Bible Strands
Jeremiah 49:24
Damascus has become feeble; she has turned to flee. Panic has gripped her; anguish and pain have seized her like a woman in labor.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The prophet Jeremiah delivers an oracle against Damascus to the surrounding nations during a period of regional military crisis. The declaration follows the reported shame of Hamath and Arpad and immediately precedes a rhetorical question regarding the city's abandonment.
The words — The Hebrew רָפְתָ֥ה (ra.fe.Tah) literally means "it will be disheartened" or weakened, while רֶ֣טֶט (Re.tet) denotes a sudden panic or trembling. These terms describe Damascus's physical collapse and psychological flight.
The thread — The panic and labor pains imagery continues the judgment sequence against Aram in Jeremiah 49, linking directly to the shaken nations in Jeremiah 49:23 and the rhetorical question about the forsaken city in Jeremiah 49:25. Similar siege-induced terror appears in Isaiah 13:8 and Isaiah 21:3.
Why it lands — The text records Damascus's forced retreat and visceral distress before drawing any theological conclusion about divine judgment. It requires the reader to recognize how geopolitical arrogance collapses under sudden, inescapable pressure.
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
Damascus is waxed feeble, and turneth herself to flee, and fear hath seized on her: anguish and sorrows have taken her, as a woman in travail.