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Jeremiah 49:24

in Jeremiah 49

Damascus has become feeble; she has turned to flee. Panic has gripped her; anguish and pain have seized her like a woman in labor.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Damascus is waxed feeble, she turneth herself to flee, and trembling hath seized on her: anguish and sorrows have taken hold of her, as of a woman in travail.

KJV

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.

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This verse in Jeremiah 49

Commentary

4 notes on this verse
And turneth - Omit and. The original is a rapid sequence of unconnected sentences. “Damascus is unnerved; she turned to flee, and a trembling seized her; anguish and writhings took hold of her etc.”

This site's exposition

Concerning Damascus. Hamath is confounded, and Arpad

on Jeremiah 49:23-27

Damascus's lament, how is the city of praise not left, the city of my joy, mourns one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the region, a capital Assyria had already broken once under Tiglath-pileser (2 Kings 16:9) and now faces Babylon's hand in turn. The city's fear is described in the same terms used elsewhere in these oracles for a woman in travail, panic that cannot be composed or reasoned with. The fire kindled against the palaces of Ben-hadad strikes a dynastic title borne by more than one Syrian king in Scripture (1 Kings 15:18, 2 Kings 13:3), the office rather than a single named ruler.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

), a city that thought she could look the most formidable enemy in the face now turns herself to flee, and owns it is to no more purpose to think of contending with her fate than for a woman in labour to contend with her pains, which she cannot escape, but must yield to. It was a city of praise (

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation

Damascus is waxed feeble,....

The words behind it

10 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • רָפְתָ֥הit will be disheartened

    rafetahH7503 →46 times

  • דַמֶּ֛שֶׂקDamascus

    damesekH1834 →45 times

  • הִפְנְתָ֥הit will turn back

    hifnetahH6437 →135 times

  • לָנ֖וּסto flee

    lanusH5127 →159 times

  • וְרֶ֣טֶט׀and panic

    veretetH7374 →

  • הֶחֱזִ֑יקָהit will take hold

    hechezikahH2388 →291 times

  • צָרָ֧הdistress

    tzarahH6869 →73 times

  • וַחֲבָלִ֛יםand pains

    vachavalimH2256 →62 times

  • אֲחָזַ֖תָּהit will seize it

    ʾachazatahH270 →

  • כַּיּוֹלֵדָֽה׃like <the> [woman] giving birth

    kaiyoledahH3205 →496 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

11 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Jeremiah 6:24We have heard the report; our hands hang limp. Anguish has gripped us, pain like that of a woman in labor.4 worksJeremiah 49:22Look! An eagle will soar and swoop down, spreading its wings over Bozrah. In that day the hearts of Edom’s mighty men will be like the heart of a woman in labor.3 worksHosea 13:13Labor pains come upon him, but he is an unwise son. When the time arrives, he fails to present himself at the opening of the womb.3 worksJeremiah 30:6Ask now, and see: Can a male give birth? Why then do I see every man with his hands on his stomach like a woman in labor and every face turned pale?3 worksJeremiah 50:43The king of Babylon has heard the report, and his hands hang limp. Anguish has gripped him, pain like that of a woman in labor.3 worksMark 13:8Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, as well as famines. These are the beginning of birth pains.2 works
The other 5 cross-references, with their words ▾
Jeremiah 4:31For I hear a cry like a woman in labor, a cry of anguish like one bearing her first child—the cry of the Daughter of Zion gasping for breath, stretching out her hands to say, “Woe is me, for my soul faints before the murderers!”2 worksJeremiah 48:41Kirioth has been taken, and the strongholds seized. In that day the heart of Moab’s warriors will be like the heart of a woman in labor.2 worksJeremiah 49:29They will take their tents and flocks, their tent curtains and all their goods. They will take their camels for themselves. They will shout to them: ‘Terror is on every side!’2 worksJeremiah 49:37So I will shatter Elam before their foes, before those who seek their lives. I will bring disaster upon them, even My fierce anger,” declares the LORD. “I will send out the sword after them until I finish them off.2 worksGenesis 3:16To the woman He said: “I will sharply increase your pain in childbirth; in pain you will bring forth children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.”1 works

About Jeremiah

The Prophet Jeremiah, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
The Prophet Jeremiah, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Jeremiah: the study guide →Read Jeremiah 49 →

This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Carl Friedrich Keil, The Prophecies of Jeremiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Jeremiah 49 →