In Ecclesiastes, hebel appears 38 times, becoming the defining meditation on the limits of human endeavor. Life under the sun — wealth, labor, wisdom, pleasure — all share the character of breath: real but unable to satisfy the soul. Theologically, hebel does not declare that life is meaningless, but that meaning cannot be found in transient things apart from God (Ecclesiastes 12:13). The name Abel itself foreshadows this — a life of righteous brevity.
Hebel is the word Qoheleth (the Preacher) uses as his great refrain: "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity" (Ecclesiastes 1:2). It literally means a breath or vapor — something real but fleeting, insubstantial in itself. It is also the name "Abel" (Genesis 4:2), whose life was tragically brief.