The Hebrew word aven (אָוֶן) carries a rich semantic range: nothingness, vanity, wickedness, trouble, idolatry, and sorrow. It appears in personal names and place names when those locations became associated with false worship. Beth-Aven ("house of wickedness") was Hosea's contemptuous name for Bethel after it became a center of idolatry.
Aven captures the biblical understanding that sin is ultimately emptiness. Those who pursue idols pursue aven — vanity and trouble. Amos uses "Aven" as a place name to condemn the cult high place at Bethel (Amos 1:5). Isaiah condemns those who plow iniquity (aven) and reap trouble. Hosea's use of Beth-Aven instead of Bethel is a biting theological commentary: what was once "house of God" became "house of wickedness." The concept reinforces that idolatry is not merely moral failure but ontological emptiness — pursuing that which is nothing.