Morning Vespers @ 6:10am-6:40am

“Better is a handful of quietness than two hands full of toil and a striving after wind.”

VANITY: heḇel, lit. ‘a vapor’, ‘a breath’ (cf. Pss. 78:33; 94:11; Is. 57:13, etc.), indicates the fruitlessness of human endeavors. Such is man’s natural life (Jb. 7:3; Ps. 39:5). Figuratively heḇel conveys the idea of unsubstantial, worthless, thus ‘the vanity of idols’ (cf. Je. 10:15; 51:18, AV). The worship of such is consequently unprofitable (Dt. 32:21; 1 Sa. 15:23; Pss. 4:2; 24:4, etc.). Unprofitable, too, are those who turn to such vain things (1 Sa. 12:21; 2 Ki. 17:15; Is 41:29; 44:9). Idolatry is the worship of a ‘no-god’, by which God is provoked (Dt. 32:21; 1 Ki. 16:13, 26, etc.), in contrast with the true worship of God (cf. Is. 30:7; 40). Because idols and their worship raise vain hopes, worthless likewise must be the proclamation of false prophets (Je. 23:16; Ezk. 13:1–23; Zc. 10:2). A ‘vain offering’ (Is. 1:13) is ritual without righteousness. Wealth got by vanity dwindles (Pr. 13:11; LXX, Vulg., ‘in haste’; cf. Pr. 21:6). heḇel has reference to man’s human life: ‘man at his best estate’ (Heb. ‘standing firm’) is ‘a few handbreadths’ (Pss. 39:5; cf. v. 11; 62:9; 78:33, etc.). This heḇel of all human existence is fully treated in the book of Ecclesiastes.

McDonald, H. D. (1996). Vanity, Vain. In D. R. W. Wood, I. H. Marshall, A. R. Millard, J. I. Packer, & D. J. Wiseman (Eds.), New Bible dictionary (3rd ed., p. 1222). Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.