mataiotes denotes a condition of emptiness or fruitlessness, describing misguided conduct, boastful speech, and creation's subjection.

Across the three clauses, mataiotes marks a condition of emptiness or fruitlessness: Gentile conduct proceeds “in the futility of their mind,” creation is subjected to it, and boastful speech is characterized by it.

1. Emptiness or fruitlessness in conduct and circumstance · dominant

   In Ephesians 4:17, the dative singular form occurs in the clause about how the Gentiles walk, which the APB renders “in the futility of their mind.” In Romans 8:20, the same form stands in the statement that creation “was subjected to futility,” while 2 Peter 2:18 uses the genitive singular form in the description of speakers whose words are rendered “boastful words of futility.”

   Ephesians 4:17Romans 8:202 Peter 2:18

In the Anselm Project Bible: The APB uses “futility” in all three verses, presenting it in phrases about the mind, creation's subjection, and boastful words. These phrases confirm the clauses' overall presentation rather than isolate a precise English equivalent in each case.