Problem: The city of Damascus survived
Verses: Isaiah 17:1-2; Status: Weak

This is Isaiah 17:1-2:

An oracle concerning Damascus. See, Damascus will cease to be a city, and will become a heap of ruins. Her towns will be deserted for ever; they will be places for flocks, which will lie down, and no one will make them afraid. (NRSV)

Despite this prophecy, Damascus is in fact one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. However, it's obviously possible to say that the destruction of the city is scheduled for the future.

Furthermore, I'm forced to use the NRSV translation here, because it makes a correction that the ESV does not. In the ESV version (and others), it's not so clear that Damascus will forever be uninhabited. So, if these other versions are correct, you can say that, actually, the prophecy was fulfilled long ago, but has since been rebuilt.

Updated: 2008-06-04

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