A rare noun denoting a state of utter desolation — a place or condition laid waste. Related to the concept of emptiness and formlessness found in the creation account (tohu va-vohu), batah intensifies the picture of complete ruin.
The word batah appears in prophetic contexts to describe divine judgment that brings a land to complete emptiness. It resonates with the primordial void of Genesis 1:2 — tohu — signaling that rebellion against God ultimately reverses creation itself. What God forms in beauty and order, sin reduces to chaos and emptiness. Yet the prophets never leave the picture in desolation: after batah comes restoration. The God who judges is the same God who rebuilds. The wastelands of Judah will become like Eden (Ezekiel 36:35). Desolation is never God's final word.