שָׁוְא

עָקֹב ʻâqôb · H6121 · tracked, uneven, rugged

Both words denote moral wrongness and untrustworthiness, עָקֹב (ʻâqôb, H6121) deceitful and שָׁוְא (shâvᵉʼ, H7723) false or lie, and could be used in contexts describing dishonesty or unreliability.

תֹּךְ tôk · H8496 · fraud

Both denote falsehood or deception: שָׁוְא (shâvᵉʼ, H7723) includes falsehood, vanity and lie, whereas the other word denotes deceit or fraud.

מַעַל maʻal · H4604 · unfaithfulness, upwards, above

Both belong to the field of falsehood and deception.

רְמִיָּה rᵉmîyâh · H7423 · lazy, slothful, idle

Both lexemes genuinely denote falsehood/deception: רְמִיָּה (rᵉmîyâh, H7423) "deceit, false, guile" and שָׁוְא (shâvᵉʼ, H7723) "false, lie, vain, vanity" show overlapping semantic territory where both could substitute in contexts of falsehood.

μάταιος mátaios · G3152 · useless, futile, empty

Greek μάταιος renders Hebrew שָׁוְא in LXX contexts denoting emptiness, futility, or vanity—both terms share the core semantic field of worthlessness/profitlessness, with μάταιος emphasizing the empty/profitless aspect and שָׁוְא encompassing falsehood/vanity as manifestations of that same worthlessness.

ψεῦδος pseûdos · G5579 · lie, falsehood

ψεῦδος (pseûdos, G5579) serves as the standard Greek translation equivalent for שָׁוְא (shâvᵉʼ, H7723) in LXX contexts where the Hebrew denotes falsehood or deceptive speech, capturing the core 'lie/falsehood' sense shared across both lexemes.

κενός kenós · G2756 · without anything, empty, empty-handed

Greek κενός emphasizes the resultant emptiness or futility, whereas Hebrew שָׁוְא emphasizes the falsehood or deceptiveness of what is vain.

μάτην mátēn · G3155 · in vain, to no avail, with no result

Greek μάτην emphasizes the adverbial aspect of purposelessness or futility, while Hebrew שָׁוְא spans a broader semantic range including substantival 'emptiness/vanity' and the moral dimension of 'falsehood/deception'; μάτην represents the 'in vain/to no purpose' functional overlap within שָׁוְא's wider field.

ψευδής pseudḗs · G5571 · liar

שָׁוְא (shâvᵉʼ, H7723) emphasizes emptiness, vanity, and worthlessness (often of idols or vain oaths), while ψευδής (pseudḗs, G5571) focuses specifically on untruth, deceit, and falsehood in testimony or character.

Unfaithful002001002027

The word can describe treating something — above all the LORD's own name — as worthless or empty in a way that breaks covenant loyalty, as in Exodus 20:7's prohibition against taking His name "in vain."

False002001003007

The word directly names falsehood in testimony, as in Exodus 23:1's "you shall not give a false report" and Deuteronomy 5:20's "you shall not give false testimony against your neighbor."

Fail002003003013

The word can describe something that amounts to nothing, empty and futile, as in Job 7:3's "worthless months" allotted to him — time that comes to nothing.

Words formed from the same root. They share a form, not always a meaning.

Meanings adapted from the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament, © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0 and the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew (from the Semantic Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew), © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0; MACULA Greek Linguistic Datasets, available at https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek/, licensed CC BY 4.0; MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets © 2022-2024 by Biblica, Inc., CC BY 4.0. Westminster Leningrad Codex (tanach.us). OpenScriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (hb.openscriptures.org), CC BY 4.0.