# Ecclesiastes 1.1

<!-- type: passage | created: 2026-06-01 | updated: 2026-06-01 -->

**Book:** [Ecclesiastes](/codex/ecclesiastes/) · NASB95

## Immediate context (±2 verses)

**ASV** ([ASV](/codex/asv/))
> **1. The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.**
>
> 2. Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher; vanity of vanities, all is vanity. 3. What profit hath man of all his labor wherein he laboreth under the sun? (Ecclesiastes 1:1-3, ASV)

**WEB** ([WEB](/codex/web/))
> **1. The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem:**
>
> 2. “Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher; “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.” 3. What does man gain from all his labor in which he labors under the sun? (Ecclesiastes 1:1-3, WEB)

**KJV** ([KJV](/codex/kjv/))
> **1. The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.**
>
> 2. Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity. 3. What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun? (Ecclesiastes 1:1-3, KJV)

**YLT** ([YLT](/codex/ylt/))
> **1. Words of a preacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem:**
>
> 2. Vanity of vanities, said the Preacher, Vanity of vanities: the whole [is] vanity. 3. What advantage [is] to man by all his labour that he laboureth at under the sun? (Ecclesiastes 1:1-3, YLT)

## Setting

- **Speaker:** _TBD_
- **Audience:** _TBD_
- **Location:** _TBD_
- **Time period:** _TBD_

## Theological reading

_Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added._

## Key words

_Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap._

- _TBD_
- _TBD_
- _TBD_
- _TBD_

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## Quoted in

**Concepts:**

- [OT Authorship and Prophetic Tradition](/codex/ot-authorship-and-prophetic-tradition/)

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_Scripture quotations taken from the **New American Standard Bible®** (NASB), Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by **The Lockman Foundation**. Used by permission. All rights reserved. [www.lockman.org](https://www.lockman.org)_

## Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the **most literal English translations available** (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the **public domain in the United States**, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

- **[ASV](/codex/asv/)** (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
- **[WEB](/codex/web/)** (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
- **[KJV](/codex/kjv/)** (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
- **[YLT](/codex/ylt/)** (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See [Bibles](/codex/bibles/) for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.