<![CDATA[Commentators have long suggested that Paul's ματαιότης in Romans 8:20 echoes Ecclesiastes, yet the claim has been asserted rather than tested, and it is usually set against the more popular view that the verse alludes to Genesis 3. This article tests the proposal using Richard Hays's criteria together with a lexical survey of the Septuagint. The survey shows that Genesis 3 LXX shares none of the key vocabulary of Romans 8:18-25, whereas the noun ματαιότης is concentrated overwhelmingly in Ecclesiastes (39 of 54 occurrences). We argue that the two proposals are not rivals. Paul names the Genesis 3 event with Qoheleth's diagnostic term, and specifically through Ecclesiastes 3:19-21, where Qoheleth himself rereads the dust of Genesis, extends "vanity" to humans and animals alike, and leaves open the question "who knows?" Paul's "we know" (Rom 8:22) and his hope for "the redemption of our body" (8:23) answer that open question. The article further distinguishes two registers of futility in Romans: the culpable futility of idolatrous humanity (1:21; cf. Jer 2:5) and the imposed, guiltless futility of creation, subjected "in hope" (8:20). The result sheds light on Paul's eschatology and offers a canonical reading of Ecclesiastes in which vanity is not the last word.]]>
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