Jeremiah 49:27

And I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus, and it shall consume the palaces of Ben-ha'dad. I WILL KINDLE A FIRE ... AND IT SHALL CONSUME THE PALACES OF BEN-HADAD - that palace whence so many evils and such cruelty to Israel emanated: thus implying the cause of Damascus' overthrow. Not the Ben-hadad of , son of Hazael, into whose hand the Lord delivered Israel. probably alludes to Hazael's oppression of Israel, "For three transgressions of Damuscus, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have threshed Gilead with instruments of iron;" the very expression used of Hazael's oppression of Israel under Jehu and Jehoahaz (, "He had made them like the dust by...

Here God himself speaks, and declares that he would be the author of the destruction of which Jeremiah prophesied. And he employs the similitude of fire, because there is nothing more violent or more dreadful than burning; for we know that the greatest cities are soon consumed and reduced to ashes when fire begins to blaze. God then compares the destruction of the city to burning, though no fire was applied to destroy the walls and the palaces of the king; but the Prophet means by this metaphor, that such would be the destruction of the city, as though it was consumed by fire. He at the same time reminds the faithful of God’s judgment, that they might know that whatever happened to the Syrians proceeded from his hand; because such calamities would have availed but little, except this doctrine was also added, that just punishments are inflicted by God on the wickedness of men. But when he...

23-27 How easily God can dispirit those nations that have been most celebrated for valour! Damascus waxes feeble. It was a city of joy, having all the delights of the sons of men. But those deceive themselves who place their happiness in carnal joys....

Verse Jeremiah 49:27. _THE PALACES OF BEN-HADAD._] Damascus was a seat of the Syrian kings, and _Ben-hadad_ was a name common to several of its kings....

See the marginal reference and 1 Kings 11:14 note....

EXPOSITION On Ammon, Edom, Damascus, Kedar and Hazer, and Elam. JEREMIAH 49:1 The violence of the Ammonites shall be severely punished. JEREMIAH 49:1 HATH ISRAEL NO SONS! The violent seizure, perpetrated before his eyes, of parts of the sacred territory, forces the indignant question from the prophet, "How can these things be?" It was so on a former occasion (see Jeremiah 2:14), and it is so again, now that the Ammonites are occupying the land of the Gadites. True, the present generation has lost its property, but the next is the heir to all its rights and privileges. THEIR KING; rather, _their King—_the

AND I WILL KINDLE A FIRE IN THE WALL OF DAMASCUS,.... Signifying either that, a breach being made there the destruction of the city should begin, and be carried on until it was completed; or it may be understood literally, that first the houses built upon the wall should beset on fire by the Chaldeans, through the divine permission, and according to his order and wilt, and therefore ascribed to him, which should proceed further. Compare with this 2 Corinthians 11:32; AND IT SHALL CONSUME THE PALACES OF BENHADAD; not only the houses of the common people in general, but particularly the palaces of their king and his nobles; Benhadad being a name of one of the kings of Syria, 1 Kings 20:1; and which, according to Kimchi, was the name of the king of Syria at the time of the dest

CHAPTER 49 Concerning Ammon, Edom, Damascus, Kedar, and Elam _ 1. Concerning the Ammonites (Jeremiah 49:1) _ 2. Concerning Edom (Jeremiah 49:7) 3. Concerning Damascus (Jeremiah 49:23) 4. Concerning Kedar and Hazor (Jeremiah 49:28) 5. Against Elam (Jeremiah 49:34) Ammon was the younger brother of Moab, and, like the Moabites, the Ammonites were a wicked people, though they had no cities like Moab, but were restless wanderers; they were also the enemies of Israel. The predic

DAMASCUS. The prophecy refers to the Aramæ ans; Hamath, 110 miles N. of Damascus, and Arpad, 95 m. N. of Hamath, never belonged to the Damascene kingdom. They were absorbed into the Assyrian empire c. 720 B.C.; _cf._ Isaiah 10:9. There is no mention of these cities in the list of foreign prophecies, Jeremiah 25:18 ff. The prophecy announces the invasion of certain Aramæ an cities in conventional terms drawn from other prophecies. Jeremiah 49:23. _Cf._ Isaiah 57:20; read, after tidings, partly with LXX, they surge as the sea; they are anxious and cannot be quiet....

BEN-HADAD. Three kings of Damascus bore this official name. See 1Ki 15:18. 2 Kings 13:3; 2 Kings 13:25....