Shamem (שָׁמֵם) covers two connected responses: (1) the state of desolation — a land or city laid waste, empty, and ruined; and (2) the reaction of astonishment or horror at witnessing such devastation. Both senses appear throughout the prophets. The 'abomination of desolation' (shiquts shomem) in Daniel is built on this root — the sacrilege that makes the Temple desolate and horrifies observers.
Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel all use shamem extensively for the judgment of nations: 'I will make your cities a waste (shamem)' (Ezekiel 35:4). Lamentations uses it for Jerusalem after its fall. The prophetic formula 'waste and desolate' pairs shamem with related words for total ruin. The 'abomination that makes desolate' (shiquts mashomem, Daniel 9:27; 11:31; 12:11) became a technical eschatological term — fulfilled partially by Antiochus Epiphanes (168 BC) and anticipated fully by Jesus (Matthew 24:15) for the Temple's final desolation in 70 AD.
The desolation of the Temple — first symbolized in Daniel, fulfilled in 70 AD — is the ultimate earthly shamem. But Isaiah 54:1 reverses it: 'the children of the desolate one will be more than the children of her who is married.' The barren, desolate place will overflow with new life. The NT application (Galatians 4:27) applies this to the church: once spiritually barren, now fruitful in Christ. Every shamem points forward to the ultimate restoration where 'there will no more be anything cursed' (Revelation 22:3).