Ecclesiastes 2:7 - Exposition

I got me —I bought, procured— servants and maidens . These are distinct from those mentioned immediately afterwards, servants born in my house ; Septuagint, οἰκογενεῖς : called in the Hebrew, "sons of the house" ( Genesis 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 state ( 1 Kings 9:20 , 1 Kings 9:21 ). The number of Solomon's attendants excited the wonder of the Queen of Sheba ( 1 Kings 4:26 , etc.; 1 Kings 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 ( 1 Kings 8:63 ), and the lavish provision made daily for the wants of his table ( 1 Kings 4:22 , 1 Kings 4:23 ). The cattle of David were very numerous, and required special overlookers ( 1 Chronicles 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 verse 9; see Ecclesiastes 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.