Pengkhotbah 1:2

Bahasa Indonesia Sehari-hari

Kesia-siaan belaka, kata Pengkhotbah, kesia-siaan belaka, segala sesuatu adalah sia-sia.

Parallel Translations

Alkitab Terjemahan Baru
Kesia-siaan belaka, kata Pengkhotbah, kesia-siaan belaka, segala sesuatu adalah sia-sia.

Contextual Overview

¹ The wordes of the preacher ye sonne of Dauid kyng of Hierusalem. ² All is but most vayne vanitie saith the preacher, & all is most vayne [I say] and but playne vanitie. ³ For what els hath a man of all the labour that he taketh vnder the sunne?

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Ecclesiastes 2:11, Ecclesiastes 2:15, Ecclesiastes 2:17, Ecclesiastes 2:19, Ecclesiastes 2:21, Ecclesiastes 2:23, Ecclesiastes 2:26, Ecclesiastes 3:19, Ecclesiastes 4:4, Ecclesiastes 4:8, Ecclesiastes 4:16, Ecclesiastes 5:10, Ecclesiastes 6:11, Ecclesiastes 11:8, Ecclesiastes 11:10, Ecclesiastes 12:8, Psalms 39:5, Psalms 39:6, Psalms 62:9, Psalms 62:10, Psalms 144:4, Romans 8:20

Reciprocal: Genesis 3:17 - cursed Esther 5:13 - Yet all this Psalms 78:33 - years Psalms 119:96 - I have seen Proverbs 23:5 - that which Proverbs 30:8 - Remove Ecclesiastes 6:9 - this Ecclesiastes 7:27 - saith Jeremiah 2:13 - broken cisterns Acts 25:23 - with 1 Timothy 2:7 - a preacher

Cross-References

Genesis 1:12
And the earth brought forth [both] bud and hearbe apt to seede after his kynde, and tree yeeldyng fruite, whiche hath seede in it selfe, after his kynde.

Genesis 1:14
And God sayde: let there be lyghtes in the firmament of the heauen, that they may deuide the day and the nyght, and let them be for signes, & seasons, and for dayes, and yeres.

Job 26:7
He stretcheth out the noorth ouer the emptie place, and hangeth the earth vpon nothing.

Job 26:14
Lo, this is now a short summe of his wayes: but howe litle a portion heare we of hym? who can vnderstande the thunder of his power?

Psalms 33:6
By the worde of God are the heauens made: and all the hoastes of them by the breath of his mouth.

Isaiah 45:18
For thus saith the Lorde, Euen he that created heauen, the God that made the earth & fassioned it, and set it foorth, he dyd not make it for naught, but to be inhabited, euen I the Lorde, without whom there is none other.

Nahum 2:10
Sacking, resacking, rasing, a dissolued heart and collision of knees, sorow in all loynes also, and the faces of them all as blacke as a pot.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher,.... This is the preacher's text; the theme and subject he after enlarges upon, and proves by an induction of particulars; it is the sum of the whole book;

vanity of vanities, all [is] vanity; most extremely vain, exceedingly so, the height of vanity: this is repeated, both for the confirmation of it, men being hard of belief of it; and to show how much the preacher was affected with it himself, and to affect others with the same. The Targum reads, "vanity of vanities [in] this world"; which is right as to the sense of the passage; for though the world, and all things in it, were made by God, and are very good; yet, in comparison of him, are less than nothing, and vanity; and especially as become subject to it through sin, a curse being brought upon the earth by it; and all the creatures made for the use of men liable to be abused, and are abused, through luxury, intemperance, and cruelty; and the whole world usurped by Satan, as the god of it. Nor is there anything in it, and put it all together, that can give satisfaction and contentment; and all is fickle, fluid, transitory, and vanishing, and in a short time will come to an end: the riches of the world afford no real happiness, having no substance in them, and being of no long continuance; nor can a man procure happiness for himself or others, or avert wrath to come, and secure from it; and especially these are vanity, when compared with the true riches, the riches of grace and glory, which are solid, substantial, satisfying, and are for ever: the honours of this world are empty things, last a very short time; and are nothing in comparison of the honour that comes from God, and all the saints have, in the enjoyment of grace here, and glory hereafter: the sinful pleasures of life are imaginary things, short lived ones; and not to be mentioned with spiritual pleasures, enjoyed in the house of God, under the word and ordinances; and especially with those pleasures, for evermore, at the right hand of God. Natural wisdom and knowledge, the best thing in the world; yet much of it is only in opinion; a great deal of it false; and none saving, and of any worth, in comparison of the knowledge of Christ, and of God in Christ; all the forms of religion and external righteousness, where there is not the true fear and grace of God, are all vain and empty things. Man, the principal creature in the world, is "vain man"; that is his proper character in nature and religion, destitute of grace: every than is vain, nay, vanity itself; high and low, rich and poor, learned or unlearned; nay, man at his best estate, as worldly and natural, is so; as even Adam was in his state of innocence, being fickle and mutable, and hence he fell, Psalms 39:5; and especially his fallen posterity, whose bodies are tenements of clay; their beauty vain and deceitful; their circumstances changeable; their minds empty of all that is good; their thoughts and imaginations vain; their words, and works, and actions, and their whole life and conversation; they are not at all to be trusted in for help, by themselves or others. The Targum is,

"when Solomon, king of Israel, saw, by the spirit of prophecy, that the kingdom of Rehoboam his son would be divided with Jeroboam, the son of Nebat; and that Jerusalem, and the house of the sanctuary, would be destroyed, and the people of the children of Israel would be carried captive; he said, by his word, Vanity of vanities in this world, vanity of vanities; all that I and my father David have laboured for, all is vanity!''

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Vanity - This word הבל hebel, or, when used as a proper name, in Genesis 4:2, “Abel”, occurs no less than 37 times in Ecclesiastes, and has been called the key of the book. Primarily it means “breath,” “light wind;” and denotes what:

(1) passes away more or less quickly and completely;

(2) leaves either no result or no adequate result behind, and therefore

(3) fails to satisfy the mind of man, which naturally craves for something permanent and progressive: it is also applied to:

(4) idols, as contrasted with the Living, Eternal, and Almighty God, and, thus, in the Hebrew mind, it is connected with sin.

In this book it is applied to all works on earth, to pleasure, grandeur, wisdom, the life of man, childhood, youth, and length of days, the oblivion of the grave, wandering and unsatisfied desires, unenjoyed possessions, and anomalies in the moral government of the world.

Solomon speaks of the world-wide existence of “vanity,” not with bitterness or scorn, but as a fact, which forced itself on him as he advanced in knowledge of men and things, and which he regards with sorrow and perplexity. From such feelings he finds refuge by contrasting this with another fact, which he holds with equal firmness, namely, that the whole universe is made and is governed by a God of justice, goodness, and power. The place of vanity in the order of Divine Providence - unknown to Solomon, unless the answer be indicated in Ecclesiastes 7:29 - is explained to us by Paul, Romans 8:0, where its origin is traced to the subjugation and corruption of creation by sin as a consequence of the fall of man; and its extinction is declared to be reserved until after the Resurrection in the glory and liberty of the children of God.

Vanity of vanities - A well-known Hebrew idiom signifying vanity in the highest degree. Compare the phrase, “holy of holies.”

All - Solomon includes both the courses of nature and the works of man Ecclesiastes 1:4-11. Compare Romans 8:22.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Ecclesiastes 1:2. Vanity of vanities — As the words are an exclamation, it would be better to translate, O vanity of vanities! Emptiness of emptinesses. True, substantial good is not to be found in any thing liable to change and corruption.

The author referred to in the introduction begins his paraphrase thus: -

"O vain deluding world! whose largest gifts

Thine emptiness betray, like painted clouds,

Or watery bubbles: as the vapour flies,

Dispersed by lightest blast, so fleet thy joys,

And leave no trace behind. This serious truth

The royal preacher loud proclaims, convinced

By sad experience; with a sigh repeats

The mournful theme, that nothing here below

Can solid comfort yield: 'tis all a scene.

Of vanity, beyond the power of words

To express, or thought conceive. Let every man

Survey himself, then ask, what fruit remains

Of all his fond pursuits? What has he gain'd,

By toiling thus for more than nature's wants

Require? Why thus with endless projects rack'd

His heated brain, and to the labouring mind,

Repose denied? Why such expense of time,

That steals away so fast, and ne'er looks back?

Could man his wish obtain, how short the space

For his enjoyment! No less transient here

The time of his duration, than the things

Thus anxiously pursued. For, as the mind,

In search of bliss, fix'd on no solid point,

For ever fluctuates; so our little frames,

In which we glory, haste to their decline,

Nor permanence can find. The human race

Drop like autumnal leaves, by spring revived:

One generation from the stage of life

Withdraws, another comes, and thus makes room

For that which follows. Mightiest realms decay,

Sink by degrees; and lo! new form'd estates

Rise from their ruins. Even the earth itself,

Sole object of our hopes and fears,

Shall have its period, though to man unknown."