ris3n's Apologetics Codex

Passage

Ecclesiastes 1.13

Book: Ecclesiastes · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

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ASV

11. There is no remembrance of the former generations; neither shall there be any remembrance of the latter generations that are to come, among those that shall come after. 12. I the Preacher was king over Israel in Jerusalem.

13. And I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom concerning all that is done under heaven: it is a sore travail that God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised therewith.

  1. I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind. 15. That which is crooked cannot be made straight; and that which is wanting cannot be numbered. (Ecclesiastes 1:11-15, ASV)
WEB

11. There is no memory of the former; neither shall there be any memory of the latter that are to come, among those that shall come after. 12. I, the Preacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem.

13. I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom concerning all that is done under the sky. It is a heavy burden that God has given to the sons of men to be afflicted with.

  1. I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and behold, all is vanity and a chasing after wind. 15. That which is crooked can’t be made straight; and that which is lacking can’t be counted. (Ecclesiastes 1:11-15, WEB)
KJV

11. There is no remembrance of former things; neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come with those that shall come after. 12. I the Preacher was king over Israel in Jerusalem.

13. And I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven: this sore travail hath God given to the sons of man to be exercised therewith. to be: or, to afflict them

  1. I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit. 15. That which is crooked cannot be made straight: and that which is wanting cannot be numbered. that which is wanting: Heb. defect (Ecclesiastes 1:11-15, KJV)
YLT

11. There is not a remembrance of former [generations]; and also of the latter that are, there is no remembrance of them with those that are at the last. 12. I, a preacher, have been king over Israel in Jerusalem.

13. And I have given my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom concerning all that hath been done under the heavens. It [is] a sad travail God hath given to the sons of man to be humbled by it.

  1. I have seen all the works that have been done under the sun, and lo, the whole [is] vanity and vexation of spirit! 15. A crooked thing [one] is not able to make straight, and a lacking thing is not able to be numbered. (Ecclesiastes 1:11-15, YLT)

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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.

Quoted in

Lexicon:

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 (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
  • WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
  • KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
  • 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 for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.