VANITY
Does not usually denote, in Scripture, self-conceit or personal pride, 2 Peter 2:18, but sometimes emptiness and fruitlessness, Job 7:3 Psalms 144:4 Ecclesiastes 1:1-18. It often denotes wickedness, particularly falsehood, Deuteronomy 32:21 Psalms 4:2; Psalms 1:24; Psalms 1:119, and sometimes idols and idol-worship, 2 Kings 17:15 Jeremiah 2:5; Jeremiah 1:18 Jonah 2:8. Compare Paul’s expression, "they turned the truth of God into a lie," Romans 1:25. "In vain," in the second commandment, Exodus 20:7, is unnecessarily and irreverently. "Vain men," 2 Samuel 6:20 2 Chronicles 13:7, are dissolute and worthless fellows.