Passage

Ecclesiastes 2.7

Book: Ecclesiastes · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

5. I made me gardens and parks, and I planted trees in them of all kinds of fruit; 6. I made me pools of water, to water therefrom the forest where trees were reared;

7. 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;

I gathered me also silver and gold, and the treasure of kings and of the provinces; I gat me men-singers and women-singers, and the delights of the sons of men, musical instruments, and that of all sorts. 9. So I was great, and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem: also my wisdom remained with me. (Ecclesiastes 2:5-9, ASV)

WEB

5. I made myself gardens and parks, and I planted trees in them of all kinds of fruit. 6. I made myself pools of water, to water from it the forest where trees were reared.

7. I bought male servants and female servants, and had servants born in my house. I also had great possessions of herds and flocks, above all who were before me in Jerusalem;

I also gathered silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and of the provinces. I got myself male and female singers, and the delights of the sons of men, musical instruments, and that of all sorts. 9. So I was great, and increased more than all who were before me in Jerusalem. My wisdom also remained with me. (Ecclesiastes 2:5-9, WEB)

KJV

5. I made me gardens and orchards, and I planted trees in them of all kind of fruits: 6. I made me pools of water, to water therewith the wood that bringeth forth trees:

7. 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: ^{servants born: Heb. sons of my house}

I gathered me also silver and gold, and the peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces: I gat me men singers and women singers, and the delights of the sons of men, as musical instruments, and that of all sorts. ^{musical: Heb. musical instrument and instruments} 9. So I was great, and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem: also my wisdom remained with me. (Ecclesiastes 2:5-9, KJV)

YLT

5. I made for me gardens and paradises, and I planted in them trees of every fruit. 6. I made for me pools of water, to water from them a forest shooting forth trees.

7. 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.

I gathered for me also silver and gold, and the peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces. I prepared for me men-singers and women-singers, and the luxuries of the sons of man, a wife and wives. 9. And I became great, and increased above every one who had been before me in Jerusalem; also, my wisdom stood with me. (Ecclesiastes 2:5-9, YLT)

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Setting

Speaker: Qohelet, "the Preacher" (Ecclesiastes 1:1), traditionally Solomon
Audience: readers of Israel's wisdom tradition weighing life "under the sun"
Location: Jerusalem, where the Preacher "was king over Israel" (Ecclesiastes 1:12)
Time period: traditionally c. 970-930 BC (Solomon's reign); many scholars date the book later, c. 450-200 BC

Theological reading

The verse is one entry in the record of Qohelet's great experiment (Ecclesiastes 2:1-11). He built houses, planted vineyards, made gardens and pools (Ecclesiastes 2:4-6), and here acquired servants and maidens, "servants born in my house" (the KJV margin gives "Heb. sons of my house"), and herds and flocks greater than any before him in Jerusalem. Silver, gold, and singers follow (Ecclesiastes 2:8).

The list is not a boast held up for admiration. It is evidence in an argument. When Qohelet surveys everything his hands had done, his verdict is "all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was no profit under the sun" (Ecclesiastes 2:11). Possession of people stands in the same column as possession of pools and cattle, and the whole column comes to nothing.

Gregory of Nyssa took this verse as the occasion, in his fourth homily on Ecclesiastes, for a condemnation of slaveholding itself: a being made in God's image cannot be bought. See also Imago Dei.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

H5650 - ebed, ebed, Strong's H5650
H1121 - ben, ben, Strong's H1121

Quoted in

People:

Gregory of Nyssa

Passages:

Ecclesiastes 2

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.