Ecclesiastes 2:7
New International Version
I bought male and female slaves and had other slaves who were born in my house. I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me.

New Living Translation
I bought slaves, both men and women, and others were born into my household. I also owned large herds and flocks, more than any of the kings who had lived in Jerusalem before me.

English Standard Version
I bought male and female slaves, and had slaves who were born in my house. I had also great possessions of herds and flocks, more than any who had been before me in Jerusalem.

Berean Standard Bible
I acquired menservants and maidservants, and servants were born in my house. I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me,

King James Bible
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:

New King James Version
I acquired male and female servants, and had servants born in my house. Yes, I had greater possessions of herds and flocks than all who were in Jerusalem before me.

New American Standard Bible
I bought male and female slaves, and I had slaves born at home. I also possessed flocks and herds larger than all who preceded me in Jerusalem.

NASB 1995
I bought male and female slaves and I had homeborn slaves. Also I possessed flocks and herds larger than all who preceded me in Jerusalem.

NASB 1977
I bought male and female slaves, and I had homeborn slaves. Also I possessed flocks and herds larger than all who preceded me in Jerusalem.

Legacy Standard Bible
I bought male and female slaves, and I had homeborn slaves. Also I possessed flocks and herds larger than all who preceded me in Jerusalem.

Amplified Bible
I bought male and female slaves and had slaves born in my house. I also possessed herds and flocks larger than any who preceded me in Jerusalem.

Christian Standard Bible
I acquired male and female servants and had slaves who were born in my house. I also owned livestock—large herds and flocks—more than all who were before me in Jerusalem.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
I acquired male and female servants and had slaves who were born in my house. I also owned many herds of cattle and flocks, more than all who were before me in Jerusalem.

American Standard Version
I bought men-servants and maid-servants, and had servants born in my house; also I had great possessions of herds and flocks, above all that were before me in Jerusalem;

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
I got for myself male Servants and female Servants and I had a multitude of children of houses, and also I had more property of bulls and of sheep than all who were before me in Jerusalem

Brenton Septuagint Translation
I got servants and maidens, and servants were born to me in the house: also I had abundant possession of flocks and herds, beyond all who were before me in Jerusalem.

Contemporary English Version
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.

Douay-Rheims Bible
I got me menservants, and maidservants, and had a great family: and herds of oxen, and great flocks of sheep, above all that were before me in Jerusalem:

English Revised Version
I bought menservants and maidens, and had servants born in my house; also I had great possessions of herds and flocks, above all that were before me in Jerusalem:

GOD'S WORD® Translation
I bought male and female slaves. In addition, slaves were born in my household. I owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me.

Good News Translation
I bought many slaves, and there were slaves born in my household. I owned more livestock than anyone else who had ever lived in Jerusalem.

International Standard Version
I acquired male and female slaves, and had other slaves born in my house. I also acquired for myself increasing numbers of herds and flocks—more than anyone who had lived before me in Jerusalem.

JPS Tanakh 1917
I acquired men-servants and maid-servants, and had servants born in my house; also I had great possessions of herds and flocks, above all that were before me in Jerusalem;

Literal Standard Version
I acquired menservants, and maidservants, 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.

Majority Standard Bible
I acquired menservants and maidservants, and servants were born in my house. I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me,

New American Bible
I acquired male and female slaves, and had slaves who were born in my house. I also owned vast herds of cattle and flocks of sheep, more than all who had been before me in Jerusalem.

NET Bible
I purchased male and female slaves, and I owned slaves who were born in my house; I also possessed more livestock--both herds and flocks--than any of my predecessors in Jerusalem.

New Revised Standard Version
I bought male and female slaves, and had slaves who were born in my house; I also had great possessions of herds and flocks, more than any who had been before me in Jerusalem.

New Heart English Bible
I bought male servants and female servants, and had servants born in my house. I also had great possessions of herds and flocks, above all who were before me in Jerusalem;

Webster's Bible Translation
I procured 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:

World English Bible
I bought male servants and female servants, and had servants born in my house. I also had great possessions of herds and flocks, above all who were before me in Jerusalem.

Young's Literal Translation
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.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Futility of Pleasure
6I built reservoirs to water my groves of flourishing trees. 7I acquired menservants and maidservants, and servants were born in my house. I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me, 8and I accumulated for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and provinces. I gathered to myself male and female singers, and the delights of the sons of men—many concubines.…

Cross References
Luke 12:45
But suppose that servant says in his heart, 'My master will be a long time in coming,' and he begins to beat the menservants and maidservants, and to eat and drink and get drunk.

Genesis 14:14
And when Abram heard that his relative had been captured, he mobilized the 318 trained men born in his household, and they set out in pursuit as far as Dan.

Genesis 15:3
Abram continued, "Behold, You have given me no offspring, so a servant in my household will be my heir."

1 Kings 4:23
ten fat oxen, twenty range oxen, and a hundred sheep, as well as deer, gazelles, roebucks, and fattened poultry.


Treasury of Scripture

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:

servants

1 Kings 9:20-22
And all the people that were left of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, which were not of the children of Israel, …

Ezra 2:58
All the Nethinims, and the children of Solomon's servants, were three hundred ninety and two.

Nehemiah 7:57
The children of Solomon's servants: the children of Sotai, the children of Sophereth, the children of Perida,

and

Genesis 17:12,13
And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed…

Genesis 13:2
And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold.

2 Kings 3:4
And Mesha king of Moab was a sheepmaster, and rendered unto the king of Israel an hundred thousand lambs, and an hundred thousand rams, with the wool.

1 Chronicles 27:29-31
And over the herds that fed in Sharon was Shitrai the Sharonite: and over the herds that were in the valleys was Shaphat the son of Adlai: …

Jump to Previous
Acquired Birth Born Bought Cattle Daughters Female Flocks Great Herds Homeborn House Jerusalem Larger Maidens Maid-Servants Male Men-Servants Owned Possessed Possessions Procured Servants Slaves Small Wealth Women-Servants
Jump to Next
Acquired Birth Born Bought Cattle Daughters Female Flocks Great Herds Homeborn House Jerusalem Larger Maidens Maid-Servants Male Men-Servants Owned Possessed Possessions Procured Servants Slaves Small Wealth Women-Servants
Ecclesiastes 2
1. the vanity of human courses is the work of pleasure
12. Though the wise be better than the fool, yet both have one event
18. The vanity of human labor, in leaving it they know not to whom
24. Nothing better than joy in our labor but that is God's gift














(7) Got me.--The servants acquired by purchase are distinguished from those born in the house. (Concerning the number of Solomon's servants, see 1Kings 4:27; 1Kings 10:5; and of his cattle, 1Kings 4:23, 1Kings 8:63.)

Verse 7. - 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, 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.,' 8:07. 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, 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 ver. 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.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
I acquired
קָנִ֙יתִי֙ (qā·nî·ṯî)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - first person common singular
Strong's 7069: To erect, create, to procure, by purchase, to own

menservants
עֲבָדִ֣ים (‘ă·ḇā·ḏîm)
Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 5650: Slave, servant

and maidservants,
וּשְׁפָח֔וֹת (ū·šə·p̄ā·ḥō·wṯ)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - feminine plural
Strong's 8198: Maid, maidservant

and servants were born
וּבְנֵי־ (ū·ḇə·nê-)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine plural construct
Strong's 1121: A son

in my house.
בַ֖יִת (ḇa·yiṯ)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 1004: A house

I also
גַּ֣ם (gam)
Conjunction
Strong's 1571: Assemblage, also, even, yea, though, both, and

owned
הָ֣יָה (hā·yāh)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 1961: To fall out, come to pass, become, be

more
הַרְבֵּה֙ (har·bêh)
Verb - Hifil - Infinitive absolute
Strong's 7235: To be or become much, many or great

herds
בָקָ֨ר (ḇā·qār)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 1241: Beef cattle, ox, a herd

and flocks
וָצֹ֤אן (wā·ṣōn)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - common singular
Strong's 6629: Small cattle, sheep and goats, flock

than anyone
מִכֹּ֛ל (mik·kōl)
Preposition-m | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 3605: The whole, all, any, every

in Jerusalem
בִּירוּשָׁלִָֽם׃ (bî·rū·šā·lim)
Preposition-b | Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 3389: Jerusalem -- probably 'foundation of peace', capital city of all Israel

before me,
לְפָנַ֖י (lə·p̄ā·nay)
Preposition-l | Noun - masculine plural construct | first person common singular
Strong's 6440: The face


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OT Poetry: Ecclesiastes 2:7 I bought male servants and female servants (Ecclesiast. Ec Ecc Eccles.)
Ecclesiastes 2:6
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