> [[ecclesiastes-00|← Previous]] | [[ecclesiastes-00|TOC]] | [[ecclesiastes-02|Next →]] --- # Ecclesiastes, Chapter 1 ## Chapter 1 1 The words of David’s son, Qoheleth, king in Jerusalem: ^ecclesiastes-01-1 2 Vanity of vanities, says Qoheleth, ^ecclesiastes-01-2 vanity of vanities! All things are vanity! ### Vanity of Human Toil 3 What profit have we from all the toil ^ecclesiastes-01-3 which we toil at under the sun? 4 One generation departs and another generation comes, ^ecclesiastes-01-4 but the world forever stays. 5 The sun rises and the sun sets; ^ecclesiastes-01-5 then it presses on to the place where it rises. 6 Shifting south, then north, ^ecclesiastes-01-6 back and forth shifts the wind, constantly shifting its course. 7 All rivers flow to the sea, ^ecclesiastes-01-7 yet never does the sea become full. To the place where they flow, the rivers continue to flow. 8 All things are wearisome, ^ecclesiastes-01-8 too wearisome for words. The eye is not satisfied by seeing nor has the ear enough of hearing. 9 What has been, that will be; what has been done, that will be done. Nothing is new under the sun! ^ecclesiastes-01-9 10 Even the thing of which we say, “See, this is new!” has already existed in the ages that preceded us. ^ecclesiastes-01-10 11 There is no remembrance of past generations; nor will future generations be remembered by those who come after them. ^ecclesiastes-01-11 # I. QOHELETH’S Investigation of Life **Twofold Introduction.** 12 I, Qoheleth, was king over Israel in Jerusalem, ^ecclesiastes-01-12 13 and I applied my mind to search and investigate in wisdom all things that are done under the sun. ^ecclesiastes-01-13 A bad business God has given to human beings to be busied with. 14 I have seen all things that are done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a chase after wind. ^ecclesiastes-01-14 15 What is crooked cannot be made straight, ^ecclesiastes-01-15 and you cannot count what is not there. 16 Though I said to myself, “See, I have greatly increased my wisdom beyond all who were before me in Jerusalem, and my mind has broad experience of wisdom and knowledge,” ^ecclesiastes-01-16 17 yet when I applied my mind to know wisdom and knowledge, madness and folly, I learned that this also is a chase after wind. ^ecclesiastes-01-17 18 For in much wisdom there is much sorrow; ^ecclesiastes-01-18 whoever increases knowledge increases grief. \* (1]\] David’s son…king in Jerusalem: the intent of the author is to identify himself with Solomon. This is a literary device, by which the author hopes to commend his work to the public under the name of Israel’s most famous sage (see [1 Kgs 5:9] – [14]). \* (2]\] Vanity of vanities: a Hebrew superlative expressing the supreme degree of futility and emptiness. \* (3]\] Under the sun: used throughout this book to signify “on the earth.” \* (8]\] All things are wearisome: or, “All speech is wearisome.” \* (11]\] Movement in nature and human activity appears to result in change and progress. The author argues that this change and progress are an illusion: “Nothing is new under the sun.” \* (14]\] A chase after wind: an image of futile activity, like an attempt to corral the winds; cf. [[hosea-12|Hos 12]]:2. The ancient versions understood “affliction, dissipation of the spirit.” This phrase concludes sections of the text as far as [6:9]. \* (15]\] You cannot count what is not there: perhaps originally a commercial metaphor alluding to loss or deficit in the accounts ledger. \* (18]\] Sorrow…grief: these terms refer not just to a store of knowledge or to psychological or emotional pain. Corporal punishment, sometimes quite harsh, was also employed frequently by parents and teachers. a. (1]\] [Eccl 1:12]; [12:9] – [10]. b. (2]\] [Eccl 12:8]. c. (3]\] [Eccl 2:11], [22]; [3:9]; [5:15]. d. (8]\] [Eccl 4:8]; [5:9] – [11]. e. (9]\] [Eccl 3:15]; [6:10]. f. (10]\] [Eccl 3:15]. g. (11]\] [Eccl 2:16]. h. (13]\] [Eccl 8:9]. i. (14]\] [Eccl 2:11], [17]. j. (16]\] [Eccl 2:9]. k. (17]\] [Eccl 1:3]; [8:16]. --- _New American Bible, revised edition_ (2010, 1991, 1986, 1970) Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C. > [[ecclesiastes-00|← Previous]] | [[ecclesiastes-00|TOC]] | [[ecclesiastes-02|Next →]]