(14.) =I have seen= (I have observed, that is) =with respect to all actions= (את is here emphatic as standing first) =which are performed= (niphal and contracted relative, hence having the meaning in so far as they are or may be done) =under the sun= (for without this limitation the above proposition would not be true), =and behold= (asserting a matter of fact patent to all) =the whole= (with the article and in its usual sense, see chapter i. 2) is =a vanity= (_i.e._ an instance of something evanescent) =and a vexation of spirit= (רעות, occurs seven times in this book, viz., chapters i. 14, ii. 11, 17, 26, iv. 4, 6, and vi. 9; רעיון occurs three times, i. 17, ii. 22, iv. 16. These words have usually been regarded as absolutely synonymous, and hitherto the difference of meaning has not been noticed; but there is a slight difference, as a comparison of places will show. The exact sense to be attached to them is a matter of dispute, and ‘a windy notion,’ ‘striving after the wind,’ have been proposed, but the rendering of the LXX., προαίρεσις, ‘distraction,’ represents the meaning best. With regard to רעות we may notice that it is formed quite regularly from רעה, which is ‘evil,’ in the sense of something that ‘hurts’ or ‘offends,’ and is in the nature of a collective plural; so do we account at once for the peculiar pointing and for the rendering of the LXX. On the other hand, רעיון has, as nouns with this termination usually have, a more subjective meaning; the distinction between the two is that between ‘vexations of’ and ‘vexing of’ spirit; thus in verse 17, where the trouble came from his own spirit, caused by his inability to explain the difficulty which confronted him in his argument, Koheleth uses the subjective form). 15 _That which is_ crooked │ (3.) a perplexity which it is cannot be made straight: and │ impossible to set right, (4.) that which is ¹wanting cannot │ a defect which it is equally be numbered. │ impossible to account for. │ ¹ _Hebrew_ defect. │