---
title: בָּלַק — waste · The Tanakh dictionary
description: בָּלַק (1110), a word of Biblical Hebrew, used 2 times: waste. BDB 1906: vb. waste, lay waste. With 2 verses in Hebrew, word for word and JPS 1917.
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/tanakh/w/1110.html)

<!-- crumbs -->
[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [dictionaries](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/) / [Tanakh](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/tanakh/) / [ב](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/tanakh/1489-2.md)‎ / בָּלַק‎

<!-- .hw dir=rtl lang=hbo -->
# בָּלַק

<!-- .meta -->
«בָּלַק» in the Tanakh dictionary: **waste** — how often it is used, MACULA's glosses, its meanings in the printed dictionaries and why they were chosen, and 2 verses in layers.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Used:** 2 times · **Key:** 1110 · **BDB:** בָּלַק

### Glosses

\[he (1); devastation (1)

### Meaning (OSHB)

waste [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1489/1110/#m1)

### Meaning (BDB 1906)

vb. waste, lay waste [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1489/1110/#m2)

<!-- fold -->
**The whole BDB entry:** vb. waste, lay waste (Assyrian balâḳu, Pi. destroy, LyonSargon 61; cf. Arabic بَلُّوقَةٌ a desert)— Pt. without מ, sf. בּוֹלְקָהּ Is 24:1 (‖ בּוֹקֵק, subj. י׳, obj. הארץ);—on form (which might also be Qal Pt.) cf. Ol§ 254 LagGN 1882, 403; also בקק Po. Je 51:2, and intensive use of Inf. abs. Niph. Is 24:3; further Pu. (i.e. intens.) Pt. Na 2:11 (this however perhaps largely influenced by assonance). Pt. מְבֻלָּקָ֑ה Na 2:11 (בּוּקָה וּמְבוּקָה ומב׳), devastated, or as subst. a devastated city.

<!-- .note -->
Why these entries: BDB: headword, part of speech differs, 2 of its verses cited, 0 words shared with the glosses, lists its Strong's number (2 candidates); OSHB: headword, part of speech differs, 1 words shared with the BDB entry, 0 with the glosses (2 candidates)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every English meaning of «בָּלַק» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1489/1110/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.

### In the verses

<!-- div verse -->

<!-- .ref -->
[Isaiah 24:1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/ISA.24.1/)

<!-- .vt dir=rtl lang=hbo -->
הִנֵּ֧ה יְהוָ֛ה בּוֹקֵ֥ק הָאָ֖רֶץ וּבֽוֹלְקָ֑הּ וְעִוָּ֣ה פָנֶ֔יהָ וְהֵפִ֖יץ יֹשְׁבֶֽיהָ׃

*Word for word:* here! Yahweh \[is\].about.to.lay.waste the earth and \[he is\].about.to.devastate.it and he.will.twist surface its and he.will.scatter inhabitants its

*JPS 1917:* Behold, the LORD maketh the earth empty and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof.

<!-- /div -->

<!-- div verse -->

<!-- .ref -->
[Nahum 2:11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/NAM.2.11/)

<!-- .vt dir=rtl lang=hbo -->
בּוּקָ֥ה וּמְבוּקָ֖ה וּמְבֻלָּקָ֑ה וְלֵ֨ב נָמֵ֜ס וּפִ֣ק בִּרְכַּ֗יִם וְחַלְחָלָה֙ בְּכָל־מָתְנַ֔יִם וּפְנֵ֥י כֻלָּ֖ם קִבְּצ֥וּ פָארֽוּר׃

*Word for word:* emptiness and emptiness and devastation and a.heart melting and tottering of.knees and anguish \[is\].in all loins and the.faces all.of.them their they.have.gathered a.glow

*JPS 1917:* She is empty, and void, and waste; and the heart melteth, and the knees smite together, and convulsion is in all loins, and the faces of them all have gathered blackness.

<!-- /div -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [בִּלְעָם](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/tanakh/w/lemma_3a_5d1_5b4_5bc_5dc_5b0_5e2_5b8_5dd.md)
- next →: [בָּלָק](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/tanakh/w/1111.md)
- ↑ back to [ב](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/tanakh/1489-2.md)