Ecclesiastes 2:10

And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them, I withheld not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in all my labour: and this was my portion of all my labour.

King James Version · Read in your translation · Open the Explore console

Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
eyes	עֵינַ֔י 'ei.Nai	H5869	an eye (literally or figuratively) · noun, common feminine dual construct + pronominal suffix
desired	שָֽׁאֲל֣וּ sha.'a.Lu	H7592	to inquire · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural
kept	אָצַ֖לְתִּי 'a.Tzal.ti	H680	to separate · verb, qal perfect, 1st person common singular
withheld	מָנַ֨עְתִּי ma.Na'.ti	H4513	to debar (negatively or positively) from benefit or inj… · verb, qal perfect, 1st person common singular
heart	לִבִּ֜י li.Bi	H3820	the heart · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix
joy	שִׂמְחָ֗ה sim.Chah	H8057	blithesomeness or glee · noun, common feminine singular absolute
heart	לִבִּ֤י li.Bi	H3820	the heart · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix
rejoiced	שָׂמֵ֙חַ֙ sa.Me.ach	H8056	blithe or gleeful · adjective, masculine singular absolute
labour	עֲמָלִ֔י 'a.ma.Li	H5999	toil · noun, common both genders singular construct + pronominal suffix
portion	חֶלְקִ֖י chel.Ki	H2506	properly · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix
labour	עֲמָלִֽי 'a.ma.Li	H5999	toil · noun, common both genders singular construct + pronominal suffix

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 3:22 Wherefore I perceive that there is nothing better, than that a man should rejoice in his own works; for that is his portion: for who shall b…
Ecclesiastes 5:18 Behold that which I have seen: it is good and comely for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labour that he taketh und…
Ecclesiastes 9:9 Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity, which he hath given thee under the sun, all the days of…
Psalms 119:37 Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity; and quicken thou me in thy way.
Psalms 128:2 For thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands: happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee.
Ecclesiastes 2:22 For what hath man of all his labour, and of the vexation of his heart, wherein he hath laboured under the sun?
1 John 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the wo…
Genesis 3:6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Ecclesiastes 2:1-11

Solomon here, in pursuit of the summum bonum - the felicity of man, adjourns out of his study, his library, his elaboratory, his council-chamber, where he had in vain sought for it, into the park and the playhouse, his garden and his summer-house; he exchanges the company of the philosophers and grave senators for that of the wits and gallants, and the beaux-esprits, of his court, to try if he could find true satisfaction and happiness among them. Here he takes a great step downward, from the noble pleasures of the intellect to the brutal ones of sense; yet, if he resolve to make a thorough trial, he must knock at this door, because here a great part of mankind imagine they have found that w…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Ecclesiastes 2:10

my labour--in procuring pleasures. this--evanescent "joy" was my only "portion out of all my labor" (Ecc 3:22; Ecc 5:18; Ecc 9:9; Kg1 10:5).

John Gill on Ecclesiastes 2:10

And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them,.... Though this sense is only mentioned, all are designed; he denied himself of nothing that was agreeable to him, that was pleasing to the eye, to the ear, to the taste, or any other sense; he indulged himself in everything, observing a proper decorum, and keeping himself within the due bounds of sobriety and good sense; I withheld not my heart from any joy: the Targum says, "from all joy of the law"; but it is to be understood of natural pleasure, and of the gratifications of the senses in a wise and moderate manner; for my heart rejoiced in all my labours; he took all the pleasure that could be taken in the works he wrought for that…

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Keil & Delitzsch on Ecclesiastes 2:9-11

"And I became great, and was always greater than all that were before me in Jerusalem: also my wisdom remained with me. And all that mine eyes desired I kept not from them, I refused not any kind of joy to my heart; for my heart had joy of all my labour: and this was my portion of all my labour. And I turned myself to all the works which my hands had done, and to the labour which I had laboured to accomplish: and, behold, all was vain, and windy effort, and there was no true profit under the sun." In vehosaphti there is here no obj. as at Ecc 1:16; the obj. is the gedullah, the greatness, to be concluded and thought of from vegadalti, "and I became great." To the impers. היה for היוּ, 7b, cf…

The Church Fathers

They nourish their hearts in self-indulgence who, according to the word of Ecclesiastes, do not prevent their heart from enjoying every wish and from delighting itself in the things which they have prepared. And they count it their due if they themselves make use of their own labors, having no care for the support and solace of the poor.
— Bede, Commentary on the Catholic Epistles, James 5:5

"Heart" does not here signify the organ but reason. In a different passage [we read]: "Blessed are the pure in heart." This means with regard to reason. And: "Listen to me, you stubborn of heart." The heart thus understood does not need to be "kept from pleasure." It derives pleasure from appropriate views and meditations based on knowledge. By knowledge I mean knowledge that is in accordance with God.
— Didymus the Blind, COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES 44:17

As is well known, the person who toils for something in his heart suffers if he does not succeed with it. Ecclesiastes thus wants to say: I did not fail in any of the things I hoped for in my toil. Further: The person who strives for knowledge and pursues virtue "toils." … The person who toils for the things that are useful for the soul and that adorn the inner person says about himself: "I found pleasure in all my toil."
— Didymus the Blind, COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES 44:23

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

Epicureans · Doctrines propagated by, familiar to — Doctrines propagated by, familiar to
Fellowship · WITH GOD — WITH GOD
Gentiles · PROPHECIES OF THE CONVERSION OF — PROPHECIES OF THE CONVERSION OF
Industry · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Investigation · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Joy · 2:11;4:7;5:11;9:2,14;13:5;14:7;16:5,6,8,9,11;17:15;19:8;20:5;21:1,6;28:7;30:5,11,12;32:1,2,11;33:21;35:9;36:8;40:16;42:4;43:4;45:15;46:4;51:8,12;53:6;63:5-7,11;64:10;68:3;69:32;70:4;71:23;85:6;89:15,16;97:11,12;100:1,2;104:34;105:3,43;119:1,2,14,16,55,111,162,165;126:5,6;132:16;138:5;149:2,5; — 2:11;4:7;5:11;9:2,14;13:5;14:7;16:5,6,8,9,11;17:15;19:8;20:5;21:1,6;28:7;30:5,11,12;32:1,2,11;33:21;35:9;36:8;40:16;42:4;43:4;45:15;46:4;51:8,12;53:6;63:5-7,11;64:10;68:3;69:32;70:4;71:23;85:6;89:15,16;97:11,12;100:1,2;104:34;105:3,43;119:1,2,14,16,55,111,162,165;126:5,6;132:16;138:5;149:2,5;
Music · Designed to promote joy — Designed to promote joy
Pleasure · WORLDLY — WORLDLY
Self-Indulgence · . — .
Vanity · Worldly enjoyment is — Worldly enjoyment is
Zion · Restoration of, promised — Restoration of, promised

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).

Ecclesiastes 2:10

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Ecclesiastes 2:1-11

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Ecclesiastes 2:10

John Gill on Ecclesiastes 2:10

Keil & Delitzsch on Ecclesiastes 2:9-11

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Ecclesiastes 2:10

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Ecclesiastes 2:1-11

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Ecclesiastes 2:10

John Gill on Ecclesiastes 2:10

Keil & Delitzsch on Ecclesiastes 2:9-11

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Ecclesiastes 2:10

Rashi on Ecclesiastes 2:10