Original Word: בַּתָּה
Part of Speech: Noun Feminine
Transliteration: battah
Pronunciation: bat-tah'
Phonetic Spelling: (bat-taw')
KJV: desolate
NASB: steep
Word Origin: [feminine from an unused root (meaning to break in pieces)]

1. desolation

desolate

Feminine from an unused root (meaning to break in pieces); desolation -- desolate.

Word Origin
from the same as bath
Definition
a precipice
NASB Translation
steep (1).

[בַּתָּה] noun feminine precipice, steep (as cut off, abrupt) — בְּנַחֲלֵי הַבַּתּוֺת Isaiah 7:9 in the ravines of the precipices.

Overview

Strong’s Hebrew 1327 (בַּתָּה, battâ) designates a thornbush or dense bramble. Its lone biblical appearance, Isaiah 7:19, situates the term within a prophetic announcement of national judgment, yet its imagery resonates with larger biblical themes of curse, wilderness, and eventual restoration.

Biblical Context in Isaiah 7:19

Isaiah 7:19: “They will all come and settle in the steep ravines and in the clefts of the rocks, on all the thornbushes and at all the water holes.”

The swarming flies and bees symbolize the Assyrian and Egyptian forces God will summon. Their settling “on all the thornbushes” depicts a land reverted to uncultivated wildness—an unmistakable sign that divine protection has been withdrawn. The surrounding verses (7:20-25) reinforce the picture: vineyards become wasteland, agriculture collapses, and battâ thrives where crops once grew.

Historical and Cultural Background

Ancient Near-Eastern farmers expended great effort to clear thorns, viewing them as enemies of productivity. Thornbushes harbored vermin, tore clothing, and impeded travel. Thus, a countryside overrun by battâ signaled abandonment and ruin. For covenant Israel, such a landscape also carried theological weight: material desolation mirrored spiritual apostasy.

Symbolism of Thorns in Scripture

• Genesis 3:17-18 – “Thorns and thistles” arise from the ground after Adam’s sin, inaugurating the motif of prickly growth as curse.
• Numbers 33:55; Judges 8:7, 16 – Thorns portray painful consequences of compromise with ungodliness.
• Isaiah 32:13-14 – Palatial structures become “thorns and briers,” picturing national collapse.
• Matthew 7:16; Hebrews 6:8 – Thorns represent fruitlessness and impending fire.

Battâ, though rare, participates in this consistent biblical vocabulary of warning.

Intertextual Connections

Isaiah repeatedly juxtaposes thorny desolation with promised renewal:
• Isaiah 55:13 – “Instead of the thornbush shall come up the cypress.”
• Isaiah 35:1 – The desert “will blossom like the crocus.”

Battâ in 7:19 helps establish the cursed condition that heightens the glory of the future reversal.

Theological and Ministry Implications

1. Covenant Responsibility – Judah’s thorn-ridden fate warns believers against trusting political expedients over God’s word (Isaiah 7:9).
2. Messianic Hope – The Emmanuel sign (Isaiah 7:14) stands amid the thorns, prefiguring Jesus Christ, who later wears a crown of thorns (Matthew 27:29) and absorbs the curse (Galatians 3:13).
3. Spiritual Cultivation – Pastors and teachers may employ battâ as an exhortation to “break up your fallow ground” (Jeremiah 4:3), lest neglected hearts sprout destructive growth.

Practical Application

• Personal reflection: Identify and uproot sinful patterns before they harden like thorny hedges.
• Corporate discipleship: Foster accountability and teaching that keep the church gardened and fruitful.
• Evangelism: Use the imagery of thorns to illustrate humanity’s plight and Christ’s redemptive work that turns wastelands into gardens of grace.

Summary

בַּתָּה appears but once, yet it incisively conveys the consequences of unbelief and the hope of restoration. Within Isaiah’s prophecy it marks the land’s descent into cursed wilderness; within the canon it harmonizes with Genesis’s curse and Revelation’s promise of a thorn-free new creation, underscoring the faithfulness of God’s redemptive plan from beginning to end.

הַבַּתּ֔וֹת הבתות hab·bat·tō·wṯ habbatTot habbattōwṯInterlinear Greek • Interlinear Hebrew • Strong's Numbers • Englishman's Greek Concordance • Englishman's Hebrew Concordance • Parallel Texts