שָׁמֵם (shāmēm) can describe a place laid waste, a person stunned or appalled, and devastation that leaves life or movement absent. 15, the prophet sits among the exiles for seven days overwhelmed before speaking.
Reading a lexicon entry
What this page is: Each lexicon entry shows the original Hebrew or Greek word behind the English translation: its meaning, its range of use, and where it appears in Scripture.
Strong's number: The Strong's code (H- or G-) is the standard reference number for this word. It connects this entry to chapter and passage language tabs.
Where it appears: The witness passages show where this word is used in context. Click any to open the study page for that passage.
This lexicon entry is part of our ongoing editorial review. If you notice missing content, unclear wording, or a possible correction, please send us a note through theConnect page. Screenshots are helpful.
Reader summary
Full entry for שָׁמֵם (H8074) · Open the biblical lexicon
שָׁמֵם (shāmēm) can describe a place laid waste, a person stunned or appalled, and devastation that leaves life or movement absent. 15, the prophet sits among the exiles for seven days overwhelmed before speaking.
The BSB source-word alignment has 86 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include will be appalled (6), are appalled (4), desolate (3), are deserted (2), in horror (2).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Leviticus 26:22. Its strongest book concentrations include Ezekiel (23), Jeremiah (11), Isaiah (10), Daniel (8).
H8074 can describe a place laid waste, a person stunned or appalled, and devastation that leaves life or movement absent. In Ezek. 3. 15, the prophet sits among the exiles for seven days overwhelmed before speaking. In Isa. 33. 8, deserted highways accompany broken treaty, despised witnesses, and disregard for human life. In Dan. 9. 18, Daniel asks God to see Jerusalem's desolation and appeals to divine compassion rather than human righteousness.
H8074 opens teaching on trauma-aware presence, devastated infrastructure, moral shock, honest lament, and prayer grounded in mercy. It does not make visible ruin proof of a victim's personal sin, romanticize desolation, or demand immediate explanations from overwhelmed people.
H8074 joins ruined lands, cities, roads, sanctuaries, and harvests with the astonishment, horror, numbness, or self-ruin of observers. The word can name both objective devastation and a human response to it.
I came to the exiles at Tel-abib who dwelt by the River Kebar. And for seven days I sat where they sat and remained there among them, overwhelmed.
Ezekiel sits overwhelmed among the exiles for seven days before his watchman commission proceeds.
The highways are deserted; travel has ceased. The treaty has been broken, the witnesses are despised, and human life is disregarded.
Deserted highways, broken covenant, despised witnesses, and disregarded human life portray social devastation.
Incline Your ear, O my God, and hear; open Your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears Your name. For we are not presenting our petitions before You because of our righteous acts, but because of Your great compassion.
Daniel presents the city's desolation before God and relies on great compassion rather than communal righteousness.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Hebrew word. Devastation that numbs or stuns the observer; desolation as both physical destruction and psychological shock.
Devastation that numbs or stuns the observer; desolation as both physical destruction and psychological shock.
to stun (or intransitively, grow numb), i.e. devastate or (figuratively) stupefy (both usually in a passive sense) BDB: be desolated Usage: make amazed, be astonied, (be an) astonish(-ment), (be, bring into, unto, lay, lie, make) desolate(-ion, places), be destitute, destroy (self), (lay, lie, make) waste, wonder.
How the stem changes the meaning of this verb across the biblical text.
This verb appears through different tense, voice, mood, or stem patterns. Those forms help readers see how the action is presented in context.
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 2 selected witnesses from 86 lexical occurrence verses.
שָׁמֵם is a primitive root - no further derivation.
The word conveys the total and lasting character of Babylon’s ruin.Isaiah 13:17-22
The term underscores the completeness of judgment.Isaiah 15:1-9
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
H8074 gives language to devastation outside and within. Roads fall silent, cities empty, sanctuaries are ruined, and observers become stunned or overwhelmed. Ezekiel's seven days among the exiles model a ministry that first sits where people sit. The silence is not a complete trauma protocol, but it resists instant explanation. Isaiah links empty highways to broken agreements and disregard for human life, showing that desolation includes social trust and public movement, not only damaged buildings.
Daniel prays over Jerusalem's ruin without claiming merit; he appeals to God's compassion. Some passages attribute desolation to covenant judgment, yet application must not infer that modern disaster victims bear special guilt. Faithful response listens, documents losses, restores safe access, prays honestly, and supports rebuilding. Hope does not deny the appalling scene; it expects God to meet people amid ruins and to judge the powers that produced them.
Ezek.3.15
H8074 is a Hebrew verb with senses of being desolate, devastated, appalled, stunned, or brought to ruin. Active, passive, and reflexive forms help distinguish damaged places, affected observers, and self-destructive action.
Jesus speaks of desolation in Jerusalem's future, sits with grief, and promises restoration, while the New Testament calls communities to mourn with those who mourn and to seek a lasting city.