haval · become vain

What it means

haval (הָבַל) is a Hebrew word of the Bible that means “become vain”.

To become vain, to become empty; it comes from the word "vapor, breath." Said of one who puts his trust in what is nothing and ends up like it (2 Kings 17:15; Jeremiah 2:5), and also of speaking or hoping in vain (Job 27:12; Psalm 62:10).

How to say it

Approximate pronunciation. Vowels sound as in Spanish (a as in father, e as in bed, i as in machine, o as in note, u as in rule); the syllable in bold is stressed. The voice is your device's.

Its senses in the Bible

1. Come to nothing; fill with false hopes.

From Brown-Driver-Briggs (1906)

How it is translated

The words this translation uses for it, most frequent first.

• become vain ×2
• are filling you with vapor ×1
• became vain ×1
• became vapor ×1

Where it appears

• 2 Kings×1
• Job×1
• Psalms×1
• Jeremiah×2

• 2 Kings 17:15

  They despised his statutes and his covenant that he made with their fathers, and his testimonies that he testified against them; and they went after what is vain and became vain, and after the nations that were around them, about which YHWH had commanded them not to do like them.

• Job 27:12

  Look, all of you have seen it; why, then, do you become vain with a vain thing?

• Psalms 62:10

  Do not trust in extortion, and in robbery do not become vain; if wealth increases, do not set your heart on it.

• Jeremiah 2:5

  Thus says YHWH: “What injustice did your fathers find in me, that they went far from me and walked after vapor and became vapor?

• Jeremiah 23:16

  Thus says YHWH Tsevaot: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you; they are filling you with vapor; a vision of their own heart they speak, not from the mouth of YHWH.