Behold, he travaileth with iniquity,.... Is full of it, and big with it, as a woman with child, and eagerly desires to bring it forth, and is in pain till he commits it; and hath conceived mischief; that which is injurious to God and the perfections of his nature, a transgression of his law, and an affront to his justice and holiness, is doing wrong to fellow creatures, and harm to themselves, either to their name and credit, or to their substance and estates, or to their bodies and souls, and it may be to them all; and yet this they conceive, they devise it in their hearts, and form schemes how to bring it to pass, and which they do with great freedom, deliberation, and pleasure; and brought forth falsehood; or "vanity" (k), or a vain thing, as the same word is rendered in Job 15:35; no fruit at all, but wind, or stubble, Isa 26:17; that which deceives does not answer the expectation, but the contrary to it; the sense is, that wicked men having devised mischievous things against the saints, they are big with expectations of success, and strive to bring their purposes to bear, but are miserably disappointed, for it all ends in vanity and vexation of spirit to themselves. (k) "rem inanem", so some in Vatablus; "vanitatem", Gejerum.