Ecclesiastes Chapter Two, Kings Among Kings

Ecclesiastes 2:8 I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the special treasures of kings and of the provinces. I acquired male and female singers, the delights of the sons of men, and musical instruments of all kinds. [9] So I became great and excelled more than all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also my wisdom remained with me.

The list of accomplishments and accolades continues. At this point, and at this pace it is really more of an onslaught as the preacher boasts, as Paul once foolishly boasted, in the accomplishments of the flesh. The pinnacle of human grandeur and achievement is touted in the preacher’s person, who, for the third time in this book, claims that he is greater than all who were in Jerusalem before him.

One may take this as flattering braggadocio, but it was the preacher who wrote that the former things will not come to remembrance by those who come after, Ecclesiastes 1:11. Regardless, he lays out his pedigree with bone crushing weight. In the modern nomenclature, one might say that he was flexing. But this is the man who wrote 3000 proverbs and 1005 songs. He made silver as common as stones, and cedar commonplace as well, 2 Chronicles 1:15. When a market is saturated the value of a given thing diminishes. Like that formerly mentioned artwork, when scarcity turns to the everyday, its value is lost.

The provinces spoken of are those who allied with the preacher during the height of his political power. It is written, “So King Solomon surpassed all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom. And all the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart. Each man brought his present: articles of silver and gold, garments, armor, spices, horses, and mules, at a set rate year by year,” 2 Chronicles 9:22-24. Furthermore, it is recorded that Solomon married 700 wives, also named, “princesses,” 1 Kings 11:3. That is not mentioning his 300 concubines, which are women essentially married, or not quite owning that position, possessing secondary status as opposed to those considered his legitimate wives. Among these many women was the daughter of pharaoh and the Shulamite woman he sang of so passionately in the Song of Solomon.

So it is said that the preacher became great, which seems something of an understated way of describing his meteoric rise to power, influence and wealth. It further states that he excelled (literally, increased) more than his forebears. David was a man loved by God for his obedience, though he was hardly faultless in his walk. Likewise with the preacher, who sought only wisdom at the first to rule the great nation God had given him, only to be led astray into spiritual harlotry by the many daughters of the men who curried his favor. But as the preacher notes, and wants his readership to always bear in mind, his wisdom remained with him. Ecclesiastes is a book of wisdom. It is not nihilism; it is wisdom that he seeks to impart. His first nugget of wisdom shared with his readership is his grandiose journey into the realm of carnal gratification. And what man could sport better credentials, to scout out the greener grass of that other side and report his findings?

What were his findings, which he carved out with the God-given wisdom he wielded like a surgical instrument here? Well, he had tasted the fullness of materialism, indulging in drink, song, real estate, money ventures, animal husbandry and agriculture, just to name a few avenues. This he could do with extreme gusto, since financial restraint essentially didn’t exist for him. His ambitions would not outstrip his resources, regardless of how seemingly infinitely he stretched them out. The remainder of the chapter chronicles his conclusion about genuine fulfillment and purpose through material possession.