Ecclesiastes 1:2

Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
Vanity	הֲבֵ֤ל ha.Vel	H1892	emptiness or vanity · noun, common masculine singular construct
vanities	הֲבָלִים֙ ha.va.Lim	H1892	emptiness or vanity · noun, common masculine plural absolute
saith	אָמַ֣ר 'a.Mar	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Preacher	קֹהֶ֔לֶת ko.He.let	H6953	a (female) assembler (i.e. lecturer) · noun, common feminine singular absolute
vanity	הֲבֵ֥ל ha.Vel	H1892	emptiness or vanity · noun, common masculine singular construct
vanities	הֲבָלִ֖ים ha.va.Lim	H1892	emptiness or vanity · noun, common masculine plural absolute
vanity	הָֽבֶל Ha.vel	H1892	emptiness or vanity · noun, common masculine singular absolute

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Psalms 144:4 Man is like to vanity: his days are as a shadow that passeth away.
Romans 8:20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,
Ecclesiastes 5:10 He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase: this is also vanity.
Psalms 39:5-6 Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing before thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether v…
Ecclesiastes 12:8 Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher; all is vanity.
Ecclesiastes 2:26 For God giveth to a man that is good in his sight wisdom, and knowledge, and joy: but to the sinner he giveth travail, to gather and to heap…
Ecclesiastes 2:11 Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexat…
Ecclesiastes 2:17 Therefore I hated life; because the work that is wrought under the sun is grievous unto me: for all is vanity and vexation of spirit.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Ecclesiastes 1:1-3

Here is, I. An account of the penman of this book; it was Solomon, for no other son of David was king of Jerusalem; but he conceals his name Solomon, peaceable, because by his sin he had brought trouble upon himself and his kingdom, had broken his peace with God and lost the peace of his conscience, and therefore was no more worthy of that name. Call me not Solomon, call me Marah, for, behold, for peace I had great bitterness. But he calls himself, 1. The preacher, which intimates his present character. He is Koheleth, which comes from a word which signifies to gather; but it is of a feminine termination, by which perhaps Solomon intends to upbraid himself with his effeminacy, which contribu…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Ecclesiastes 1:2

The theme proposed of the first part of his discourse. Vanity of vanities--Hebraism for the most utter vanity. So "holy of holies" (Exo 26:33); "servant of servants" (Gen 9:25). The repetition increases the force. all--Hebrew, "the all"; all without exception, namely, earthly things. vanity--not in themselves, for God maketh nothing in vain (Ti1 4:4-5), but vain when put in the place of God and made the end, instead of the means (Psa 39:5-6; Psa 62:9; Mat 6:33); vain, also, because of the "vanity" to which they are "subjected" by the fall (Rom 8:20).

John Gill on Ecclesiastes 1:2

Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher,.... This is the preacher's text; the theme and subject he after enlarges upon, and proves by an induction of particulars; it is the sum of the whole book; vanity of vanities, all is vanity; most extremely vain, exceedingly so, the height of vanity: this is repeated, both for the confirmation of it, men being hard of belief of it; and to show how much the preacher was affected with it himself, and to affect others with the same. The Targum reads, "vanity of vanities in this world"; which is right as to the sense of the passage; for though the world, and all things in it, were made by God, and are very good; yet, in comparison of him, are less than noth…

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The Church Fathers

If everything that God made is very good, then how can everything be vanity—and not only vanity, but even vanity of vanities? As one song in the Song of Songs is shown to excel above all songs, so also is the magnitude of vanity demonstrated by the expression "vanity of vanities."
— Jerome, COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES 1:2

To those who have entered into the church of the mind and marvel in contemplation of what has come into being, the text says, Do not think that this is the ultimate end or that these are the promises that have been stored up for you. For all these things are [only] vanity of vanities before the knowledge of one's God. For, just as it is futile for medicine [to seek] a final cure, so is it useless [to seek] after knowledge of the Holy Trinity in the ideas of the [present] ages and worlds.
— Evagrius Ponticus, SCHOLIA ON ECCLESIASTES 2:1.2

Let us see what is the "vanity" to which the creation was subjected. My own opinion is, that this is nothing else than the possession of bodies, for even though the stars are composed of ether they are nevertheless material. This, it seems to me, is the reason why Solomon arraigns the whole bodily universe as being in a way burdensome and as impeding the activity of spirits, thus: "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity, said the Preacher; all is vanity." "For," he adds, "I looked and I saw all things that are under the sun, and behold, all is vanity."
— Origen of Alexandria, ON FIRST PRINCIPLES 1:7.5

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Covetousness · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Experience · General references — General references
Vanity · All earthly things are — All earthly things are

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Ecclesiastes 1:2

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Ecclesiastes 1:1-3

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Ecclesiastes 1:2

John Gill on Ecclesiastes 1:2

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Ecclesiastes 1:2

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Ecclesiastes 1:1-3

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Ecclesiastes 1:2

John Gill on Ecclesiastes 1:2

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Keil & Delitzsch on Ecclesiastes 1:2

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Ecclesiastes 1:2-11

Rashi on Ecclesiastes 1:2