Word study
Worthless
8 Hebrew and 1 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “worthless”. English often uses one word where Hebrew or Greek has several, each with its own shade of meaning. Under each word are verses where it is translated this way; choose the word itself for its full study: every verse, how else it is translated, the forms it takes and what the dictionaries say.
At a glance
How often each original word is translated “worthless” or one of its forms.
Compare the Hebrew words side by side
Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)
- הֶבֶל hebelvapour, breathtranslated this way 12 times of its 73 uses · Strong’s H1892Noun · Translated: futile 25, worthless idols 9, futility 8, fleeting 5Full study and all 64 verses →
Deuteronomy 32:21 They have provoked My jealousy by that which is not God; they have enraged Me with their worthless idols. So I will make them jealous by those who are not a people; I will make them angry by a nation without understanding.
1 Kings 16:13 This happened because of all the sins Baasha and his son Elah had committed and had caused Israel to commit, provoking the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger with their worthless idols.
- בְּלִיַּעַל belîaalworthlessnesstranslated this way 9 times of its 27 uses · Strong’s H1100Noun · Translated: wicked 8, worthless 8, scoundrel 2, chaos 2Full study and all 26 verses →
1 Samuel 10:27 But some worthless men said, “How can this man save us?” So they despised him and brought him no gifts; but Saul remained silent about it.
2 Samuel 16:7 And as he yelled curses, Shimei said, “Get out, get out, you worthless man of bloodshed!
- שָׁוְא shâveemptiness, vanitytranslated this way 6 times of its 52 uses · Strong’s H7723Noun · Translated: vain 12, false 8, falsehood 4, worthless 4Full study and all 47 verses →
Psalm 60:11 Give us aid against the enemy, for the help of man is worthless.
Isaiah 1:13 Bring your worthless offerings no more; your incense is detestable to Me. New Moons, Sabbaths, and convocations— I cannot endure iniquity in a solemn assembly.
- רֵיק rêqempty, vaintranslated this way 4 times of its 14 uses · Strong’s H7386Adjective · Translated: empty 3, worthless 3, fantasies 2Full study and all 14 verses →
Genesis 41:27 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.
Judges 9:4 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.
- הָבַל hâbalact emptily, become vaintranslated this way 2 times of its 4 uses · Strong’s H1891Verb · Translated: became worthless 2, false hope 1, filling you with false hopes 1Full study and all 4 verses →
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 became worthless themselves, going after the surrounding nations that the LORD had commanded them not to imitate.
Jeremiah 2:5 This is what the LORD says: “What fault did your fathers find in Me that they strayed so far from Me? They followed worthless idols, and became worthless themselves.
- אֱלִיל ĕlîlfelt to suggesttranslated this way 2 times of its 17 uses · Strong’s H457Noun · Translated: idols 13, worthless 2, idolatrous 1, images 1Full study and all 17 verses →
Job 13:4 You, however, smear with lies; you are all worthless physicians.
Zechariah 11:17 Woe to the worthless shepherd, who deserts the flock! May a sword strike his arm and his right eye! May his arm be completely withered and his right eye utterly blinded!”
- יָעַל yâalprofit, avail, benefittranslated this way 2 times of its 23 uses · Strong’s H3276Verb · Translated: profit 5, benefit 4, worthless 2, idols 2Full study and all 21 verses →
Proverbs 11:4 Riches are worthless in the day of wrath, but righteousness brings deliverance from death.
Isaiah 44:9 All makers of idols are nothing, and the things they treasure are worthless. Their witnesses fail to see or comprehend, so they are put to shame.
- רַע rabad, eviltranslated this way 2 times of its 651 uses · Strong’s H7451Adjective · Translated: evil 263, disaster 72, harm 38, wicked 31Full study and all 615 verses →
Greek words (New Testament)
- μάταιος mátaiosvain, unproductive, godlesstranslated this way 3 times of its 6 uses · Strong’s G3152Adjective · Translated: futile 2, worthless 2, worthless things 1, empty 1Full study and all 6 verses →
Acts 14:15 “Men, why are you doing this? We too are only men, human like you. We are bringing you good news that you should turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made heaven and earth and sea and everything in them.
Titus 3:9 But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, arguments, and quarrels about the law, because these things are pointless and worthless.
How to study a word well
- Start from the verse, not the dictionary. Find which Hebrew or Greek word stands in the verse you are studying. One English word often translates several different original words.
- Read every place the word is used. A word means what its writers used it to mean. The list of verses and the count by book show its range, and who uses it most.
- Look at how it is translated. A word rendered five different ways has a wider meaning than any one English word can carry.
- Notice the form. A command is not a statement, and a passive verb is something done to the subject. The form in your verse is part of the meaning.
- See what it keeps company with. The words that appear beside it again and again show how the Bible itself connects ideas.
- Then read the dictionaries. They give the considered view of scholars, with their evidence.
- Come back to the verse. Context decides. A word does not carry every one of its meanings into every verse, and where a word came from does not settle what it means in a sentence written centuries later.
Scripture text and translation counts: Berean Standard Bible. Full entry: Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906, public domain), in the digital edition Brown-Driver-Briggs Enhanced by unfoldingWord (Joel Ruark, J. de Joode), based on data by Eliran Wong and Stephen Ku; its additions are used under CC BY 4.0. Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary: Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible Project, CC BY 4.0. Hebrew-to-English verse numbering: original work of the Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible available at https://github.com/openscriptures/morphhb, CC BY 4.0. We reformatted the data, linked the references to this site’s Bible text and left out words in other scripts that the source holds only as images. These are historical reference works; an entry gives its authors’ view, and a word’s meaning in any verse depends on how it is used there.