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Ordinary Time · Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time · Year C

Ecclesiastes 1:2; 2:21-23

Vanity of Vanities

August 6, 2028

An Allegory of the Vanities of Human Life (Vanitas Still Life), Harmen Steenwijck
An Allegory of the Vanities of Human Life (Vanitas Still Life), Harmen Steenwijck, c. 1640National Gallery, London
A skull, a shell, a Japanese sword, a lute and a guttering lamp: the trophies of knowledge, travel, wealth and art, with the light falling across all of them.Vanity of vanities, says the Teacher: the reading is about leaving everything to someone who did not work for it, and this is the everything.Harmen SteenwijckA Leiden painter and nephew of David Bailly, who specialised almost entirely in vanitas still life.National Gallery, LondonFounded in 1824 by buying one banker's collection, and deliberately placed in Trafalgar Square so that people from every part of London could walk to it.National Gallery, London
Roman Lectionary
GospelLuke 12:13-21Lk 12:13-21
Second ReadingCol. 3:1-5, 9-11Col 3:1-5, 9-11
First ReadingEccl. 1:2; 2:21-23Eccl 1:2; 2:21-23
Responsorial PsalmPs. 90:3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 14, 17 (1)Ps 90:3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 14, 17 (1) orPs. 95:1-2, 6-7, 8-9 (7, 8)Ps 95:1-2, 6-7, 8-9 (7, 8)

Overview & Insights

"Vanity of vanities, says the Teacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity" (Ecclesiastes 1:2).

The Teacher declares all human striving fleeting, then applies that verdict to work in particular: a person may labor with wisdom and skill only to leave the fruit of it to someone who did not toil for it. The passage sets up the Gospel's parable of the rich fool who stores up treasure for himself.

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Take it further: Ecclesiastes 1:2; 2:21-23

Commentary

Ecclesiastes 1 CommentaryEccl 1 Commentary Enduring Word · David Guzik

Explains the Teacher's opening verdict that everything is fleeting and insubstantial.

Commentary on Ecclesiastes 1:2, 12-14, 2:18-23Commentary on Eccl 1:2, 12-14, 2:18-23 Working Preacher

Unpacks the Hebrew word hebel and the Teacher's frustration at leaving his labor to another.

Ecclesiastes 1 CommentaryEccl 1 Commentary Precept Austin

Gives a verse-by-verse word study of the Teacher's declaration of vanity.

Ecclesiastes 1:2 CommentariesEccl 1:2 Commentaries BibleHub

Collects classic commentary on the meaning of vanity of vanities.

Ecclesiastes 2:21 CommentariesEccl 2:21 Commentaries BibleHub

Covers the Teacher's complaint about laboring only to leave the results to another.

Ecclesiastes 1Eccl 1 StudyLight

Offers Barnes's notes on the Teacher's opening lament over fleeting human effort.

Background & Word Study

Ecclesiastes 1:2 InterlinearEccl 1:2 Interlinear BibleHub

Shows the Hebrew text word by word, including the repeated word hebel.

Ecclesiastes 1Eccl 1 Sefaria

Gives the Hebrew text with traditional Jewish commentary on the opening declaration.

Book of Ecclesiastes SummaryBook of Eccl Summary BibleProject

Gives an animated overview of the book's argument that life apart from God is fleeting.

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