Are you a dreamer? Well, don’t get your hopes up because I am about to shatter them. When it comes to dreams in Ecclesiastes, it’s best you exercise a little caution if you answered yes to the previous question. Many dreams come with many things, such as an abundance of labor and, you guessed it, hebel.
“For the dream comes through an abundance of business, and the voice of a fool through the abundance of words.” ~ Ecc. 5:3
“For in an abundance of dreams are vahabalim (the plural of hebel, often translated as “vanities”) and many words—but fear God!” ~ Ecc. 5:7
These verses, in most professional translations, are extremely beautiful. They seem like titles to a feel-good book or quotations found in a collection of inspirational sayings. For instance:
“With many dreams come vanities and a multitude of words, but fear God.” ~ 5:7, NRSVue
Whatever the case, the verses still carry some level of cautious advice across translations.
How do you make a dream come true? For Qoheleth, you don’t just work for it, you work abundantly for it. What if you have many dreams? Well, then you’ve got lots of words (like a fool, perhaps?) and hebel.
Sometimes, too, dreams are dashed. And for a dreamer, that can cause painful, long-lasting damage. So, is it wise to be a dreamer? Let’s ask Qoheleth.
The Danger of Dreams
Dreams are not inherently evil, nor is one wicked for having them. The same could be said of wisdom. Both come with a cost, and one should be advised of the risks. After all, “in much wisdom is much vexation, and those who increase knowledge increase sorrow” (1:18). And as Friedrich Schiller said, “To live is to dream, and to dream pleasantly is to be wise.”
At first glance, Ecc. 5:3 looks like some midweek motivation your gym buddy would send you. Work hard; chase the dream; don’t be foolish. Yet then in 5:7, dreams are associated with hebel. But it gets worse.
The Complete Jewish Bible, more bleakly, translates 5:3 as: “For nightmares come from worrying too much; and a fool, when he speaks, chatters too much.”
Worrying too much (CJB). Caring too much (NRSVue). Working too hard. These are problematic. They are comparable to a chatterbox of a fool. It’s an absurd concept, isn’t it? Given the other examples we’ve explored in Ecclesiastes, such as the self-consuming fool, are you really all that surprised?
When a Dream Becomes a Nightmare
Imagine you’re a child again, and not one who is afraid of clowns. Then you accidentally witness a scene or image from IT or Terrifier, perhaps because you have friends or older siblings into that sort of thing. Suddenly, your perception of clowns is forever altered. They are no longer the cute and friendly jesters you’ve known.
Or suppose your boss tells you to do something that goes against your code of conduct. Perhaps you didn’t do the right thing one time, and someone suffered from it. Or you didn’t stop someone from committing a crime. Maybe a person or institution you trusted failed you. Now, instead of trauma, you have endured a moral injury.
According to the National Center for PTSD, the examples I have just provided may “contradict deeply held moral beliefs and expectations.” In my own experience with moral injury, especially having previously worked in healthcare and higher ed, such experiences can shatter a dream.
A moral injury carries with it a major feeling of hebel—that all is vanity, vapor, futile, or even meaningless. That suddenly, your dreams and goals are also hebel. Why did I bother? Or why didn’t I?
When people or institutions fail you, or even when you fail you, you really start to feel the hebels. And what Qoheleth points us to in 5:7, is that in an abundance of dreams (or nightmares) is much hebel.
A Dream Come Hebel
A dream comes through an abundance of labor. Like a fool who rambles. Is a dream born of overworking, anxiety, or any sort of “abundance” really worth it? It is a symptom of a restless mind. Worse yet, in 5:7, is an abundance of dreams.
In both the abundance of dreams and of many words, there is vahabalim. Many hebels. As I have mentioned before, hebel is not necessarily a good thing. Maybe not terrible, but definitely not desirable.
In 5:3 and 5:7, dreams seem to be a source of anxiety. They require much labor and/or worrying, and they are not just hebel but the plural of hebel. And in both verses, they are associated with rambling/many words. What is the point of chasing a dream that involves any of this? It is like a fool who can’t shut their piehole.
Some people can only learn this lesson after an injury to the soul. And when the dream comes crashing down, it indeed hurts. But that is the risk of being a dreamer. Qoheleth does not explicitly say “do not have any dreams.” But, like most other things, he encourages caution and moderation.
Oh, but you know what the best solution to all of it is?
Fear God
Yep, that’s it. Fear God. In 5:3, Qoheleth gives us a beautiful juxtaposition. Dreams and foolish speech. But in 5:7? Another gorgeous statement about dreams, before the kinda awkward final clause: but fear God!
I think I summed up my interpretation of the fear of God in Ecclesiastes pretty nicely a few weeks ago. You shouldn’t fear or be anxious about your dreams. But you should fear God. And that fear looks a little closer to, well, maybe the clown example from earlier. Not exactly, but closer.
God sets the times. God has made things inscrutable. So yes, you should fear God. And not worry about the dreams God has prevented you from achieving. It is outside of your control. Whether God is good, neutral, evil, or anything else, you cannot adjust God’s clock.
So in my view, yes, that is a God to be feared. Maybe not like Pennywise or Art the Clown, but I wouldn’t necessarily rule that out.
There is enough to be worried about. After all, there is “an unhappy business that God has given humans to be busy with” (1:13; NRSVue). Those who toil in isolation have another “unhappy business” given to them (4:8). So, why worry too much about achieving the perfect life?
There isn’t one. And endlessly pursuing the dream of one? You’re no different from a blabbering fool. Fear God. Fear God because life under the sun is dark, chaotic, and most definitely absurd. This is the world God has designed, and the times which God has set.