Translating 'Vanity' in Ecclesiastes

Re-post from our recent newsletter...

Ecclesiastes 1:2-4 (ESV)

"Vanity [hebel] of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity.

What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun?

A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever."

Some Translation Options

How should one translate and understand the Hebrew word hebel?  This word is notoriously difficult to translate, made no easier in that over half of its occurrences in the Old Testament are in the poetry of Ecclesiastes (38 times).  Outside of Ecclesiastes, two texts are noteworthy: 1) While Isaiah 57:13 uses the word as "wisp/vapor" with perhaps an idea of "not permanent", 2) Psalm 39:5 speaks of life's time limit or "brevity, temporariness." And in Ecclesiastes, some translations (e.g. ESV) read a derived or figurative sense "vanity" of the more concrete sense "vapor."  To simplify the question, what is the emphasis of the word in Ecclesiastes? Quality (e.g. "empty, vanity"), quantity (e.g. "temporary"), or simply the concrete image (e.g. "vapor, puff")?     

A Translation Principle

We can say at least two things, the first being a translation principle. We understand a translator's role ideally to enable the reader to access the text in the reader's own language while yet preserving the level of ambiguity or complexity of the original. The theory is not always easy to put into practice!

Sense of Ecclesiastes 1:2

Now, regarding Ecclesiastes 1:2 specifically, the concrete sense of the word "vapor" does not easily work ("all things" are not associated with the wind, a vapor), but rather the verses that follow assume a more derived sense of the word.  So, I lean toward translating the word as a combination of both the quality ("empty") and quantity ("temporary") readings, demonstrated by verses 3 and 4ff respectively. In sum, the Hebrew word is rich and complex, making it imperative to preserve the profundity in translation.