מַשּׁוּאָה (mash.shu.ah)
mash.shu.ah
desolation
H:N-FQuick Reference
- Language
- Biblical Hebrew
- Testament
- Old Testament
- Occurrences
- 2 verses
- Root
- —
- Part of speech
- H:N-F
Word Overview
The Hebrew noun mashshu’ah denotes a state of desolation or ruin. It appears only twice in the Old Testament, both times within the Psalms. In these contexts, it describes a landscape stripped of life and order, reflecting the devastation that follows divine judgment or intense personal distress.
While the singular form points to physical waste, the plural variant mashshu’ot carries a distinct nuance: deception. This shift from concrete ruin to abstract falsehood suggests that what destroys a community is not just external force, but internal betrayal and untruth. The word captures the hollow emptiness left when trust collapses.
Translators typically render this term as "desolation" or "waste," preserving its stark imagery. By limiting its usage to poetic literature, the text emphasizes the emotional weight of loss rather than providing a technical report on destruction. It serves as a reminder that ruin is often experienced as a profound silence where community once thrived.
Based on public-domain lexicons (Strong's, Thayer, Gesenius, Brown-Driver-Briggs and others).
What This Word Means for Your Faith
The word mashshu’ah paints a stark picture of emptiness. It describes places stripped of life and order, often following judgment or deep personal distress. When we encounter this term in Scripture, we are reminded that ruin is not just physical waste but a profound silence where community once thrived.
In Psalm 74, the psalmist looks at the sanctuary and sees perpetual ruins. This imagery helps us understand that even sacred spaces can feel empty when trust collapses. Yet, acknowledging this desolation is the first step toward restoration. God invites us to bring our broken places to Him, knowing He sees the full extent of the damage.
While the singular form points to physical waste, the plural variant carries a nuance of deception. This suggests that what destroys a community is not just external force but internal betrayal. By naming this emptiness, Scripture offers us a path back to wholeness through honesty and reliance on God’s faithfulness.
How it's translated
How this word is rendered word-by-word in the 2 verses where it appears, by frequency.
- to/ deceptions1×
- to/ [the] ruins of1×
Forms in the text
The inflected forms of this word as they appear in Scripture, by frequency.
- לְ/מַשּׁוּאֽוֹת\׃1×
- לְ/מַשֻּׁא֣וֹת1×
Key Verses
-
Psalms 74:3
Lift up your feet to the perpetual ruins, all the evil that the enemy has done in the sanctuary.
This verse explicitly mentions 'perpetual ruins,' directly linking the concept of mashshu’ah to the visible destruction of God's sanctuary by enemies.
-
Psalms 73:18
Surely you set them in slippery places. You throw them down to destruction.
Though the word itself is not in this verse, it provides the theological context for why the wicked end up in such desolation, as described in the surrounding passage.