Jeremiah 49:23-27
“Concerning Damascus. Hamath is confounded, and Arpad: for they have heard evil tidings: they are fainthearted; there is sorrow on the sea; it cannot be quiet.”
King James Version
A century and a half after Isaiah, Jeremiah pronounces on a diminished Damascus: 'I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus, and it shall consume the palaces of Benhadad' — the once-royal city now judged among the minor states swallowed by Babylon.
Fulfillment References
Amos 1:4 2 Kings 16:9
Archaeological & Historical Evidence
Hamath and Arpad are excavated realities (Hama on the Orontes; Tell Rifaat) — both destroyed by the empires exactly as the northern-city oracles describe. 'The palaces of Ben-hadad' preserves the authentic Aramean dynastic name attested on the Melqart and Zakkur stelae.
How Traditions Read This Prophecy
Apostolic (Oneness) PentecostalEven a broken power answers for its history; the fire that consumed Ben-hadad's palaces settled a ledger opened when Aram burned Israel's cities.
JewishThe northern trio (Damascus-Hamath-Arpad) appears in Assyrian taunts (Isa. 36:19) — Jeremiah's oracle completes their story.
CatholicGod's judgments reach every throne, great or faded; no statute of limitations on national sin.
ProtestantThe oracle's echo of Amos 1:4 (spoken 150 years earlier) shows prophetic words compounding until paid in full.
AcademicThe Ben-hadad dynastic name is confirmed epigraphically (Melqart Stele); the oracle fits Babylon's Syrian campaigns of 605-596 BC.
Scholarship & Sources
Melqart Stele and Zakkur Stele in COS; on Babylon's western campaigns, Wiseman's Chronicles of Chaldaean Kings.
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Bible Prophecy Explorer · based on J. Barton Payne’s Encyclopedia of Biblical Prophecy catalogue · an openly Apostolic (Oneness) Pentecostal study resource — all traditions presented fairly. Pastor: C. Myles Young, PhD · Bishop: Nathaniel J. Wilson, Ed.D.