14
I sawרָאִיתִיallכָּלthe worksהַמַּעֲשִׂיםthat are doneשֶׁנַּעֲשׂוּunderתַּחַתthe sun,הַשָּׁמֶשׁand look,וְהִנֵּהallהַכֹּלis vaporהֶבֶלand strivingוּרְעוּתafter wind.רוּחַ
Ecclesiastes 1:14
Study it in the app“I saw all the works that are done under the sun, and look, all is vapor and striving after wind.”
With the Hebrew beneath
Ecclesiastes 1:14, word by word
- I sawרָאִיתִיraiti
see
To see with one's eyes.
Where else “raiti” appears- the worksמַּעֲשִׂיםmaasim
work
What someone does: his works, and especially what God does.
Where else “maasim” appears- that are doneנַּעֲשׂוּnaasu
do
To carry out an act or to deal with someone in a certain way, for good or ill.
Where else “naasu” appears- the sunשָּׁמֶשׁshamesh
sun
The star that gives light and heat by day and marks the day and the year; "under the sun" means in this world.
Where else “shamesh” appears- is vaporהֶבֶלhevel
vapor
A breath that passes and does not last; that brief is everything.
Where else “hevel” appears- and strivingרְעוּתreut
striving, chasing
Striving (from the root "to feed, shepherd"); in "chasing after wind": the effort to catch the wind.
Where else “reut” appears- after windרוּחַruach
wind
Moving air; also the four quarters of the horizon.
Where else “ruach” appears
Translation note
“Striving after wind” (רְעוּת רוּחַ): the word comes from “to shepherd”; it is the effort of someone who wants to catch or to shepherd the wind, an effort that grasps nothing (cf. Hosea 12:1).
The context
13And I gave my heart to seek and to explore by wisdom concerning all that is done under the heavens; it is a bad occupation that Elohim has given to human beings to be occupied with it.
14 · This verse (above)
15What is crooked cannot be made straight, and what is lacking cannot be counted.