Qohelet does not elsewhere, it is argued, speak of everything as hebel (the Heb. word behind NIV’s problematic “meaningless”; see further below). It has even been suggested that 1:3 is overly anthropocentric, being focused on the usefulness of the world for human beings, whereas the remainder of the book is not (e.g., 12:1–7).1 The second of these points may quickly be addressed: It is not at all clear why one author (or an author with his editor) cannot look at the world now from one perspective