destruction of Damascus

[AaronBDisney]

Isaiah 17:1-3
“ Behold, Damascus will cease from being a city,
And it will be a ruinous heap.
2 The cities of Aroer are forsaken;
They will be for flocks
Which lie down, and no one will make them afraid.
3 The fortress also will cease from Ephraim,
The kingdom from Damascus,

from what I understand Damascus is a city that has continued since Bible times. Is this speaking of something at the end of history?

[steve]

The poetic language is, I believe, employing a hyperbole. While it is possible that a future fulfillment will take place, I think this is talking about Aram (Damascus) being conquered by Assyria. To "cease to be a city" need not describe a permanent condition, and may refer only to the reduction of the city to insignificant status by its conquerors.

[AaronBDisney]

Alright. Thanks, Steve. I'm so rooted in western literalism that Biblical poetic hyperbole is something I'm slowly grasping. Though I've come a long way, this one kind of threw me. I have a dispy friend that pointed this out to me and I didn't know how to answer.

[AaronBDisney]

Is 'ceasing from being a city' a common hyperbole employed elsewhere in scripture?