· Translation: KJV

Jeremiah 49:24Damascus has grown feeble, she turns herself to flee, and trembling has seized on her: anguish and sorrows have taken hold of her, as of a woman in travail.

The setting

Damascus, ~590 BC. The once-mighty Syrian capital experiences terror as Babylonian forces approach. Modern Damascus has survived countless invasions and remains Syria's capital.

The emotion here: compassionate grief while delivering hard truth

The original word

rā'ad (רעד) — violent trembling, uncontrollable shaking from terror

Why it matters

Damascus was so ancient that Abraham's servant Eliezer was from there 1,400 years earlier

Read with care

What most readers miss in Jeremiah 49:24

The birth pang comparison shows this isn't just fear—it's the agony of something ending and something new beginning

Common misconceptionThis seems like God enjoying destruction, but the birth pang metaphor reveals God's heart—even judgment is labor pain bringing forth something new.

Bible Genome reading

Jeremiah 49:24 — Bible Genome reading

SpeakerJeremiah
EraExile
Primary emotionanxious
Literary typeprophecy
MarkProphecy

Emotional genome

Comfort power10%
Quotability40%
Memorability60%
Crisis relevance70%
Standalone60%
Themes:weaknessterrorbirth pains

In context

No verse stands alone.

Read the conversation around it.

Open Jeremiah 49

Jeremiah 49:24 comes from the book of Jeremiah, written during the Exile period. These words are attributed to Jeremiah. The dominant emotion in this verse is anxious, with a comfort power of 10% and a tone that is lamenting. It belongs to the prophecy genre of biblical literature. Key themes include weakness, terror, birth pains. Notable phrases: grown feeble; trembling has seized; woman in travail. This verse contains prophecy.

Your reflection

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