Ecclesiastes 2:6

I built reservoirs to water my groves of flourishing trees.

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — The speaker is the Preacher of Ecclesiastes, recounting his royal projects in a first-person inventory addressed to a general reader. This statement follows his account of planting orchards in Ecclesiastes 2:5 and precedes his description of acquiring servants and livestock in Ecclesiastes 2:7.

The words — The Hebrew בְּרֵכ֣וֹת (be.re.khot) means "pools" or reservoirs, and הַשְׁק֣וֹת (hash.kot) means "to water." These terms describe the mechanical irrigation of the יַ֖עַר (ya'ar) forest and צוֹמֵ֥חַ (tzo.me'ach) sprouting trees explicitly named in the verse.

The thread — The text connects to Psalms 1:3, which describes a tree planted by streams of water, and Song of Solomon 7:4, which uses pools as a geographical comparison. Nehemiah 2:14 mentions the King’s Pool but only notes a horse lacking room to pass through it, without irrigation imagery.

Why it lands — The verse demands recognition of human engineering and agricultural control over nature. It asks the reader to observe how the text places irrigation projects alongside livestock and household management as part of a larger inventory of earthly possessions.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

עָשִׂ֥יתִי'a.Si.tiI madeלִ֖יl/ifor <the>/ myselfבְּרֵכ֣וֹתbe.re.Khotpools of מָ֑יִםMa.yimwater לְהַשְׁק֣וֹתle./hash.Kotto/ waterמֵהֶ֔םme./Hemfrom <the>/ themיַ֖עַרYa.'ara forest צוֹמֵ֥חַtzo.Me.achsprouting of עֵצִֽים׃'e.Tzimtrees

King James Version

I made me pools of water, to water therewith the wood that bringeth forth trees:

Cross-references

Nehemiah 2:14 Then I went on to the Fountain Gate and the King’s Pool, but there was no room for the animal under me to get through;
Psalms 1:3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water, yielding its fruit in season, whose leaf does not wither, and who prospers in all he does.
Song of Solomon 7:4 Your neck is like a tower made of ivory; your eyes are like the pools of Heshbon by the gate of Bath-rabbim; your nose is like the tower of Lebanon, facing toward Damascus.
Jeremiah 17:8 He is like a tree planted by the waters that sends out its roots toward the stream. It does not fear when the heat comes, and its leaves are always green. It does not worry in a year of drought, nor does it cease to produce fruit.