Strong's Lexicon

H1892

H1892 — הֶבֶל הֲבֵל

Hebrew / Aramaic entry for Bible study and original-language reference.

Hebrewhebelnoun mascOccurrences: 73TWOT: 463a

Definition / Gloss

Strong's Number:H1892
Word:הֶבֶל הֲבֵל
Part of Speech:noun masc
Etymology:from H1891
Language:Hebrew
Occurrences:73
Transliteration:hebel
Phonetic Spelling/Pronunciation:heh'bel (or (rarely in the abs.) habel {hab-ale'}) n-m.
Meaning:1. emptiness or vanity 2. (figuratively) something transitory and unsatisfactory 3. often used as an adverb
KJV Renderings:X altogether, vain, vanity.

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Brown-Driver-Briggs Enhanced

BDB2041

I. הֶ֫בֶל73 noun masculine vapour, breath (Late Hebrew id., Syriac [untranscribed source text 1230] id.) figurative vanity (so Late Hebrew, Syriac [untranscribed source text 1231]) — הָ֑בֶל Eccl 1:2 +; construct הֲבֵל Eccl 1:2 (twice in verse); Eccl 12:8 , suffix הֶבְלִי etc. Eccl 6:12; Eccl 7:15; Eccl 9:9 (twice in verse); plural הֲבָלִים Jer 10:8 +; construct הַבְלֵי Jer 8:19 +, suffix הַבְלֵיהֶם Deut 32:21 +; —

1. literal Isa 57:13 all of them (the idols) יִשָּׂארֿוּחַ יִקַּח הָ֑בֶל a breath ( ᵑ9 aura) will carry away, Prov 21:6 the getting of treasures by a lying tongue is הֶבֶל נִדָּף a vapour driven away. Elsewhere always
2. figurative of what is evanescent, unsubstantial, worthless, vanity, as of idols Jer 10:15 = Jer 51:18; Jer 16:19 הֶבֶל וְאֵין בָּם מוֺעִיל || (שֶׁקֶרׅ, heathen observances Jer 10:3, and in phrase הָלַךְ אַחֲרֵי הַהֶבֶל Jer 2:5; 2Kgs 17:15; Prov 13:11 הוֺן מֵהֶבֶל wealth (gotten) out of vanity, (i.e. not by solid toil, opposed to קֹבֵץ עַל יָד) is minished (but ᵐ5 ᵑ9 Ew מְבֹהָל, see Prov 20:21 Qr ), Prov 31:30 שֶׁקֶר הַחֵן וְהֶבֶל הַיֹּ֑פִי, Lam 4:17 אֶל עֶזְרָתֵנוּ הֶבֶל to our vain (Dr§ 193 n .) help; of life Job 7:16 כִּי הֶבֶל יָמָֽי׃, Ps 78:33 וַיְכַל בַּהֶבֶל יְמֵיהֶם consumed their days as (בְּ I:7 d vanity, man Ps 39:6; Ps 39:12; Ps 62:10 הֶבֶל בְּנֵי אָדָם ֗֗֗ הֵמָּה מֵהֶבֶל יָ˜חַד׃ they are altogether (made) of vanity , Ps 94:11; Ps 144:4, especially in Ecclesiastes (31 t. + הֲבֵל הֲבָלִים Eccl 1:2 (twice in verse); Eccl 12:8 ) of the fruitlessness of all human enterprise and endeavour, Eccl 1:2 הַכֹּל הֶבֶל, Eccl 1:14 הַכֹּל הֶבֶל וּרְעוּת רוּחַ all was vanity and the pursuit of wind, Eccl 2:1; Eccl 2:14; Eccl 2:15 etc., Eccl 6:4 (of an abortion) בַּהֶבֶל בָּא i.e. into a lifeless existence, Eccl 6:11 יֵשׁ דְּבָרִים הַרְבֵּה מַרְבִּים הָ֑בֶל (of discussions leading to no result), note also the phrases יְמֵי (הֶבְלוֺ, הֶבְלְךָ) הֶבְלִי Eccl 7:15; Eccl 9:9, ׳ יְמֵי חַיֵּי ה Eccl 6:12; Eccl 9:9; Job 27:12 (see הָבַל ), Isa 49:4 לְתֹהוּ וָהֶבֶל for nought and vanity have I spent my strength; as adverb accusative vainly, to no purpose Isa 30:7 הֶבֶל וָרִיק יַעֲזֹ֑רוּ, Ps 39:7 אַךְ הֶבֶל יֶהֱמָיוּן they disquiet themselves to no purpose, Job 9:29: הֶבֶל אִיגָָֽע Job 35:16, with נִחַם to comfort Job 21:34; Zech 10:2. Plural הֲבָלִים of false gods, Deut 32:21 ) כִּעֲסוּנִי בְהַבְלֵיהֶם || בְּלֹאאֵֿל) 1Kgs 16:13; 1Kgs 16:26; Jer 8:19 הַבְלֵי נֵכָר || (בִּפְסִילֵיהֶםׅ, Jer 10:8; Jer 14:22 הַבְלֵי הַגּוֺיִם, Ps 31:7 הַשֹּׁמְרִים הַבְלֵישָֿׁוְא empty vanities Jonah 2:9 in more general sense Eccl 1:2 (twice in verse); Eccl 12:8 הֲבֵל הֲבָלִים, Eccl 5:6.


Other Resources

Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament
R. Laird Harris, Gleason L. Archer, and Bruce K. Waltke

Englishman's Hebrew Concordance

הבל (heh’-vel)

Deuteronomy 32:21

KJV: They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God; they have provoked me to anger with their vanities: and I will move them to jealousy with those which are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.
EHCC: me to anger with their vanities :

1 Kings 16:13

KJV: For all the sins of Baasha, and the sins of Elah his son, by which they sinned, and by which they made Israel to sin, in provoking the Lord God of Israel to anger with their vanities.
EHCC: 26.to anger with their vanities.

2 Kings 17:15

KJV: And they rejected his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their fathers, and his testimonies which he testified against them; and they followed vanity, and became vain, and went after the heathen that were round about them, concerning whom the Lord had charged them, that they should not do like them.
EHCC: they followed vanity,

Job 7:16

KJV: I loathe it; I would not live alway: let me alone; for my days are vanity.
EHCC: for my days (are) vanity.

Job 9:29

KJV: If I be wicked, why then labour I in vain?
EHCC: why then labour 1 in vain?

Job 21:34

KJV: How then comfort ye me in vain, seeing in your answers there remaineth falsehood?falsehood: Heb. transgression?
EHCC: How then comfort ye me in vain,

Job 27:12

KJV: Behold, all ye yourselves have seen it; why then are ye thus altogether vain?
EHCC: why then are ye thus altogether vain? (lit,

Job 85:16

EHCC: Job open his mouth én תומס ;

Psalms 31:6

KJV: I have hated them that regard lying vanities: but I trust in the Lord.
EHCC: (7).them that regard lying vanities:

Psalms 89:5

KJV: And the heavens shall praise thy wonders, O Lord: thy faithfulness also in the congregation of the saints.
EHCC: (6).at his best state (is) altogether vanity.

Psalms 62:9

KJV: Surely men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree are a lie: to be laid in the balance, they are altogether lighter than vanity.altogether: or, alike
EHCC: (10).men of low degree (are) vanity,

Psalms 78:33

KJV: Therefore their days did he consume in vanity, and their years in trouble.
EHCC: their days did he consume in vanity,

Psalms 94:11

KJV: The Lord knoweth the thoughts of man, that they are vanity.
EHCC: that they (are) vanity.

Psalms 144:4

KJV: Man is like to vanity: his days are as a shadow that passeth away.
EHCC: Man is like to vanity :

Proverbs 13:11

KJV: Wealth gotten by vanity shall be diminished: but he that gathereth by labour shall increase.by labour: Heb. with the hand
EHCC: Wealth (gotten ( by vanity

Proverbs 21:6

KJV: The getting of treasures by a lying tongue is a vanity tossed to and fro of them that seek death.
EHCC: 4 vanity tossed to and fro

Proverbs 31:30

KJV: Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised.
EHCC: and beauty (is) vain:

Ecclesiastes 1:2

KJV: vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.
EHCC: Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher,

Ecclesiastes 2:1

KJV: I said in mine heart, Go to now, I will prove thee with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure: and, behold, this also is vanity.
EHCC: this also (is) vanity.

Ecclesiastes 8:19

EHCC: for all (is) vanity.

Ecclesiastes 4:4

KJV: Again, I considered all travail, and every right work, that for this a man is envied of his neighbour. This is also vanity and vexation of spirit.every…: Heb. all the rightness of workfor this…: Heb. this is the envy of a man from his neighbour
EHCC: 8. This (is) also vanity

Ecclesiastes 7:1

KJV: A good name is better than precious ointment; and the day of death than the day of one’s birth.
EHCC: saw vanity under the sun,

Ecclesiastes 5:7

KJV: For in the multitude of dreams and many words there are also divers vanities: but fear thou God.
EHCC: (6).many words (there are) also (divers)

Ecclesiastes 6:2

KJV: A man to whom God hath given riches, wealth, and honour, so that he wanteth nothing for his soul of all that he desireth, yet God giveth him not power to eat thereof, but a stranger eateth it: this is vanity, and it is an evil disease.
EHCC: this (is) vanity, and it (is) an evil

Ecclesiastes 7:6

KJV: For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool: this also is vanity.crackling: Heb. sound
EHCC: this also (is) oanity.

Ecclesiastes 8:10

KJV: And so I saw the wicked buried, who had come and gone from the place of the holy, and they were forgotten in the city where they had so done: this is also vanity.
EHCC: this (is) also vanity,

Ecclesiastes 9:9

KJV: Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity, which he hath given thee under the sun, all the days of thy vanity: for that is thy portion in this life, and in thy labour which thou takest under the sun.Live…: Heb. See, or, Enjoy life
EHCC: the days of the life of dy vanity,

Ecclesiastes 12:8

KJV: vanity of vanities, saith the preacher; all is vanity.
EHCC: Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher; all

Ecclesiastes 49:4

EHCC: for nought, and in cain:

Ecclesiastes 57:13

EHCC: vanity ball take (them): ,

Jeremiah 2:5

KJV: Thus saith the Lord, What iniquity have your fathers found in me, that they are gone far from me, and have walked after vanity, and are become vain?
EHCC: from me, and have walked after vanity,

Jeremiah 8:19

KJV: Behold the voice of the cry of the daughter of my people because of them that dwell in a far country: Is not the Lord in Zion? is not her king in her? Why have they provoked me to anger with their graven images, and with strange vanities?them…: Heb. the country of them that are far off
EHCC: with strange vanities ?

Jeremiah 10:8

KJV: But they are altogether brutish and foolish: the stock is a doctrine of vanities.altogether: Heb. in one, or, at once
EHCC: For the customs of the people (are) raix,

Jeremiah 14:22

KJV: Are there any among the vanities of the Gentiles that can cause rain? or can the heavens give showers? art not thou he, O Lord our God? therefore we will wait upon thee: for thou hast made all these things.
EHCC: among the ornities of the Gentiles

Jeremiah 16:19

KJV: O Lord, my strength, and my fortress, and my refuge in the day of affliction, the Gentiles shall come unto thee from the ends of the earth, and shall say, Surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity, and things wherein there is no profit.
EHCC: have inherited lies, vanity,

Jeremiah 51:18

KJV: They are vanity, the work of errors: in the time of their visitation they shall perish.
EHCC: They (are) vanity, the work of errors:

Lamentations 4:17

KJV: As for us, our eyes as yet failed for our vain help: in our watching we have watched for a nation that could not save us.
EHCC: failed for our vain help:

Jonah 2:8

KJV: They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy.
EHCC: (9). They that observe lying vanities

Zechariah 10:2

KJV: 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.idols: Heb. teraphimswere…: or, answered that, etc
EHCC: they comfort in vain :
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