Ecclesiastes 12:8

Context

Ecclesiastes 12:8 summarizes the words of "the Preacher." The term renders the Hebrew Qoheleth, understood to mean one who gathers an assembly and teaches it. Ecclesiastes 1:1 introduces him as "the son of David, king in Jerusalem." Tradition has regarded Solomon as the author, while some scholars hold that the book was written at a later date.

The immediately preceding passage, Ecclesiastes 12:1–7, urges the reader to "Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth." It then depicts old age and death through a series of images and closes with the dust returning to the earth and the spirit returning to God. Verse 8 follows by repeating the declaration of Ecclesiastes 1:2 almost word for word. For this reason the book is commonly described as framed by the same words at its beginning and end, forming an inclusio.

Verse 8 refers to the Preacher in the third person: "saith the preacher." Verses 9–14 likewise present the Preacher in the third person and serve as a conclusion. Accordingly, many interpreters treat verse 8 as the final sentence of the main body and regard verse 9 onward as an epilogue.

Interpretation

The Hebrew word hevel, translated "vanity," originally means breath, vapor, or mist. "Vanity of vanities" doubles the word to form a superlative expression. The Septuagint renders it mataiotēs, and the Latin Vulgate vanitas vanitatum.

• Devotional and didactic reading: The verse is read as the realization that wealth, wisdom, and pleasure pursued "under the sun" apart from God are ultimately empty. This realization is seen as leading to the conclusion of Ecclesiastes 12:13–14: "Fear God, and keep his commandments." This is the reading most widely used in preaching in Korean churches.
• Reading as "transience": This reading understands hevel not so much as "meaninglessness" as "that which cannot be grasped" or "that which exists briefly and vanishes." It takes the verse not as a declaration that life is worthless but as a confession that human beings cannot control life. Its proponents point out that this fits well with the depiction of death that immediately precedes it.
• Pessimistic and skeptical reading: Some scholars regard the Preacher's conclusion itself as pessimistic. They interpret the epilogue of verses 9–14 as placing it within the framework of traditional faith.

Questions of Application

There is little significant interpretive dispute between denominations. Conservative and critical views do, however, diverge on the questions of authorship and date of composition.

Regarding application, some observe that quoting "all is vanity" in isolation can make it sound as though work or ordinary life is being disparaged. Ecclesiastes repeatedly describes the enjoyment found in eating, drinking, and labor as a gift of God. For this reason, it is argued, this verse too should be read within the flow of the book as a whole.

Among Korean translations, the Korean Revised Version (New Edition) retains the archaic verb form for "is vanity," while the New Korean Standard Version renders it with a modern verb ending. Some English translations render the term as "meaningless" or "fleeting."

In the Korean Church

The Korean Revised Version's rendering of "vanity of vanities" is a well-known expression even outside the church. In preaching, this verse is usually treated not on its own but together with the passage on "the days of thy youth" in Ecclesiastes 12:1–7 and the conclusion in verses 13–14.

Related Passages

• Ecclesiastes 1:2
• Ecclesiastes 12:13–14
• Ecclesiastes 11:9–10
• Ecclesiastes 5:15
• Romans 8:20