# הֲבֵל הֲבָלִים הַכֹּל הָבֶל



## sternamis

Hello everyone,

I am Maltese, studying French...In one of Villiers de l'Isle-Adam's short stories, I found this quotation in hebrew. I have no competence in this language! I tried to look it up on the internet, but cannot find the meaning, and it seems of vital important for the whole meaning of the story...can anyone help me with it??

Thanks a real lot!!


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## Aoyama

*Vanité des vanités, tout n'est que vanité*. De "l'Ecclésiaste", au début .


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## sternamis

Thanks a real lot! The story has so much more meaning now!!


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## Aoyama

This being said, the correct reading is more like Ha*v*al ha*v*alim with *h *pronounced like a guttural 'kh (like jota in Spanish). You must have this sound in Maltese.
*Schelomo *should be *Shlomo *(King Salomon) and *Qolheleth* should be *Kohelet *(no L), the title of the Book (the Ecclesiast).


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## amikama

Aoyama said:


> This being said, the correct reading is more like Ha*v*al ha*v*alim with *h *pronounced like a guttural 'kh (like jota in Spanish).


No, the correct reading is: _havel havalim, hakol havel_ (_h_ pronounced as in English). 

The verse in Hebrew is:
הֲבֵל הֲבָלִים הַכֹּל הָבֶל


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## cfu507

Hi amikama, were did you get the Nikud. I always said hevel havalim. Could it be that people used to say it differently from how we say it tody?


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## Flaminius

Hello cfu,

Mechom Mamre's _niqudot_ corresponds to *Amikama*'s.



> ָהֲבֵל הֲבָלִים אָמַר קֹהֶלֶת, הֲבֵל הֲבָלִים הַכֹּל הָבֶל


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## berndf

In Qoheleth all three vowelizations appear in different places: הֲבֵל ,הָבֶל and the form you find in modern dictionaries הֶבֶל. Is there any difference in meaning or emphasis or are they interchangable?


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## amikama

Flaminius said:


> Hello cfu,
> 
> Mechom Mamre's _niqudot_ corresponds to *Amikama*'s.


Indeed, it's from where I've copy&pasted the verse 


(PS: it's _niqud_, not _niqudot_. _N*e*qudot_ is also possible, but it's not common.)


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## בעל-חלומות

הָבֵל should be pronounced haVEL, and is an adjective, while הֲבֵל and הֶבֶל arer nouns.

Maltese is a semetic language, isn't it? Are none of these (well, only two, הבל-hbl, and כל-kl) roots similar to any Maltese roots?


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## Aoyama

> No, the correct reading is: _havel havalim, hakol havel_ (_h_ pronounced as in English).


Right, I confused it with khaval (pity), my Hebrew is not what it used to be (_khaval _...).
For *hakol* or *vekhol* , there may be two versions.
As to Maltese, it has semitic roots (North African Arabic) but possesses also Latin (Romance : French, Italian and Spanish) and Greek roots.


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## sternamis

בעל-חלומות said:


> הָבֵל should be pronounced haVEL, and is an adjective, while הֲבֵל and הֶבֶל arer nouns.
> 
> Maltese is a semetic language, isn't it? Are none of these (well, only two, הבל-hbl, and כל-kl) roots similar to any Maltese roots?



Hehe..being Maltese I guess I know something about my native language..sorry I didn't respond before..yes Maltese is of semitic origin, but since Malta has been a colony of different countries throughout the ages, it has borrowed different vocab from different foreign languages, especially Italian, English and even some French. Thus the grammar side, is mostly close to the Arab language, and even the alphabet (with some harsh sounds such as the h), but the lexical side relies more on the European influences it has had with time...

Hope that is of interest to you


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## Aoyama

Malta, as an important stop-over on any trip across the Mediterranean, was a cross-road for culture and language. The original _Lingua Franca_ was spoken in Malta, from the time of the Crusaders.
 "כל-kl" (kol/kul) is a widespread semitic root (all). Yom (day) would be another one (among many others).
As for הבל-hbl (vanity ?), I dont't know ...


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## scriptum

בעל-חלומות said:


> הָבֵל should be pronounced haVEL, and is an adjective, while הֲבֵל and הֶבֶל arer nouns.


The word is written הָבֶל and pronounced hAvel (see the original text). This is the noun הֶבֶל in its pre-pause form (cf. Gesenius Hebrew Grammar 29, i-v). The word havEl exists, but it is modern, not biblical.


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