as evidenced by its use in parallel with ‘false’ (šqr) in Jeremiah 16:19 and ‘worthless’ (šwʾ) in Zechariah 10:2. In some passages hebel may mean ‘temporary’ or ‘fleeting’ (Pss. 144:4; 39:4–5, 11; Job 7:16; Prov. 31:30), but even in these passages the connotation of ‘meaningless’ is not out of the question.146 The primary way to understand hebel in Ecclesiastes is in the sense of futile or senseless.147 Its use in the superlative sense in 1:2 and 12:8, and its fairly constant use throughout the book