The Meaning of Ecclesiastes 2:7 Explained

Ecclesiastes 2:7

KJV: I got me servants and maidens, and had servants born in my house; also I had great possessions of great and small cattle above all that were in Jerusalem before me:

YLT: I got men-servants, and maid-servants, and sons of the house were to me; also, I had much substance -- herd and flock -- above all who had been before me in Jerusalem.

Darby: I acquired servants and maidens, and had servants born in my house; also I had great possessions of herds and flocks, above all that had been in Jerusalem before me.

ASV: I bought men-servants and maid-servants, and had servants born in my house; also I had great possessions of herds and flocks, above all that were before me in Jerusalem;

KJV Reverse Interlinear

I got  [me] servants  and maidens,  and had servants born  in my house;  also I had great  possessions  of great  and small cattle  above all that were in Jerusalem  before  me: 

What does Ecclesiastes 2:7 Mean?

Context Summary

Ecclesiastes 2:1-17 - 24-26, Vain Undertakings
At the beginning of his search for happiness Solomon erected a splendid home and planned all kinds of delights of an artistic and sensuous nature. There were gardens, pools of crystal water, fruit trees, meadows filled with cattle, regal splendor, musicians who poured into the palace their sweet melodies. He went further, adding to architecture and art his intellectual pursuits. But when he had gone to the furthest limit, he turned from it all, with the old gnawing at his heart-Vanity of vanities!
A few days before the death of the great Cardinal Mazarin, he was heard by a friend to utter something of the same sad refrain. "I was walking," says this friend, "in one of the apartments of the palace, when I recognized the approach of the Cardinal by the sound of his slippered feet, which he dragged one after the other as a man suffering from a mortal malady. I concealed myself behind the tapestry and heard him say, as he looked at one picture and rare treasure after another, "˜I must leave all these.'" Let us, in the light of these things, ponder again those words of Christ in Luke 12:33. [source]

Chapter Summary: Ecclesiastes 2

1  the vanity of human courses is the work of pleasure
12  Though the wise be better than the fool, yet both have one event
18  The vanity of human labor, in leaving it they know not to whom
24  Nothing better than joy in our labor but that is God's gift

What do the individual words in Ecclesiastes 2:7 mean?

I acquired male and maidservants and servants in house had born my Yes possessions of herds and flocks greater I had than all who were before me in Jerusalem
קָנִ֙יתִי֙ עֲבָדִ֣ים וּשְׁפָח֔וֹת וּבְנֵי־ בַ֖יִת הָ֣יָה לִ֑י גַּ֣ם מִקְנֶה֩ בָקָ֨ר וָצֹ֤אן הַרְבֵּה֙ הָ֣יָה לִ֔י מִכֹּ֛ל שֶֽׁהָי֥וּ לְפָנַ֖י בִּירוּשָׁלִָֽם

קָנִ֙יתִי֙  I  acquired 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, first person common singular
Root: קָנָה 
Sense: to get, acquire, create, buy, possess.
עֲבָדִ֣ים  male 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural
Root: עֶבֶד  
Sense: slave, servant.
וּשְׁפָח֔וֹת  and  maidservants 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, feminine plural
Root: שִׁפְחָה  
Sense: maid, maid-servant, slavegirl.
וּבְנֵי־  and  servants  in 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, masculine plural construct
Root: בֵּן 
Sense: son, grandson, child, member of a group.
בַ֖יִת  house 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: בַּיִת 
Sense: house.
הָ֣יָה  had  born 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: אֶהְיֶה 
Sense: to be, become, come to pass, exist, happen, fall out.
לִ֑י  my 
Parse: Preposition, first person common singular
גַּ֣ם  Yes 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: גַּם  
Sense: also, even, indeed, moreover, yea.
מִקְנֶה֩  possessions 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: מִקְנֶה  
Sense: cattle, livestock.
בָקָ֨ר  of  herds 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: בָּקָר  
Sense: cattle, herd, oxen, ox.
וָצֹ֤אן  and  flocks 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, common singular
Root: צֹאן  
Sense: small cattle, sheep, sheep and goats, flock, flocks.
הַרְבֵּה֙  greater 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Infinitive absolute
Root: הַרְבָּה 
Sense: be or become great, be or become many, be or become much, be or become numerous.
מִכֹּ֛ל  than  all 
Parse: Preposition-m, Noun, masculine singular
Root: כֹּל  
Sense: all, the whole.
שֶֽׁהָי֥וּ  who  were 
Parse: Pronoun, relative, Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person common plural
Root: אֶהְיֶה 
Sense: to be, become, come to pass, exist, happen, fall out.
לְפָנַ֖י  before  me 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, masculine plural construct, first person common singular
Root: לִפְנֵי 
Sense: face.
בִּירוּשָׁלִָֽם  in  Jerusalem 
Parse: Preposition-b, Proper Noun, feminine singular
Root: יְרוּשָׁלַםִ  
Sense: the chief city of Palestine and capital of the united kingdom and the nation of Judah after the split.