Ecclesiastes 2:5

Gardens. Literally, “enclosures,” from the verb “to enclose,” “to surround.” On account of the unrestricted grazing habits of goats, donkeys, and other animals in the Near East, it is impossible to have a garden without a strong, well-kept fence.

Orchards. Heb. pardes, from the Persian pairi-daeza, which designated the vast botanical and zoological gardens of Persian kings (see on Gen. 2:8). A pardes was thus a royal preserve, enclosure, or park. The English word “paradise” is a transliteration of the Greek form of the word, paradeisos. Pardes appears in Neh. 2:8 as “forest” and in Cant. 4:13 as “orchard.” See on Gen. 2:8.

Trees. Evidently Solomon indulged himself in a large program of horticulture, specializing not only in “orchards,” which we would call parks, but also in fruit orchards. He kept a royal garden on the sides of the hills south of Jerusalem (2 Kings 25:4), a vineyard at Beth-haccerem, “the house of the vine,” usually identified with ‘Ain Karim 4 mi. (6.4 km.) west of Jerusalem, but more recently with Ramoth Rahel, 2½ mi. (4 km.) south of Jerusalem (Jer. 6:1), and another at Baal-hamon (Cant. 8:11).