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Desolation Described: Prepositions, Relative Clauses, and Poetic Imagery in Lamentations 5:18
Lamentations 5:18
עַ֤ל הַר־צִיֹּון֙ שֶׁשָּׁמֵ֔ם שׁוּעָלִ֖ים הִלְּכוּ־בֹֽו׃
Desolation’s Location: עַל הַר־צִיּוֹן
עַל (“upon”) is a preposition introducing the place affected.
הַר־צִיּוֹן — “Mount Tsiyon (Zion),” a construct phrase with the article prefixed to הַר (“mountain”) and bound to צִיּוֹן (Zion)
This locates the tragedy not just geographically but symbolically — Zion was the site of the temple, God’s dwelling place, now devastated.
Relative Clause: שֶׁשָּׁמֵם
שֶׁ is a relative pronoun (“which, that”) introducing a descriptive clause.
שָּׁמֵם — Qal perfect 3ms of שׁ־מ־ם (“to be desolate”) with dagesh forte for doubling
Together: “which is desolate” — emphasizing Zion’s ruined state, a key theme of Lamentations.… Learn Hebrew
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