to complete the construction of his entire palace.
- 1 Kings 9:1Now when Solomon had finished building the house of the LORD and the royal palace, and had achieved all that he had desired to do,
- 1 Kings 15:19“Let there be a treaty between me and you as there was between my father and your father. See, I have sent you a gift of silver and gold. Now go and break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel, so that he will withdraw from me.”
- 1 Kings 10:19The throne had six steps, and its back had a rounded top. There were armrests on both sides of the seat, with a lion standing beside each armrest.
- 2 Chronicles 8:1Now at the end of the twenty years during which Solomon had built the house of the LORD and his own palace,
- 1 Chronicles 27:27Shimei the Ramathite was in charge of the vineyards. Zabdi the Shiphmite was in charge of the produce of the vineyards for the wine vats.
- 2 Chronicles 26:10Since he had much livestock in the foothills and in the plain, he built towers in the desert and dug many cisterns. And since he was a lover of the soil, he had farmers and vinedressers in the hill country and in the fertile fields.
- Isaiah 5:1I will sing for my beloved a song of his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill.
Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 2:4
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4I builded me houses - Palace after palace; the house of the forest of Lebanon, 1 Kings 7:1, etc.; a house for the queen; the temple, etc., 2 Chronicles 8:1, etc.; 1 Kings 9:10, etc., besides many other buildings of various kinds.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4Compare 1 Kings 7:1-12; 1 Kings 9:15-19; 1 Kings 10:14-27; and 2 Chronicles 8:4.Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 4The Bible mentions Solomon's vineyards in Song of Solomon 8:11–12.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 3-113-11. Illustration more at large of Ec 2:1, 2. I sought--I resolved, after search into many plans. give myself unto wine--literally, "to draw my flesh," or "body to wine" (including all banquetings). Image from a captive drawn after a chariot in triumph (Ro 6:16, 19; 1Co 12:2); or, one "allured" (2Pe 2:18, 19). yet acquainting ... wisdom--literally, "and my heart (still) was behaving, or guiding itself," with wisdom [Gesenius]. Maurer translates: "was…Read the comment
Topics related to Ecclesiastes 2:4
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 2
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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