that, as was the case in certain other Old Testament passages, in this last expression hevel occurs with “wind” (ruach). What is the meaning of this expression “striving after the wind”? The word rendered as “strive” in RSV actually comes from the verb root describing the work of a shepherd. We could translate the phrase as “shepherding the wind.” It is impossible for people to bring the wind under control or to make it blow in a given direction, to “shepherd” the wind. While some see in this expression