Translation
About laughter I said “It is clamorously foolish,”
Go to footnote numberand of levity,
Go to footnote number“What does it accomplish?”
Go to footnote numberParaphrase
My conclusion is that laughter looks good but it is over-rated, self-glorifying foolishness, and seeking amusement, well, what does it really accomplish?
Footnotes
1: “clamorously foolish”
This word means “to shine.” From there it came to mean “to glorify or boast.” In certain forms, like the one used here, it revealed a negative side, pointing to an overly showy, false shininess, or to an individual who had taken self-glorifying showiness to a point where he had made a fool of himself.
2
This is the same word used above; it means “levity or amusement.”
3: “What does it accomplish?”
Solomon was seeking alleviation from his crushing grief and sorrow. He wanted something that was real and would last. Even if he did find something that might tempt him to smile, doing so did not take his pain away. Apart from his sorrow, in a general sense, levity and amusement didn’t accomplish anything that would last, and the issue of accomplishments, or lack thereof, is a big theme in this book. In this way laughter and amusement are also like a vapor, even though he did not use the word vapor in this verse.