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.
Parallel translations
- WEB The wind goes toward the south, and turns around to the north. It turns around continually as it goes, and the wind returns again to its courses.
- BSB The wind blows southward, then turns northward; round and round it swirls, ever returning on its course.
- NKJV The wind goes toward the south, And turns around to the north; The wind whirls about continually, And comes again on its circuit.
- NASB Blowing toward the south, Then turning toward the north, The wind continues swirling along; And on its circular courses the wind returns.
- NLT The wind blows south, and then turns north. Around and around it goes, blowing in circles.
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 wind blows in circuits, turning and returning without ceasing. Like the sun, it depicts endless motion that arrives at no resting place.
Overview
The wind's circular wandering continues the theme of nature's repetitive, seemingly purposeless activity. The vivid repetition mirrors human striving that goes round and round 'under the sun.' These cycles testify to a creation 'subjected to futility' (Romans 8:20), groaning for the liberation that comes through Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- John 3:8The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
- Eccl 11:5As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child: even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all.
- Ps 107:29He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.
- Job 37:9Out of the south cometh the whirlwind: and cold out of the north.
- Ps 107:25For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof.
- Job 37:17How thy garments are warm, when he quieteth the earth by the south wind?
- Jonah 1:4But the LORD sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken.
- Matt 7:27And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.
- Matt 7:24Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
- Acts 27:13–15And when the south wind blew softly, supposing that they had obtained their purpose, loosing thence, they sailed close by Crete.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 1:6 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.