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Ecclesiastes 1

Eccl. 1:2 KJV (With Strong’s)

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2
Vanity
hebel (Hebrew #1892)
from 1891; emptiness or vanity; figuratively, something transitory and unsatisfactory; often used as an adverb
KJV usage: X altogether, vain, vanity.
Pronounce: heh'bel
Origin: or (rarely in the abs.) habel {hab-ale'}
of vanities
hebel (Hebrew #1892)
from 1891; emptiness or vanity; figuratively, something transitory and unsatisfactory; often used as an adverb
KJV usage: X altogether, vain, vanity.
Pronounce: heh'bel
Origin: or (rarely in the abs.) habel {hab-ale'}
, saith
'amar (Hebrew #559)
to say (used with great latitude)
KJV usage: answer, appoint, avouch, bid, boast self, call, certify, challenge, charge, + (at the, give) command(-ment), commune, consider, declare, demand, X desire, determine, X expressly, X indeed, X intend, name, X plainly, promise, publish, report, require, say, speak (against, of), X still, X suppose, talk, tell, term, X that is, X think, use (speech), utter, X verily, X yet.
Pronounce: aw-mar'
Origin: a primitive root
the Preacher
qoheleth (Hebrew #6953)
a (female) assembler (i.e. lecturer): abstractly, preaching (used as a "nom de plume", Koheleth)
KJV usage: preacher.
Pronounce: ko-heh'-leth
Origin: feminine of active participle from 6950
, vanity
hebel (Hebrew #1892)
from 1891; emptiness or vanity; figuratively, something transitory and unsatisfactory; often used as an adverb
KJV usage: X altogether, vain, vanity.
Pronounce: heh'bel
Origin: or (rarely in the abs.) habel {hab-ale'}
of vanities
hebel (Hebrew #1892)
from 1891; emptiness or vanity; figuratively, something transitory and unsatisfactory; often used as an adverb
KJV usage: X altogether, vain, vanity.
Pronounce: heh'bel
Origin: or (rarely in the abs.) habel {hab-ale'}
; allb is vanity
hebel (Hebrew #1892)
from 1891; emptiness or vanity; figuratively, something transitory and unsatisfactory; often used as an adverb
KJV usage: X altogether, vain, vanity.
Pronounce: heh'bel
Origin: or (rarely in the abs.) habel {hab-ale'}
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b
Psa. 39:5‑6• 5Behold, thou hast made my days handbreadths,{HR}And my lifetime as nothing before thee:{HR}Surely all vanity [is] every man appointed. Selah.
 6Surely in an image doth man walk;{HR}Surely in vain are they disquieted:{HR}He hoardeth, and knoweth not who shall gather them. (Psa. 39:5‑6)
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Psa. 144:4• 4Man is like a breath,{HR}His days as a passing shadow. (Psa. 144:4)
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Mark 8:36‑37• 36For what shall it profit a man, if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul?
 37For what should a man give in exchange for his soul? (Mark 8:36‑37)

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Preaching

Cross References

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Ministry on This Verse

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Eccl. 2:11,15,17,19,21,23,26• 11Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought,{HR}And on the labour that I had laboured to do:{HR}And, behold, all [was] vanity and a striving after wind,{HR}And there was no profit under the sun.
 15Then said I in my heart,{HR}As it happeneth to the fool,{HR}So will it happen even to me;{HR}And why was I then more wise?{HR}Then I said in my heart,{HR}That this also [was] vanity.
 17So I hated life;{HR}Because the work that is wrought under the sun was grievous unto me:{HR}For all [is] vanity and a striving after wind.
 19And who knoweth whether he shall be wise or a fool?{HR}Yet shall he have rule over all my labour wherein I have laboured,{HR}And wherein I have showed wisdom under the sun. This also [is] vanity.
 21For there is a man whose labour [is] with wisdom,{HR}And with knowledge, and with skilfulness;{HR}Yet to a man that hath not laboured therein shall he leave it for his portion.{HR}This also [is] vanity and a great evil.
 23For all his days [are] sorrows, and his travail is grief;{HR}Yea, even in the night his heart taketh no rest. This also is vanity.
 26For to the man that pleaseth him God giveth wisdom,{HR}And knowledge, and joy:{HR}But to the sinner he giveth travail,{HR}To gather and to heap up,{HR}That he may give to him that pleaseth God.{HR}This also [is] vanity and a striving after wind. (Eccl. 2:11,15,17,19,21,23,26)
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Eccl. 3:19• 19For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts;{HR}Even one thing befalleth them:{HR}As the one dieth, so dieth the other;{HR}Yea, they have all one breath;{HR}And man hath no pre-eminence above the beasts:{HR}For all is vanity. (Eccl. 3:19)
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Eccl. 4:4,8,16• 4Then I saw all labour and every skilful work,{HR}That for this a man is envied of his neighbour.{HR}This also is vanity and a striving after wind.
 8There is one, and he hath not a second;{HR}Yea, he hath neither son nor brother;{HR}Yet is there no end of all his labour,{HR}Neither is his eye satisfied with riches.{HR}For whom then, do I labour, and deprive my soul of good?{HR}This also is vanity, yea, it is a sore travail.
 16[There was] no end of all the people,{HR}Of all them over whom he was:{HR}Yet they that come after shall not rejoice in him.{HR}Surely this also is vanity and a striving after wind. (Eccl. 4:4,8,16)
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Eccl. 5:10• 10He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver;{HR}Nor he that loveth abundance with increase:{HR}This also is vanity. (Eccl. 5:10)
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Eccl. 6:11• 11Seeing there be many things that increase vanity,{HR}What is man the better? (Eccl. 6:11)
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Eccl. 11:8,10• 8{i}But if a man live many years, [and] rejoice in them all,{HR}Yet let him remember the days of darkness;{HR}For they shall be many: all that cometh is vanity.{HR}{/i}
 10{i}Then remove discontent from thy heart,{HR}And put away evil from thy flesh;{HR}For childhood and youth are vanity.{/i} (Eccl. 11:8,10)
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Eccl. 12:8• 8Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher;{HR}All [is] vanity. (Eccl. 12:8)
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Psa. 39:5‑6• 5Behold, thou hast made my days handbreadths,{HR}And my lifetime as nothing before thee:{HR}Surely all vanity [is] every man appointed. Selah.
 6Surely in an image doth man walk;{HR}Surely in vain are they disquieted:{HR}He hoardeth, and knoweth not who shall gather them. (Psa. 39:5‑6)
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Psa. 62:9‑10• 9Only a breath [are] lowborn men,{HR}A lie are highborn men;{HR}In a balance they go up less than a breath together.
 10Confide not in oppression,{HR}And in robbery be not vain;{HR}If riches increase,{HR}Set not [your] heart [on them]. (Psa. 62:9‑10)
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Psa. 144:4• 4Man is like a breath,{HR}His days as a passing shadow. (Psa. 144:4)
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Rom. 8:20• 20For to vanity the creation was subjected, not willingly but on account of him that subjected [it], in hope (Rom. 8:20)
• The first verse gives us who the writer is; the second, the beginning and ending of his search. (“Ecclesiastes 1: Old Groans and New Songs” by F.C. Jennings)
• “The word hahvehl is always translated, as here, “vanity.” It is sometimes applied to “idols,” as Deut. 32:21, and would give the idea of emptiness―nothingness. What a striking contrast! Man has here all that Nature can possibly give; and his poor heart, far from singing, is empty still, and utters its sad bitter groan of disappointment. (“Ecclesiastes 1: Old Groans and New Songs” by F.C. Jennings)

J. N. Darby Translation

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

W. Kelly Translation

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Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher,{HR}Vanity of vanities; the whole [is] vanity.