שְׁמָמָה
shᵉmâmâh · H8077 · Hebrew · 57 occurrences
Meanings
-
desolation
State in which an area has become empty as a result of destruction and depopulation
ExamplesExodus 23:29 “I will not drive them out from you in a single year, so that the land will not become desolate and the animals of the field become too numerous for you.
Leviticus 26:33 ‘You, however, I will scatter among the nations, and I will draw out a sword after you, as your land becomes desolate and your cities become ruins.
Joshua 8:28 So Joshua burned Ai and made it a refuse heap forever, a desolation until this day.
-
horror
Literally: desolation; hence: causative process by which tragic circumstances cause humans to be in deep shock
ExamplesEzekiel 7:27 ‘The king will mourn, the prince will be clothed in horror, and the hands of the people of the land will tremble. I will deal with them because of their conduct, and by their judgments I will judge them. And they will know that I am the LORD.’”
Ezekiel 23:33 ‘You will be filled with drunkenness and grief, A cup of horror and desolation, The cup of your sister Samaria.
How it’s used In 8 roles
Every occurrence, grouped by the words it is grammatically related to.
the word studied the word it goes with
Whose, or of whatGenitive or possessive
4 occurrences in 1 groups
- עוֹלָםforever 4
Named alongside itApposition
5 occurrences in 4 groups
- מָעוֹןdwelling place 2
- חׇרְבָּהdesolation 1
- אֶרֶץland, earth, ground 1
- תֵּלmound, heap of ruins 1
What it doesIt is the subject
1 occurrences in 1 groups
- אָמַרto say 1
What is done to itIt is the object
16 occurrences in 3 groups
- הָיָהto be, to become 14
- לָבַשׁto put on, to clothe, to wear 1
- עָשָׂהto do, to make 1
Second object ofSecond object
14 occurrences in 2 groups
- נָתַןto give, to put, to set 10
- שׂוּםto put, to set, to place 4
What is said to be itIt is the predicate
2 occurrences in 2 groups
- הוּאhe, she, it 1
- אֶרֶץland, earth, ground 1
After prepositionsPrepositional phrases
12 occurrences in 2 groups
- לto/for 19
- אֵלto, toward 2
In phrases “… of it”It is the genitive
5 occurrences in 3 groups
- מִדְבָּרwilderness, desert 3
- כּוֹסcup 1
- תֵּלmound, heap of ruins 1
When two words share a role, as in “Paul and Barnabas said”, the verse appears under each, so a section’s counts can add up to more than the number of occurrences.
MACULA Greek Linguistic Datasets, available at https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek/, licensed CC BY 4.0; MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets © 2022-2024 by Biblica, Inc., CC BY 4.0. Westminster Leningrad Codex (tanach.us). OpenScriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (hb.openscriptures.org), CC BY 4.0.
Near synonyms 1 word
- יְשִׁימוֹן yᵉshîymôwn · H3452 · wilderness
- Both denote barren, uninhabited land, wasteland or wilderness. שְׁמָמָה (shᵉmâmâh, H8077) also extends to emotional desolation.
In the other Testament 2 words
- ἔρημος érēmos · G2048 · uninhabited, deserted, desert
- Greek ἔρημος denotes wilderness/desolation with both adjectival (waste, deserted) and substantival (wilderness place) uses; Hebrew שְׁמָמָה specifically emphasizes the state of desolation/devastation as a result of destruction or abandonment, making ἔρημος a natural rendering in LXX contexts describing desolated lands.
- ἀφανισμός aphanismós · G854 · to cease to exist, to disappear, to die
- Greek ἀφανισμός emphasizes the act/process of vanishing or being destroyed (abrogation, disappearance), while Hebrew שְׁמָמָה denotes the resulting state of desolation or wasteland; LXX translators use ἀφανισμός to render the ruination aspect of שְׁמָמָה in judgment contexts.
Semantic domains 2 entries
- Non-Contain002002001004
- This noun denotes a state of desolation or emptiness, as in Exodus 23:29's assurance that the LORD will not drive out the land's inhabitants all at once, lest the land itself become desolate.
- Grieve002001002013
- This domain reflects the dismay associated with this noun's close synonym, elsewhere in its occurrences describing onlookers' reaction to desolation rather than being illustrated by the citations sampled here, which describe the desolate state itself.
Word family 8 words
Words formed from the same root. They share a form, not always a meaning.
Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon H8077. shemamah or shimamah שְׁמָמָה55 noun feminine a devastation, waste; — absolute ׳שׁ…
or shimamah שְׁמָמָה55 noun feminine a devastation, waste; — absolute ׳שׁ Exo 23:29 +; plural construct שִׁמְמוֺת Jer 51:26 +; — waste, usually of land, city, house, etc., Exo 23:29 (E), Isa 1:7 (probably strike out, with words following StuJP Th. 1877, 714 FBJBL (1890), 84), Lev 26:33 (H), Jer 4:27 Jer 4:14t. Jeremiah (|| ונו ׳אָדָם מֵאֵין Jer 32:43, ישֵׁב מֵאֵין Jer 34:22), Eze 6:14 18t. Ezekiel (Eze 35:7 a read וּמְשַׁמָּה שְׁמָמָה for וּשְׁמָמָה ִשׁמְמָה ᵑ0, so Hi Co Toy Krae and others) +; of prince, שׁ ׳יִלְבַּשׁ Eze 7:27; of idols Mic 1:7; ושׁ שַׁמָּה ׳כּוֺם Eze 23:33. — Eze 35:12 see שׁמם
Qal.
ִשׁמְמָה Eze 35:7 see foregoing.
Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), public domain
Topical studies with this word 2 entries
Meanings adapted from the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament, © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0 and the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew (from the Semantic Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew), © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0; MACULA Greek Linguistic Datasets, available at https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek/, licensed CC BY 4.0; MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets © 2022-2024 by Biblica, Inc., CC BY 4.0. Westminster Leningrad Codex (tanach.us). OpenScriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (hb.openscriptures.org), CC BY 4.0.
Sources
eRhema lexical overview, based on the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew and the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament (© United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Macula Hebrew and Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0); released under CC BY-SA 4.0
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