“Futility of futilities,” says the Preacher, “Futility of futilities! All is futility.”
Parallel translations
- WEB “Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher; “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.”
- KJV Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.
- BSB “Futility of futilities,” says the Teacher, “futility of futilities! Everything is futile!”
- NKJV “Vanityof vanities,” says the Preacher; “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.”
- NLT “Everything is meaningless,” says the Teacher, “completely meaningless!”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The Preacher's thesis: everything is 'vanity'—fleeting, empty, and unable to satisfy. It declares life apart from God to be like a vapor that cannot be grasped.
Overview
The Hebrew word 'hevel' means breath, vapor, or mist, conveying transience and futility rather than worthlessness. By repeating 'vanity of vanities,' Qoheleth uses a superlative to stress that all human striving 'under the sun' is fleeting. This sober verdict prepares the heart to seek lasting meaning in God alone, a longing answered fully in Christ, who offers life that does not pass away.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 20
- Ps 144:4Man is like a breath. His days are like a shadow that passes away.
- Rom 8:20For the creation was subjected to vanity, not of its own will, but because of him who subjected it, in hope
- Eccl 5:10He who loves silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he who loves abundance, with increase: this also is vanity.
- Ps 39:5–6Behold, you have made my days hand widths. My lifetime is as nothing before you. Surely every man stands as a breath.” Selah.
- Eccl 12:8“Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher. “All is vanity!”
- Eccl 2:26For to the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy; but to the sinner he gives travail, to gather and to heap up, that he may give to him who pleases God. This also is vanity and a chasing after wind.
- Eccl 2:17So I hated life, because the work that is worked under the sun was grievous to me; for all is vanity and a chasing after wind.
- Eccl 2:11Then I looked at all the works that my hands had worked, and at the labor that I had labored to do; and behold, all was vanity and a chasing after wind, and there was no profit under the sun.
- Eccl 2:19Who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have rule over all of my labor in which I have labored, and in which I have shown myself wise under the sun. This also is vanity.
- Eccl 2:23For all his days are sorrows, and his travail is grief; yes, even in the night his heart takes no rest. This also is vanity.
- Eccl 3:19For that which happens to the sons of men happens to animals. Even one thing happens to them. As the one dies, so the other dies. Yes, they have all one breath; and man has no advantage over the animals: for all is vanity.
- Eccl 6:11For there are many words that create vanity. What does that profit man?
- Eccl 2:21For there is a man whose labor is with wisdom, with knowledge, and with skillfulness; yet he shall leave it for his portion to a man who has not labored for it. This also is vanity and a great evil.
- Eccl 11:10Therefore remove sorrow from your heart, and put away evil from your flesh; for youth and the dawn of life are vanity.
- Eccl 4:4Then I saw all the labor and achievement that is the envy of a man’s neighbor. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.
- Eccl 4:8There is one who is alone, and he has neither son nor brother. There is no end to all of his labor, neither are his eyes satisfied with wealth. “For whom then, do I labor, and deprive my soul of enjoyment?” This also is vanity. Yes, it is a miserable business.
- Ps 62:9–10Surely men of low degree are just a breath, and men of high degree are a lie. In the balances they will go up. They are together lighter than a breath.
- Eccl 2:15Then I said in my heart, “As it happens to the fool, so will it happen even to me; and why was I then more wise?” Then I said in my heart that this also is vanity.
- Eccl 11:8Yes, if a man lives many years, let him rejoice in them all; but let him remember the days of darkness, for they shall be many. All that comes is vanity.
- Eccl 4:16There was no end of all the people, even of all them over whom he was — yet those who come after shall not rejoice in him. Surely this also is vanity and a chasing after wind.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
The search that finds everything 'under the sun' to be vapor exposes the emptiness of life without God and drives us to the one who alone gives meaning, the resurrection that makes our labor not in vain.
How Ecclesiastes 1:2 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.