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Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary

FUTILITY

Frustration, vexation, uselessness, and meaninglessness.

In Ecclesiastes (1:2, 14; 2:1, 11, 15, 17; etc.) the expression appears again and again in a haunting refrain that is difficult to render in an English translation because the Hebrew term hevel has so many connotations. The traditional rendering, “vanity of vanities,” found in many older translations, has been replaced in newer versions with more creative attempts at capturing the meaning. In some translations the idea is “meaninglessness” (see niv, NLT); in others, “emptiness” (see neb); in still others, “uselessness” (see tev). One of the best renderings is found in the reb: “Futility, utter futility, says the Speaker, everything is futile” (Eccl 1:2). Koheleth points to the futility of all human endeavors that seek to bring lasting satisfaction in and of themselves. One might as well try to “catch the wind.” A person can find permanent meaning and lasting contentment only in God with whom there is no meaninglessness.

In Paul’s writings there are two Greek words, often used synonymously, that convey the idea of futility: kenos and mataiotes. The two words are frequently used together in the Septuagint (e.g., Jb 20:18; Is 37:7; Hos 12:1), in classical Greek, and in Hellenistic Greek. Mataiotes is the word used in the Septuagint. Kenos is used by Paul to signify that which is empty and hollow—hence, pointless and futile. Mataiotes is employed by Paul to signify that which is vain and useless—hence, ineffective and futile.

In Paul’s writings kenos expresses the emptiness of all that is not filled with spiritual substance; it speaks of the “zeroness” of human words and human endeavors that lack divine content. Nothing comes from this nothingness; it is futility. Paul used kenos to describe the hollow utterances (see 1 Tm 6:20) spoken by Judaizers and/or Gnostics trying to entice the believers with philosophy and empty deceit (see Col 2:8; cf. Eph 5:6). In contrast, Paul claimed that his preaching was not “futile” but purposeful and effective (1 Cor 15:14). He made the same claim for his labor among the believers (1 Thes 2:1). Paul made sure that his labor had not been for nothing (Gal 2:2; 1 Thes 3:5), for he had not been a recipient of God’s grace “to no effect” (1 Cor 15:10). His preaching and labor were not futile but purposeful because the One he had proclaimed and labored for, the risen Lord Jesus, had filled Paul with divine life and substance (v 14).

Paul’s use of mataiotes was likely informed by the Septuagint, especially Ecclesiastes. Although the adjective mataios was regularly employed in Greek literature to describe that which is vain or empty, mataiotes is almost strictly a biblical term used often in the Septuagint to depict uselessness, worthlessness, and futility.

Nowhere in the NT is the kind of futility described in Ecclesiastes so characterized as in Romans 8:20. When Paul speaks of the creation being subjected to futility, he is focusing on the inability of creation to function as it was originally designed to do. When people fell into sin, God subjected the earth to a curse for their sake. Since then, all of the creation’s attempts to express God are doomed to failure until it is released from its bondage. Redeemed humanity must take the lead, then creation—joining in the final redemption—will also be liberated from mataiotes.

In other portions, Paul used mataiotes to depict the futility that has its source in the thought life of fallen man. He characterizes the “thoughts of the wise” as being futile (1 Cor 3:20), and he describes the Gentiles as those living “in the futility of their minds” because “they are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of their ignorance and hardness of heart” (Eph 4:17-18, nrsv). The thought life of the unregenerate is futile and aimless because it lacks divine substance and spiritual insight; it produces a life of purposelessness and ineffectiveness. Salvation from mataiotes for now comes from the indwelling Spirit of Christ (see Rom 8:10-11, 26-27) and in the future will be given when Christ returns and the believers (along with all creation) receive their full redemption (see Rom 8:22-25).