Jeremiah 49:24

tata) Damascus; convertit se ad fugam; et tremor apprehendit eam; angustia et dolores tenuerunt eam tanquam parturientem. As the clock strikes, I will not proceed further. PRAYER Grant, Almighty God, that as thou settest before our eyes memorable judgments which ought to benefit us at this day, so that we may be kept under thy yoke and under the fear of thy law, — O grant, that we may not grow hard at such threatenings, but anticipate thy wrath, and so submit to thee, that whatever thou denouncest on the ungodly may turn to our comfort, and for a cause of joy, when we know that the salvation of thy church is thus promoted, of which thou hast been pleased to regard and acknowledge us as members in thy Son our Lord. — Amen. Lecture One Hundred and Seventy-seventh Jeremiah 49:24 24. 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. 24. Remissa est (vel, debilitata

But, as I have already said, the words of the Prophet are thus perverted. Now, if we read for v, beth, k, caph, which denotes likeness, the meaning would be very suitable, as a sea of dread, or a turbulent sea (a noun in the genitive case instead of an adjective, a common thing in Scripture) which cannot rest or be still. [42] As to the general meaning of the passage, there is not much difference; for the Prophet intends to show that the Syrians would be like a turbulent sea, which is tossed here and there, so that the waves conflict together. If any one prefers to refer this to sailors, the meaning would be still materially the same. The sum of what is said then is, that as the Syrians had been terrible to all, so they would be frightened at the mere report of war, and so much so as to melt away and not be able to stand their ground, like the sea, which, when a tempest rages, has no rest, but is driven in all directions. He afterwards adds, -- There are several copies in which the k, caph, is found, and it is evidently the most suitable reading, — Confounded is Hamath and Arpad; For an evil report have they heard, — they melt away; Like the sea the agitation, the quieting none can effect. The melting away was through fear. They were moved or agitated, and, like the sea, they could not rest or be still. 'l may be often rendered none or nothing. — Ed Jeremiah 49:24 24.

Damascus is waxed feeble,.... Or, "is become remiss" (g); her hands hang down, not being able through fear and fright to lift them up against the enemy; that is, the inhabitants of Damascus, as the Targum: and turneth herself to flee; instead of going out to meet the enemy, the inhabitants of this city meditated a flight, and turned their backs upon him in order to flee from him, and escape falling into his hands: and fear hath seized on her: or, "she seized on fear" (h); instead of seizing on arms, and laying hold on them to defend herself with, she seized on that; or however that seized on her, and made her quite unfit to stand up in her own defence: anguish and sorrows have taken her as a woman in travail; See Gill on Jeremiah 49:22; A phrase often used to express the sudden and inevitable destruction of a people, and their distress and inability to help themselves. (g) "remissa erit", Junius & Tremellius; "remissa est", Cocceius, Piscator; "remissa facta est", Schmidt. (h) "et apprehendit tremorem", Munster; "et horrorem apprehendit", Schmidt; "et horrorem febrilem prehendet", Junius & Tremellius; "apprehendet", Piscator.

Jeremiah 49:24-27 . Damascus is waxed feeble — That is, the inhabitants of Damascus. They have lost their ancient courage and valour; they were wont to be formidable to their enemies, but now they flee before them. Fear, or rather, trembling, or, horror, as רשׂשׂ , properly signifies, hath seized on her, distress and pangs, Hebrew, צרה וחבלים , have taken her, as a woman in travail — Great anguish and sorrow are ordinarily expressed by this similitude in the Scriptures. How is the city of praise — That is, a city of fame and renown; not left — Namely, not spared, or left untouched by the enemy. This is thought to be spoken in the person of the king, or some other inhabitant of Damascus. Therefore her young men — Or, surely her young men, as the particle לכן is rendered Jeremiah 5:2 ; shall fall in her streets — Or, broad places, as the Hebrew word signifies. A fire shall consume the palaces of Benhadad — The name of several kings of Syria.

Syria, whose head is Damascus, hath lost her old courage and valour; it was wont to be a formidable country to its neighbours, but now they flee before their enemies. Fear hath seized on her; they are seized, and overpowered by their own fears. Anguish and sorrows have taken her, as a woman in travail; great sorrows are ordinarily in Scripture expressed by the similitude of the pains of a woman in travail; we have met with it often in this prophecy, Jeremiah 6:24 22:23 : so Psalm 48:6 Micah 4:9 .

23. Prophecy as to Damascus, &c. (Isa 17:1; 10:9). The kingdom of Damascus was destroyed by Assyria, but the city revived, and it is as to the latter Jeremiah now prophesies. The fulfilment was probably about five years after the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar [Josephus, Antiquities, 10.9,7]. Hamath is confounded—at the tidings of the overthrow of the neighboring Damascus. on the sea—that is, at the sea; the dwellers there are alarmed. Other manuscripts read, "like the sea." "There is anxiety (restless) as is the sea: they cannot quiet it," that is, it cannot be quieted (Isa 57:20). it—Whatever dwellers are there "cannot be quiet."

רפתה דמּשׁק, "Damascus has become slack," i.e., discouraged; she turns to flee, and cannot escape, being seized with trembling and anxiety. החזיקה is not the third pers. fem., prehendit terrorem, but stands for החזיקהּ, with Mappik omitted, because the tone is retracted in consequence of the Athnach; cf. Jeremiah 6:24 ; Jeremiah 8:21 , etc. "Terror has seized Damascus." In the last clause וחבלים is subsumed along with צרה; hence the verb is put in the singular. - Jeremiah 49:25 . The question, "How is not," etc., has been differently explained. Eichhorn, Gesenius, Ewald, and Umbreit take the words according to the German usage, in the sense, "How is the city forsaken?" or laid waste. But this Germanism is foreign to the Hebrew; and it is not obviated by C. B. Michaelis taking "how" in the sense of quam inopinato et quam horribiliter non deserta est, so that the words would mean nullus est modus desertionis aut gradus quem Damascus non sit experta, because איך לא does not express the kind and manner, or the degree of an action. In the only other passage where איך לא occurs ( 2 Samuel 1:14 ) the negative has its full meaning. Others (Calvin, Schnurrer, J. D. Michaelis, Rosenmller, Maurer) take עזב in the sense of leaving free, untouched: "How has she not been left untouched?" i.e., been spared. But this meaning of the verb is nowhere found.

There is no other course left than, with Ngelsbach, to take the verb as referring to the desertion of the city through the flight of the inhabitants, as in Jeremiah 4:29 , etc., and to take the words thus: "How is (i.e., how has it happened that) the famous city (is) not forsaken?" According to this view, it is not the desolation of the city that is bewailed, but the fact that the inhabitants have not saved their lives by flight. The way is prepared for this thought by Jeremiah 49:24 , where it is said that the inhabitants of Damascus wish to flee, but are seized with convulsive terror; in Jeremiah 49:25 also there is a more specific reason given for it, where it is stated that the youths (the young warriors) and all the men of war shall fall in the streets of the city, and be slain by foes. The suffix in "my delight" refers to the prophet, and expresses his sympathy for the fall of the glorious city (see on Jeremiah 48:31 ); because not only does its population perish, but the city itself also ( Jeremiah 49:27 ) is to be burned to ashes.

er God’s long patience with them he threatens them with ruin, as by Jeremiah in this place, so by Amos, i. 5. Damascus being the head of this country, is sometimes put (as here) for the whole country. Hamath and Arpad were two cities also of Syria, 2Ki_18:34. The prophet foretells that they also should hear of ill news, an enemy that is coming against them, and that they should be melted through fear, and their courage should fail them, they should be as troubled as the sea, is in a storm, or their inhabitants that lived near to the sea should be troubled. Jeremiah 49:24 Syria, whose head is Damascus, hath lost her old courage and valour; it was wont to be a formidable country to its neighbours, but now they flee before their enemies. ## Fear hath seized on her; they are seized, and overpowered by their own fears. ## Anguish and sorrows have taken her, as a woman in travail; great sorrows are ordinarily in Scripture expressed by the similitude of the pains of a woman in travail; we have met with it often in this prophecy, Jer_6:24 22:23 : so Psa_48:6 Mic_4:9. Jeremiah 49:25 It is called ## the city of praise, because it was a city so much praised, a city of great renown, which the prophet seeing like to be destroyed, lamenteth either in the person of the king of Syria, or of the Syrian inhabitants, wondering that the conquerors should not spare so famous and renowned a city, in which so many did rejoice.