tr.
of
hebhel,
'breath'
or
'vapour.'
The
RV
rightly
contrast
between
the
high-sounding
talk
of
the
false
gives
the
literal
rendering
in
Is
57":
'a
breath
(AV
vanity)
shall
carry
them
all
away.'
The
word
naturally
became
an
image
of,
what
is
unsubstantial
and
transitory;
in
Ps
144*
man
is
said
to
be
'like
a
breath'
(RVm),
because
'his
days
are
as
a
shadow
that
passeth
away.'
In
Ecclesiastes
'vanity'
often
occurs;
it
connotes
what
is
fleeting,
unsatisfying,
and
profitless.
'
Vanity
of
vanities'
(1^
12')
is
the
superlative
expression
of
the
idea
of
the
futility
of
life.
Jeremiah
regards
idols
as
'vanity,'
because
they
are
'the
work
of
delusion'
(10"),
'lies
and
things
wherein
there
is
no
profit'
(16").
(2)
Another
Heb.
word
(.'aven),
whose
root-meaning
is
'breath'
or
'nothingness,'
is
twice
rendered
'vanity'
in
the
RV,
and
is
applied
to
idols
(Is
412',
Zee
10').
But
'aven
generally
describes
moral
evil
as
what
is
naughty
and
worthless;
the
RV
therefore
substitutes
'iniquity'
for
'vanity'
in
Job
15==,
Ps
10';
cf.
Is
58'.
(3)
More
frequently,
however,
'vanity'
is
the
tr.
of
shav',
which
also
signifies
'
what
is
naught.'
In
the
OT
it
is
used
to
set
forth
vanity
as
that
which
is
hollow,
unreal,
and
false.
In
Ps
41'
RVm
'he
speaketh
falsehood'
is
preferable;
but
the
AV
'he
speaketh
vanity'
ex-emplifies
the
close
connexion
between
vain
or
empty
words
and
lies
(cf.
Ps
12'
1448,
job
SS's,
Pr
308,
Ezk
138
2228).
(4)
'Vanity'
occurs
twice
as
the
rendering
of
ttq
'emptiness,'
and
refers
to
what
is
destined
to
end
in
failure
(Ps
i\
Hab
2i>).
(5)
In
the
RV
it
is
used
for
tohu
'waste,'
but
the
marginal
alternative
in
all
passages
but
one
(Is
59')
is
'confusion'
(Is
40"-
"
44').
2.
la
the
NT.
—
'Vain'
is
the
rendering
of
(o)
kenos
'empty,'
(&)
mataios
'worthless.'
When
the
former
word
is
used,
stress
is
laid
on
the
absence
of
good,
especially
in
essential
qualities.
The
true
thought
Is
suggested
by
the
RVm
'void'
in
1
Co
15>"-
"■
'8.
a
partial
exception
is
Ja
2'"
—
a
rare
example
of
the
absolute
use
of
the
word.
The
'
vain
man
'
is
not
only
'
one
in
whom
the
higher
wisdom
has
found
no
entrance,'
but
he
is
also
'one
who
is
puffed
up
with
a
vain
conceit
of
his
own
spiritual
insight
'
(Trench,
NT
Synonyms,
p.
181).
Even
here
the
primary
negative
force
of
the
word
is
clearly
discernible;
the
man's
conceit
is
'vain,'
that
is
to
say,
his
conception
of
himself
is
devoid
of
real
content.
He
is
a
'man
who
cannot
be
depended
on,
whose
deeds
do
not
correspond
to
his
words'
(Mayor,
Com.
in
loc).
kenos
is
the
word
rendered
'vain'
in
the
NT,
except
in
the
passages
cited
in
the
next
paragraph.
When
'vain'
is
the
tr.
of
mataios,
as
in
1
Co
S^
15",
Tit
3',
Ja
IM,
1
P
118
(cf.
the
adverb
Mt
15',
Mk
7»),
more
than
negative
blame
is
implied.
'By
giving
prominence
to
objectlessness
it
denotes
what
is
positively
to
be
rejected,
bad.
...
In
Biblical
Greek
the
word
is,
in
the
strongest
sense,
the
expression
of
perfect
repudia-tion'
(Cremer,
Bib.-Theol.
Lexicon
of
NT
Greek,
pp.
418,
781).
In
1
Co
15"
the
reference
(Jcenos)
is
to
'a
hollow
witness,
a
hollow
belief,'
to
a
gospel
which
is
'evacuated
of
all
reality,'
and
to
a
faith
which
has
'no
genuine
content.'
But
in
v."
the
reference
(mataios)
is
to
a
faith
which
is
'frustrate,'
or
'void
of
result,'
because
It
does
not
save
from
sin
(cf.
Findlay,
EOT,
in
loc).
'
Vanity
'
occurs
only
three
times
in
the
NT
(Ro
8™,
Eph
4",
2
P
2'8);
it
is
always
the
tr.
of
mataiotis,
which
is
not
a
classical
word,
but
is
often
found
in
the
LXX,
especially
as
the
rendering
of
hebhel
'breath'
(see
above).
When
St.
Paul
describes
the
creation
as
'subject
to
vanity'
(Ro
8'"),
he
has
in
mind
the
marring
of
its
perfection
and
the
frustration
of
its
Creator's
purpose
by
sin;
nevertheless,
the
groanings
of
creation
are,
to
his
ear,
the
utterance
of
its
hope
of
redemption.
When
he
says
that
'the
Gentiles
walls
in
the
vanity
of
their
mind'
(Eph
4"),
he
is
dwelling
on
the
futility
of
their
intellectual
and
moral
gropings,
which
is
the
result
of
their
walking
in
darkness
(v.
'8).
In
2
P
2'8
the
intimate
connexion
between
unreality
and
boastfulness
in
speech
is
well
brought
out
in
the
graphic
phrase,
'great
swelling
words
of
vanity.'
How
pitiful
the
teachers
who
were
themselves
'
bond-servants
of
corrup-tion,'
and
yet
had
the
effrontery
to
'promise
liberty'
to
those
whom
in
reality
they
were
bringing
into
bondage
(v.").
J.
G.
Taskeh.
VASHNI.
—
Samuel's
firstborn
son,
according
to
MT
of
1
Ch
61S
(Eng.
28)
,
which
is
follawed
by
AV.
RV,
following
the
Syr.
(see
mg.),
and
on
the
strength
of
v.18
(!3)
and
the
||
I
S
8',
supplies
Joel
as
the
name
of
Samuel's
oldest
son,
and
substitutes
'and
the
second
Abiah'
tor
'Vashni
and
Abiah.'
VASHTI
(Est
I'-
"
etc.).—
See
Esther
[Book
of],
3.
VATJ
OK
WAW.—
The
sixth
letter
of
the
Hebrew
alphabet,
and
as
such
employed
in
the
119th
Psalm
to
designate
the
6th
part,
each
verse
of
which
begins
with
this
letter.
VEDAN.
—
In
RV
the
name
of
a
country
or
city
that
traded
with
Tyre
(Ezk
27").
AV
has
'Dan
also.'
The
passage
is
so
corrupt
that
no
certainly
correct
reading
is
at
present
attainable.
Cf.
Uzal.
J.
F.
McCuBDT.
VEIL.—
See
Vail.
VERMILION.—
See
Colours,
4.
VERSIONS.
—
See
English
Versions,
Greek
Ver-sions
OF
OT,
Text
of
NT,
Text
Versions
and
Languages
of
OT,
Vulgate,
etc.
VESSELS.—
See
House,
§
9;
Meals,
§
5.
For
'the
vessels
of
the
tabernacle'
(AV)
RV
has
sometimes
'furniture,'
sometimes
'instruments,'
according
to
the
context
(cf.
Nu
l'"
with
3^8).
For
the
Temple
cf.
1
Ch
9»
in
AV
and
RV.
In
Gn
43"
'vessels'
is
equivalent
to
'saddlebags.'
In
1
Th
4'
'vessel'
probably
stands
for
'body'
rather
than
'wife,'
an
alternative
favoured
by
many
(see
Milligan,
Thess.,
ad
loc,).
A.
R.
S.
Kennedy.
VESTRY
occurs
only
in
2
K
10»
'
him
that
was
over
the
vestry,'
as
the
rendering
of
a
word
of
uncertain
meaning.
Cf.
22"
'keeper
of
the
wardrobe.'
VESTURE.
—
In
AV
this
word
occurs
as
the
rendering
both
of
words
denoting
dress
or
raiment
generally,
as
Gn
41«,
Ps
22'8,
and
of
special
words
for
the
plaid-
like
upper
garment
of
antiquity,
as
Dt22i2
(see
Fringes),
Rev
19"-
'8
(RV
here
'garment'),
for
which
see
Dress,
§
4
(a).
A.
R.
S.
Kennedy.
VIAL
occurs
in
OT
only
in
1
S
10'
AV,
and
2
K
9'-
•
RV
(AV
box)
for
an
oil-flask.
In
NT,
RV
has
sub-stituted
'bowl'
for
'vial'
throughout
(Rev
S*
15'
1615.).
The
phiate
was
a
flat
vessel,
resembling
a
saucer,
specially
used
for
pouring
libations
of
wine
upon
the
altar
of
a
deity.
A.
R.
S.
Kennedy.
VILLAGE.—
For
the
OT
villages
and
their
relation
to
the
'mother'
city,
see
City,
and
cf.
Fortification
AND
Sibgecraft,
od
init.
In
all
periods
of
Heb.
history
the
cultivators
of
the
soil
lived
for
greater
security
in
villages,
the
cultivated
and
pasture
land
of
which
was
held
in
common.
Solitary
homesteads
were
unknown.
The
NT
writers
and
Josephus
also
distinguish
between
a
city
(polis)
and
a
village
(.kdmi),
the
distinction
being
primarily
a
difference
not
of
size
but
of
status.
Thus
in
Mk
188
the
word
rendered
'towns'
is
literally
'village-cities'
(others
render
'market-towns'),
i.e.
places
which
are
cities
as
regards
population
but
not
as
regards
constitutional
status.
When
Josephus
tells
us
that
'the
very
least
of
the
villages
of
Galilee
'con-tained
above
15,000
inhabitants'
(BJ
iii.
iii.
2
[Niese,
§
43]).
he
is,
more
suo,
drawing
a
very
long
bow
indeed
1
A.
R.
S.
Kennedy.
VINE,
VINEYARD.—
The
usual
Heb.
word
for
'vine'
is
gephen,
used
of
the
?,™P.^;"°®*^®'^™''*^''*^'"'®P*>°
2K48',
where
gephmsSdeh
(lit.
field
vine')
referstoawild-gourd
vine.
Anotherword,
aoreq
(Is
S',
Jer
22i),
or
soreqah
(Gn
49"),
refers
to
superior
vines
with
purple
grapes.
