Cucumber field

Because of an invasion (probably of Assyrians), Daughter Zion  is left like a hut in a “cucumber field” (Isaiah 1:8).  It’s clearly an image of diminished glory: Jerusalem or the temple was once a glory of the earth, now it’s no more than a hut.

But Isaiah probably chose the word because it forms a pun.  Cucumber field is miqshah while “sanctuary” is miqdash (built from qadash , “holy”).  Daughter Zion has been reduced from Yahweh’s holy dwelling place, His miqdash , to a lowly bungalow.