I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind.
Solomon, having asserted in general that all is vanity, and having given some general proofs of it, now takes the most effectual method to evince the truth of it, 1. By his own experience; he tried them all, and found them vanity. 2.
Commenting on Ecclesiastes 1:12-18
I have seen all the works that are done under the sun,.... All things done by the Lord, that were on the earth, and in it, and in the sea; he considered them, and endeavoured to search into the nature of them; and did attain to a very great knowledge of them, so that he could speak of them to the instruction of others; see...
The reason is here given why investigation into man's "works" is only "sore travail" (Ecc 1:13); namely, because all man's ways are vain (Ecc 1:18) and cannot be mended (Ecc 1:15). vexation of--"a preying upon" the Spirit--MAURER translates; "the pursuit of wind," as in Ecc 5:16; Hos 12:1, "Ephraim feedeth on wind." But old versions support the English Version.