The Book of the Prophet Jeremiah
Jeremiah 47
Chapter XLVII · Vol. III, p. 1290
The destruction of the Philistines.
1 The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet aagainst the Philistines, bbefore that Pharaoh smote Gaza.1
A.M. cir. 3397. B.C. cir. 607.
a ch.25.20. Is.14.29-31. Eze.25.15-17. Am.1.6-8. Zep.2.4,5.
b 2 Ch.35.20; 36.3.
2 Thus saith the LORD, Behold, waters2 rise up out of the north, and shall be an overflowing flood, and shall overflow the land, and all that is therein;3 the city, and them that dwell therein: cthen the men shall cry, and all the inhabitants of the land shall howl.
2 Is.8.7. ch.46.8,9,20; 25.9,20; 1.14,15, i.e. great armies of Chaldeans.
3 Heb. the fulness thereof.
c ch.46.22; 48.3-5,39. Is.15.2-5,8; 22.1,4.
3 At the noise of the stamping of the hoofs of his dstrong horses, at ethe rushing of his chariots, and at the rumbling of his wheels, the fathers shall gnot look back to their children for feebleness of hands;
4 Because of hthe day that cometh to spoil all the Philistines, and to cut off ifrom Tyrus and Zidon every helper that remaineth; for the LORD will spoil the Philistines, jthe remnant of the country4 of kCaphtor.
5 Baldness5 is come upon Gaza; Ashkelon is cut off with the remnant of their valley: how long lwilt thou cut thyself?
6 On thou sword of the LORD, how long will it be ere thou be quiet? put up6 thyself into thy scabbard; rest, and be still.
7 How can it7 be quiet, seeing the LORD ohath given it a charge against Ashkelon, and against the sea shore?8 there hath he pappointed it.9
7 Heb. How canst thou?
o 1 Sa.3.12. Mi.6.9. Zec.2.4-7. Eze.25.16; 14.17.
8 The Philistines dwelt along the shore of the Mediterranean Sea on the south-west, and the Tyrians and Zidonians on the north-west of Canaan, ver.1,4,5.
p Mi.6.9.
9 The topographical allusions in this brief prophecy are deserving of note. Gaza and Ashkelon were chief cities of Philistia; and the latter was situated, as indicated in ver. 7, on the shore of the Mediterranean. Phœnicia and Philistia formed parts of the plain which runs along the whole coast of Syria and Palestine. The inhabitants too were descended from one common stock. Caphtor was the country from which the Philistines migrated before settling on the coast of Palestine. It appears to have been a province of Egypt; and probably Copt, the present name of the native Egyptians, may be a corruption of the ancient Caphtor.—P.
Notes
Ver. 1. Pharaoh. Whether this was Pharaoh-necho, or Pharaoh-hophra, is uncertain. It is equally uncertain at what time; the fact alone is known, and all mere conjecture is useless.—Gaza was a very ancient city, Ge. 10. 10, and being the frontier town of Palestine towards Egypt, was strongly fortified. By Joshua it was assigned to the tribe of Judah, who gained possession of it soon after his death, Ju. 1. 18. The Philistines regained the possession, during which it became the scene of some of the most memorable acts of Samson. Being regained by David, it continued subject to his successors for 150 years; and, after successively falling into the hands of the Assyrians, Egyptians, Chaldeans, and Persians, it withstood Alexander of Macedon a siege of two months, and was, when captured, barbarously razed to the ground. Gaza appears never to have been rebuilt, and is described shortly after the days of our Lord as a desert place, Ac. 8. 26. Another city of the same name was erected near the ancient site, which still remains a place of considerable importance, and contains about 5000 inhabitants. C.
Ver. 2. Waters are here, as elsewhere, used as an emblem of an 'enemy coming in like a flood,' Is. 59. 19. C.
Reflections.—God exactly foresees the miseries of the most strong and flourishing states. And the strongest holds are of no avail against the justice of a threatening, an holy God. He effectually reckons with the spiteful or treacherous enemies of his people at last; and if he be against us, who can be for us? The more we trust to creatures for help, the more sad disappointments we shall meet with in a time of need. Yea, great distress may make us even to forget we have our darling babes, or to wish they had never been born. But, notwithstanding the confusions of war, every stroke shall be overruled of God, and none can stop it till it has finished its work.