In the time of the Medo-Persian kingdom, Damascus was again rebuilt and was the most famous city of Syria; it afterward belonged to the Greeks, and later to the Romans, and eventually to the Arabs, Saracens, and Turks.

In the New Testament Damascus is of note as the city near to which Paul was converted, and where he received his sight, and began to preach. He escaped from his enemies by being let down by the wall in a basket (Acts 9:2-27²And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem. ³And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: ⁴And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? ⁵And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. ⁶And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do. ⁷And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man. ⁸And Saul arose from the earth; and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man: but they led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus. ⁹And he was three days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink. ¹⁰And there was a certain disciple at Damascus, named Ananias; and to him said the Lord in a vision, Ananias. And he said, Behold, I am here, Lord. ¹¹And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and inquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth, ¹²And hath seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in, and putting his hand on him, that he might receive his sight. ¹³Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem: ¹⁴And here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name. ¹⁵But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: ¹⁶For I will show him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake. ¹⁷And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost. ¹⁸And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized. ¹⁹And when he had received meat, he was strengthened. Then was Saul certain days with the disciples which were at Damascus. ²⁰And straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God. ²¹But all that heard him were amazed, and said; Is not this he that destroyed them which called on this name in Jerusalem, and came hither for that intent, that he might bring them bound unto the chief priests? ²²But Saul increased the more in strength, and confounded the Jews which dwelt at Damascus, proving that this is very Christ. ²³And after that many days were fulfilled, the Jews took counsel to kill him: ²⁴But their laying await was known of Saul. And they watched the gates day and night to kill him. ²⁵Then the disciples took him by night, and let him down by the wall in a basket. ²⁶And when Saul was come to Jerusalem, he assayed to join himself to the disciples: but they were all afraid of him, and believed not that he was a disciple. ²⁷But Barnabas took him, and brought him to the apostles, and declared unto them how he had seen the Lord in the way, and that he had spoken to him, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus. (Acts 9:2‑27); Acts 22:5-11⁵As also the high priest doth bear me witness, and all the estate of the elders: from whom also I received letters unto the brethren, and went to Damascus, to bring them which were there bound unto Jerusalem, for to be punished. ⁶And it came to pass, that, as I made my journey, and was come nigh unto Damascus about noon, suddenly there shone from heaven a great light round about me. ⁷And I fell unto the ground, and heard a voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? ⁸And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest. ⁹And they that were with me saw indeed the light, and were afraid; but they heard not the voice of him that spake to me. ¹⁰And I said, What shall I do, Lord? And the Lord said unto me, Arise, and go into Damascus; and there it shall be told thee of all things which are appointed for thee to do. ¹¹And when I could not see for the glory of that light, being led by the hand of them that were with me, I came into Damascus. (Acts 22:5‑11)). In 2 Corinthians 11:32³²In Damascus the governor under Aretas the king kept the city of the Damascenes with a garrison, desirous to apprehend me: (2 Corinthians 11:32) its inhabitants are called DAMASCENES. Damascus was the first Gentile city in which Jesus was preached as “the Son of God”; and though it is now in possession of Mahometans, yet in their great mosque a stone has been preserved that formed part of a church erected on the spot, bearing this inscription in Greek: “Thy kingdom, O Christ, is an everlasting kingdom, and Thy dominion endureth throughout all generations.” The city is also lamentably memorable on account of the outburst of Muslim hatred in 1860; when on the 9th, 10th and 11Th of July not less than 2,500 adult Christians were murdered by them in cold blood, and many besides lost their lives in their flight.

The city is beautifully situated at the foot of the south-east range of Antilibanus on a large plain, watered by the two rivers Barada and Awaj (the Abana and Pharpar of 2 Kings 5:12¹²Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not wash in them, and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage. (2 Kings 5:12)), the former of which runs through the city, and may be said to be the life of the place. The plain abounds in corn-fields, olive-groves, and meadows, with vines, figs, apricots, citrons, plums, pomegranates, and other fruits. The city itself is ill-formed and dirty, though some of the houses, in strong contrast with the outside, are well furnished, cool, and clean inside. There is a long street of more than a mile in length that may well have been called “Straight,” but is now a street of Bazaars. This was divided into rows by Corinthian columns, the remains of which can still be traced.

Damascus is now called Dimeshic esh Sham, 33° 30' N, 36° 18' E. Its inhabitants in 1892 were estimated to be 210,000; of whom perhaps 20,000 were Christians, 10,000 Jews, and the rest Mahometans. The Christians and Jews are mostly poor, the greater part of the commerce being in the hands of Muslims. Its trade is extensive, the city having four great roads for its outflow: one on the S.W. to Egypt through Galilee; on the south to Mecca; on the east to Baghdad; and on the west to the Mediterranean. Besides which a railway direct from Beyrout to Damascus and another from Accho and Haifa to Damascus are in progress of construction.

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“Syria, Syrian” From Concise Bible Dictionary:

In scripture this name mostly signifies the district lying north and north-east of Palestine, the inhabitants of which were Syrians. If from Dan to Beersheba be taken as the boundaries of Palestine, it leaves for Syria a district quite as large on its north, besides extending also to the Euphrates on the east. For the sub-divisions of Syria mentioned in scripture see ARAM.

There are but few references to the Syrians in the early part of scripture. In connection with Rebekah the wife of Isaac, Laban (grandson of Nahor, Abraham’s brother) “the Syrian” is introduced (Gen. 25:20²⁰And Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah to wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padan-aram, the sister to Laban the Syrian. (Genesis 25:20); Gen. 28:5⁵And Isaac sent away Jacob: and he went to Padan-aram unto Laban, son of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebekah, Jacob's and Esau's mother. (Genesis 28:5); Gen. 31:20,24²⁰And Jacob stole away unawares to Laban the Syrian, in that he told him not that he fled. (Genesis 31:20)
²⁴And God came to Laban the Syrian in a dream by night, and said unto him, Take heed that thou speak not to Jacob either good or bad. (Genesis 31:24)); and an Israelite, in presenting his basket of first-fruits, was instructed to confess before the Lord, “A Syrian ready to perish was my father,” followed by a rehearsal of what God had done for the descendants of Jacob, and how He had brought them into the promised land (Deut. 26:5⁵And thou shalt speak and say before the Lord thy God, A Syrian ready to perish was my father, and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there with a few, and became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous: (Deuteronomy 26:5)). The only reference to the name in the New Testament is in Luke 4:27²⁷And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian. (Luke 4:27), where it is stated that there were many lepers in Israel in the days of Elisha, but none were cured but Naaman the Syrian.

Damascus was the capital of the part of Syria which was often in conflict with Israel. It was conquered in David’s reign and was subject to Solomon; but after the division of the kingdom it revolted and was again hostile to Israel. It became merged into the Assyrian and Babylonian empires. After that it passed to the Persians, and then submitted to Alexander the Great. On his death it came under the power of Seleucus Nicator, who built Antioch and made it his capital. For many years his successors contended with the Ptolemies for the possession of Palestine. See ANTIOCHUS. In B.C. 63 Syria was conquered by Pompey, and Palestine became subject to Rome. After the decline of Rome, Syria and Palestine had many different masters, and eventually fell into the hands of the Turks, who are still their owners.

The only governor of Syria mentioned in the New Testament is Cyreniu (Luke 2:2²(And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) (Luke 2:2)). Palestine was divided into sub-provinces after the death of Herod. The Lord in His journeys visited some of the borders of Syria, and His fame went throughout all Syria (Matt. 4:24²⁴And his fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatick, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them. (Matthew 4:24)). After Antioch had become a sort of central station from whence the gospel went out to the Gentiles, Paul traveled throughout Syria and Cilicia confirming the churches (Acts 15:23,41²³And they wrote letters by them after this manner; The apostles and elders and brethren send greeting unto the brethren which are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia: (Acts 15:23)
⁴¹And he went through Syria and Cilicia, confirming the churches. (Acts 15:41)).

It will be seen that the physical features of Western Syria and Palestine are very similar—their natural contour indeed being the same.

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Strong’s Dictionary of Hebrew Words:

Number:

758 (find all occurrences in KJV Bible)

Transliteration:

’Aram

Phonic:

arawm’

Meaning:

from the same as 759; the highland; Aram or Syria, and its inhabitants; also the name of the son of Shem, a grandson of Nahor, and of an Israelite

KJV Usage:

Aram, Mesopotamia, Syria, Syrians

Potts’ Bible Proper Names:

A small kingdom in close proximity to Palestine [SYRIA and MAACHAH], 1 Chron. 19:6.