---
title: שָׁוְא — emptiness · The Tanakh dictionary
description: שָׁוְא (7723), a word of Biblical Hebrew, used 53 times: emptiness. BDB 1906: emptiness, vanity. With 2 verses in Hebrew, word for word and JPS 1917.
---

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# שָׁוְא

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«שָׁוְא» in the Tanakh dictionary: **emptiness** — how often it is used, MACULA's glosses, its meanings in the printed dictionaries and why they were chosen, and 2 verses in layers.

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**Used:** 53 times · **Key:** 7723 · **BDB:** שָׁוְא

### Glosses

worthlessness (13); falsehood (11); emptiness (7)

### Meaning (OSHB)

emptiness [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1513/7723/#m1)

### Meaning (BDB 1906)

emptiness, vanity [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1513/7723/#m2)

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**The whole BDB entry:** n.\[m.\] emptiness, vanity;—שׁ׳ abs. Ex 23:1 + 51 times, שָׁו Jb 15:31 (Kt);— emptiness, nothingness, vanity: שׁ׳ תְּשׁוּעַת אָדָם ψ 60:13 vain (is) man’s deliverance, = 108:13; שׁ׳ לָכֶם 127:2 it is vain (useless) for you; 89:48 for (עַל) what nothingness hast thou created man? cf. שׁ׳ יַרְחֵי Jb 7:3; הַבְלֵי שׁ׳ ψ 31:7 (idols) = Jon 2:9, cf. Je 18:15; מִנְחַת שׁ׳ Is 1:13 of ineffective offering to י׳; נשׂא לַשּׁ׳ (לֹא) Ex 20:7(×2) take up name of God in vain (to no good purpose) = Dt 5:11(×2), cf. ψ 24:4; 139:20 \[MT lifted up in vain are thy foes; היה שׁ׳ Ho 12:12 become nothing (We עשׂה שׁ׳, and so 3); ראה שׁ׳ ψ 119:37; adv. לַשּׁ׳ in vain Je 2:30; 4:30; 6:29; 46:11; שׁ׳ ψ 127:1(×2); Mal 3:14; Jb 35:13. emptiness of speech, שׁ׳ וּדְבַר כָּזָב Pr 30:8; דבּר שׁ׳ ψ 12:3; 41:7; 144:8, 11; Is 59:4; Ez 13:8; אָלוֹת שׁ׳ Ho 10:4 + 12:2 𝔊 We al. (for שֹׁד); הָלַךְ עִם־שׁ׳ Jb 31:5 (‖ מִרְמָה); עֵד שׁ׳ Dt 5:17 = עֵד שָֽׁקֶר Ex 20:16); cf. שֵׁמַע שׁ׳ Ex 23:1 (E); of false (empty) prophecy חֲזוֹן שׁ׳ Ez 12:24, חָזוּ שׁ׳ La 2:14; v. also Ez 13:6, 7, 9, 23; 21:34; 22:28; Jb 35:13 (or empty complaint) La 2:14(×2); קסם שׁ׳ Ez 21:28; חֲלמוֹת הַשּׁ׳ Zc 10:2. of conduct, worthlessness (Buhl sub 1, 2); מְתֵי שׁ׳ worthless men ψ 26:4; Jb 11:11; worthless motives (in fig.) חֵבְלֵי הַשּׁ׳ Is 5:18; נָפַת שׁ׳ 30:28 (i.e. sifting out the worthless; al. sieve of (bringing) disappointment); play on meanings in Jb 15:31(×2), cf. DrJob, Psalt. 464.

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Why these entries: BDB: headword, part of speech agrees, 47 of its verses cited, 2 words shared with the glosses, lists its Strong's number (10 candidates); OSHB: headword, part of speech agrees, 1 words shared with the BDB entry, 1 with the glosses (6 candidates)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every English meaning of «שָׁוְא» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1513/7723/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.

### In the verses

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[Jonah 2:9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/JON.2.9/)

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מְשַׁמְּרִ֖ים הַבְלֵי־שָׁ֑וְא חַסְדָּ֖ם יַעֲזֹֽבוּ׃

*Word for word:* \[those.who\].pay.regard vanities of.nothingness loyalty their they.abandon

*JPS 1917:* They that regard lying vanities forsake their own mercy.

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[Deuteronomy 5:20](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/DEU.5.20/)

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וְלֹֽא־תַעֲנֶ֥ה בְרֵֽעֲךָ֖ עֵ֥ד שָֽׁוְא׃ס

*Word for word:* and not you.must.testify against neighbor your testimony of.worthlessness

*JPS 1917:* Neither shalt thou bear false witness against thy neighbour.

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