Hebrew word · H1891

הָבַל

tehbalu

to become vain

A verb from hevel, 'breath, vapor, puff' (the hevel of Ecclesiastes). It means to become empty or worthless, to act futilely, to fill yourself with vain hopes.

Appears 5 times in 5 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. · Updated October 24, 2026

What it means

1) to act emptily, become vain, be vain

1a) (Qal)

1a1) to become vain

1a2) to be utterly vain (with cognate acc)

1b) (Hiphil)

1b1) to cause to become vain

1b2) to fill with vain hopes

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Psalm 62:10

Range of meaning: A verb from hevel, 'breath, vapor, puff' (the hevel of Ecclesiastes). It means to become empty or worthless, to act futilely, to fill yourself with vain hopes.
Against the English: KJV/WEB/YLT 'become not vain' reads today as 'don't become conceited.' BSB/NIV/ESV/NASB turn it into 'put false/vain hope in,' which is a fair reading but loses the idea of the person becoming vapor.
How it drifted: In 1611, 'vain' still mainly meant 'empty, futile' (Latin vanus). The 'conceited' sense later took over in ordinary speech.
Used elsewhere in the period: The same expression appears in 2 Kgs 17:15 and Jer 2:5: 'they went after hevel and became hevel (wayyehbalu).' You become like what you pursue. Job 27:12: 'why then do you become altogether vain?'

From the study of Jeremiah 2:5

Range of meaning: Verb formed from hebel: to become empty, futile, worthless; to act emptily. It is rare and appears mostly in this exact phrase (2 Kgs 17:15; Jer 2:5), plus Job 27:12 and Psalm 62:10 (Hebrew v. 11).
Against the English: 'Became vain' (KJV), 'became empty' (NASB), 'became worthless (themselves)' (ESV, NIV, BSB). Most versions keep a matching word ('worthless... worthless'), which is good. 'Vain' again risks being heard as 'conceited'.
Used elsewhere in the period: 2 Kings 17:15, where the historian explains why the northern kingdom fell. Psalm 115:8 and 135:18 state the same idea without the word: 'those who make them become like them.' Romans 1:21 uses the Greek equivalent (emataiōthēsan, 'they became futile'), probably drawing on this tradition.

From the study of Jeremiah 23:16

Range of meaning: The noun hevel means 'breath, vapour, puff': something real but without substance or lasting effect. Figuratively it means what is futile, empty, fleeting or worthless, and it is a common prophetic label for idols, the 'nothings' (Jer 8:19; 10:8, 15; 14:22). The simple verb means 'to become empty, act emptily'. This causative form (the Hiphil) appears only here: 'to cause to be empty, fill with emptiness, make futile', which lexicons render as 'fill with vain hopes' or 'delude'.
Against the English: KJV 'they make you vain' now sounds like 'they make you conceited', which is not the sense. BSB/NIV 'false hopes' and ESV 'vain hopes' get the effect on the hearers but lose the hevel picture of breath. NASB 'leading you into futility' keeps the idea of emptiness. The Vulgate's 'they deceive you' is accurate in effect but drops the image.
How it drifted: English 'vain' moved from 'empty, futile' (Latin vanus) toward 'self-admiring' after the 1600s, so the KJV wording now misleads.
Used elsewhere in the period: Jeremiah 2:5 uses both forms in one line: the ancestors 'went after hevel and became hevel' (wayyehbalu). 2 Kings 17:15 repeats the phrase. Ecclesiastes uses hevel throughout. The Septuagint usually translates the root with mataio- ('empty, futile').

Where it appears

2 Kings · 1

2 Kings 17:15 וַיֶּהְבָּ֔לוּ and they became vain

They rejected His statutes and the covenant He had made with their fathers, as well as the decrees He had given them. They pursued worthless idols and became worthless themselves, going after the surrounding nations that the LORD had commanded them not to imitate.

Here: The verb from the same root: 'they became breath'. The wordplay says that worshippers take on the emptiness of what they worship.

Job · 1

Job 27:12 תֶּהְבָּֽלוּ׃ do you act in vain

Surely all of you have seen it for yourselves. Why then do you keep up this empty talk?

Psalms · 1

Psalm 62:10 תֶּ֫הְבָּ֥לוּ you put vain hope

Place no trust in extortion or false hope in stolen goods. If your riches increase, do not set your heart upon them.

Here: A verb made from hevel, 'vapor, breath,' the word used twice in v. 9 for human beings. Literally 'do not become vapor' or 'do not go empty-headed' over robbery: people who rely on stolen wealth become as insubstantial as what they rely on. 'Put false hope' is one reasonable way to render it.

Jeremiah · 2

Jeremiah 2:5 וַיֶּהְבָּֽלוּ׃ and they became vain

This is what the LORD says: “What fault did your fathers find in Me that they strayed so far from Me? They followed worthless idols, and became worthless themselves.

Here: 'And they became breath'. The verb is made from the same root as the noun, so the worshipers took on the emptiness of what they followed. The sentence ends with the people themselves turned into vapor.
Jeremiah 23:16 מַהְבִּלִ֥ים [are] deluding

This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you. They are filling you with false hopes. They speak visions from their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD.

Here: Built on hevel, 'breath, vapour', the word behind Ecclesiastes' 'vanity'. This is the only place in the Bible where the verb takes its causative form: 'they are making you hevel', filling you with breath, hopes that have nothing in them. The participle shows it is happening now and continuing.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.