The Narrow Path Ministries

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?

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.

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.

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