הֲרִיסוּת
ha.ri.sut
ruins
Lexicon Entry
Lexicon data from STEPBible TIPNR, Tyndale House, Cambridge. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
What Original Readers Understood
Supported# Analytical Synthesis: הֲרִיסוּת (harisut) The Hebrew word הֲרִיסוּת translates as "ruins" and appears only once in the biblical text. As a noun denoting the physical remains of destroyed structures, it describes places reduced to rubble or desolation. The singular occurrence in biblical literature means this particular word form represents a rare lexical choice, though it clearly belongs to a semantic field concerned with destruction and devastation. Given the hapax legomenon status (appearing only once), we cannot establish a broad range of usage or idiomatic patterns from the biblical corpus itself. The word's meaning remains straightforward and literal—it designates the concrete result of destruction. The lexicon provides no data on whether the term carries metaphorical significance, theological weight, or literary context that would distinguish it from other Hebrew words for ruins or destruction. Without additional occurrences, its specific nuance within Hebrew vocabulary remains fixed to its single biblical appearance.
Source data & methodology
Occurrences in Scripture
1 total occurrence across the text