The Human Spirit is Like a Puff of Smoke

artwork of Gandalf from LotR

Ecclesiastes repeatedly uses an important play on words that gets lost in English translations. That hidden wordplay is used to suggest a connection between the human spirit and vanity.

Here’s how.

The Word “Spirit” = Breath

The Hebrew word ruah can mean either “spirit,” “breath,” or “wind.”

So when Genesis says that God breathed his ruah into man, it could mean that He breathed His “breath” into man, or that He breathed His “Spirit” into man.

The words are written the same way, so sometimes it’s up to the reader to interpret which meaning the author intended.

The Word “Vanity” = Vapor/Breath

The Hebrew word hebel can mean either “vapor,” “breath,” or “vanity.”

When Ecclesiastes 1:2 says that everything is hebel, it could mean that everything is “vanity,” or that everything is “vapor” or “breath.”

Again, the word is written the same way for both meanings, so it’s up to the reader to interpret which meaning the author intended.

Conclusion: The Human Spirit is Vanity

The word for “spirit” and the word for “vanity” can both also mean “breath.” So when Ecclesiastes spends a lot of time talking about the human spirit and vanity, the Hebrew readers would have drawn a connection between the two. This is a clever technique the author uses to emphasize his main point:

When apart from God, human existence is vain, futile, and empty like a puff of smoke.