“Hevel, Hevel…Everything is Hevel”


BIBLE READING: Ecclesiastes 9-12

                The author of Ecclesiastes uses the Hebrew word “Hevel, about 38 times in his book.  Most of our Bibles translate this word “Hevel” as “meaningless” or “vanity”, but those terms really do not allow us to see the full significance of it meaning.  It really means “vapor” or “smoke” and gives off the impression of something that is temporary or fleeting.  However, the word also has a meaning that implies something that is an enigma or a paradoxical.  In reality, all these meanings could be used to describe the full intent that the writer wants to impress upon his readers.  The writer uses the word “hevel” as a metaphor to describe life and how it is fleeting like smoke, but also how life is an enigma.  It is easy to see how one could describe life as fleeting like a vapor of smoke, but how is life considered an enigma?  At times smoke can appear as something that is solid, something that you could grab on to, yet you can’t; it seems to fade away rather quickly.  The point that the writer wants us to see here is that not only is life fleeting away, it is also something that seems like we just might be able to grasp it and figure it out, only to have not figured it out at all.  Therefore, it doesn’t matter what we do in this life, life will continue to be unpredictable and unstable, or as Ecclesiastes 1.14 describes it as “chasing after the wind”. Since life is considered “hevel” on so many levels, how are we to live a life that is at the same time profitable and enjoyable?  The end of the book provides us with a clear understanding to the answer to that question, “Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man” (Ecclesiastes 12.13).  In doing this, we make provisions to avoid the meaningless or vanity of this life to enjoy an eternity where “Hevel”, or meaningless will be in and of itself meaningless.                                                                                                                                                                                                                     -MH

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