Ecclesiastes 1:2 Commentary and Bible Study

What an amazing conclusion, what an extraordinary summary of life! How many people would ever come to this conclusion and express this as their deepest, most heartfelt conviction about the world, and yet this is what the Preacher has arrived at after all his efforts to understand the nature of life in this world and after sampling all that the world has to offer. Here then is the real theme of the book; this summarises all that he has to say to us and which he will expand on in the rest of the book: ‘Vanity of vanities; all is vanity.’The Hebrew word translated ‘vanity’ means ‘breath’ or ‘vapour’ and conveys the idea of what is insubstantial. The English word ‘vanity’ has changed its meaning since the time of the King James Version. In those days it had a meaning closer to the English phrase ‘in vain’, that is, futile or pointless, but now it has come to mean inflated pride in appearance, conceit, and self-absorption, which is not what Solomon means here. The translation ‘Futility of futilities’ would be accurate, but many prefer the KJV rendering and hope the reader will reach back to the old meaning of the word. ‘Vanity’ is more than simply what is transitory or fleeting; as he shows in the next verse, it means that which turns life into a cul-de-sac and renders it totally without profit. We are familiar with the Hebrew word, for it is the name of the second son of Adam and Eve, Abel, a name which acknowledged what God had done to the world as a result of their sin. That sin had affected them, the world they lived in, and their children, so that a man’s life could be described as vanity. We have to make an assumption about what Solomon means here: all is vain only if God is not in the picture. If that is not what he means then the book is written to bring us all into despair. That cannot be the purpose of any part of Scripture. We must assume what he is talking about is an approach to life that leaves God out of the reckoning. Why do we make this assumption? It is easy to make given the title of the book. It should be obvious that this message of futility refers to life without God.Does he really believe this? Does he really think that there is nothing of any value anywhere and that all is utterly pointless? Yes indeed, and he makes it his business to persuade all who read these words that this is true. This cannot be expressed in a weak and inconclusive way because that is the trouble with us as unbelievers: we foolishly believe that just around the corner there is always something better. Solomon’s words must therefore descend on us with crushing force that destroys all the hope that man generates in his foolish optimism. All is ‘vanity of vanities’, pure vanity, quintessential vanity. This blunt statement opposes head on the unbeliever’s enthusiasm for life. What does this say about all human endeavour, all human effort and labour?