[:en]PLEASURES ARE MEANINGLESS:
Solomon tested his heart with PLEASURES – wine & women (vs. 1-3, 10a), PROJECTS – house, vineyards, garden, parks (vs. 4-6, 10b), acquisition of WEALTH – herds, flocks, silver & gold (vs. 7-9) but discovered that they did not bring him full satisfaction. They only brought him certain amount of enjoyment and entertainment but not enrichment.
He said: “I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my work, and this was the reward for all my labor. Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done, and what I had toiled to achive, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun” (vs. 10-11)
WISDOM AND FOLLY ARE MEANINGLESS:
Now Solomon turned his thoughts to wisdom and folly. Wisdom is light while folly is darkness, but he came to realize that the same fate overtook them both (vs. 13-14).
He then became cynical saying “What then do I gain by being wise? This is also meaningless. Both the wise and the fool will be forgotten and not be remembered, and both must die. This is meaningless”
TOIL IS MEANINGLESS:
Solomon began to hate life because what he toiled under the sun with effort and skill must be left to someone who comes after him and who has not worked for it. His labor and toil with pain and grief became meaningless and useless.
Then he concluded. “A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. But this is also from the hand of God. For without Him, who can eat or find enjoyment? God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness to those who please Him, but the sinners have to gather and store up wealth and hand it to the one who pleases God. (vs. 24-26)[:]