CITY OF DESTRUCTION

de-struk'-shun `ir ha-herec; Septuagint Base-dek): In his prediction of the future return of Egypt to Yahweh, Isaiah declares, "In that day there shall be five cities in the land of Egypt that speak the language of Canaan, and swear to Yahweh of hosts; one shall be called The city of destruction" (Isaiah 19:18). The name `ir ha-herec, "the city of overthrow," is evidently a play upon `ir ha-cherec, "city of the sun," a designation of Heliopolis (same meaning; compare the name for this city, Beth-shemesh, Jeremiah 43:13), in Egyptian, On (Genesis 41:45), which last name Ezekiel, by a similar play on sound, changes into Aven. See ON . Some codices, however, as the Revised Version, margin notes, read here `ir ha-cherec, the actual name of the city.

James Orr

From the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Edited by James Orr, published in 1939 by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.