# in his time of suffering "when he was suffering" # the gods of Damascus The Syrians believed Damascus to be the city where their gods dwelt, much like Yahweh dwelt in Jerusalem. AT: "the gods whom the Syrians worshiped in Damascus" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-explicit]]) # gods that had defeated him This expresses Ahaz's opinion. Because the Syrians had defeated him and his army, Ahaz attributed his defeat to the gods whom the Syrians worshiped. AT: "gods whom he believed had enabled the Syrian army to defeat him" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-explicit]]) # they were the ruin of him and of all Israel The word "ruin" can be translated with a verb. AT: "those gods ruined him and all Israel" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-abstractnouns]]) # all Israel Here "Israel" represents the southern kingdom of Judah. # translationWords * [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/other/suffer]] * [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/other/sacrifice]] * [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/falsegod]] * [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/other/damascus]] * [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/other/aram]]