הָבַל hâbal — to be vain in act, word, or expectation
Translated in the KJV as be (become, make) vain.
a primitive root; to be vain in act, word, or expectation; specifically to lead astray.
hâbal in each stem
Qal (Pa'al)
Wayyiqtol 2Imperfect (yiqtol) 1Jussive 1
And they rejected his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their fathers, and his testimonies which he testified against them; and they followed vanity, and became vain, and went after the heathen that were round about them, concerning whom the Lord had charged them, that they should not do like them.
Behold, all ye yourselves have seen it; why then are ye thus altogether vain?
God hath spoken once; twice have I heard this; that power belongeth unto God.
Hiph'il
Participle (active) 1
Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the Lord.
What the stems mean
A Hebrew verb is its root letters set into a pattern. The pattern — the binyan — is the grammar's way of saying three things at once: whether the action is simple, intensive or causative, and whether its subject is active, passive or reflexive. That is why one Hebrew word can need six English ones. All seven binyanim, explained ›