Vanity
שָׁוְאStrong’s H7723shav
Appears in 48 verses of the Old Testament
In short
Shav is the Hebrew word usually translated “worthlessness”, “falsehood” and “emptiness”. It appears in 48 verses of the Old Testament.
“For the idols have spoken vanity, and the diviners have seen a lie, and have told false dreams; they comfort in vain: therefore they went their way as a flock, they were troubled, because there was no shepherd.”
Meaning
- Emptiness, vanity, falsehoodemptiness, nothingness, vanity · emptiness of speech, lying · worthlessness (of conduct)
How it's translated
- worthlessness 16
- falsehood 14
- for emptiness 4
- for vanity 4
- emptiness 3
- to falsehood 3
- vanity 3
- and worthlessness 2
Word-by-word English from the STEPBible tagged text.
Where it's used most
- Psalms 14
- Ezekiel 9
- Job 5
- Jeremiah 5
- Isaiah 4
- Exodus 2
13 books in all.
Related words
Explore in Scripture
- Exodus 20:7Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
- Exodus 23:1Thou shalt not raise a false report: put not thine hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness.
- Deuteronomy 5:11Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain: for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
- Deuteronomy 5:20Neither shalt thou bear false witness against thy neighbour.
- Job 7:3So am I made to possess months of vanity, and wearisome nights are appointed to me.
- Job 11:11For he knoweth vain men: he seeth wickedness also; will he not then consider it?
All 48 verses, by book
Hebrew dictionary
שָׁוְא shav · vanity
: false 1) emptiness, vanity, falsehood 1a) emptiness, nothingness, vanity 1b) emptiness of speech, lying 1c) worthlessness (of conduct) Also means: shav (שָׁוְא ": vain" H7723H)
From STEPBible’s Hebrew lexicon (based on Brown-Driver-Briggs).
Webster's 1828 Dictionary
How the English word “vanity” was understood when the King James Version was still the common Bible of English readers.
VAN'ITY, noun
[Latin vanitas, from vanus, vain.]
- Emptiness; want of substance to satisfy desire; uncertainty; inanity.“Vanity of vanities, said the preacher; all is vanity” Ecclesiastes 1:2
- Fruitless desire or endeavor.
- Trifling labor that produces no good.
- Emptiness; untruth
All definitions
- Empty pleasure; vain pursuit; idle show; unsubstantial enjoyment.
- Ostentation; arrogance.
- Inflation of mind upon slight grounds; empty pride, inspired by an overweening conceit of one's personal attainments or decorations.
Noah Webster, An American Dictionary of the English Language (1828). Verse references are checked against the KJV. Read the full entry.
Verses are from the King James Version. Word meanings come from the original Hebrew, not from any one translation.