בּוּקָה
𐤁𐤅𐤒𐤄
bûwqâh
H950 noun
SILEX Entry
Definition
Emptiness, voidness; a space or area made empty, especially as the result of destruction or abandonment. Used substantively to signify a desolate or uninhabited place, often following devastation.
Semantic Range
emptiness, void, a place made empty, devastation, state of being emptied, desolation
Root / Etymology
Root: בּוק. Derived from an otherwise unattested root meaning 'to be emptied' or 'to become hollow.' The form בּוּקָה (feminine passive participle) reflects the state of being emptied. The root meaning ('to be empty, hollow out') underlies the sense of the noun.
Historical & Contextual Notes
בּוּקָה occurs rarely in the Hebrew Bible, most notably in poetic and prophetic texts describing the aftermath of divine judgment or military devastation (e.g., Nahum 2:11(10)). It frequently appears alongside related terms such as מְבוּקָה (mevuqah, 'devastation, emptiness') and מְבֻלָּקָה (mebullaqah, 'desolation, devastation'), together forming a triad of destruction imagery. Unlike other Hebrew nouns for emptiness (such as רֵיק or שָׁמֵם), בּוּקָה usually stresses the result of being emptied out—whether a city, land, or vessel—rather than general vacancy or waste. The word carries strong connotations of abandonment and desolation, rooted in physical emptiness following catastrophe, rather than mere absence or lack. In later interpretation and translations, the term has sometimes been rendered generically as 'desolation' or 'waste,' but the underlying sense connects closely to the vivid image of a place being made hollow and deserted. The context in Nahum highlights the aftermath of Nineveh's fall, employing בּוּקָה to evoke the utter void left behind. There is scant evidence the word was used significantly outside poetic or prophetic discourse.
Original Strong's Gloss (1890)
feminine passive participle of an unused root (meaning to be hollow); emptiness (as adjective); empty.
Bantu Hebrew
No Bantu Hebrew comparisons have been submitted for this word yet.
+ Add Bantu Hebrew WordRoot Family
בוק (b-w-q) — to be empty, to be hollow, to be depleted
| Strong's | Lemma | SIBI-P1 |
|---|---|---|
| H4003 | מְבוּקָה | desolate void |
Word Forms
1 distinct form
| SIDANCE | Surface | Transliteration | Morphology | Common | SIBI-P1 | Occurrences |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
H950-01 |
בּוּקָ֥ה | buqah | HNcfsa |
deserted | emptied-out place | 1 |
Occurrences in Scripture
1 total occurrence
| SIDANCE | Reference | Word | Transliteration | Morphology | Common | SIBI-P1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
H950-01 |
Nahum 2:11 | בּוּקָ֥ה | buqah | HNcfsa |
deserted | emptied-out place |