Christianity

Ecclesiastes 1Vanity of Vanities

Summary

Ecclesiastes 1 opens with the Preacher's thesis: vanity of vanities, all is vanity. He asks what profit people gain from their toil under the sun, then pictures endless cycles of nature: generations pass, the sun rises and sets, wind circles, rivers run to a sea that is never full. There is nothing new under the sun. Speaking as a king in Jerusalem, he describes searching out everything with wisdom and concludes that more wisdom brings more grief.

Key verse

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

Ecclesiastes 1:2

Themes

Transience
Cycles of Nature
Limits of Wisdom
Meaning of Toil

The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.

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

What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun?

One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever.

The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he arose.

The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again according to his circuits.

All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again.

All things are full of labour; man cannot utter it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.

The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.

Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been already of old time, which was before us.

There is no remembrance of former things; neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come with those that shall come after.

I the Preacher was king over Israel in Jerusalem.

And I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven: this sore travail hath God given to the sons of man to be exercised therewith.

I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit.

That which is crooked cannot be made straight: and that which is wanting cannot be numbered.

I communed with mine own heart, saying, Lo, I am come to great estate, and have gotten more wisdom than all they that have been before me in Jerusalem: yea, my heart had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.

And I gave my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly: I perceived that this also is vexation of spirit.

For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.

Text: King James Version (1611/1769), public domain.

Across traditions

Buddhism
Dhammapada 273 to 289: All Conditioned Things Pass
The Dhammapada's chapter on the path teaches that all conditioned things are impermanent and unsatisfactory, and that seeing this with wisdom leads to freedom. Ecclesiastes shares the diagnosis of transience but answers it with reverence for God and enjoyment of his gifts rather than release from rebirth.
Taoism
Tao Te Ching 16: Returning to the Root
Laozi observes all things rising, flourishing and returning to their root, and calls that return stillness. Ecclesiastes 1:4 to 7 describes the same cycles of sun, wind and water, but with weariness rather than serenity.
Islam
Surah Al-Hadid (57): The Life of the World
Quran 57:20 calls worldly life play, idle talk, pageantry and rivalry in wealth, like vegetation that grows after rain, then yellows and becomes straw. Like Ecclesiastes, it stresses how fleeting earthly gains are, while pointing more directly to the Hereafter.

Questions about Ecclesiastes 1

What does vanity of vanities mean?

The Hebrew hevel havalim literally means breath of breaths or vapor of vapors. It is a superlative describing everything as fleeting, insubstantial or beyond grasp, not vanity in the sense of pride.

Who wrote Ecclesiastes?

The book presents Qoheleth, son of David and king in Jerusalem (1:1, 1:12), traditionally identified with Solomon. Many modern scholars think a later sage adopted a Solomonic persona, dating the work roughly between the fifth and third centuries BCE.

Where does there is nothing new under the sun come from?

It comes from Ecclesiastes 1:9, where the Preacher observes that what has been will be again and what has been done will be done again.