Passage
Ecclesiastes 1.2
Book: Ecclesiastes · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT
Immediate context (±2 verses)
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ASV (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? 4. One generation goeth, and another generation cometh; but the earth abideth for ever." (Ecclesiastes 1:1-4, ASV)
WEB (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? 4. One generation goes, and another generation comes; but the earth remains forever." (Ecclesiastes 1:1-4, WEB)
KJV (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? 4. One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever." (Ecclesiastes 1:1-4, KJV)
YLT (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? 4. A generation is going, and a generation is coming, and the earth to the age is standing." (Ecclesiastes 1:1-4, YLT)
Setting
- Speaker: Qohelet (traditionally Solomon)
- Audience: wisdom-seekers facing life's apparent vanity
- Location: Israel
- Time period: traditionally c. 935 BC (Solomon); some scholars date later c. 450-200 BC
Theological reading
Key words
No Strong's-tagged lexicon matches found in this passage. (Lexicon coverage is curated, ~159 of the most apologetically-loaded Greek/Hebrew terms.)
Quoted in
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.