Commentary for Ecclesiastes 1:17
וָאֶתְּנָ֤ה לִבִּי֙ לָדַ֣עַת חָכְמָ֔ה וְדַ֥עַת הוֹלֵל֖וֹת וְשִׂכְל֑וּת יָדַ֕עְתִּי שֶׁגַּם־זֶ֥ה ה֖וּא רַעְי֥וֹן רֽוּחַ׃
And I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly—I perceived that this also was a striving after wind.
Rashi on Ecclesiastes
And I applied my heart, now, to know the nature of wisdom, what its end is, and the nature of madness and folly.
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Rashi on Ecclesiastes
Madness. Dullness and confusion of thoughts, an expression of mixing, as in, “diluted מָהוּל with water.”49Yeshayahu 1:22.
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Rashi on Ecclesiastes
And folly. Foolishness.50שׂכלות has the same meaning as if it were spelled סכלות [=foolishness], as in, “and to grasp foolishness [סכלות]” in 2:3 and as in, “and madness and foolishness [סכלות]” in 2:12 below.
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