Baqaq means to empty completely, to devastate, or to depopulate. It is onomatopoeic, possibly imitating the sound of liquid pouring out until empty. The word appears primarily in prophetic literature describing total divine judgment that empties a land of its people, wealth, and vitality.
Baqaq paints judgment in the starkest possible terms: not partial diminishment but total emptying. Isaiah 24:1 opens with God about to lay waste the earth — baqaq — and scatter its inhabitants. This eschatological emptying is the consequence of broken covenant. Theologically, it underscores that sin ultimately leads to desolation. Yet judgment is never God's final word — after the emptying comes the restoration (Isaiah 40:1-2). The contrast between baqaq (emptying) and God's filling (Isaiah 40:5 — the glory revealed) structures much of Isaiah's prophetic hope.