Vain, Vanity
1:
VAIN, VANITY.
1. Something vain, empty, fruitless, worthless (Job 9:29; 21:34; Jer. 10:3, 8, see marg.; Zech. 10:2), Heb. hebel, “a breath”; specifically of idols (2 Kings 17:15; Ps. 31:6; Jonah 2:8). The NIV usually translates this Heb. word as “worthless.” A nothingness, an empty thing (Prov. 22:8; Heb. ˒awen, “a panting”; “trouble,” NIV).
2. Heb. shāw˒ has the meaning of “desolation”; so “months of vanity” (Job 7:3; “futility,” NIV) are those of calamity.
3. Gk. mataiotēs corresponds to shāw˒ and means that which is devoid of truth and appropriateness (2 Pet. 2:18; “empty,” NIV); elsewhere “futility,” or “frustration” (Rom. 8:20; Eph. 4:17).
Unger, M. F., Harrison, R. K., Vos, H. F., Barber, C. J., & Unger, M. F. (1988). The new Unger's Bible dictionary. Revision of: Unger's Bible dictionary. 3rd ed. c1966. (Rev. and updated ed.). Chicago: Moody Press.
