Bible Strands
Isaiah 17:1
This is the burden against Damascus: “Behold, Damascus is no longer a city; it has become a heap of ruins.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The prophet delivers a divine oracle against the city of Damascus, declaring its imminent destruction.
The words — מַשָּׂ֖א (ma.Sa') translates literally as "oracle" or "burden," while מְעִ֥י (me.'I) means "ruin" or "heap of rubble."
The thread — This judgment motif recurs in Amos 1:3, where God refuses to revoke His verdict against Damascus, and in Isaiah 25:2, where God makes a fortified city a heap of rubble. Zechariah 9:1 also records a burden against Damascus as a resting place of divine revelation.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that political power and urban fortifications are temporary and subject to divine judgment. It requires the reader to accept that human security cannot withstand the declared removal of a city.
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
The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.
Cross-references
- Amos 1:3 This is what the LORD says: “For three transgressions of Damascus, even four, I will not revoke My judgment, because they threshed Gilead with sledges of iron.
- Isaiah 25:2 Indeed, You have made the city a heap of rubble, the fortified town a ruin. The fortress of strangers is a city no more; it will never be rebuilt.
- Zechariah 9:1 This is the burden of the word of the LORD against the land of Hadrach and Damascus its resting place—for the eyes of men and of all the tribes of Israel are upon the LORD—
- Genesis 14:15 During the night, Abram divided his forces and routed Chedorlaomer’s army, pursuing them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus.
- Isaiah 7:8 For the head of Aram is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin. Within sixty-five years Ephraim will be shattered as a people.
- Jeremiah 49:2 Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will sound the battle cry against Rabbah of the Ammonites. It will become a heap of ruins, and its villages will be burned. Then Israel will drive out their dispossessors, says the LORD.
- Jeremiah 49:23 Concerning Damascus: “Hamath and Arpad are put to shame, for they have heard a bad report; they are agitated like the sea; their anxiety cannot be calmed.
- Micah 1:6 Therefore I will make Samaria a heap of rubble in the open field, a planting area for a vineyard. I will pour her stones into the valley and expose her foundations.
- Acts 9:2 and requested letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any men or women belonging to the Way, he could bring them as prisoners to Jerusalem.
- Genesis 15:2 But Abram replied, “O Lord GOD, what can You give me, since I remain childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?”