Hebrew word · H4654

מַפֵּלָה

mapalah

ruin

A fallen thing: ruin, rubble-heap. It comes from naphal, 'to fall'.

Appears 3 times in 3 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

a ruin

Also means: map.pa.lah (מַפָּלָה "ruin" H4654A)

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Isaiah 23:13

Range of meaning

A fallen thing: ruin, rubble-heap. It comes from naphal, 'to fall'.

Against the English

All major versions have 'ruin'. The English is accurate, though the Hebrew is more concrete: a heap of collapsed masonry.

Used elsewhere in the period

Isaiah 17:1 (Damascus 'a heap of ruins'), Isaiah 25:2 (a fortified city made 'a ruin').

From the study of Isaiah 25:2

Range of meaning

'Ruin, a fallen mass', from the verb nāpal, 'to fall'. Found only in Isaiah: 17:1 (Damascus 'removed from being a city' and become 'a heap of ruins'), 23:13 (Tyre/Chaldea: 'he made it a ruin', with the same verb śîm), and here.

Against the English

'Ruin' (BSB, KJV, WEB, YLT) fits. English misses the root picture of falling, which pairs with the city's 'height' and walls.

Used elsewhere in the period

The rare word appears only in Isaiah. It recurs with the idiom 'from being a city' (17:1) and with the verb 'set/make' (23:13). This suggests a recognisable Isaianic formula for the fall of a hostile city.

Where it appears

Isaiah · 3

  1. Isaiah 17:1 מַפָּלָֽה׃ a ruin

    This is the burden against Damascus: “Behold, Damascus is no longer a city; it has become a heap of ruins.

    Here: From 'to fall': a collapsed thing, a ruin. Paired with 'heap', it gives 'a heap of collapse', the image of walls and houses fallen in on themselves.

  2. Isaiah 23:13 לְמַפֵּלָֽה׃ <into> a ruin

    Look at the land of the Chaldeans—a people now of no account. The Assyrians destined it for the desert creatures; they set up their siege towers and stripped its palaces. They brought it to ruin.

    Here: From the root 'to fall': a fallen heap, a pile of rubble. Isaiah 17:1 uses it of Damascus becoming 'a heap of ruins'. The verse ends on this word, the final state of the land.

  3. Isaiah 25:2 לְמַפֵּלָ֑ה into a ruin

    Indeed, You have made the city a heap of rubble, the fortified town a ruin. The fortress of strangers is a city no more; it will never be rebuilt.

    Here: 'Into a ruin'. The noun comes from the verb 'to fall' and means literally 'a fallen thing'. It is a rare word, used only by Isaiah (17:1; 23:13; here), always for a fallen city.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.