Ruins
מַכְשֵׁלָהStrong’s H4384makhshelah (makh-she-lah)
Appears in 2 verses of the Old Testament
In short
Makhshelah is the Hebrew word usually translated “heap of ruins” and “stumbling-blocks”. It appears in 2 verses of the Old Testament.
“When a man shall take hold of his brother of the house of his father, saying, Thou hast clothing, be thou our ruler, and let this ruin be under thy hand:”
Meaning
- Overthrown mass, stumbling-block, something overthrown, decay, ruinthing overthrown (figurative of kingdom) · stumbling-block (of idols)
How it's translated
- and the heap of ruins 1
- and the stumbling-blocks 1
Word-by-word English from the STEPBible tagged text.
Where it's used most
- Isaiah 1
- Zephaniah 1
2 books in all.
Hebrew dictionary
מַכְשֵׁלָה makhshelah · ruins
1) overthrown mass, stumbling-block, something overthrown, decay, ruin 1a) thing overthrown (figurative of kingdom) 1b) stumbling-block (of idols)
From STEPBible’s Hebrew lexicon (based on Brown-Driver-Briggs).
Webster's 1828 Dictionary
How the English word “ruin” was understood when the King James Version was still the common Bible of English readers.
RU'IN, noun
[Latin ruo, to fall, to rush down.]
- Destruction; fall; overthrow; defeat; that change of any thing which destroys it, or entirely defeats its object, or unfits it for use; as the ruin of a house; the ruin of a ship or an army; the ruin of a constitution of government; the ruin of health; the ruin of commerce; the ruin of public or private happiness; the ruin of a project.
- Mischief; bane; that which destroys.
- ruin more generally ruins, the remains of a decayed or demolished city, house, fortress, or any work of art or other thing; as the ruins of Balbec, Palmyra or Persepolis; the ruins of a wall; a castle in ruins.
- The decayed or enfeebled remains of a natural object; as, the venerable old man presents a great mind in ruins.
All definitions and other forms of “ruin”
- The cause of destruction.“They were the ruin of him and of all Israel” 2 Chronicles 28:23
- To demolish; to pull down, burn, or otherwise destroy; as, to ruin a city or an edifice.
- To subvert; to destroy; as, to ruin a state or government.
- To destroy; to bring to an end; as, to ruin commerce or manufactures.
- To destroy in any manner; as, to ruin health or happiness; to ruin reputation.
- To counteract; to defeat; as, to ruin a plan or project.
- To deprive of felicity or fortune.
- To impoverish; as, to be ruined by speculation.
- To bring to everlasting misery; as, to ruin the soul.
RU'IN, verb intransitive
- To fall into ruins.
- To run to ruin; to fall into decay or be dilapidated.
- To be reduced; to be brought to poverty or misery.
Noah Webster, An American Dictionary of the English Language (1828). Verse references are checked against the KJV. Read the full entry.
Verses are from the King James Version. Word meanings come from the original Hebrew, not from any one translation.