Ecclesiastes 2:2

Young's Literal Translation

Of laughter I said, `Foolish!' and of mirth, `What [is] this it is doing?'

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
I said about laughter, “It is madness,” and about pleasure, “What does this accomplish?”

Hebrew Names Version
I said of laughter, "It is foolishness;" and of mirth, "What does it accomplish?"

King James Version
I said of laughter, It is mad: and of mirth, What doeth it?

English Standard Version
I said of laughter, "It is mad," and of pleasure, "What use is it?"

New American Standard Bible
I said of laughter, "It is senseless," and of pleasure, "What does this accomplish?"

New Century Version
It is foolish to laugh all the time, and having fun doesn't accomplish anything.

Amplified Bible
I said of laughter, "It is madness," and of pleasure, "What does it accomplish?"

World English Bible
I said of laughter, "It is foolishness;" and of mirth, "What does it accomplish?"

Geneva Bible (1587)
I saide of laughter, Thou art mad: and of ioy, What is this that thou doest?

Legacy Standard Bible
I said of laughter, "It is madness," and of gladness, "What does it do?"

Berean Standard Bible
I said of laughter, "It is folly," and of pleasure, "What does it accomplish?"

Contemporary English Version
Laughing and having fun is crazy. What good does it do?

Complete Jewish Bible
Of laughter I said, "This is stupid," and of pleasure, "What's the use of it?"

Darby Translation
I said of laughter, Madness! and of mirth, What availeth it?

Easy-to-Read Version
It is foolish to laugh all the time. Having fun does not do any good.

George Lamsa Translation
I said of laughter, What pleasure is there in it? and of mirth, What do you accomplish?

Good News Translation
I discovered that laughter is foolish, that pleasure does you no good.

Lexham English Bible
I said of laughter, "It is folly!" and of pleasure, "What does it accomplish?"

Literal Translation
I said of laughter, It is madness, and of mirth, What does it do?

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
in so moch that I sayde vnto laughter: thou art madd, and to myrth: what doest thou?

American Standard Version
I said of laughter, It is mad; and of mirth, What doeth it?

Bible in Basic English
Of laughing I said, It is foolish; and of joy--What use is it?

JPS Old Testament (1917)
I said of laughter: 'It is mad'; and of mirth: 'What doth it accomplish?'

King James Version (1611)
I saide of laughter, It is mad: and of mirth, What doeth it?

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Insomuch that I saide vnto the man geuen to laughter, thou art mad: and to mirth, what doest thou?

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
I said to laughter, Madness: and to mirth, Why doest thou this:

English Revised Version
I said of laughter, It is mad: and of mirth, What doeth it?

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And leiyyng Y arrettide errour, and Y seide to ioye, What art thou disseyued in veyn?

Update Bible Version
I said of laughter, It is insane; and of mirth, What does it do?

Webster's Bible Translation
I said of laughter, [It is] mad: and of mirth, What doeth it?

New English Translation
I said of partying, "It is folly," and of self-indulgent pleasure, "It accomplishes nothing!"

New King James Version
I said of laughter--"Madness!"; and of mirth, "What does it accomplish?"

New Living Translation
So I said, "Laughter is silly. What good does it do to seek pleasure?"

New Life Bible
I said of laughing, "It is crazy," and of fun, "What use is it?"

New Revised Standard
I said of laughter, "It is mad," and of pleasure, "What use is it?"

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Of laughter, I said, Madness! and, of mirth, What can it do?

Douay-Rheims Bible
Laughter I counted error: and to mirth I said: Why art thou vainly deceived?

Revised Standard Version
I said of laughter, "It is mad," and of pleasure, "What use is it?"

New American Standard Bible (1995)
I said of laughter, "It is madness," and of pleasure, "What does it accomplish?"

Contextual Overview

¹ I said in my heart, `Pray, come, I try thee with mirth, and look thou on gladness;' and lo, even it [is] vanity. <sup>2</sup> Of laughter I said, `Foolish!' and of mirth, `What [is] this it is doing?' ³ I have sought in my heart to draw out with wine my appetite, (and my heart leading in wisdom), and to take hold on folly till that I see where [is] this -- the good to the sons of man of that which they do under the heavens, the number of the days of their lives. ⁴ I made great my works, I builded for me houses, I planted for me vineyards. 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. ⁸ 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. ¹⁰ And all that mine eyes asked I kept not back from them; I withheld not my heart from any joy, for my heart rejoiced because of all my labour, and this hath been my portion, from all my labour,

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

I said: Solomon is not speaking here of sober enjoyment of the things of the world, but of intemperate pleasure, whose two attendants, laughter and mirth, are introduced by a beautiful prosopopoeia, as two persons, whom he treats with the utmost contempt.

It is: Ecclesiastes 7:2-6, Proverbs 14:13, Isaiah 22:12, Isaiah 22:13, Amos 6:3-6, 1 Peter 4:2-4

Reciprocal: 1 Samuel 25:36 - merry Ecclesiastes 7:6 - as Ecclesiastes 10:19 - feast Matthew 13:45 - seeking Luke 6:25 - laugh James 4:9 - let

Cross-References

Genesis 1:31
And God seeth all that He hath done, and lo, very good; and there is an evening, and there is a morning -- day the sixth.

Genesis 2:8
And Jehovah God planteth a garden in Eden, at the east, and He setteth there the man whom He hath formed;

Genesis 2:11
the name of the one [is] Pison, it [is] that which is surrounding the whole land of the Havilah where the gold [is],

Exodus 23:12
`Six days thou dost do thy work, and on the seventh day thou dost rest, so that thine ox and thine ass doth rest, and the son of thine handmaid and the sojourner is refreshed;

Exodus 31:17
between Me and the sons of Israel it [is] a sign -- to the age; for six days Jehovah made the heavens and the earth, and in the seventh day He hath ceased, and is refreshed.'

Deuteronomy 5:14
and the seventh day [is] a sabbath to Jehovah thy God; thou dost not do any work, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy man-servant, and thy handmaid, and thine ox, and thine ass, and all thy cattle, and thy sojourner who [is] within thy gates; so that thy man-servant, and thy handmaid doth rest like thyself;

Isaiah 58:13
If thou dost turn from the sabbath thy foot, Doing thine own pleasure on My holy day, And hast cried to the sabbath, `A delight,' To the holy of Jehovah, `Honoured,' And hast honoured it, without doing thine own ways, Without finding thine own pleasure, And speaking a word.

John 5:17
And Jesus answered them, `My Father till now doth work, and I work;'

Hebrews 4:4
for He spake in a certain place concerning the seventh [day] thus: `And God did rest in the seventh day from all His works;'

Gill's Notes on the Bible

I said of laughter, [it is] mad,.... The risible faculty in man is given him for some usefulness; and when used in a moderate way, and kept within due bounds, is of service to him, and conduces to the health of his body, and the pleasure of his mind; but when used on every trivial occasion, and at every foolish thing that is said or done, and indulged to excess, it is mere madness, and makes a man look more like a madman and a fool than a wise man; it lasts but for a while, and the end of it is heaviness, Ecclesiastes 7:6. Or, "I said to laughter, [thou art] mad" x; and therefore will have nothing to do with thee in the excessive and criminal way, but shun thee, as one would do a mad man: this therefore is not to be reckoned into the pleasure he bid his soul go to and enjoy;

and of mirth, what doth it? what good does do? of what profit and advantage is it to man? If the question is concerning innocent mirth, the answer may be given out of Proverbs 15:13; but if of carnal sinful mirth, there is no good arises from that to the body or mind; or any kind of happiness to be enjoyed that way, and therefore no trial is to be made of it. What the wise man proposed to make trial of, and did, follows in the next verses.

x לשחוק אמרתי מהולל "risui dixi, insanis", Mercerus, Drusius, Amama; "vel insanus es", Piscator, Schmidt, Rambachius.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Ecclesiastes 2:2. I said of laughter, It is mad — Literally "To laughter I said, O mad one! and to mirth, What is this one doing?"

Solomon does not speak here of a sober enjoyment of the things of this world, but of intemperate pleasure, whose two attendants, laughter and mirth are introduced by a beautiful prosopopoeia as two persons; and the contemptuous manner wherewith he treats them has something remarkably striking. He tells the former to her face that she is mad; but as to the latter, he thinks her so much beneath his notice, that he only points at her, and instantly turns his back.