In general, the meaning is negative—futile, worthless, etc. M. Fox (Qohelet, 38–44; see also Michel, Eigenart, 40–51) has catalogued the various uses of הבל in Ecclesiastes. The term is applied to toil and its products (e.g., 2:11; 6:2), joy (2:1; 6:9), wisdom (e.g., 2:15), speech (e.g., 6:11), human existence (e.g., 2:12), death (“days of darkness,” 11:8), injustice in retribution (8:14). Both Fox and Michel are in agreement that the best equivalent is “absurd,” the term which both note is characteristic