Hebrew word · H7386

רֵיק

rek

worthless

Empty, vacant (an empty pit or empty vessels). Figuratively: vain, worthless, to no purpose. Used of people, it means idle, unprincipled men with nothing to lose, the kind who join raiding bands.

Appears 14 times in 14 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) empty, vain

1a) empty (of vessels)

1b) empty, idle, worthless (ethically)

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 Proverbs 12:11

Range of meaning

Empty, vacant (an empty pit or empty vessels). Figuratively: vain, worthless, to no purpose. Used of people, it means idle, unprincipled men with nothing to lose, the kind who join raiding bands.

Against the English

BSB, WEB, NIV and NLT take it as things: 'fantasies'. ESV ('worthless pursuits') and NASB ('worthless things') do the same. KJV takes it as people: 'vain persons'. That is grammatically possible, but in modern English 'vain' suggests conceited.

How it drifted

In 1611 'vain' meant empty or worthless. Today it mostly means conceited or self-admiring, so KJV's 'vain persons' now sounds like 'people obsessed with their looks'.

Used elsewhere in the period

People: Judg 9:4 (Abimelech hires 'empty and reckless men'), Judg 11:3 ('empty men' gather around Jephthah and go raiding), 2 Sam 6:20 ('one of the empty fellows'), 2 Chr 13:7. Things: Ps 4:2 ('love emptiness'), Isa 30:7 (Egypt's help is 'empty'). The Septuagint has mataia, 'vain things', and the Vulgate has otium, 'idleness'.

From the study of Proverbs 28:19

Range of meaning

Empty, vain, without content or result. Used of things it means worthless or futile. Used of people it means worthless men, idlers or adventurers. From the same root as rîq, 'emptiness, in vain'.

Against the English

KJV's 'vain [persons]' adds the noun in italics, choosing the 'people' sense. Modern versions choose 'things': 'fantasies' (BSB, WEB, NIV), 'worthless pursuits' (ESV), 'empty pursuits' (NASB).

How it drifted

In KJV English 'vain' meant 'empty, futile'. Today it mostly means 'conceited about one's looks', which the Hebrew does not mean at all. 'Fantasies' moves things the other way, towards daydreams or the imagination, when the Hebrew points to schemes and pursuits that produce nothing.

Used elsewhere in the period

Judges 9:4 says 'empty and reckless men' (ʾănāšîm rêqîm) were hired by Abimelech. Judges 11:3 says 'empty men' gathered around Jephthah. In 2 Samuel 6:20 Michal compares David to 'one of the empty ones'. The parallel saying, Proverbs 12:11, has the same phrase 'chases empty [ones]' but ends 'lacks sense'.

From the study of Deuteronomy 32:47

Range of meaning

Empty, with nothing inside: an empty pit (Gen 37:24), empty jars (Judg 7:16; 2 Kgs 4:3), an empty stomach (Isa 29:8). Used of people it means worthless, 'empty men' (Judg 9:4; 11:3). The related form rîq means 'in vain, for nothing' (Lev 26:16, 20: 'your strength will be spent for nothing').

Against the English

KJV and WEB 'vain'; BSB, NIV and NASB 'idle'; ESV 'empty'; NJPS 'trifling'. 'Empty' is closest to the picture. 'Idle' suggests casual talk. 'Vain' now suggests conceit.

How it drifted

In 1611 'vain' meant 'empty, futile, without effect' (Latin vanus). Today it mostly means 'conceited'. 'A vain thing' still survives in phrases like 'in vain', but most readers no longer hear the core image of a container with nothing in it.

Used elsewhere in the period

The Septuagint has kenos ('empty'), the same word Paul uses for labour 'in vain' (1 Cor 15:58; Phil 2:16, 'holding fast the word of life… that I did not run in vain', which may be a deliberate echo). Lev 26:20 shows the opposite outcome under covenant curse: strength spent 'for nothing' (lārîq) because the land gives no yield.

Where it appears

Genesis · 2

  1. Genesis 37:24 רֵ֔ק [was] empty

    and they took him and threw him into the pit. Now the pit was empty, with no water in it.

  2. Genesis 41:27 הָרֵק֔וֹת <the> empty

    Moreover, the seven thin, ugly cows that came up after them are seven years, and so are the seven worthless heads of grain scorched by the east wind—they are seven years of famine.

Deuteronomy · 1

  1. Deuteronomy 32:47 רֵ֥ק [too] empty

    For they are not idle words to you, because they are your life, and by them you will live long in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess.”

    Here: Hollow, with nothing in it: the word used for an empty pit or empty jars. The torah is not words with nothing inside them that produce nothing.

Judges · 3

  1. Judges 7:16 רֵקִ֔ים empty

    And he divided the three hundred men into three companies and gave each man a ram’s horn in one hand and a large jar in the other, containing a torch.

  2. Judges 9:4 רֵיקִים֙ unprincipled

    So they gave him seventy shekels of silver from the temple of Baal-berith, with which Abimelech hired some worthless and reckless men to follow him.

  3. Judges 11:3 רֵיקִ֔ים unprincipled

    So Jephthah fled from his brothers and settled in the land of Tob, where worthless men gathered around him and traveled with him.

2 Samuel · 1

  1. 2 Samuel 6:20 הָרֵקִֽים׃ the worthless [men]

    When David returned home to bless his own household, Saul’s daughter Michal came out to meet him. “How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today!” she said. “He has uncovered himself today in the sight of the maidservants of his subjects, like a vulgar person would do.”

    Here: 'The empty ones': men of no standing or substance, the riffraff hired as thugs or gathered around adventurers (Judg 9:4; 11:3). She is saying the king behaved like a nobody.

2 Kings · 1

  1. 2 Kings 4:3 רֵקִ֖ים empty

    “Go,” said Elisha, “borrow empty jars from all your neighbors. Do not gather just a few.

2 Chronicles · 1

  1. 2 Chronicles 13:7 רֵקִים֙ empty

    Then worthless and wicked men gathered around him to resist Rehoboam son of Solomon when he was young, inexperienced, and unable to resist them.

    Here: "Empty men": men with nothing to them and nothing to lose, the idle and rootless. It is a stock label for the hangers-on of an upstart, as with Abimelech (Judg 9:4) and Jephthah (Judg 11:3).

Nehemiah · 1

  1. Nehemiah 5:13 וָרֵ֑ק and empty

    I also shook out the folds of my robe and said, “May God likewise shake out of his house and possessions every man who does not keep this promise. May such a man be shaken out and have nothing!” The whole assembly said, “Amen,” and they praised the LORD. And the people did as they had promised.

    Here: “And empty,” like the shaken fold of the robe: nothing left in it.

Proverbs · 2

  1. Proverbs 12:11 רֵיקִ֣ים worthless things

    The one who works his land will have plenty of food, but whoever chases fantasies lacks judgment.

    Here: 'Empty ones.' The masculine plural can mean empty things (schemes, fantasies, pursuits with nothing in them) or empty men (idle, unprincipled hangers-on, as in Judges 9:4 and 11:3). The core idea is emptiness: something with no substance, which produces nothing.

  2. Proverbs 28:19 רֵ֝קִ֗ים empty [things]

    The one who works his land will have plenty of food, but whoever chases fantasies will have his fill of poverty.

    Here: 'Empty ones'. The form is masculine plural and can mean empty things (worthless schemes, idle pursuits) or empty men (good-for-nothings, as in Judges 9:4 and 11:3). Either way it is the opposite of soil that yields something.

Isaiah · 1

  1. Isaiah 29:8 וְרֵיקָ֣ה and [is] empty

    as when a hungry man dreams he is eating, then awakens still hungry; as when a thirsty man dreams he is drinking, then awakens faint and parched. So will it be for all the many nations who go to battle against Mount Zion.

Ezekiel · 1

  1. Ezekiel 24:11 רֵקָ֑ה empty

    Set the empty pot on its coals until it becomes hot and its copper glows. Then its impurity will melt within; its rust will be consumed.

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