📖 Biblical Definition
"Vanity of vanities" is Ecclesiastes’ opening and closing refrain: "Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity" (Ecclesiastes 1:2; 12:8). The Hebrew havel havalim ("breath of breaths") uses the superlative-of-superlatives construction — the same form as holy of holies and song of songs. Hevel originally means "vapor, breath, mist": something insubstantial that disappears the moment you try to grasp it. The Preacher’s diagnostic is that life lived "under the sun" — considered apart from God — is fleeting, vaporous, futile. The remedy is in the closing verse: "Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man" (12:13). Vapor terminates in fearing God.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
Ecclesiastes' refrain: "breath of breaths," life under the sun apart from God.
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Ecclesiastes' opening (1:2) and closing (12:8) refrain: "Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity." Hebrew havel havalim uses the Hebrew superlative construction (X-of-Xs = the most X) on hevel, which means breath, vapor, or smoke. The book's diagnostic of life "under the sun" considered apart from God: fleeting, untouchable, futile. The Preacher (Qohelet) is not denying that life has meaning; he is denying that meaning can be found by chasing it under the sun — only by fearing God and keeping His commandments (12:13).
📖 Key Scripture
Ecclesiastes 1:2 — "Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity."
Ecclesiastes 12:8 — "Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher; all is vanity."
Ecclesiastes 12:13 — "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Either dismissed as nihilism (Ecclesiastes is depressing) or sentimentalized as meditation (life is precious because brief). The book's actual diagnostic is sterner: meaning is found only outside the sun.
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Two opposite misreadings: (1) Ecclesiastes is nihilist or depressed; (2) Ecclesiastes is gentle wisdom about appreciating life's brevity. The book is sterner than either. The Preacher diagnoses every domain under the sun — pleasure, work, wealth, wisdom, religion, time itself — and finds them all hevel. Meaning emerges only by stepping outside the sun: fear God, keep His commandments.
Recover the sterner reading: hevel is not just "brief"; it is uncatchable, vapor-like, slipping through fingers. The good news is that meaning is real — just not where the sun-bound search will find it.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
Hebrew havel havalim.
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['Hebrew', 'H1892', 'hevel', 'breath, vapor, vanity']
Usage
"Breath of breaths; vapor of vapors."
"Under the sun, all is hevel."
"Fear God; keep His commandments."