the Week of Proper 19 / Ordinary 24
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Ecclesiastes 12:8
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“Absolute futility,” says the Teacher. “Everything is futile.”
Vanity of vanities, says Kohelet; All is vanity!
Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher; all is vanity.
Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher; all is vanity.
"Futility of futilities," says the Preacher, "all is futility!"
Everything is useless! The Teacher says that everything is useless.
"Vanity of vanities," says the Preacher. "All [that is done without God's guidance] is vanity (futility)."
Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher; All is vanity!
Vanitie of vanities, saieth the Preacher, all is vanitie.
"Vanity of vanities," says the Preacher, "all is vanity!"
"Futility of futilities," says the Teacher. "Everything is futile!"
Nothing makes sense. I have seen it all— nothing makes sense.
Pointless! Meaningless! — says Kohelet, Nothing matters at all!
Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher: all is vanity.
Everything is so meaningless. The Teacher says that it is all a waste of time!
Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, all is vanity.
Useless, useless, said the Philosopher. It is all useless.
"Vanity of vanity!" says the Teacher. "Everything is vanity!"
Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, all is vanity.
All is but vanite (sayeth the preacher) all is but playne vanite.
Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher; all is vanity.
Vanity of vanities, saith Koheleth; all is vanity.
Uanitie of vanities (saith the preacher) all is vanitie.
All is but vanitie (saith the preacher) all is but playne vanitie.
Vanity of vanities, said the Preacher; all is vanity.
Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher; all is vanity.
The vanyte of vanytees, seide Ecclesiastes, the vanyte of vanytees, and alle thingis ben vanyte.
Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher; all is vanity.
Vanity of vanities saith the preacher; all [is] vanity.
"Absolutely futile!" laments the Teacher, "All of these things are futile!"
"Vanity of vanities," says the Preacher, "All is vanity."
"Everything is meaningless," says the Teacher, "completely meaningless."
"It is of no use," says the Preacher, "It is all for nothing!"
Vanity of vanities, says the Teacher; all is vanity.
Vanity of vanities, saith the Proclaimer, all, is vanity.
Vanity of vanities, said Ecclesiastes, and all things are vanity.
Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher; all is vanity.
Vanity of vanities, said the preacher, the whole [is] vanity.
It's all smoke, nothing but smoke. The Quester says that everything's smoke.
"Vanity of vanities," says the Preacher, "all is vanity!"
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
Ecclesiastes 1:2, Ecclesiastes 1:14, Ecclesiastes 2:17, Ecclesiastes 4:4, Ecclesiastes 6:12, Ecclesiastes 8:8, Psalms 62:9
Reciprocal: Psalms 39:6 - surely Psalms 78:33 - years Psalms 119:96 - I have seen Psalms 144:4 - Man Proverbs 23:5 - that which Ecclesiastes 7:14 - set Ecclesiastes 7:27 - saith Jeremiah 2:13 - broken cisterns Matthew 13:45 - seeking 1 Corinthians 7:29 - that both 1 Timothy 2:7 - a preacher
Cross-References
And Seth had a son, and he gave him the name of Enosh: at this time men first made use of the name of the Lord in worship.
And I am certain that when the men of Egypt see you, they will say, This is his wife: and they will put me to death and keep you.
And so it was that when Abram came into Egypt, the men of Egypt, looking on the woman, saw that she was fair.
And Pharaoh's great men, having seen her, said words in praise of her to Pharaoh, and she was taken into Pharaoh's house.
And because of her, he was good to Abram, and he had sheep and oxen and asses, and men-servants and women-servants, and camels.
To the place where he had made his first altar, and there Abram gave worship to the name of the Lord.
And Abraham, after planting a holy tree in Beer-sheba, gave worship to the name of the Lord, the Eternal God.
And he gave that place the name of Beth-el, but before that time the town was named Luz.
And let us go up to Beth-el: and there I will make an altar to God, who gave me an answer in the day of my trouble, and was with me wherever I went.
Now Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is by the side of Beth-aven, on the east side of Beth-el, and said to them, Go up and make a search through the land. And the men went up and saw how Ai was placed.
Gill's Notes on the Bible
Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher,.... The wise man, or preacher, set out in the beginning of the book with this doctrine, or proposition, which he undertook to prove; and now having proved it by an induction of particulars, instanced in the wisdom, wealth, honours, pleasures, and profit of men, and shown the vanity of them, and that the happiness of men lies not in these things, but in the knowledge and fear of God; he repeats it, and most strongly asserts it, as an undoubted truth beyond all dispute and contradiction, that all things under the sun are not only vain, but vanity itself, extremely vain, vain in the superlative degree;
all [is] vanity; all things in the world are vain; all creatures are subject to vanity; man in every state, and in his best estate, is altogether vanity: this the wise man might with great confidence affirm, after he had shown that not only childhood and youth are vanity, but even old age; the infirmities, sorrows, and distresses of which he had just exposed, and observed that all issue in death, the last end of man, when his body returns to the earth, and his soul to God the giver of it.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
This passage is properly regarded as the Epilogue of the whole book; a kind of apology for the obscurity of many of its sayings. The passage serves therefore to make the book more intelligible and more acceptable.
Here, as in the beginning of the book Ecclesiastes 1:1-2, the Preacher speaks of himself Ecclesiastes 12:8-10 in the third person. He first repeats Ecclesiastes 12:8 the mournful, perplexing theme with which his musings began Ecclesiastes 1:2; and then states the encouraging practical conclusion Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 to which they have led him. It has been pointed out that the Epilogue assumes the identity of the Preacher with the writer of the Book of Proverbs.
Ecclesiastes 12:11
literally, Words of wise men are as goads, and as nails driven in (by) masters of assemblies; they are given from one shepherd: “goads,” because they rouse the hearer and impel him to right actions; “nails” (perhaps tent-spikes), because they remain fixed in the memory: “masters of assemblies” are simply “teachers” or “preachers” (see Ecclesiastes 1:1 note), instructors of such assemblies as Wisdom addresses Proverbs 1:20.
One shepherd - i. e., God, who is the supreme Giver of wisdom Proverbs 2:6, and the chief Shepherd Jeremiah 23:1-4. Compare 1 Corinthians 2:12-13.
Ecclesiastes 12:12
By these - i. e., “By the words of wise men.”
Books - Rather, “Writings.” Probably the proverbs current in the Preacher’s age, including, though not especially indicating, his own.
The Preacher protests against the folly of protracted, unprofitable, meditation.
Ecclesiastes 12:13
literally, “The conclusion of the discourse” (or “word,” = words, Ecclesiastes 1:1), “the whole, let us hear.”
The whole duty of man - Rather, the whole man. To revere God and to obey Him is the whole man, constitutes man’s whole being; that only is conceded to Man; all other things, as this book teaches again and again, are dependent on a Higher Incomprehensible Being.
Ecclesiastes 12:14
Judgment with - Rather, judgment (which shall be held) upon etc.: i. e., an appointed judgment which shall take place in another world, as distinct from that retribution which frequently follows man’s actions in the course of this world, and which is too imperfect (compare Ecclesiastes 2:15; Ecclesiastes 4:1; Ecclesiastes 7:15; Ecclesiastes 9:2, ...) to be described by these expressions. He that is fully convinced that there is no solid happiness to be found in this world, and that there is a world to come wherein God will adjudge people to happiness or misery respectively, as they have made their choice and acted here, must necessarily subscribe to the truth of Solomon’s conclusion, that true religion is the only way to true happiness.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Ecclesiastes 12:8. This affecting and minute description of old age and death is concluded by the author with the same exclamation by which he began this book: O vanity of vanities, saith Koheleth, all is vanity. Now that man, the masterpiece of God's creation, the delegated sovereign of this lower world, is turned to dust, what is there stable or worthy of contemplation besides? ALL - ALL is VANITY!
