Footnotes

1. Ecclesiastes 1:2 Vanity: Hebrew word meaning “mist,” “breath,” or “puff of wind” (see Pss 39:6, 12; 62:10; 144:4). The author uses it in the sense of the illusory nature of things. Vanity of vanities: an expression that indicates the greatest degree of uselessness and emptiness.
2. Ecclesiastes 1:3 Jesus expands on this same theme in Mk 8:36-38. Under the sun: i.e., the present world and its limits. A synonym is “under heaven” (see v. 13; 2:3; 3:1).
3. Ecclesiastes 1:4 The author takes the opposite tack to the wonder and adoration excited by the universe in Job (chs. 38–40); for him, no event can change the course of things: nothing deserves to occupy our memories to this point: there is no history!