Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

VANITY

The traditional translation of Heb. heḇel, lit., “a puff of air,” “a breath,” or “vapor,” and Gk. mataiótēs, which ranges in meaning from “nothingness” or “emptiness” to “useless” or “futile” (cf. Acts 14:15; Rom. 8:20; Eph. 4:17; 2 Pet. 2:18).

In modern English usage, vanity often refers to false pride or arrogance and has overtones meaning “lacking in value.” But the foundational sense of the word as used in biblical texts is tied to the concept of brevity (e.g., Prov. 21:6, where treasures gained by deceit are compared to a “vapor” which quickly vanishes). Vanity is frequently paired or equated with words such as “wind” (Isa. 57:13), “nothing” (41:29), or “empty” (30:7).

In a number of poetic passages vanity is used to describe the brevity of human life and the transitory nature of human concerns compared to the eternity of God and the durability of God’s concerns (cf. Job 7:16; Ps. 39:5, 11[MT 6, 12]; 62:9[10]; 78:33; 94:11; 144:4). “Vanity” occurs most frequently in the book of Ecclesiastes (where it is used 38 times compared to only 35 other uses in the rest of the OT). No single English term can adequately represent the range of meaning this word takes on as it is used in various contexts that imply connotations ranging from “evil” to merely “temporary.”

The KJV’s use of the English word “vanity” may have been influenced by Jerome’s Latin translation (Vulgate). The abstract Latin noun vanitas can mean “unsubstantial” and “lacking in permanence” as well as “useless, futile or illusory.” The negative connotations associated with “vanity” fit well with the Bible’s use of the plural of heḇel to refer to “idols” (e.g., Jonah 2:8; Jer. 8:19; 10:8; Ps. 31:6[7]). The prophets use heḇel to imply that idols are “airlike” (transitory and lacking in substance), and they warn their people that those who worship heḇel (entities that are airlike) will themselves “become heḇel” (Jer. 2:5; 2 Kgs. 17:15). However, when modern translations replace the KJV’s “vanity” with words such as “futility” (e.g., Job 7:3 NIV), “what is worthless” (15:31 NIV), or “meaningless” (Ecclesiastes NIV), they obscure the fact that in Hebrew the essential quality to which heḇel refers is lack of permanence rather than lack of worth or value.

The KJV also occasionally uses vanity to translate Heb. ʿāwen, which more properly means “misfortune,” “trouble,” or “evil” (cf. Prov. 22:8; Job 15:35; Ps. 10:7).

Bibliography. K. Farmer, Who Knows What Is Good? ITC (Grand Rapids, 1991); K. Seybold, “heḇel [hebhel],” TDOT 3:313-20.

Kathleen A. Farmer

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

VANITY

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)