shav denotes what is deceptive, empty, worthless, or undertaken without effect in the supplied biblical uses.

The attested uses most often concern deceptive or unfounded speech, visions, and divination; they also describe efforts that prove futile, things or persons treated as worthless, and the improper lifting of the divine name. The noun is consistently tagged singular absolute in the supplied occurrences.

1. Deceptive claims, visions, and divination · dominant

   This use occurs where prophets are said to see and speak what God had not spoken: in Ezekiel 13:6 the APB renders that they “saw vanity and a lying divination,” and in Ezekiel 13:7 it renders “a vision of vanity” alongside a divination of a lie. Ezekiel 22:28 similarly places the form in accusations of false visions and lies spoken as though they were the Lord's words.

   Ezekiel 13:6Ezekiel 13:7Ezekiel 13:8Ezekiel 13:9Ezekiel 22:28Zechariah 10:2
2. Futile or ineffective effort · common

   In these clauses the term marks actions that fail to achieve their intended result. In Jeremiah 46:11 the APB renders the multiplication of remedies “in vain,” because there is no healing; in Jeremiah 6:29 it renders the refiner's work “in vain,” because the wicked are not removed. Psalm 127:1 applies the same presentation to building and guarding apart from the LORD.

   Jeremiah 46:11Jeremiah 4:30Jeremiah 6:29Psalm 127:1Psalm 127:2Malachi 3:14
3. Worthless people, things, or offerings · occasional

   The noun can characterize what is treated as without worth in the immediate clause. In Isaiah 1:13 the APB renders an offering as “worthless,” while Jeremiah 18:15 says that the people make offerings to “worthless things.” Job 11:11 applies the rendering to men in a statement that God knows them and sees wickedness.

   Isaiah 1:13Jeremiah 18:15Job 11:11Job 15:31Psalm 26:4Psalm 119:37
4. Improper lifting of the divine name · rare

   In Exodus 20:7 the form occurs twice in the command not to take the LORD's name “in vain,” followed by the warning that the LORD will not hold such a person guiltless. Deuteronomy 5:11 presents the same prohibition as lifting the divine name “to vanity.”

   Exodus 20:7Deuteronomy 5:11

In the Anselm Project Bible: Across the cited verses, the APB variously uses “vanity,” “false,” “lying,” “in vain,” and “worthless.” These renderings reflect the surrounding clauses, but the translation does not identify a one-to-one English equivalent for each occurrence.