H4923 H4923
Devastation, desolation, waste -- the ruined state of land laid waste by divine judgment; also horror at such ruin.
A feminine noun synonymous with shammah, denoting devastation, desolation, or the horrifying waste left after divine judgment. Ezekiel uses it repeatedly when pronouncing doom on the land of Israel: 'I will make the land a desolation and a waste' (Ezek 6:14; 33:28-29; 35:3, 7). In Ezekiel 5:15 it extends to mean the 'horror' that Jerusalem's fate will evoke among the nations. The plural meshammot appears in Isaiah 15:6 and Jeremiah 48:34 for the dried-up, ruined waters of Moab. French 'desolation' and German 'Entsetzen' (horror) together capture the word's double edge: both the physical ruin and the emotional shock it produces.
Senses
1. devastation, desolation — Devastation, desolation, or waste -- the ruined condition of land or places after catastrophic judgment, and by extension the horror or appalling reaction such ruin provokes. French 'desolation' and German 'Entsetzen' (horror) together illustrate the word's semantic range. In Ezekiel 6:14 and 33:28-29 God declares he will make the land 'a desolation and a waste' (shemamah u-meshammah), with the near-synonym intensifying the picture; Ezekiel 35:3, 7 applies the same to Mount Seir. In Ezekiel 5:15 the nuance shifts toward horror: Jerusalem will become a 'reproach and a horror' to surrounding nations. The plural in Isaiah 15:6 and Jeremiah 48:34 describes Moab's waters gone dry -- a landscape of total ruin. 7×
AR["خَرَائِبَ", "لِلدَّمَارِ", "وَ-دَهْشَةً", "وَ-مُقْفِرَةً", "وَمُقْفِرَةً"]·ben["আর-শূন্যতা", "ও-জনশূন্য।", "ও-বিস্ময়", "ও-শূন্য", "ধ্বংস-স্থান", "ধ্বংসস্থানের-জন্য"]·DE["[למשמות]", "[משמות]", "und-Entsetzen"]·EN["and-devastation", "and-horror", "and-waste", "desolations", "for-desolations"]·FR["[למשמות]", "[משמות]", "et-désolation"]·heb["ו-משמה", "ל-משמות", "משמות"]·HI["उजाड़", "और-उजाड़", "और-बसने-वाला", "और-वीरानी", "के-लिए-वीरानी"]·ID["dan-kengerian", "dan-kesunyian", "dan-sepi", "dan-sepi,", "dan-tandus", "menjadi-ketandusan", "sunyi-senyap"]·IT["[למשמות]", "[משמות]", "e-desolazione"]·jav["dados-sepen", "lan-gempang", "lan-kaélokaning", "lan-risak", "suwung"]·KO["그리고-놀라움이", "그리고-황량함으로", "그리고-황무로", "황폐로-", "황폐하게-"]·PT["desolações", "e-assolamento", "e-devastação", "e-horror", "para-desolação"]·RU["в-опустошение", "и-опустошением", "и-опустошённой", "и-ужасом", "опустошением"]·ES["desoladas", "en-desolación", "y-desolada,", "y-desolada.", "y-devastada", "y-horror"]·SW["maangamizi", "na-maangamizi", "na-mshangao", "na-uharibifu", "ukiwa"]·TR["-için-viraneler", "ve-viran", "ve-ıssızlık", "ve-şaşkınlık", "viraneler"]·urd["اور-اجڑا", "و-اجاڑ", "و-حیرت", "ویران", "ویرانی"]
Related Senses
H4421 1. war, battle, armed conflict (319×)H0341 1. enemy, adversary, foe (284×)H3898a 1. Nifal: to fight, wage war (167×)H2026 1. kill, slay (active) (146×)H2451 1. wisdom, discernment (146×)H5483b 1. horse (the animal) (138×)H0006 1. to perish, be destroyed (105×)H7843 1. Hifil: destroy, annihilate (83×)H2491a 1. slain, fatally pierced (74×)H6862c 1. adversary, enemy, foe (69×)H8045 1. destroy, exterminate (69×)G0615 1. kill, put to death (60×)H6571b 1. horseman, cavalryman (52×)H8077a 1. desolation, waste (abstract state) (52×)G4678 1. of wisdom (51×)G4717 1. crucify, fasten to a cross (46×)H2763a 1. utterly destroy (Hifil active) (44×)G0622 1. perish, be destroyed (intransitive) (41×)H0006 2. to destroy, annihilate (Piel) (38×)H8074 1. be desolate, lie waste (36×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† מְשַׁמָּה n.f. = שַׁמָּה;—abs. 1. = devastation, waste, וְנָתַתִּי אֶת־הָאָרֶץ שְׁמָמָה וּמ׳ Ez 6:14; 33:28, cf. v 29 35:3, + 35:7a, v. שְׁמָמָה" dir="rtl" >שְׁמָמָה; pl. מְשַׁמּוֹת Is 15:6 = Je 48:34. 2. horror, וְהָֽיְתָה חֶרְפָּה … וּמ׳ Ez 5:15.