Bible Strands
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.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jeremiah delivers a prophetic oracle concerning Damascus, positioned between the judgment against Edom and the description of Damascus's own panic. The passage addresses the Syrian cities of Hamath and Arpad during a moment of impending divine confrontation.
The words — The Hebrew verb בּוֹשָׁה (boshah) translates literally as "it will be put to shame," describing the reaction of Hamath and Arpad to a רָעָה (ra'ah) or "bad report" they have heard. This lexical pairing establishes the direct link between the news received and their subsequent psychological collapse.
The thread — Hamath and Arpad appear in 2 Kings 18:34 as locations associated with foreign gods and in Isaiah 10:9 as geographical markers used to demonstrate the certainty of judgment. Jeremiah 49:23 extends this pattern by depicting their sudden, uncontainable agitation rather than their military defeat.
Why it lands — The text requires the reader to observe how regional powers experience sudden psychological collapse when confronted with unavoidable judgment. It demands recognition that fear and panic operate independently of human control or diplomatic calm.
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
Concerning Damascus. Hamath is confounded, and Arpad: for they have heard evil tidings: they are fainthearted; there is sorrow on the sea; it cannot be quiet.
Cross-references
- 2 Kings 18:34 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? Have they delivered Samaria from my hand?
- Isaiah 10:9 “Is not Calno like Carchemish? Is not Hamath like Arpad? Is not Samaria like Damascus?
- Genesis 14:15 During the night, Abram divided his forces and routed Chedorlaomer’s army, pursuing them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus.
- 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?”
- Isaiah 57:20 But the wicked are like the storm-tossed sea, for it cannot be still, and its waves churn up mire and muck.
- Numbers 13:21 So they went up and spied out the land from the Wilderness of Zin as far as Rehob, toward Lebo-hamath.
- 2 Kings 19:13 Where are the kings of Hamath, Arpad, Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?’”
- Nahum 2:10 She is emptied! Yes, she is desolate and laid waste! Hearts melt, knees knock, bodies tremble, and every face grows pale!
- Deuteronomy 20:8 Then the officers shall speak further to the army, saying, “Is any man afraid or fainthearted? Let him return home, so that the hearts of his brothers will not melt like his own.”
- Joshua 2:11 When we heard this, our hearts melted and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for the LORD your God is God in the heavens above and on the earth below.