Ecclesiastes 1:16 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Ecclesiastes 1:16
I communed with mine own heart, saying, Lo, I am come to great estate, and have gotten more wisdom than all they that have been before me in Jerusalem: yea, my heart had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.
perhaps properly · verb, piel perfect, 1st person common singular
heart
לִבִּי֙li.Bi
H3820
the heart · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix
saying
לֵאמֹ֔רle.Mor
H559
to say (used with great latitude) · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
estate
הִגְדַּ֤לְתִּיhig.Dal.ti
H1431
to be (causatively make) large (in various senses · verb, hiphil perfect, 1st person common singular
gotten
וְהוֹסַ֙פְתִּי֙ve.ho.Saf.ti
H3254
to add or augment (often adverbial · conjunction + verb, hiphil perfect, 1st person common singular
wisdom
חָכְמָ֔הchokh.mah
H2451
wisdom (in a good sense) · noun, common feminine singular absolute
before
לְפָנַ֖יle.fa.Nai
H6440
the face (as the part that turns) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix
Jerusalem
יְרוּשָׁלִָ֑םye.ru.sha.Lim
H3389
Jerushalaim or Jerushalem · proper noun, a place name
heart
וְלִבִּ֛יve.li.Bi
H3820
the heart · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix
great
הַרְבֵּ֖הhar.Beh
H7235
to increase (in whatever respect) · verb, hiphil infinitive absolute
experience
רָאָ֥הra.'Ah
H7200
to see · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
wisdom
חָכְמָ֥הchokh.mah
H2451
wisdom (in a good sense) · noun, common feminine singular absolute
knowledge
וָדָֽעַתva.Da.'at
H1847
knowledge · conjunction + noun, common feminine singular absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Ecclesiastes 2:9 So I was great, and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem: also my wisdom remained with me.
1 Kings 4:30 And Solomon’s wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children of the east country, and all the wisdom of Egypt.
1 Kings 10:7 Howbeit I believed not the words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it: and, behold, the half was not told me: thy wisdom and prosperity…
1 Kings 3:12-13 Behold, I have done according to thy words: lo, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart; so that there was none like thee before…
2 Chronicles 1:10-12 Give me now wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people: for who can judge this thy people, that is so great?
2 Chronicles 2:12 Huram said moreover, Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, that made heaven and earth, who hath given to David the king a wise son, endued with…
Psalms 4:4 Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah.
Hebrews 5:14 But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Ecclesiastes 1:12–end
Solomon, having asserted in general that all is vanity, and having given some general proofs of it, now takes the most effectual method to evince the truth of it, 1. By his own experience; he tried them all, and found them vanity. 2. By an induction of particulars; and here he begins with that which bids fairest of all to be the happiness of a reasonable creature, and that is knowledge and learning; if this be vanity, every thing else must needs be so. Now as to this,
I. Solomon tells us here what trial he had made of it, and that with such advantages that, if true satisfaction could have been found in it, he would have found it. 1. His high station gave him an opportunity of improving himse…
communed with . . . heart-- (Gen 24:45).
come to great estate--Rather, "I have magnified and gotten" (literally, "added," increased), &c.
all . . . before me in Jerusalem--namely, the priests, judges, and two kings that preceded Solomon. His wisdom exceeded that of all before Jesus Christ, the antitypical Koheleth, or "Gatherer of men," (Luk 13:34), and "Wisdom" incarnate (Mat 11:19; Mat 12:42).
had . . . experience--literally, "had seen" (Jer 2:31). Contrast with this glorying in worldly wisdom (Jer 9:23-24).
John Gill on Ecclesiastes 1:16
I communed with my own heart,.... That is, looked into it, examined it, and considered what a stock and fund of knowledge he had in it, after all his researches into it; what happiness accrued to him by it, and what judgment upon the whole was to be formed upon it; and he spoke within himself after this manner:
saying, lo, I am come to great estate; or become a great man; famous for wisdom, arrived to a very great pitch of it; greatly increased in it, through a diligent application to it;
and have gotten more wisdom than all they that have been before me in Jerusalem; or, "that before me were over Jerusalem" (p); governors of it, or in it; not only than the Jebusites, but than Saul, the fi…
We next learn about the return of a person who has erred and the change from evil to enjoyment of the good. He [Christ] who has been tempted in all things and is without sin holds converse with us in our human nature. He who assumed our weakness showed us a way out of evil through the infirmities of his human nature. "Instruct me in the Wisdom [Christ] according to the Solomon who was in the flesh which held converse with us." Once familiar with it, we are able to pass judgment on what men pursue.
What is the way back for the wanderer, and the way of escape from evil, and toward good, we learn next. For he "who has had experience like us in all things, without sin," speaks to us from our own condition. "He took our weaknesses upon him," and through these very weaknesses of our nature he shows us the way out of the reach of evil. Now note, please, that Wisdom speaks to us through Solomon himself after the flesh, and speaks about those things by which we may most readily be led to despise the things which are pursued by people.
"I said to myself: here I have acquired great wisdom, more than any of my predecessors over Jerusalem, and my mind has had much experience with wisdom and knowledge." Solomon was not greater than Abraham and Moses, and other saints, but than those who were before him in Jerusalem. We read in the book of Kings that Solomon was very wise, and he claimed this wisdom to have been given by God before all others. [Cfr III Reg. 3, 5 sqq] It was then the eye of his heart that saw great wisdom and knowledge in the world, since he does not say "I spoke much wisdom and knowledge" but "my heart saw much wisdom and knowledge." For indeed we are not able to speak out all those things which we feel.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Instruction · From nature — From nature
Investigation · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Science · Observations of, and — Observations of, and
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Keil & Delitzsch on Ecclesiastes 1:16–end
"Is there anything whereof it may be said: See, this is new? - it was long ago through the ages (aeons) which have been before us." The Semit. substantive verb ישׁ (Assyr. isu) has here the force of a hypothetical antecedent: supposing that there is a thing of which one might say, etc. The זה, with Makkeph, belongs as subject, as at Ecc 7:27, Ecc 7:29 as object, to that which follows. כּבר (vid., List, p. 193) properly denotes length or greatness of time (as כּברה, length of way). The ל of לע is that of measure: this "long ago" measured (Hitz.) after infinitely long periods of time. מלּ, ante nos, follows the usage of מלּף, Isa 41:26, and lpaa', Jdg 1:10, etc.; the past time is spoken of as…
like chasing the wind: Just as the wind quickly comes and goes, so does life.
Rashi on Ecclesiastes 1:16
I said to myself. Now that I have sunk from my greatness, I speak to myself, saying, “Who would have said about me that I would come to such a state?” Behold, I have grown, etc.
