Vanity

How Nave’s arranged it

• A consequence of the fallRomans 8:20
• Every man hasPsalms 39:11
• Every state of man isPsalms 62:9
• Man, at his best estate, isPsalms 39:5
• Man is similar toPsalms 144:4
• The thoughts of man arePsalms 94:11
• The days of man areJob 7:16Ecclesiastes 6:12
• Childhood and youth areEcclesiastes 11:10
• The beauty of man isPsalms 39:11Proverbs 31:30
• The help of man isPsalms 60:11Lamentations 4:17
• Man' s own righteousness isIsaiah 57:12
• Worldly wisdom isEcclesiastes 2:15Ecclesiastes 2:211 Corinthians 3:20

The passages, in Bible order (82)

The same references, sorted Genesis to Revelation. The first 16 are quoted in full; the rest are one click beneath them, book by book.

1. Deuteronomy 4:35

   You were shown these things so that you would know that the LORD is God; there is no other besides Him.

   ›Commentary on Deuteronomy 4:351 voice

   “Unto thee it was showed,.... What the Lord did in Egypt: that thou mightest know that the Lord he is God, there is none else besides him; that he is the one only living and true God, and there is no other: this phrase is often used by the Prophet Isaiah, to express the same great article of faith.

   Everything gathered on Deuteronomy 4:35→

   Verse page →Original language →

2. 2 Kings 17:15

   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 themselves became worthless, going after the surrounding nations that the LORD had commanded them not to imitate.

   ›Commentary on 2 Kings 17:151 voice

   “As idols are “vanity” and “nothingness,” mere weakness and impotence, so idolators are “vain” and impotent. Their energies have been wasted, their time misspent; they have missed the real object of their existence; their whole life has been a mistake; and the result is utter powerlessness. Literally, the word rendered “vanity” seems to mean “breath” or “vapor” - a familiar image for nonentity. It occurs frequently in the prophets, and especially in Jeremiah (e. g. Jer 2:5; Jer 8:19; Jer 14:22, etc.).

   Everything gathered on 2 Kings 17:15→

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3. Job 7:16

   I loathe my life! I would not live forever. Leave me alone, for my days are but a breath.

   ›Commentary on Job 7:161 voice

   “I loathe it; I would not live alway - Life, in such circumstances, is hateful to me; and though I wish for long life, yet if length of days were offered to me with the sufferings which I now undergo, I would despise the offer and spurn the boon. Mr. Good is not satisfied with our common version, and has adopted the following, which in his notes he endeavors to illustrate and defend: Job 7:15 So that my soul coveteth suffocation, And death in comparison with my suffering. Job 7:16 No longer would I live! O, release me!

   Everything gathered on Job 7:16→

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4. Job 11:11

   Surely He knows the deceit of men. If He sees iniquity, does He not take note?

   ›Commentary on Job 11:112 voices

   “For He knoweth the vanity of men; when He seeth wickedness also, doth He not consider it? As if he were subjoining in explaining the things premised, saying, 'Because He sees that by suffering them evil habits gain growth, by judging He brings to nought His gifts.' Now the right order is observed in the account, in that vanity is first described to be known, and afterwards iniquity to be considered. For all iniquity is vanity, but not all vanity, iniquity. For we do vain things as often as we give heed to what is transitory.

   “For he knoweth vain men - He is intimately acquainted with the heart; he knows human beings altogether. The word “vain” here (שׁוא shâv'), means properly vanity, emptiness, falsehood, a lie, iniquity. “Men of vanity,” here may mean people whose opinions are valueless, or it may mean people of deceit, falsehood, hypocrisy. Most probably it means the latter, and the indirect reference may be to such men as Job. The sense is, that God is intimately acquainted with such men. They cannot deceive him, and their wickedness will be found out.

   Everything gathered on Job 11:11→

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5. Job 11:12

   But a witless man can no more become wise than the colt of a wild donkey can be born a man!

   ›Commentary on Job 11:121 voice

   “For vain man would be wise - The original is difficult and uncertain, ואיש נבוב ילבב veish nabub yillabeb, “And shall the hollow man assume courage,” or “pride himself?” Or, as Mr. Good rather paraphrases it, Will he then accept the hollow-hearted person? The Chaldee gives two renderings: An eloquent man shall become wiser in his heart, and the colt of the wild ass is born as the son of man. Or, The wise man shall ponder it; and the refractory youth, who at last becomes prudent, shall make a great man.

   Everything gathered on Job 11:12→

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6. Job 21:15

   Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him, and what would we gain if we pray to Him?’

   ›Commentary on Job 21:152 voices

   “Ver. 15. Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him? 52. For the mind of man being miserably discharged without, is so dissipated in things corporeal, as neither to return to itself within, nor to be able to think of Him, Who is invisible. Thus carnal men setting at nought spiritual commands, because they do not see God with bodily sight, one time or another come to this pass, that they even imagine Him not to be. Hence it is written, The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.

   “What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? - compare for similar expressions, Exo 5:2; Pro 30:9. The meaning here is, “What claim has the Almighty, or who is he, that we should be bound to obey and worship him? What authority has he over us? Why should we yield our will to his, and why submit to his claims?” This is the language of the human heart everywhere. Man seeks to deny the authority of God over him, and to feel that he has no claim to his service. He desires to be independent.

   Everything gathered on Job 21:15→

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7. Psalms 2:1

   Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?

   ›Commentary on Psalms 2:12 voices

   We have, in these first three verses, a description of the hatred of human nature against the Christ of God. No better comment is needed upon it than the apostolic song in Acts 4:27, 28: "For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together, for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done."

   “Why do the Heathen rage,.... Or "the nations"; which some understand of the Jews, who are so called, Gen 17:5; because of their various tribes; and of their rage against the Messiah there have been many instances; as when they gnashed upon him with their teeth, and at several times took up stones to stone him, and cried out in a most furious and wrathful manner, crucify him, crucify him, Luk 4:28; though it is best to interpret it of the Gentiles, as the apostles seem to do in Act 4:

   Everything gathered on Psalms 2:1→

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8. Psalms 4:2

   How long, O men, will my honor be maligned? How long will you love vanity and seek after lies? Selah

   ›Commentary on Psalms 4:22 voices

   “O ye sons of men - בני איש beney ish, ye powerful men - ye who are now at the head of affairs, or who are leaders of the multitude. Love vanity - The poor, empty, shallow-brained, pretty-faced Absalom; whose prospects are all vain, and whose promises are all empty! Seek after leasing? - This is a Saxon word, from falsehood, from to lie. Cardmarden has adopted this word in his translation, Rouen, 15

   “DAVID had many times been the subject of cruel mockery and, therefore, while writing this Psalm probably in the first place about himself, he also described in it one of the bitterest of our Savior's sufferings. What an illustration this is of the union which exists between Christ and His people in the matter of experience! He had a Cross to bear and so have they. He was "despised and rejected of men," and so are they.

   Everything gathered on Psalms 4:2→

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9. Psalms 10:7

   His mouth is full of cursing, deceit, and violence; trouble and malice are under his tongue.

   ›Commentary on Psalms 10:71 voice

   “Let us now hear the witnesses in court. Let the wretch speak for himself, for out of his own mouth he will be condemned. "His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud." There is not only a little evil there, but his mouth is full of it. A three-headed serpent hath stowed away its coils and venom within the den of its black mouth. There is cursing which he spits against both God and men, deceit with which he entraps the unwary, and fraud by which, even in his common dealings, he robs his neighbours.

   Everything gathered on Psalms 10:7→

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10. Psalms 12:2

    They lie to one another; they speak with flattering lips and a double heart.

    ›Commentary on Psalms 12:22 voices

    "They speak vanity every one with his neighbour." They utter that which is vain to hear, because of its frivolous, foolish, want of worth; vain to believe, because it was false and lying; vain to trust to, since it was deceitful and flattering; vain to regard, for it lifted up the hearer, filling him with proud conceit of himself. It is a sad thing when it is the fashion to talk vanity. "Ca'me, and I'll ca'thee." is the old Scotch proverb; give me a high sounding character, and I will give you one.

    “Regard for truth is in danger of being snuffed out, with everyone, you might say, suffering from distrust in one another.… They pretend friendship and perform the actions of enemies.… Some use their lips to direct falsehood into their neighbor's heart; others return the compliment.

    Everything gathered on Psalms 12:2→

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11. Psalms 24:4

    He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear deceitfully.

    ›Commentary on Psalms 24:42 voices

    “Here we have the true Israel described. The men who shall stand as courtiers in the palace of the living God are not distinguished by race, but by character; they are not Jews only, nor Gentiles only, nor any one branch of mankind peculiarly, but a people purified and made meet to dwell in the holy hill of the Lord.

    "He that hath clean hands." Outward, practical holiness is a very precious mark of grace. To wash in water with Pilate is nothing, but to wash in innocency is all-important. It is to be feared that many professors have perverted the doctrine of justification by faith in such a way as to treat good works with contempt; if so, they will receive everlasting contempt at the last great day. It is vain to prate of inward experience unless the daily life is free from impurity, dishonesty, violence, and oppression. Those who draw near to God must have "clean hands."

    Everything gathered on Psalms 24:4→

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12. Psalms 26:4

    I do not sit with deceitful men, nor keep company with hypocrites.

    ›Commentary on Psalms 26:42 voices

    “So far from being himself an open offender against the laws of God, the psalmist had not even associated with the lovers of evil. He had kept aloof from the men of Belial. A man is known by his company, and if we have kept ourselves apart from the wicked, it will always be evidence in our favour should our character be impugned. He who was never in the parish is not likely to have stolen the corn. He who never went to sea is clearly not the man who scuttled the ship.

    “I have not sat with vain persons. True citizens have no dealings with traitors. David had no seat in the parliament of triflers. They were not his boon companions at feasts, nor his advisers in council, nor his associates in conversation. We must needs see, and speak, and trade, with men of the world, but we must on no account take our rest and solace in their empty society. Not only the profane, but the vain are to be shunned by us.

    Everything gathered on Psalms 26:4→

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13. Psalms 31:6

    I hate those who cling to worthless idols, but in the LORD I trust.

    ›Commentary on Psalms 31:61 voice

    “I have hated them that regard lying vanities. Those who will not lean upon the true arm of strength, are sure to make to themselves vain confidences. Man must have a god, and if he will not adore the only living and true God, he makes a fool of himself, and pays superstitious regard to a lie, and waits with anxious hope upon a base delusion. Those who did this were none of David's friends; he had a constant dislike to them: the verb includes the present as well as the past tense.

    Everything gathered on Psalms 31:6→

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14. Psalms 36:4

    Even on his bed he plots wickedness; he sets himself on a path that is not good; he fails to reject evil.

    ›Commentary on Psalms 36:42 voices

    “He deviseth mischief upon his bed. His place of rest becomes the place for plotting. His bed is a hot bed for poisonous weeds. God fearing men meditate upon God and his service; but when men turn all their thoughts and inventive faculties towards evil, their godlessness is proved to a demonstration. He hath the devil for his bed fellow who lies abed and schemes how to sin. God is far from him. He setteth himself in a way that is not good. When he gets up he resolutely and persistently pursues the mischief which he planned.

    “Moreover, he meditated wickedness in his bed, where he should have sought the truth. For in our beds, we should remorse our sins, not commit them by our very actions, as the Prophet says: "What you utter in your hearts, and in your beds you are remorseful" (Psalm IV, 5). He stood, he said, on a path that was not good: but he did not have hatred for wickedness. For it is not without reason that he contemplates injustice, who stands on the path of error and loves wickedness, which he ought to hate.

    Everything gathered on Psalms 36:4→

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15. Psalms 39:5

    You, indeed, have made my days as handbreadths, and my lifetime as nothing before You. Truly each man at his best exists as but a breath. Selah

    ›Commentary on Psalms 39:52 voices

    “(2.) Man's life on earth is vain and of no value, and therefore it is folly to be fond of it and wisdom to make sure of a better life. Adam is Abel-- man is vanity, in his present state. He is not what he seems to be, has not what he promised himself.

    “Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth. Upon consideration, the psalmist finds little room to bewail the length of life, but rather to bemoan its shortness. What changeful creatures we are! One moment we cry to be rid of existence, and the next instant beg to have it prolonged! A handbreadth is one of the shortest natural measures, being the breadth of four fingers; such is the brevity of life, by divine appointment; God hath made it so, fixing the period in wisdom.

    Everything gathered on Psalms 39:5→

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16. Psalms 39:6

    Surely every man goes about like a phantom; surely he bustles in vain; he heaps up riches not knowing who will haul them away.

    ›Commentary on Psalms 39:61 voice

    “Surely every man walketh in a vain shew. Life is but a passing pageant. This alone is sure, that nothing is sure. All around us shadows mock us; we walk among them, and too many live for them as if the mocking images were substantial; acting their borrowed parts with zeal fit only to be spent on realities, and lost upon the phantoms of this passing scene. Worldly men walk like travellers in a mirage, deluded, duped, deceived, soon to be filled with disappointment and despair. Surely they are disquieted in vain.

    Everything gathered on Psalms 39:6→

    Verse page →Original language →