sha.mem describes places or people brought to ruin, and people left appalled or overwhelmed by what they see.

The supplied verses most often use sha.mem for land, cities, buildings, sanctuaries, and other places brought into a ruined or uninhabited condition. It also describes destructive ruin directed against people or communities, and the appalled or overwhelmed reaction of people confronting calamity or absence of help.

1. Become or make a place ruined · dominant

   In Ezekiel 30:7, Niphal forms describe lands and cities being made desolate amid other devastated places; in Ezekiel 30:12, a Hiphil form occurs in the announced making of Egypt's land desolate. Amos 7:9 applies the same ruin to high places and sanctuaries, while Lamentations 5:18 portrays Mount Zion as lying desolate.

   Ezekiel 30:7Ezekiel 30:12Amos 7:9Lamentations 5:18Leviticus 26:34Jeremiah 19:8
2. Bring destructive ruin on people or a community · occasional

   In 1 Samuel 5:6, the Hiphil form occurs where Ashdod and its territory are devastated and struck. Job 16:7 addresses the ruin of a company, and Ezekiel 20:26 places the action within a purpose clause concerning those made desolate.

   1 Samuel 5:6Job 16:7Ezekiel 20:26Micah 6:13Numbers 21:30Ezekiel 4:17
3. Be appalled or overwhelmed · common

   In Daniel 8:27, the Hithpolel form describes Daniel's response to the vision; the APB renders that response as being "appalled." Isaiah 59:16 likewise describes being appalled because no one intervenes, while Job 21:5 commands hearers to look and be appalled.

   Daniel 8:27Isaiah 59:16Job 21:5Jeremiah 2:12Job 17:8Ezra 9:3

In the Anselm Project Bible: Across these verses, the APB uses expressions such as "desolate," "laid waste," "ruined," "devastated," and "destroyed" for scenes of ruin, and "appalled" or "overwhelmed" for human reaction. Because the APB is a whole-verse translation, those renderings show the clauses' overall presentation rather than fixed equivalents.