H7723 H7723
Emptiness, vanity; worthlessness, futility; falsehood, deception; used adverbially: in vain, to no purpose.
Shav' is one of Hebrew's starkest words for the hollow and the false. It appears most memorably in the Third Commandment — 'you shall not take the name of YHWH your God la-shav'' (Exod 20:7) — where the precise force has been debated for millennia: does it mean 'in vain,' 'for nothing,' or 'falsely'? The answer, the evidence suggests, is yes to all three. The word's semantic range arcs from metaphysical emptiness (Job 7:3, months of shav') through moral falsehood (Exod 23:1, a 'false report') to eschatological destruction (Isa 30:28). German captures the core beautifully with Nichtigkeit and Nichtiges ('nothingness'), while French vanite and Spanish vanidad both lean on the Latin vanitas tradition. The word's power lies in its refusal to separate ontological emptiness from ethical deceit — what is hollow is inherently dishonest.
1. emptiness, vanity, worthlessness — Emptiness, vanity, worthlessness — the broadest and most frequent sense at 29 occurrences. This covers the abstract quality of being without real substance or lasting value. Job's months are 'months of emptiness' (Job 7:3); the psalmist rejects 'idols of shav'' (Ps 31:6); Hosea declares Gilead 'has become nothing' (Hos 12:12). German Nichtigkeit and French vanite consistently render this metaphysical-emptiness sense. The multilingual convergence on 'nothingness' vocabulary (rather than 'falsehood' vocabulary) confirms this as the semantic center of gravity. 29×
AR["الباطِلِ","الْبَاطِلِ","باطِلاً","باطِلٍ","باطِلَةٌ","بَاطِلًا","بَاطِلٍ","بَاطِلَةً","بَاطِلَةٍ","بِ-الْبَاطِلِ","بِ-الْكَذِبِ"]·ben["[তার-মিথ্যায়]","অসার","অসারতা","ব্যর্থতার","মিথ্যা","মিথ্যার","শূন্যতা"]·DE["Nichtiges","Nichtigkeit","Nichts"]·EN["[in-worthlessness]","emptiness","falsehood","vanity","worthless"]·FR["vanité"]·heb["ב-שוואו","שוא","שווא"]·HI["झूठ","झूठा","झूठे","व्यर्थता","व्यर्थता-के","व्यर्थता-के-लिए"]·ID["K","Kesia-siaan","dusta","kebohongan","kepalsuan","kesia-siaan","palsu","sia-sia","yang-palsu"]·IT["falsita'","falsità","nel-falsità","vanita"]·jav["goroh","ing-tanpa-gina","ingkang-palsu","kanggé-tanpa-guna","kasaé","kothongan","palsu","palsu,","tanpa-gina","tanpa-guna"]·KO["[헛된-것에]","거짓을","거짓의","헛된","헛된-것-을","헛된-것을","헛된-것이","헛됨","헛됨-을","헛됨-의","헛됨과","헛됨을","헛됨이"]·PT["[em-vaidade]","a-vaidade","falsa","falsidade","vaidade"]·RU["в-глазах-их","видящие","ложного","ложь","ложью","пустое","пустота","пустоте","пустоту","пустые","суета","суетном","суетных","суету","суеты","тщетное"]·ES["Vanidad","en-vanidad","falsa","falsedad","falsedad,","vanidad","vanidad,"]·SW["[ubatili]","ubatili","wa-ubatili","ya-ubatili","ya-uongo"]·TR["Boşluğu","[boşta]","bos-sey","boş","boşluk","boşluğu","boşu","boşuna","boşunlağın","yalan"]·urd["باطل","باطل-پر","بیکار","بیہودہ","بےکار","جھوٹ","جھوٹھ","جھوٹی","جھوٹے"]
Job 7:3, Job 11:11, Job 15:31, Job 15:31, Job 15:31, Job 31:5, Job 35:13, Ps 12:2, Ps 26:4, Ps 89:47, Ps 119:37, Prov 30:8 (+17 more)
▼ 4 more senses below
Senses
2. in vain, to no purpose — In vain, to no purpose — the adverbial use appearing 17 times, often with the preposition lamed. The Third Commandment's la-shav' (Exod 20:7; Deut 5:11) is the paradigmatic instance: taking God's name 'to no good purpose.' Ps 127:2 declares 'it is vain (shav') for you to rise early.' Spanish en vano and French en vain both select purpose-failure vocabulary, while German für Nichtigkeit ('for nothingness') stays closer to the nominal root. The distinction from sense 1 is functional rather than semantic: the same emptiness is predicated of an action's outcome rather than a thing's nature. 17×
AR["إِلَى-الْبَاطِلِ","باطِلَةٍ","بَاطِلاً","بَاطِلًا","بِعَبَثٍ","عَبَثًا","لِ-الْبَاطِلِ","لِـ-البَاطِلِ","وَ-باطِل","وَ-باطِلٌ"]·ben["-শূন্যতায়","অর্থহীনভাবে","অর্থহীনভাবে।","এবং-বৃথা","ও-অসার","বৃথা","বৃথাই","বৃথায়","মিথ্যার","মিথ্যার-দিকে"]·DE["Nichtiges","für-Nichtigkeit","in-vain","und-vain","vain","zu-Krieg-ist-falsch","zu-der-emptiness","zum-Nichts"]·EN["In-vain","and-vain","false","for-vanity","in-vain","to-the-emptiness","to-the-vanity","to-what-is-false","vain"]·FR["dans-vain","en-vain","et-vanité","vanité","à-le-emptiness"]·heb["ו-שוא","ו-שווא","ל-שוא","ל-שווא","שוא"]·HI["और-व्यर्थ","की-ओर-व्यर्थता","को-व्यर्थ","क्योंकि-व्यर्थ-है","लिए-व्यर्थ","व्यर्थ","व्यर्थ-में","व्यर्थता-में"]·ID["Dengan-sia-sia","Sia-sia","dengan-sia-sia","karena-sia-sia","kepada-kesia-siaan","sia-sia","untuk-kesia-siaan"]·IT["a-il-emptiness","e-falsita'","falsita'","falsità","in-vain","invano"]·jav["Tanpa-guna","dhateng-ingkang-tanpa-gina","dhateng-tanpa-guna","goroh","ingkang-santosa","kanggo-tanpa-guna","kanggé-tanpa-guna","kanggé-tanpa-guna.","lan-tanpa-guna","muspra","tanpa-guna"]·KO["그-헛되이","그리고-헛되도다","에게-헛된-것에게","헛되도다","헛되이","헛되이-","헛된","헛된-것-으로","헛됨-에"]·PT["Em-vão","Vão","e-vã","em-vão","falsamente","para-o-vão","para-vaidade","pois-vã","à-falsidade"]·RU["Напрасно","и-тщетна","ибо-тщетно","к-суете","к-суете-","ложные","напрасно","суете"]·ES["En-vano","a-lo-vano","a-vanidad","en-vano","para-vanidad","y-vana"]·SW["bure","kwa-kuwa-bure","kwa-maana-bure","kwa-ubatili","uongo"]·TR["boş","boş-yere","boşa-","boşluğa-","boşuna","için-boş","ve-boş","ve-boştur"]·urd["-جھوٹ-کی-طرف","اور-بیکار-ہے","باطل-کو","باطل-کے-لیے","بیکار","بیکار-ہے","بیہودہ-میں","بیہودہ-پر","بے-فائدہ","جھوٹی","وَ-بیکار"]
3. falsehood, deception, lying — Falsehood, deception, lying — 6 occurrences where the moral dimension of deliberate deceit dominates. The Ninth Commandment variant uses shav' for 'false witness' (Deut 5:20, contrasting with shaqer in Exod 20:16), and Ps 144:8 describes 'a right hand of falsehood.' Spanish falsedad and French faux both select deception-specific vocabulary here, confirming a real sense boundary. Exod 23:1's 'do not raise a false (shav') report' shows the word functioning as an adjective meaning 'deceptive, lying' — a sharper moral edge than generic emptiness. 6×
AR["الْكَذِبِ","باطِلًا","باطِلٍ","بَاطِلًا","زُورٍ"]·ben["মিথ্যা","মিথ্যা,","মূর্তি"]·DE["Nichtigkeit","falsch","falsehood","worthlessness"]·EN["emptiness","false","falsehood","worthlessness"]·FR["falsehood","faux","vanité"]·heb["שוא","שווא"]·HI["झूठ","झूठा","झूठी","व्यर्थ"]·ID["dusta"]·IT["falsehood","falsita'","falso"]·jav["goroh;","kosong","palsu","tanpa-guna"]·KO["거짓","거짓-을","거짓을","거짓의"]·PT["falsidade","falso","vão"]·RU["ложного","ложным","ложь","тщетные"]·ES["falsedad","falso","vanidad"]·SW["ubatili","uongo","ya-uongo"]·TR["boş","boş-şey","sahtelik","yalan","şeyleri"]·urd["جھوٹ","جھوٹی","فضولیت-کے"]
4. sense 4 — Destruction or devastating force — a single occurrence at Isa 30:28 where God's breath is like an overflowing stream reaching 'to the neck' to sift nations with 'the sieve of shav'.' English 'destruction' and Spanish destruccion both depart from the standard emptiness/vanity translations, suggesting this context activates a rare destructive-annihilation sense. The passage's imagery of violent winnowing supports reading shav' here as the devastating consequence of emptiness — what is worthless will be violently swept away. 1×
AR["الْبَاطِلِ"]·ben["শূন্যতার"]·DE["Nichts"]·EN["of-destruction"]·FR["vanité"]·heb["שווא"]·HI["व्यर्थता-की"]·ID["kehancuran"]·IT["vanita"]·jav["karusakan"]·KO["헛됨의"]·PT["vaidade"]·RU["погибели"]·ES["destrucción"]·SW["wa-uharibifu"]·TR["yoklugun"]·urd["بربادی-کے"]
5. sense 5 — A borderline occurrence at Jonah 2:8 where those who cling to 'idols of shav'' (hable-shav') forsake their covenant loyalty. English 'emptiness' and Spanish falsedad split between the emptiness and falsehood senses, while French and German both render it as vanite/Nichtiges. This verse combines the idolatry-as-emptiness motif (cf. Ps 31:6) with the covenant-betrayal theme, sitting at the intersection of senses 1 and 3. The hendiadys with habel ('vapor, vanity') intensifies the double-emptiness — idols are emptiness compounded. 1×
AR["الْبَاطِلِ"]·ben["শূন্যতার"]·DE["Nichtiges"]·EN["emptiness"]·FR["vanité"]·heb["שוא"]·HI["मूर्तियों"]·ID["sia-sia,"]·IT["falsità"]·jav["palsu"]·KO["거짓"]·PT["mentira"]·RU["пустые"]·ES["falsedad"]·SW["na-maana"]·TR["boş"]·urd["فضولیت"]
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† שָׁוְא n.[m.] emptiness, vanity;—שׁ׳ abs. Ex 23:1 + 51 times, שָׁו Jb 15:31 (Kt);— 1. emptiness, nothingness, vanity: שׁ׳ תְּשׁוּעַת אָדָם ψ 60:13 vain (is) man’s deliverance, = 108:13; שׁ׳ לָכֶם 127:2 it is vain (useless) for you; 89:48 for (עַל) what nothingness hast thou created man? cf. שׁ׳ יַרְחֵי Jb 7:3; הַבְלֵי שׁ׳ ψ 31:7 (idols) = Jon 2:9, cf. Je 18:15; מִנְחַת שׁ׳ Is 1:13 of…