Jeremiah 49:24

24 Dammesek, weakened, turns to flee; trembling has seized her; anguish and pain take hold of her like the pains of a woman in labor.

Jeremiah 49:24 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 49:24

Damascus is waxed feeble
Or, "is become remiss" ^F7; 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" ^F8; 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.

---

FOOTNOTES:

F7 (htpr) "remissa erit", Junius & Tremellius; "remissa est", Cocceius, Piscator; "remissa facta est", Schmidt.
F8 (hqyzxh jjrw) "et apprehendit tremorem", Munster; "et horrorem apprehendit", Schmidt; "et horrorem febrilem prehendet", Junius & Tremellius; "apprehendet", Piscator.

Jeremiah 49:24 In-Context

22 Like a vulture he will soar, swoop down and spread out his wings against Botzrah. On that day the hearts of Edom's warriors will be like the heart of a woman in labor.

23 Concerning Dammesek: "Hamat and Arpad are confused; having heard bad news, they dissolve in fear, like the churning sea, which cannot calm itself.

24 Dammesek, weakened, turns to flee; trembling has seized her; anguish and pain take hold of her like the pains of a woman in labor.

25 How can a city so praised be deserted, a city that gave me such joy?

26 Therefore her young men will fall in her squares, and all her warriors be silenced on that day," says ADONAI-Tzva'ot.