The Meaning of Ecclesiastes 2:1 Explained

Ecclesiastes 2:1

KJV: I said in mine heart, Go to now, I will prove thee with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure: and, behold, this also is vanity.

YLT: I said in my heart, 'Pray, come, I try thee with mirth, and look thou on gladness;' and lo, even it is vanity.

Darby: I said in my heart, Come now, I will try thee with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure. But behold, this also is vanity.

ASV: I said in my heart, Come now, I will prove thee with mirth; therefore enjoy pleasure: and, behold, this also was vanity.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

I said  in mine heart,  Go to now,  I will prove  thee with mirth,  therefore enjoy  pleasure:  and, behold, this also [is] vanity. 

What does Ecclesiastes 2:1 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 2:1 mean?

Said I in my heart come now I will test you with mirth therefore enjoy pleasure but surely also that [was] vanity
אָמַ֤רְתִּֽי אֲנִי֙ בְּלִבִּ֔י לְכָה־ נָּ֛א אֲנַסְּכָ֛ה בְשִׂמְחָ֖ה וּרְאֵ֣ה בְט֑וֹב וְהִנֵּ֥ה גַם־ ה֖וּא הָֽבֶל

אָמַ֤רְתִּֽי  Said 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, first person common singular
Root: אָמַר 
Sense: to say, speak, utter.
בְּלִבִּ֔י  in  my  heart 
Parse: Preposition-b, Noun, masculine singular construct, first person common singular
Root: לֵב 
Sense: inner man, mind, will, heart, understanding.
לְכָה־  come 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperative, masculine singular, third person feminine singular
Root: הָלַךְ  
Sense: to go, walk, come.
נָּ֛א  now 
Parse: Interjection
Root: נָא  
Sense: I (we) pray, now, please.
אֲנַסְּכָ֛ה  I  will  test  you 
Parse: Verb, Piel, Imperfect Cohortative if contextual, first person common singular, second person masculine singular
Root: נָסָה  
Sense: to test, try, prove, tempt, assay, put to the proof or test.
בְשִׂמְחָ֖ה  with  mirth 
Parse: Preposition-b, Noun, feminine singular
Root: שִׂמְחָה  
Sense: joy, mirth, gladness.
וּרְאֵ֣ה  therefore  enjoy 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Imperative, masculine singular
Root: רָאָה 
Sense: to see, look at, inspect, perceive, consider.
בְט֑וֹב  pleasure 
Parse: Preposition-b, Noun, masculine singular
Root: טָבַב 
Sense: good, pleasant, agreeable.
וְהִנֵּ֥ה  but  surely 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Interjection
Root: הִנֵּה  
Sense: behold, lo, see, if.
גַם־  also 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: גַּם  
Sense: also, even, indeed, moreover, yea.
ה֖וּא  that 
Parse: Pronoun, third person masculine singular
Root: הוּא 
Sense: he, she, it.
הָֽבֶל  [was]  vanity 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: הֶבֶל  
Sense: vapour, breath.