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Read the Bible

Contemporary English Version

Ecclesiastes 2:5

I had flower gardens and orchards full of fruit trees.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Agriculture;   Botanical Gardens;   Epicureans;   Investigation;   Pleasure;   Solomon;   Vanity;   Wisdom;   Worldliness;   Thompson Chain Reference - Agriculture;   Agriculture-Horticulture;   Gardens;   Irrigation;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Fruits;   Gardens;   Trees;   Vanity;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Ecclesiastes;   Gardens;   Paradise;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Joy;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Paradise;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Forest;   Solomon;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Bethlehem;   Ecclesiastes, the Book of;   Garden;   Paradise;   Solomon;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Ecclesiastes, Book of;   Garden;   Israel, History of;   Jewels, Jewelry;   Joy;   Orchard;   Paradise;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Ecclesiastes;   Forest;   Orchard;   Paradise;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Winter ;   The Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary - Paradise;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Ecclesiastes, or the Preacher;   Forest;   Garden;   Irrigation;   Mad;   Orchard;   Paradise;   Park;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Demonology;   Horticulture;   Ḳohelet (Ecclesiastes) Rabbah;   Paradise;   Solomon;  

Devotionals:

- Every Day Light - Devotion for October 1;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
I made gardens and parks for myself and planted every kind of fruit tree in them.
Hebrew Names Version
I made myself gardens and parks, and I planted trees in them of all kinds of fruit.
King James Version
I made me gardens and orchards, and I planted trees in them of all kind of fruits:
English Standard Version
I made myself gardens and parks, and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees.
New American Standard Bible
I made gardens and parks for myself, and I planted in them all kinds of fruit trees;
New Century Version
I made gardens and parks, and I planted all kinds of fruit trees in them.
Amplified Bible
I made gardens and orchards for myself and I planted in them all kinds of fruit trees;
World English Bible
I made myself gardens and parks, and I planted trees in them of all kinds of fruit.
Geneva Bible (1587)
I haue made me gardens and orchards, and planted in them trees of all fruite.
Legacy Standard Bible
I made for myself gardens and parks, and I planted in them all kinds of fruit trees;
Berean Standard Bible
I made myself gardens and parks and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees.
Complete Jewish Bible
and made myself gardens and parks; in them I planted all kinds of fruit trees.
Darby Translation
I made me gardens and parks, and I planted trees in them of every kind of fruit;
Easy-to-Read Version
I planted gardens, and I made parks. I planted all kinds of fruit trees.
George Lamsa Translation
I made myself gardens and parks, and planted in them trees of all kinds of fruit;
Good News Translation
I planted gardens and orchards, with all kinds of fruit trees in them;
Lexham English Bible
I made for myself gardens and parks, and I planted all sorts of fruit trees in them.
Literal Translation
I made gardens and parks for myself; and I planted trees in them of every fruit;
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
I made me ortchardes and gardens of pleasure, and planted trees in them of all maner frutes.
American Standard Version
I made me gardens and parks, and I planted trees in them of all kinds of fruit;
Bible in Basic English
I made myself gardens and fruit gardens, planting in them fruit-trees of all sorts.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
I made me gardens and parks, and I planted trees in them of all kinds of fruit;
King James Version (1611)
I made mee gardens & orchards, and I planted trees in them of all kinde of fruits.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
I made me orchardes and gardens of pleasure, and planted trees in them of all maner of fruites.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
I made me gardens and orchards, and planted in them every kind of fruit-tree.
English Revised Version
I made me gardens and parks, and I planted trees in them of all kinds of fruit:
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
and Y settide tho with the trees of al kynde;
Update Bible Version
I made myself gardens and parks, and I planted trees in them of all kinds of fruit;
Webster's Bible Translation
I made me gardens and orchards, and I planted trees in them of all [kind of] fruits:
New English Translation
I designed royal gardens and parks for myself, and I planted all kinds of fruit trees in them.
New King James Version
I made myself gardens and orchards, and I planted all kinds of fruit trees in them.
New Living Translation
I made gardens and parks, filling them with all kinds of fruit trees.
New Life Bible
I made gardens and beautiful places for myself, and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees.
New Revised Standard
I made myself gardens and parks, and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
I made me gardens, and parks, - I planted in them trees of every kind of fruit;
Douay-Rheims Bible
I made gardens, and orchards, and set them with trees of all kinds,
Revised Standard Version
I made myself gardens and parks, and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees.
Young's Literal Translation
I made for me gardens and paradises, and I planted in them trees of every fruit.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
I made gardens and parks for myself and I planted in them all kinds of fruit trees;

Contextual Overview

1 I said to myself, "Have fun and enjoy yourself!" But this didn't make sense. 2 Laughing and having fun is crazy. What good does it do? 3 I wanted to find out what was best for us during the short time we have on this earth. So I decided to make myself happy with wine and find out what it means to be foolish, without really being foolish myself. 4 I did some great things. I built houses and planted vineyards. 5 I had flower gardens and orchards full of fruit trees. 6 And I had pools where I could get water for the trees. 7 I owned slaves, and their sons and daughters became my slaves. I had more sheep and goats than anyone who had ever lived in Jerusalem. 8 Foreign rulers brought me silver, gold, and precious treasures. Men and women sang for me, and I had many wives who gave me great pleasure. 9 I was the most famous person who had ever lived in Jerusalem, and I was very wise. 10 I got whatever I wanted and did whatever made me happy. But most of all, I enjoyed my work.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

me: Song of Solomon 4:12-16, Song of Solomon 5:1, Song of Solomon 6:2, Jeremiah 39:4

I planted: Genesis 2:8, Genesis 2:9, Luke 17:27-29

Reciprocal: 1 Kings 7:1 - thirteen years 1 Kings 21:2 - a garden of herbs Song of Solomon 4:13 - are

Cross-References

Genesis 2:9
The Lord God placed all kinds of beautiful trees and fruit trees in the garden. Two other trees were in the middle of the garden. One of the trees gave life—the other gave the power to know the difference between right and wrong.
Genesis 2:11
The first one is the Pishon River that flows through the land of Havilah,
Genesis 2:12
where pure gold, rare perfumes, and precious stones are found.
Genesis 3:23
So the Lord God sent them out of the Garden of Eden, where they would have to work the ground from which the man had been made.
Genesis 4:2
Later she had another son and named him Abel. Abel became a sheep farmer, but Cain farmed the land.
Genesis 4:12
If you try to farm the land, it won't produce anything for you. From now on, you'll be without a home, and you'll spend the rest of your life wandering from place to place.
Job 5:10
God sends showers on earth and waters the fields.
Psalms 104:14
You let the earth produce grass for cattle, plants for our food,
Psalms 135:7
The Lord makes the clouds rise from far across the earth, and he makes lightning to go with the rain. Then from his secret place he sends out the wind.
Jeremiah 14:22
Idols can't send rain, and showers don't fall by themselves. Only you control the rain, so we put our trust in you, the Lord our God.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

I made me gardens and orchards,.... Of the king's garden, we read Jeremiah 39:4. Adrichomius b makes mention of a royal garden in the suburbs of Jerusalem, fenced with walls; and was a paradise of fruit trees, herbs, spices, and flowers; abounded with all kind of fruit, exceeding pleasant and delightful to the senses: and, as Solomon was so great a botanist, and knew the nature and use of all kinds of trees and herbs, 1 Kings 4:33; no doubt but he has a herbal garden, well stocked with everything of that kind, curious and useful; see 1 Kings 21:2. Gardens are made for pleasure as well as profit; Adam, as soon as created, was put into a garden, to add to his natural pleasure and felicity, as well as for his employment, Genesis 2:8; and the pleasure of walking in a garden, and partaking of the fruits of it, are alluded to by Solomon, Song of Solomon 4:12;

and I planted trees in them of all [kind of] fruits; which, as before observed, he had thorough knowledge of, and many of which were brought him from foreign parts; and all served to make his gardens, orchards, parks, forests, and enclosures, very pleasant and delectable. The Targum adds,

"some for food, others for drink, and others for medicine.''

b Theatrum Terrae Sanctae, p. 170.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Orchards - literally, “paradises,” i. e., parks or pleasure-grounds (compare Nehemiah 2:8 note). Indications of at least three of these have been pointed out; one at Jerusalem near the pool of Siloam, called “the king’s garden” Nehemiah 3:15; Jeremiah 52:7; a second near Bethlehem (compare Ecclesiastes 2:6); and a third in the remote north, on the heights of Hermon Song of Solomon 4:8; Song of Solomon 8:11.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Ecclesiastes 2:5. I made me gardens and orchards — פרדסים pardesim, "paradises." I doubt much whether this be an original Hebrew word. [Arabic] ferdoos, is found in the Persian and Arabic; and signifies a pleasant garden, a vineyard. Hence our word paradise, a place full of delights. How well Solomon was qualified to form gardens, orchards, vineyards, conservatories, c., may be at once conceived when we recollect his knowledge of natural history and that he wrote treatises on vegetables and their properties, from the cedar to the hyssop.


 
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