950. buqah

Lexical Summary

buqah: Emptiness, void, desolation

Original Word: בּוּקָה
Part of Speech: Noun Feminine
Transliteration: buwqah
Pronunciation: boo-kah'
Phonetic Spelling: (boo-kaw')
KJV: empty
NASB: emptied
Word Origin: [feminine passive participle of an unused root (meaning to be hollow)]

1. emptiness (as adjective)

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance

empty

Feminine passive participle of an unused root (meaning to be hollow); emptiness (as adjective) -- empty.

NAS Exhaustive Concordance

Word Origin
from an unused word
Definition
emptiness
NASB Translation
emptied (1).

Brown-Driver-Briggs

בּוּקָה noun feminine emptiness, Nahum 2:11 בּוּקה וּמְבוּקָה וּמְבֻלָּקֱה emptiness and void and waste.

Topical Lexicon

Biblical Usage

בּוּקָה appears once, in Nahum 2:10: “Devastation, desolation, and destruction! Hearts melt, knees knock, bodies tremble, every face grows pale”. Within Nahum’s oracle, the noun surfaces in a rapid three-fold lament that depicts the collapse of Nineveh. Together with the parallel terms “desolation” and “destruction,” it conveys a scene emptied of life, strength, and hope.

Historical Context

Nahum prophesied during the late seventh century BC, when Assyria’s power was waning but its cruelty still fresh in Judah’s memory (compare 2 Kings 19:35–37). Nineveh’s impending fall (fulfilled in 612 BC) signals the end of an empire that had once exiled Israel (2 Kings 17:6). בּוּקָה captures the stunned vacuum left when a seemingly invincible metropolis is reduced to rubble. The prophets often employed vivid word-pairs and triplets; here the terse succession of terms dramatizes the rapid, irresistible judgment of God upon prideful oppressors.

Theological Significance

1. Divine Retribution. The term illustrates the certainty of God’s justice. What Assyria inflicted on others is now returned upon her (see Nahum 1:2).
2. Totality of Judgment. בּוּקָה suggests an emptied shell, highlighting that divine judgment reaches beyond military defeat to moral and spiritual desolation (Isaiah 24:1).
3. Covenant Assurance. For Judah, Nineveh’s emptiness validates the Lord’s promise to defend His people (Nahum 1:7). Judgment on the wicked is inseparable from deliverance for the righteous.

Related Biblical Imagery

Scripture frequently links emptiness with judgment: Babylon becomes “a heap of ruins” (Jeremiah 51:37), Edom “a wasteland forever” (Malachi 1:4). The motif warns that unchecked arrogance ends in utter void, while also prefiguring the final desolation of worldly systems opposed to God (Revelation 18:19).

Practical Ministry Implications

• Preaching: בּוּקָה offers a sober reminder that no culture, institution, or individual is immune to accountability before God.
• Counseling: The word pictures the inner emptiness sin produces, pointing counselees to the fullness found in Christ (John 10:10).
• Missions and Social Action: Nahum’s prophecy motivates believers to stand against oppression, confident that the Lord will ultimately empty every tyrannical power.

Summary

בּוּקָה encapsulates the irreversible emptiness that follows divine judgment. Its lone appearance in Nahum amplifies the prophet’s message: God decisively overturns human pride, vindicates His covenant people, and exposes the hollowness of all who trust in their own strength.

Forms and Transliterations

בּוּקָ֥ה בוקה bū·qāh buKah būqāh

Englishman's Concordance

Nahum 2:10
HEB: בּוּקָ֥ה וּמְבוּקָ֖ה וּמְבֻלָּקָ֑ה
NAS: She is emptied! Yes, she is desolate
KJV: She is empty, and void, and waste:
INT: is emptied is desolate and waste

1 Occurrence

Strong's Hebrew 950
1 Occurrence

bū·qāh — 1 Occ.