Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
Ecclesiastes 1:14 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 14. 14I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
This verse reports the result of surveying works under the sun: hebel and vexation or pursuit of wind.
Read It With
- Ecclesiastes 1:12-18
Read Ecclesiastes 1:14 with 1:12-18. This verse reports the result of surveying works under the sun: hebel and vexation or pursuit of wind. The full unit establishes this movement: Qoheleth presents royal scope and exceptional wisdom, investigates human activity and wisdom itself, and finds a God-given burden, unfixable limits, pursuit of wind, and added sorrow.
Why This Verse Appears Here
The book now tests whether maximal authority and wisdom can escape the limits just described; the investigator's credentials make the negative result harder to dismiss as lack of opportunity. Within that movement, this verse reports the result of surveying works under the sun: hebel and vexation or pursuit of wind.
Follow the Context
- Qoheleth adopts a royal Israel-in-Jerusalem perspective.
- He devotes his heart to a comprehensive wisdom search.
- He calls the task a God-given grievous occupation.
- Observed works become hebel and pursuit of wind.
- Wisdom's reach meets crookedness, lack, grief, and sorrow.
Phrase-by-Phrase Explanation
“vexation of spirit”
In plain language: A difficult image of chasing or herding wind.
reports the result of surveying works under the sun: hebel and vexation or pursuit of wind. Human activity cannot be gathered into the lasting mastery the royal investigation sought.
Why it matters: The wording carries interpretive or ethical risk requiring the complete unit and stated limits.
How certain? probableWhat This Verse Is Not Saying
The verse does not say every deed has identical moral value.
It does not excuse abandoning a repairable injustice because total control is impossible.
What Remains True
Human activity cannot be gathered into the lasting mastery the royal investigation sought.
How It Can Shape Life
- Audit systems for actual shared benefit rather than celebrating motion and output by themselves.
Teach It Back
Explain Ecclesiastes 1:14's precise role in Ecclesiastes 1:12-18. Include the complete movement, one material uncertainty, and one conclusion the verse does not authorize.
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Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Ecclesiastes 1:12-18 — Wisdom Investigates and Increases SorrowSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
Where care is needed
Ra'yon ruach is difficult and may mean pursuit, shepherding, or preoccupation with wind rather than inner irritation alone.
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed Scripture wording, paragraph markers, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
Exact location: Ecclesiastes 1:12-18, repository-pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Ecclesiastes
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology used for lexical, grammatical, repeated-word, and translation questions.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Eccl.xml, 1:12-18
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: Ecclesiastes with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Verse-level textual, grammatical, lexical, literary, and translation alternatives.
Exact location: NET Bible Ecclesiastes PDF, printed pp. 1187-1188, translation and notes on 1:12-18
Open source ↗