For Nothing

"for nothing; for no purpose; useless; without a cause; for no reason." The 32 appearances of this word are scattered throughout every period of biblical Hebrew.

This substantive is used chiefly as an adverb. Hinnam means "for nought": "And Laban said unto Jacob, Because thou are my brother, shouldest thou therefore serve me for nought tell me, what shall thy wages be" (Gen 29:15, the first occurrence). The word means "in vain," or "for no purpose": "Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird" (Prov 1:17). Finally, hinnam means "for no cause": "…Wherefore then wilt thou sin against innocent blood, to slay David without a cause" (1Sam 19:5). The verb hanan and the noun hen are related to this word.