Christian Standard Bible
Ecclesiastes 2:4
4I increased my achievements. 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 about laughter, “It is madness,” and about pleasure, “What does this accomplish?” 3I explored with my mind the pull of wine on my body — my mind still guiding me with wisdom — and how to grasp folly, until I could see what is good for people to do under heaven during the few days of their lives. I increased my achievements. I built houses and planted vineyards for myself. 5I made gardens and parks for myself and planted every kind of fruit tree in them. 6I constructed reservoirs for myself from which to irrigate a grove of flourishing trees.
Read all of Ecclesiastes 2Ecclesiastes 2:4 word by word
הִגְדַּ֖לְתִּי מַעֲשָׂ֑י בָּנִ֤יתִי לִי֙ בָּתִּ֔ים נָטַ֥עְתִּי לִ֖י כְּרָמִֽים׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Ecclesiastes 2:4
- Genesis 11:4And they said, “Come, let’s build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the sky. Let’s make a name for ourselves; otherwise, we will be scattered throughout the earth.”
- 2 Samuel 18:18When he was alive, Absalom had taken a pillar and raised it up for himself in the King’s Valley, since he thought, “I have no son to preserve the memory of my name.” So he named the pillar after himself. It is still called Absalom’s Monument today.
- Daniel 4:30the king exclaimed, “Is this not Babylon the Great that I have built to be a royal residence by my vast power and for my majestic glory?”
- Deuteronomy 8:12When you eat and are full, and build beautiful houses to live in,
- 1 Kings 7:1Solomon completed his entire palace complex after thirteen years of construction.
- 1 Kings 9:1When Solomon finished building the temple of the Lord, the royal palace, and all that Solomon desired to do,
- 1 Kings 15:19“There is a treaty between me and you, between my father and your father. Look, I have sent you a gift of silver and gold. Go and break your treaty with King Baasha of Israel so that he will withdraw from me.”
- 1 Kings 10:19The throne had six steps; there was a rounded top at the back of the throne, armrests on either side of the seat, and two lions standing beside the armrests.
- 2 Chronicles 8:1At the end of twenty years during which Solomon had built the Lord’s temple 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 cellars.
- 2 Chronicles 26:10Since he had many cattle both in the Judean foothills and the plain, he built towers in the desert and dug many wells. And since he was a lover of the soil, he had farmers and vinedressers in the hills and in the fertile lands.
- Isaiah 5:1I will sing about the one I love, a song about my loved one’s vineyard: The one I love 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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