2 "Meaningless! Meaningless!" says the Teacher. "Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless." 3 What do people gain from all their labors at which they toil under the sun?
4 Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever. 5 The sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises.
2 Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity. 3 What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun?
4 One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever. 5 The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth
2 Vanity
4 A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever. 5 The sun rises, and the sun goes down, and hastens
2 Smoke, nothing but smoke. [That's what the Quester says.] There's nothing to anything - it's all smoke. 3 What's there to show for a lifetime of work, a lifetime of working your fingers to the bone?
4 One generation goes its way, the next one arrives, but nothing changes - it's business as usual for old planet earth. 5 The sun comes up and the sun goes down, then does it again, and again - the same old round.
2 "Vanity
4 One generation passes away, and another generation comes; But the earth abides forever. 5 The sun also rises, and the sun goes down, And hastens to the place where it arose.
2 "Everything is meaningless," says the Teacher, "completely meaningless!" 3 What do people get for all their hard work under the sun?
4 Generations come and generations go, but the earth never changes. 5 The sun rises and the sun sets, then hurries around to rise again.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Ecclesiastes 1:2-5
Commentary on Ecclesiastes 1:1-3
(Read Ecclesiastes 1:1-3)
Much is to be learned by comparing one part of Scripture with another. We here behold Solomon returning from the broken and empty cisterns of the world, to the Fountain of living water; recording his own folly and shame, the bitterness of his disappointment, and the lessons he had learned. Those that have taken warning to turn and live, should warn others not to go on and die. He does not merely say all things are vain, but that they are vanity. VANITY OF VANITIES, ALL IS VANITY. This is the text of the preacher's sermon, of which in this book he never loses sight. If this world, in its present state, were all, it would not be worth living for; and the wealth and pleasure of this world, if we had ever so much, are not enough to make us happy. What profit has a man of all his labour? All he gets by it will not supply the wants of the soul, nor satisfy its desires; will not atone for the sins of the soul, nor hinder the loss of it: what profit will the wealth of the world be to the soul in death, in judgment, or in the everlasting state?
Commentary on Ecclesiastes 1:4-8
(Read Ecclesiastes 1:4-8)
All things change, and never rest. Man, after all his labour, is no nearer finding rest than the sun, the wind, or the current of the river. His soul will find no rest, if he has it not from God. The senses are soon tired, yet still craving what is untried.