Bible Strands
Isaiah 10:29
They have crossed at the ford: “We will spend the night at Geba.” Ramah trembles; Gibeah of Saul flees.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The prophet addresses the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem as the Assyrian army pushes southward through Benjaminite territory. The message is delivered during a military campaign where enemy forces are moving toward the capital.
The words — The text highlights עָֽבְרוּ ('a.ve.Ru) meaning "they have passed over" and חָֽרְדָה (cha.re.Dah) meaning "it has trembled." These verbs track the enemy's advance and the terrified response of local towns.
The thread — The locations Geba and Ramah appear in 1 Samuel 7:17 as a priestly and judicial center, and in Joshua 21:17 as a Levitical city. The military route through these towns reappears in 1 Samuel 13:23 at the pass at Michmash.
Why it lands — The passage demands recognition that geographic proximity to the enemy brings immediate fear and displacement. It requires the reader to acknowledge that political alliances cannot prevent military conquest when divine judgment is active.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
They are gone over the passage: they have taken up their lodging at Geba; Ramah is afraid; Gibeah of Saul is fled.
Cross-references
- 1 Samuel 7:17 Then he would return to Ramah because his home was there, and there he judged Israel and built an altar to the LORD.
- 1 Samuel 13:23 And a garrison of the Philistines had gone out to the pass at Michmash.
- Joshua 21:17 And from the tribe of Benjamin they gave them Gibeon, Geba,
- 1 Samuel 11:4 When the messengers came to Gibeah of Saul and relayed these words in the hearing of the people, they all wept aloud.
- Jeremiah 31:15 This is what the LORD says: “A voice is heard in Ramah, mourning and great weeping, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.”
- Joshua 18:24 Chephar-ammoni, Ophni, and Geba—twelve cities, along with their villages.
- Judges 19:12 But his master replied, “We will not turn aside to the city of foreigners, where there are no Israelites. We will go on to Gibeah.”
- 1 Samuel 13:2 He chose for himself three thousand men of Israel: Two thousand were with Saul at Michmash and in the hill country of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin. And the rest of the troops he sent away, each to his own home.
- 1 Samuel 13:16 Now Saul and Jonathan his son and the troops with them were staying in Geba of Benjamin, while the Philistines camped at Michmash.
- 1 Samuel 14:4 Now there were cliffs on both sides of the pass that Jonathan intended to cross to reach the Philistine outpost. One was named Bozez and the other Seneh.