Ecclesiastes 2:7

Ecc 2:7 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:

Ver. 7. I got me servants, &c.] Too many by one, viz., Jeroboam, who rent ten tribes from his son. It is well observed by an interpreter, that Solomon, among all his delights, got him not a fool or jester, which some princes cannot be without, no, not when they should be most serious. It is recorded of Henry III, king of France, that in a solemn procession at Paris, he could not be without his jester, who, walking between the king and the cardinal, made mirth to them both. {a} There was sweet devotion the while.

I had great possessions of great and small cattle.] Mηλα, {b} pecudes, et postea synechdochicos, opes significant: sic pecunia a pecude. So chesita signifies in Hebrew both money and a lamb.

{a} Epit. Hist. Gallica.

{b} Melanch., in Hesiod.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

"I procured servants and maidens, and also I obtained servants born in the house; also the possession of flocks; I obtained many horned and small cattle before all who were in Jerusalem before me." The obtaining of these possessions is, according to Gen 17:12., to be understood of purchase. There is a distinction between the slaves, male and female (mancipia), obtained by purchase, and those who were home-born (vernae), the בּית (ילידי) בּני, who were regarded as the chief support of the house (Gen 14:14), on account of their attachment to it, and to this day are called (Arab.) fada wayyt, as those who offer themselves a sacrifice for it, if need be. Regarding לי היה, in the sense of increasing possession; and regarding היה for היוּ, vid., at Ecc 1:10, Ecc 1:16; at all events, the sing. of the pred. may be explained from this, that the persons and things named are thought of in the mass, as at Zac 11:5; Joe 1:20 (although the idea there may be also individualizing); but in the use of the pass., as at Gen 35:26; Dan 9:24, the Semite custom is different, inasmuch as for it the passive has the force of an active without a definite subject, and thus with the most general subject; and as to the case lying before us in Ecc 2:7, we see from Exo 12:49, cf. Gen 15:17, that היה (יהיה) in such instances is thought of as neut. According to Gen 26:14 and the passage before us, מקנה lay nearer than מקנה, but the primary form instead of the connecting form is here the traditional reading; we have thus apposition (Nebenordnung) instead of subordination (Annexion), as in zevahim shelamim, Exo 24:5, and in habbaqar hannehhosheth, Kg2 16:17, although vaqar vatson may also be interpreted as the accus. of the more accurate definition: the possession of flocks consisting in cattle and sheep. But this manner of construction is, for a book of so late an origin, too artificial. What it represents Solomon as saying is consistent with historical fact; at the consecration of the temple he sacrificed hecatombs, Kg1 8:63; and the daily supply for the royal kitchen, which will at the same time serve to show the extent of the royal household, was, according to Kg1 5:2., enormous.

There now follows the enumeration of riches and jewels which were a delight to the eye; and finally, the large provision made for revelling in the pleasures of music and of sensual love.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

2:7 Solomon’s slaves, . . . large herds, and flocks were numerous, and caring for them consumed vast resources (1 Kgs 4:22-23; 9:20-21).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Meaning, of the servants or slaves, which he had bought: so the children born in their servitude, were the masters.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

born in my house--These were esteemed more trustworthy servants than those bought (Gen 14:14; Gen 15:2-3; Gen 17:12-13, Gen 17:27; Jer 2:14), called "songs of one's handmaid" (Exo 23:12; compare Gen 12:16; Job 1:3).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 7. Servants and maidens] For my works, fields, folds, and various domestic labors.

Servants born in any house] Besides those hired from without, he had married couples in the precincts of his grounds, palaces, etc., who, when their children grew up, got them employment with themselves.

Great and small cattle] Oxen, neat, horses, asses, mules, camels, and such like; with sheep and goats. And multitudes of most of these he needed, when we are told that his household consumed daily ten stall-fed oxen, with twenty from the pasture, with a hundred sheep; besides harts, roebucks, fallow deer, fatted fowls, and other kinds of provision. Probably, such another court for splendor and expense was not in the universe.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(7) Got me.—The servants acquired by purchase are distinguished from those born in the house. (Concerning the number of Solomon’s servants, see 1Ki_4:27; 1Ki_10:5; and of his cattle, 1Ki_4:23, 1Ki_8:63.)

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

7. I got me servants and maidens] Better, I bought. The picture of Oriental state was incomplete without this element, and the slave trade, of which the Midianites were the chief representatives in the patriarchal history. (Gen_37:28), had probably been carried on without intermission, and supplied both the household and the harem of Solomon. In the Cushi of 2Sa_18:21, in his namesake of Jer_36:14, in Ebedmelech, the Cushite, or Ethiopian, of Jer_38:7, we have instances of the presence of such slaves in the royal households. The history of every ancient nation shews the universality of the traffic. Of these slaves each great household had two classes: (1) those “bought with money,” men of other races, captives in war, often, probably, negroes (Jer_38:7) who were employed in the more menial offices (Gen_11:11-12; Gen_11:23), and (2) those born in the house (Gen_14:14; Gen_15:3; Jer_2:14), the ‘sons of the handmaids’ (Exo_23:12), who rose into more confidential service, the οἰκογενεῖς of the Greeks, the vernae of the Latins. On the assumption that the book was written under the Ptolemies, their court would present the same features in an even more conspicuous manner.

great and small cattle] Better, oxen and sheep. The daily provision for Solomon’s household (1Ki_4:22) gives some idea of the magnitude of his flocks and herds. See also 1Ch_27:29; 1Ki_5:3.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

I got me servants and maidens,.... Menservants, and maidservants; the Targum adds,

"of the children of Ham, and of the rest of the strange people;''

these were such as he hired, or bought with his money;

and had servants born in my house; and these were all employed by him; either as his retinue and equipage, his attendants and bodyguards; or to take care of his household, his gardens, and pools; or for his horses and chariots, and for various offices; see Kg1 4:26, Ezr 2:58. Villalpandus computes the number of his servants to be forty eight thousand; if there were any pleasure and happiness in such a numerous attendance, Solomon had it;

also I had great possessions of great and small cattle above all that were in Jerusalem before me; oxen, cows, horses, asses, camels, mules, &c. also sheep and goats; which, as they were profitable, so it was pleasant to see them grazing on the hills and valleys, in the fields, mountains, and meadows.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

I got - Rather, I bought, in distinction from those born in the house. The “children of Solomon’s servants” (compare Ezr 2:55, Ezr 2:58) were more probably of Canaanite origin 1Ki 9:20-21; 1Ki 5:15 than Hebrews 1Ki 9:22.

Possessions of great and small cattle - Rather, herds of oxen and sheep.

All ... before me - King David’s herds and flocks are mentioned in 1Ch 27:29, 1Ch 27:31 : but we have no specific account of the wealth of other Canaanite or Hebrew inhabitants of Jerusalem before Solomon.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Family of slaves, "born in my house," (Protestants) distinct from those whom I got for money. (Haydock) --- There were generally procured from foreign nations, as the Hebrews obtained their liberty on the sabbatic year. --- Sheep. David had the like; but Solomon had also horses, 3 Kings x. 21.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Born in my house, of my bond-servants, which therefore were a part of my possessions: see 1Ki 10:8; Ezr 2:55.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

7. Solomon had need of a vast amount of labour.

Got me servants — Hebrew, bought. He who studies the laws of Moses will see that such provision was made for servants that their condition was not one of slavery in its more objectionable sense. In fact, there is no Hebrew word for slave. The Hebrew bondman lost no right but that of the recompense of his own labour. If he was maimed by his master he became free. If he was killed by him, his master was slain by the sword. Greek, Roman, and American slavery was very different from this. The slave was, also, taught in the law; could not be delivered up if he ran away; could marry a daughter of his master; and a maidservant could be the lawful wife of her master or her master’s son. Servants, then, either purchased or born on the place, were not what we call slaves.

Great and small cattle — Hebrew, oxen and sheep. See the sacrifices at the dedication of the temple. 1Ki_8:63. Above all that were… before me — See remarks on Ecc_1:16.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

I got me I bought, procuredservants and maidens. These are distinct from those mentioned immediately afterwards, servants born in my house; Septuagint, oijkogeneiv: called in the Hebrew, "sons of the house". (Gen_15:3) They were much more esteemed by their masters, and showed a much closer attachment to the family than the bought slaves or the conquered aboriginals, who were often reduced to this. (1Ki_9:20, 1Ki_9:21) The number of Solomon"s attendants excited the wonder of the Queen of Sheba, (1Ki_4:26, etc.; 1Ki_10:5) and with good reason, if Josephus"s account is to be believed. This writer asserts that the king had some thousand or more chariots, and twenty thousand horses. The drivers and riders were young men of comely aspect, tall and well-made; they had long flowing hair, and wore tunics of Tyrian purple, and powdered their hair with gold dust, which glittered in the rays of the sun ("Ant.," 8:7. 3). Attended by a cavalcade thus arrayed, Solomon used to betake himself to his "paradise" at Etham, to enjoy the refreshing coolness of its trees and pools. Great and small cattle; oxen and sheep. The enormous amount of Solomon"s herds and flocks is proved by the extraordinary multitude of the sacrifices at the consecration of the temple, (1Ki_8:63) and the lavish provision made daily for the wants of his. (1Ki_4:22, 1Ki_4:23) The cattle of David were very numerous, and required special overlookers. (1Ch_27:29-31) Job (Job_1:3) had, before his troubles, seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she-asses, and these items were all doubled at the return of his prosperity. Among Solomon"s possessions, horses are not here mentioned, though they formed no inconsiderable portion of his live stock, and added greatly to his magnificence. Koheleth, perhaps, avoided boasting of this extravagance in consideration of the religious sentiment which was strongly opposed to such a feature. That were in Jerusalem before me. (so ver. 9; see Ecc_1:16) But the reference here may not necessarily be to kings, but to chieftains and rich men, who were celebrated for the extent of their possessions.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

I had slaves born in my palace

"I had slaves that were born in my palace" or "My slaves bore children and they also were my slaves"

much more than any king

The understood verb may be supplied. AT: "much more than any other king had" (See: Ellipsis)

the treasures of kings and provinces

This refers to the gold and other wealth that neighboring countries were forced to pay to the king of Israel. AT: "that I acquired from the treasures of kings and the rulers of provinces" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

provinces

Here "provinces" represents the rulers of the provinces. AT: "the rulers of provinces" (See: Metonymy)

the delights of the children of humanity—and many concubines

This means that he had many concubines that he enjoyed sleeping with, as any man enjoys sleeping with women. AT: "I greatly enjoyed many concubines, as would delight any man" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

translationWords

servant

palace

flocks

livestock

king

rule

Jerusalem

silver

gold

province

concubine

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.