In biblical literature, the term "vapor" is often used metaphorically to describe the transient and fleeting nature of human life and earthly pursuits. The concept of vapor is primarily found in the wisdom literature of the Old Testament, where it serves as a poignant reminder of the brevity and impermanence of life.

Hebrew and Greek Terms

The Hebrew word often translated as "vapor" is "hebel" (הֶבֶל), which can also mean "breath" or "vanity." In the Greek New Testament, the equivalent term is "atmis" (ἀτμίς), which similarly conveys the idea of mist or vapor.

Ecclesiastes

The Book of Ecclesiastes frequently employs the term "hebel" to emphasize the futility and ephemeral nature of human endeavors. Ecclesiastes 1:2 states, "Futility of futilities, says the Teacher, futility of futilities! Everything is futile!" Here, "futility" is translated from "hebel," underscoring the transient nature of worldly achievements and pleasures. The repeated use of "hebel" throughout Ecclesiastes serves as a central theme, urging readers to seek meaning beyond the temporal.

James

In the New Testament, the Epistle of James echoes this theme. James 4:14 states, "You do not even know what will happen tomorrow! What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes." This passage uses the imagery of vapor to highlight the uncertainty and shortness of life, encouraging believers to live with humility and dependence on God's will.

Psalms and Proverbs

The Psalms and Proverbs also reflect on the concept of vapor. Psalm 39:5 declares, "Behold, You have made my days a few handbreadths, and my lifetime is as nothing before You. Truly, each man at his best exists as but a breath." Similarly, Proverbs 21:6 warns, "Making a fortune by a lying tongue is a vanishing mist, a deadly pursuit." Both passages use the imagery of vapor to convey the fleeting nature of life and the futility of dishonest gain.

Theological Implications

The biblical use of vapor as a metaphor serves to remind believers of the temporal nature of earthly life and the importance of focusing on eternal values. It calls for a perspective that prioritizes spiritual over material pursuits, urging individuals to seek wisdom, righteousness, and a relationship with God. The imagery of vapor challenges believers to live with an awareness of life's brevity and to invest in what is lasting and meaningful in the sight of God.1. (n.) Any substance in the gaseous, or aeriform, state, the condition of which is ordinarily that of a liquid or solid.

2. (n.) In a loose and popular sense, any visible diffused substance floating in the atmosphere and impairing its transparency, as smoke, fog, etc.

3. (n.) Wind; flatulence.

4. (n.) Something unsubstantial, fleeting, or transitory; unreal fancy; vain imagination; idle talk; boasting.

5. (n.) An old name for hypochondria, or melancholy; the blues.

6. (n.) A medicinal agent designed for administration in the form of inhaled vapor.

7. (n.) To pass off in fumes, or as a moist, floating substance, whether visible or invisible, to steam; to be exhaled; to evaporate.

8. (n.) To emit vapor or fumes.

9. (n.) To talk idly; to boast or vaunt; to brag.

10. (v. t.) To send off in vapor, or as if in vapor; as, to vapor away a heated fluid.

VAPOR

va'-per:

(1) edh: "For he draweth up the drops of water, which distill in rain from his vapor" (Job 36:27); "There went up a mist ['edh] from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground" (Genesis 2:6).

(2) nasi', "vapor," i.e. that which rises, from nasa', "to lift": "Who causeth the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth" (Psalm 135:7; compare Jeremiah 10:13; Jeremiah 51:16); also translated "clouds": "as clouds and wind without rain" (Proverbs 25:14).

(3) In Job 36:33, the King James Version has "vapour" ("concerning the vapour") for `alah, alah, "to go up," where the Revised Version (British and American) reads "concerning the storm that cometh up."

(4) qiTor: "fire and hail, snow and vapor" (Psalm 148:8); elsewhere, "smoke": "The smoke of the land went up as the smoke of a furnace" (Genesis 19:28); "I am become like a wineskin in the smoke" (Psalm 119:83).

(5) atmis: "blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke" (Acts 2:19); "For ye are a vapor that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away" (James 4:14).

The first two of the preceding quotations are interesting as indicating the knowledge that vapor of water from the earth or sea is the source of the rain. Visible vapor, i.e. mist or fog, is much less common in Palestine than in many other countries. In the mountains, however, especially in Lebanon, mists are of frequent occurrence, appearing to those below as clouds clinging to the mountains.

Alfred Ely Day

822. atmis -- vapor
... vapor. Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine Transliteration: atmis Phonetic Spelling:
(at-mece') Short Definition: breath, steam, vapor Definition: breath, steam ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/822.htm - 6k1892. hebel -- vapor, breath
... 1891, 1892. hebel. 1893 . vapor, breath. Transliteration: hebel Phonetic Spelling:
(heh'bel) Short Definition: vanity. Word Origin a prim. ...
/hebrew/1892.htm - 6k

5387b. nasi -- rising mist, vapor
... rising mist, vapor. Transliteration: nasi Short Definition: clouds. Word Origin
from nasa Definition rising mist, vapor NASB Word Usage clouds (3), vapors (1). ...
/hebrew/5387b.htm - 5k

108. ed -- a mist
... mist, vapor. From the same as 'uwd (in the sense of enveloping); a fog -- mist,
vapor. see HEBREW 'uwd. 107, 108. ed. 109 . Strong's Numbers.
/hebrew/108.htm - 6k

5387. nasiy' -- one lifted up, a chief, prince
... Spelling: (naw-see') Short Definition: captain. captain, chief, cloud, governor,
prince, ruler, vapor Or nasi' {naw-see'}; from nasa ...
/hebrew/5387.htm - 5k

79. abaq -- to wrestle
... wrestle. A primitive root, probably to float away (as vapor), but used only as
denominative from 'abaq; to bedust, ie Grapple -- wrestle. see HEBREW 'abaq. ...
/hebrew/79.htm - 6k

6227. ashan -- smoke
... smoke. From ashan; smoke, literally or figuratively (vapor, dust, anger) --
smoke(-ing). see HEBREW ashan. 6226, 6227. ashan. 6228 . Strong's Numbers.
/hebrew/6227.htm - 6k

7834. shachaq -- dust, cloud
... From shachaq; a powder (as beaten small): by analogy, a thin vapor; by extension,
the firmament -- cloud, small dust, heaven, sky. see HEBREW shachaq. ...
/hebrew/7834.htm - 6k

The Oracles.
... Plans of Croesus."The River Halys."Nature of the oracles."Situation of Delphi."The
gaseous vapor."The priestess."The sacred tripod."The oracle of ...
//christianbookshelf.org/abbott/cyrus the great/chapter vi the oracles.htm

Who is She that Goeth up by the Wilderness, Like a Pillar of Smoke ...
... wilderness, like a pillar of smoke?""The Bride becomes so purified in the arms of
her Beloved, that she issues from them, like a subtle vapor almost consumed ...
//christianbookshelf.org/guyon/song of songs of solomon/6 who is she that.htm

The Faithful Servant
... to the army who were not fighting-men, and old Momus, saw first, before the attack
on the Temple began, a soft increasing dun-colored vapor rise between the ...
/.../miller/the city of delight/chapter xxi the faithful servant.htm

Whether There are Waters Above the Firmament?
... ad lit. ii, 4), that waters resolved into vapor may be lifted above the
starry heaven, is a mere absurdity. The solid nature of ...
/.../aquinas/summa theologica/whether there are waters above.htm

By the Wayside
... there lay before them a long gentle slope smooth and dun-colored as some soft pelt,
dropping down into a tender vale with levels of purple vapor hanging over it ...
/...//christianbookshelf.org/miller/the city of delight/chapter v by the wayside.htm

Christ Teaching Liberality
... As the sun shines on the surface of the ocean, it makes the water warm, and turns
it into vapor, like the steam that comes from the boiling kettle. ...
/.../newton/the life of jesus christ for the young/christ teaching liberality.htm

Acts ii. 14
... of the taking of Jerusalem. "Blood and fire, and vapor of smoke." Observe
how he describes the capture. "The sun shall be turned ...
/.../chrysostom/homilies on acts and romans/homily v acts ii 14.htm

Matt. xvi. 28
... threatens, He shows a dark cloud;"as on Mount Sinai; for "Moses," it is said, "entered
into the cloud, and into the thick darkness; and as a vapor, so went ...
/.../chrysostom/homilies on the gospel of saint matthew/homily lvi matt xvi 28.htm

The Awakened Sinner Urged to Immediate Consideration and Cautioned ...
... Is not even as a vapor, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away?"
(Jam.4:14) And what is your security, or what is your peculiar warrant ...
/.../chapter iii the awakened sinner.htm

But as to the Unjust, they are Dragged by Force to the Left Hand.. ...
... them into the neighborhood of hell itself; who, when they are hard by it, continually
hear the noise of it, and do not stand clear of the hot vapor itself; but ...
/.../josephus/discourse to the greeks concerning hades/section 4 but as to.htm

Vapor (6 Occurrences)
... blues. 6. (n.) A medicinal agent designed for administration in the form of
inhaled vapor. 7 ... evaporate. 8. (n.) To emit vapor or fumes. 9 ...
/v/vapor.htm - 11k

Mist (17 Occurrences)
... Noah Webster's Dictionary 1. (n.) Visible watery vapor suspended in the atmosphere,
at or near the surface of the earth; fog. ... See VAPOR. Alfred H. Joy. ...
/m/mist.htm - 12k

Smoke (98 Occurrences)
... 1. (n.) The visible exhalation, vapor, or substance that escapes, or expelled, from
a burning body, especially from burning vegetable matter, as wood, coal ...
/s/smoke.htm - 39k

Expire (14 Occurrences)
... 2. (vt) To give forth insensibly or gently, as a fluid or vapor; to emit in minute
particles; to exhale; as, the earth expires a damp vapor; plants expire odors ...
/e/expire.htm - 10k

Dew (35 Occurrences)
... atmosphere. Palestine is fortunate in being near the sea, so that there
is always a large percentage of water vapor in the air. ...
/d/dew.htm - 26k

Boil (29 Occurrences)
... 1. (v.) To be agitated, or tumultuously moved, as a liquid by the generation and
rising of bubbles of steam (or vapor), or of currents produced by heating it ...
/b/boil.htm - 23k

Cloud (119 Occurrences)
... Noah Webster's Dictionary. 1. (n.) A collection of visible vapor, or watery
particles, suspended in the upper atmosphere. 2. (n.) A ...
/c/cloud.htm - 51k

Hail (42 Occurrences)
... Noah Webster's Dictionary. 1. (n.) Small roundish masses of ice precipitated from
the clouds, where they are formed by the condensation of vapor. ...
/h/hail.htm - 25k

Hierapolis (1 Occurrence)
... regarded as the stronghold of Satan, for there was a Plutonium, or a hole reaching
far down into the earth, from which there issued a vapor, even poisoning the ...
/h/hierapolis.htm - 10k

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