What Does Ecclesiastes 9:9 Mean in the King James?
Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity, which he hath given thee under the sun, all the days of thy vanity: for that is thy portion in this life, and in thy labour which thou takest under the sun.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
Even in days called vapor, love and labor are named as a real portion of life.
THE MEANING
Your days are fleeting, yet the love you share with your wife and the labor you take up are named as your portion within them. Joy is located in this present share of life, where love and work are already given.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that a life must become permanent or extraordinary before it can be called good gives way here: love and work are already named as a person’s share.
THE ROOT
הֶבֶל
hebel
GROWS FROM
הבל
hebel
Vapor; something fleeting or insubstantial.
“vanity” in this verse is hebel. The verse repeats this word around the days it describes: life is fleeting, yet those days still contain a share worth naming. The language lets impermanence set the scale without making love or work unreal.
ALSO GROWS
hebel: Vapor; something that quickly passes.
הֶבֶל
This is the word rendered “vanity” for the days of life in the verse.
havalim: Vanities; plural of hebel, often referring to empty or fleeting things.
הֲבָלִים
The plural shows how the same word can describe many passing things, not only a single moment or life.
חֵלֶק
cheleq
GROWS FROM
חלק
chalaq
To divide, share, or apportion.
The word for “portion” carries the sense of a share within a whole: what belongs to you here is part of a bounded life, not the whole of it. The verse joins that share to both life and toil, placing love and work within the same allotted present.
ALSO GROWS
cheleq: A share or portion.
חֵלֶק
This is the word that names love, life, and labor as the reader’s portion.
chelqah: A plot or piece of land; a portion.
חֶלְקָה
The related word can name a tangible piece set apart from a larger whole, giving the verse’s “portion” a concrete sense of one’s share.
THE PATTERN
A life’s passing quality does not cancel its present gifts; joy is received in the share of life at hand.
And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God.Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing before thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Selah.Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy;THE THREAD
Man is like to vanity: his days are as a shadow that passeth away.The shared Hebrew word is הֶבֶל (hebel, vapor or what quickly passes), rendered “vanity” in both verses. The Psalm names life’s passing quality; Ecclesiastes adds that love and labor remain a real share within those passing days.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us