Ecclesiastes Chapter 1 - Cycles and Human Toil
Ecclesiastes 1 asks what lasting gain comes from human toil. Generations pass, natural cycles repeat, and the speaker tests the limits of wisdom and observation.
Key Ideas
- The question of lasting gain
- Repeated natural cycles
- Limits of observation
Text
THE WORDs OF the Koheleth, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.
Vanity of vanities, saith Koheleth; Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.
What profit hath man of all his labour Wherein he laboureth under the sun?
One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh; And the earth abideth for ever.
The sun also ariseth, And the sun goeth down, And hasteth to his place where he ariseth.
The wind goeth toward the south, And turneth about unto the north; It turneth about continually in its circuit, And the wind returneth again to its circuits.
All the rivers run into the sea, Yet the sea is not full; Unto the place whither the rivers go, Thither they go again.
All things toil to weariness; Man cannot utter it, The eye is not satisfied with seeing, Nor the ear filled with hearing.
That which hath been is that which shall be, And that which hath been done is that which shall be done; And there is nothing new under the sun.
Is there a thing whereof it is said: ‘See, this is new’?—it hath been already, in the ages which were before us.
There is no remembrance of them of former times; neither shall there be any remembrance of them of latter times that are to come, among those that shall come after.
I Koheleth have been king over Israel in Jerusalem.
And I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven; it is a sore task that God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised therewith.
I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind.
That which is crooked cannot be made straight; And that which is wanting cannot be numbered.
I spoke with my own heart, saying: ‘Lo, I have gotten great wisdom, more also than all that were before me over Jerusalem’; yea, my heart hath had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.
And I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly—I perceived that this also was a striving after wind.
For in much wisdom is much vexation; And he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.
Questions and Answers
What does “hevel” mean in Ecclesiastes?
It literally suggests vapor or breath and conveys fragility, elusiveness, and the inability to hold life still.
Is Ecclesiastes saying that nothing matters?
The chapter questions what lasting gain human toil can secure and stresses repetition and limitation. Later chapters continue testing wisdom, pleasure, work, and reverence for God.
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