Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 47:5
Baldness is come upon Gaza; Ashkelon is cut off [with] the remnant of their valley: how long wilt thou cut thyself?
5. Baldness ] in token of mourning. See on Jer 16:6.
Gaza ] important from its situation at the junction of the roads for caravans from Egypt and Arabia.
Ashkelon ] mentioned again in Jer 47:7. Co., however, proposes to substitute here Ashdod, while Rothstein thinks that the latter has fallen out through the similarity of the two words. Peake suggests that, if so, it should not precede but follow Ashkelon on account of its connexion (Jos 11:22) with the Anakim. See next note.
the remnant of their valley ] better, as LXX, the remainder of the Anakim (the old race of giants, see Num 13:33; Deu 2:10, and elsewhere). This avoids the unsuitable description of the country referred to as a “valley.” But with a change of one consonant Co. conjectures (for “their valley”) Ekron, and cps. Amo 1:7-8.
cut thyself ] in mourning. See on Jer 16:6; cp. Deu 14:1. The question is addressed to the survivors.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Baldness – Extreme mourning (see Jer 16:6).
Is cut off – Others render, is speechless through grief.
With the remnant of their valley – Others, O remnant of their valley, how long wilt thou cut thyself? Their valley is that of Gaza and Ashkelon, the low-lying plain, usually called the Shefelah, which formed the territory of the Philistines. The reading of the Septuagint is remarkable: the remnant of the Anakim, which probably would mean Gath, the home of giants 1Sa 17:4.
Jer 47:6. Or, Alas, Sword of Yahweh, how long wilt thou not rest? For the answer, see Jer 47:7.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Jer 47:5
How long wilt thou cut thyself?
The tender inquiry of a friend
Travellers in the East tell us that among the most melancholy scenes they witness is the following:–Men inflict upon themselves very grievous, voluntary wounds, and then exhibit themselves in public. They even disfigure themselves with gashes m me presence of excited throngs. I am speaking of what has occurred even within, the last few years among the Moslems. When some great prophet or emir is coming that way, a certain number of fanatical Mahometans take swords, spears, and other sharp instruments, and gash themselves terribly therewith, cutting their breasts, their faces, their heads, and all parts of their bodies. Frequently they have taken care to dress themselves in white sheets, in order that, as the blood flows copiously from their bodies, it may be the more clearly seen, that they may become the more ghastly spectacles of misery, or the more fully display the religious excitement under which they labour. As everything in the East remains for ever the same, thin Moslem superstition carries us back to the olden times whereof we read in the Old Testament, when the priests of Baal, having cried in vain to their idol, cut themselves with lances and with knives. Our translators were probably afraid to write the harsher words, and so they translated the passage knives and lances, but they might have written swords and spears sharp instruments of a desperate character. Thus they displayed their inward zeal, and thus, perhaps, they hoped to move the pity of their god. The Lord expressly forbade His people, the Jews, to perpetrate such folly. They were not even to shave the corners of their beards, or to hack their hair, as the Orientals do in the hour of their grief; and then they were further prohibited from injuring their bodies by the command (Lev 19:28). Men in Eastern lands, not only in connection with fanaticism, but in reference to domestic affairs, will cut themselves to express their grief and anguish, or to make other people believe that they are feeling such grief and anguish. We may congratulate ourselves that we are free from at least one foolish custom. The prophet here speaks to the Philistines who were about to endure the tremendous judgments of God, and, indeed, to be crushed Out as a nation by the Egyptians and the Chaldeans; and he says to Philistia How long wilt thou cut thyself? How long would they continue to bring upon themselves such terrible judgments?
I. I shall ask this question very despairingly–How long wilt thou cut thyself?–for many are cutting themselves very terribly, and will have to feel the wounds thereof for a long time, neither can we induce them to cease therefrom.
1. I allude, first, to some professors of religion who have been Church members for ten, twenty, or more years, and yet have practically done nothing at all for the Saviour. If they were really to awaken to a sense of their neglect, I do not know how long- they would be in anguish, or how deep would be their distress; for if Titus mourned that he had lost a day when he had done no good action for twenty-four hours, and he but a heathen, what would happen to a Christian if he were really to see his responsibility before God, and to feel that he has not only lost a day but a year–perhaps many years? Have not some of you well-nigh lost a whole lifetime?
2. The same may be applied, and applied very solemnly, too, to those who backslide–who, in addition to being- useless, are injurious, because their example tends to hinder others from coming to Christ. Oh, if any of you that name the name of Jesus, and have been happy in His service, and have enjoyed high days and holy days in His presence, turn aside, I shall use this lamentation over you! You will do yourselves terrible injury, and I shall shudder as I see the edged tools of sin in your reckless hands. Every sin is a gash in the soul. The Lord will bring you back and save you, as I believe; but oh, how long will you cut yourselves?
3. There is one thing which comes after these, and comes in connection with them. If you and I should know that souls have been lost–lost as far as we are concerned–through our neglect, how long- shall we cut ourselves on that account? Fathers, if you have never sought to bring your children to repentance, how will you excuse yourselves? If you have never prayed with them, or wept with them–if you have never even instructed them in the things of God, what flattering unction will you lay to your guilty consciences? What will you say, mother, if your daughter passes into eternity unforgiven, and you have never tried to lead her to Jesus?
4. One other most solemn use may be made of this question God grant that it may never be so, but if any one of you should die in his sins, how long will you regret it, think you? Oh, thou who hast lost eternal life, how long wilt thou cut thyself? If thou shouldst miss Christ, and miss mercy, and miss heaven, and miss eternal glory, if there were naught else, how long wilt thou bemoan thyself? With what depth of anguish wilt thou smart to have lost all this–to have, in fact, lost all which makes up life and joy!
II. i shall ask this question hopefully, trusting that in many their sorrow is nearing- its end.
1. This text may be very profitably and prudently applied to those who have been bereaved, and who, being bereaved, sorrow, and sorrow to excess. How long wilt thou cut thyself? Is not thy child in Jesus bosom? Has not thy friend gone among the angels, to join the sweet singers of God? Is it not a gain to the departed, though it be a loss to thee, that they are translated to the place of everlasting bliss?
2. Turning to quite another character, I would use the same expression for another purpose. There are some persons with whom God is dealing in great love, and yet they are very rebellious. How long wilt thou cut thyself? Already they have met with great disasters and misfortunes: they will meet with many more when the dogs are out hunting, they run in packs. The plagues of Egypt are ten at least, and every one who plays the Pharaoh may expect the full number.
3. I might use this expression even to the Jewish nation itself. Ah, God, through what seas of trouble have they had to swim since the day when they said, His blood be on us, and on our children!
4. But, now, all this has rather kept me from my main design, which is to speak to those dear friends of ours who are afflicting their souls with needless fears. No good can possibly come by a continuance in their unhappy moods: they are cutting themselves quite needlessly. They might at once have peace, and rest, and joy if they were willing to accept the Lord s gracious way of salvation. Despairing and desponding are not commanded in the Gospel, but they are forbidden by it. Do not cultivate these gross follies, these deadly sins. Do not multiply these poisonous weeds–this hemlock and this darnel–as if they were fair flowers of paradise. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 5. Baldness is come upon Gaza] They have cut off their hair in token of deep sorrow and distress.
Ashkelon is cut off] Or put to silence; another mark of the deepest sorrow. Ashkelon was one of the five seignories of the Philistines, Gaza was another.
The remnant of their valley] Or plain; for the whole land of the Philistines was a vast plain, which extended along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea from Phoenicia to the frontiers of Egypt. The whole of this plain, the territory of the Philistines, shall be desolated.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Both
Gaza and
Ashkelon were two principal cities belonging to the Philistines taken by Judah, Jdg 1:18; we read of them 1Sa 6:17; both Amos, Zephaniah, and Zechariah prophesied their ruin, Amo 1:8; Zep 2:4,7; Zec 9:5, as well as this prophet. By
the remnant of their valley, most understand those who lived in the valleys near about Ashkelon. Concerning the last clause in this verse there is some difference, whether the words should be joined with the next verse, and read,
how long wilt thou cut thyself, O thou sword of the Lord? or as they lie in our Bibles; and then the sense is, Why will you in so desperate a case afflict yourselves, when all your mourning will do you no good.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
5. Baldness . . . cutthyselfPalestine is represented as a female who has torn offher hair and cut her flesh, the heathenish (Le19:28) token of mourning (Jer48:37).
their valleythe longstrip of low plain occupied by the Philistines along theMediterranean, west of the mountains of Judea. The Septuagintreads Anakim, the remains of whom were settled in thoseregions (Nu 13:28). Joshuadislodged them so that none were left but in Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod(Jos 11:21; Jos 11:22).But the parallel (Jer 47:7),”Ashkelon . . . the sea-shore,” established EnglishVersion here, “Ashkelon . . . their valley.“
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Baldness is come upon Gaza,…. The Targum is,
“vengeance is come to the inhabitants of Gaza.”
It is become like a man whose hair is fallen from his head, or is clean shaved off; its houses were demolished; its inhabitants slain, and their wealth plundered; a pillaged and depopulated place. Some understand this of shaving or tearing off the hair for grief, and mourning because of their calamities; which agrees with the latter clause of the verse:
Ashkelon is cut off [with] the remnant of their valley; this was one of the live cities of the Philistines; it lay north of Gaza. Herodotus x calls Ashkelon a city of Syria, in which was the temple of Urania Venus, destroyed by the Scythians; said to be built by Lydus Ascalus, and called so after his name y. Of this city was Herod the king, and therefore called an Ashkelonite; it was now destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, but afterwards rebuilt and inhabited; and with it were destroyed the remainder of the cities, towns, and villages, in the valley, adjoining to that and Gaza; or Ashkelon and Gaza, now destroyed, were all that remained of the cities of the valley, and shared the same fate with them. The Targum is,
“the remnant of their strength;”
so Kimchi, who interprets it of the multitude of their wealth and power;
how long wilt thou cut thyself? their faces, arms, and other parts of their body, mourning and lamenting their sad condition; the words of the prophet signifying hereby the dreadfulness of it, and its long continuance.
x Clio, sive l. 1. c. 105. y Vid. Bochart. Phaleg l. 2. c. 12. p. 88.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The prophet sees, in the spirit, the threatened desolation as already come upon Philistia, and portrays it in its effects upon the people and the country. “Baldness (a sign of the deepest and most painful sorrow) has come upon Gaza;” cf. Mic 1:16. is rendered by the Vulgate conticuit. After this Graf and Ngelsbach take the meaning of being “speechless through pain and sorrow;” cf. Lam 2:10. Others translate “to be destroyed.” Both renderings are lexically permissible, for and have both meanings. In support of the first, the parallelism of the members has been adduced; but this is not decisive, for figurative and literal representations are often interchanged. On the whole, it is impossible to reach any definite conclusion; for both renderings give suitable ideas, and these not fundamentally different in reality the one from the other. , “the rest of their valley” (the suffix referring to Gaza and Ashkelon), is the low country round about Gaza and Ashkelon, which are specially mentioned from their being the two chief fortresses of Philistia. is suitably applied to the low-lying belt of the country, elsewhere called , “the low country,” as distinguished from the hill-country; for does not always denote a deep valley, but is also sometimes used, as in Jos 17:16, etc., of the plain of Jezreel, and of other plains which are far from being deeply-sunk valleys. Thus there is no valid reason for following the arbitrary translation of the lxx, , and changing into , as Hitzig and Graf do; more especially is it utterly improbable that in the Chaldean period Anakim were still to be found in Philistia. The mention of them, moreover, is out of place here; and still less can we follow Graf in his belief that the inhabitants of Gath are the “rest of the Anakim.” In the last clause of Jer 47:5, Philistia is set forth as a woman, who tears her body (with her nails) in despair, makes incisions on her body; cf. Jer 16:6; Jer 41:5. The question, “How long dost thou tear thyself?” forms a transition to the plaintive request, “Gather thyself,” i.e., draw thyself back into thy scabbard. But the seer replies, “How can it rest? for Jahveh hath given it a commission against Ashkelon and the Philistine sea-coast.” For , in Jer 47:7, we must read the 3rd pers. fem. , as the following shows. The form probably got into the text from an oversight, through looking at in Jer 47:6. , “the sea-coast,” a designation of Philistia, as in Eze 25:16.
The prophecy concludes without a glance at the Messianic future. The threatened destruction of the Philistines has actually begun with the conquest of Philistia by Nebuchadnezzar, but has not yet culminated in the extermination of the people. The extermination and complete extirpation are thus not merely repeated by Ezek; Eze 25:15., but after the exile the threats are once more repeated against the Philistines by Zechariah (Zec 9:5): they only reached their complete fulfilment when, as Zechariah announces, in the addition made to Isa 14:30., their idolatry also was removed from them, and their incorporation into the Church of God was accomplished through judgment. Cf. the remarks on Zep 2:10.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
The Prophet returns again to what is figurative, that he might more fully illustrate his prophecy, and more powerfully move the Jews. Now by baldness he points out a sign of mourning; for they were wont even to tear their faces with their nails, and to pluck off their hair. He then says that baldness, or the loss of hair, had come upon Gaza; because the inhabitants of the valley and of the whole land, according to what was usually done in despair, would pluck off their own hair. It is added, Destroyed is Ashkelon This city, we know, had a great name in the land of the Philistines, and was nigh Gaza, as it appears from many parts of Scripture. he mentions the remnants of their valley, or depth, for the word is עמק, omek: and though it means a valley, yet the Prophet, no doubt, alludes to the situation of that part, because they were hid, as it were, in a safe place, and they thought themselves secure as those who are hid in caverns, to which an access is not easy; and then Tyre and Sidon, as well as Gaza, were cities on the sea side. As then they dwelt in these deep and hidden places, they thought, themselves far away from every danger and trouble. The Prophet derides this confidence, and says that the remnants of their valley should perish; as though he had said, that there would be no place so deep and hidden where God’s vengeance would not penetrate.
He at length addresses the whole country, How long wilt thou tear thyself? By tearing he means, no doubt, mourning or lamentation; for they would tear their faces, as it has been said, with their nails, as in the greatest grief. The meaning is, that there would be no end to their calamities, because the Palestines would mourn perpetually: for otherwise they who are even most grievously afflicted do not perpetually mourn, for time alleviates grief and sorrow. The Prophet then shews that so dreadful would be God’s vengeance, that evils would be heaped on evils, and thus renewed daily to the Palestines would be the cause of mourning. He afterwards adds, —
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
B. The Devouring Sword Jer. 47:5-7
In the second stanza of the poem the figure changes from an overflowing stream to a devouring sword. The sword of the Lord creates havoc in Philistia. Gaza and Ashkelon, two of the principal cities of the land, suffer immeasurably. Baldness and the cutting of the flesh mentioned in Jer. 47:5 are both signs of deep mourning. By self-mutilation these heathen folks tried to arouse the pity of the gods.
In Jer. 47:6 someone asks, O sword of the Lord, how long will it be before you are quiet? Then follows the appeal, again addressed to the sword, Put yourself into your scabbard, rest, and be still! Does this question and appeal come from the prophet or from the Philistine? Some commentators feel that this is a cry for mercy on the part of the Philistine. Since no sign of sincere sorrow for their sin or genuine repentance is manifested, the prophet as Gods spokesman, must reject their plea in the following verse. Now this interpretation may well be correct but it is certainly not necessary. It may have been Jeremiah himself who, seeing in his minds eye the devastation and destruction of Philistia, cries out for the sword of Gods wrath to be returned to its scabbard. After further reflection and possible divine revelation Jeremiah realizes that the sword of the Lord cannot be sheathed until its work of judgment is done. The righteous wrath of God must be poured out upon Ashkelon and the whole seashore, all of Philistia (Jer. 47:7). Justice must be done. When Almighty God brandishes His sword of wrath there is no stopping until the work is complete.
This brief oracle does not reveal the reason for the divine wrath against Philistia. Certainly the Philistine had been most bitter enemies of the people of God from the time of the judges. This alone would be reason enough for the awful destruction which is here depicted. But in addition to this Jeremiah emphasized again and again that the nations which refused to submit to the yoke of Babylon would have to drink of the CUP of Gods wrath. Oracles threatening ruination of Philistia are found in Amo. 1:6-8; Isa. 14:29-31; Zep. 2:4-7; Eze. 25:15-17 and finally in Zec. 9:5-7. The latter passage adds to the threat of destruction a note of hope that Philistine would share in the glory of the Messianic kingdom. This promise was fulfilled when Philistia heard the Gospel proclaimed and many of that region became Christians (Act. 8:40; Act. 9:32-43).
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(5) Baldness is come upon Gaza.The baldness is the outward sign of extremest mourning (Jer. 48:37; Isa. 15:2-3), perhaps, also, of extremest desolation (Isa. 7:20).
Ashkelon is cut off . . .Better, perhaps, Ashkelon is speechless. The LXX. apparently followed a different text, and gives the remnant of the Anakim instead of the remnant of their valley. Hitzig adopts this rendering, and connects it with the known fact that a remnant of the old gigantic non-Semitic race had taken refuge among the Philistines (1Sa. 17:4; 2Sa. 21:22; 1Ch. 20:5-8) after they had been driven from Hebron (Jos. 14:12-15; Jos. 15:13-14). Others, without adopting the LXX. reading, interpret the word rendered their valley as meaning, as in Isa. 33:19, those that speak an unintelligible language, barbarians (Amakim), and suppose this form to have passed in the LXX. into the more familiar form of Anakim. The English version, however, is accepted by many critics, and may refer to Ashkelon and Gaza as the remnant, the last resource of the valley (Emek) or low-country of the Philistines, more commonly known as the Shephelah.
How long wilt thou cut thyself?The words point to a ritual of supplication, like that of the priests of Baal in 1Ki. 18:28, as prevailing among the Philistines.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
5. Baldness A sign of the deepest grief and calamity.
How long wilt thou cut thyself Philistia is represented as a woman tearing her own body in grief and despair.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Jer 47:5. With the remnant of their valley Gaza and Ashkelon were about twelve miles distant from each other, near the sea, in a valley, of whose beauty and fertility an accurate traveller has given the following description: “We passed this day through the most pregnant and pleasant valley that ever eye beheld. On the right hand a ridge of high mountains (whereon stands Hebron); on the left hand the Mediterranean sea, bordered with continued hills, beset with variety of fruits;The champion between about twenty miles over, full of flowery hills ascending leisurely, and not much surmounting their ranker vallies; with groves of olives, and other fruits, dispersedly adorned.” Sandys’s Travels, book 3: p. 150. The author adds, that in his time “this wealthy bottom (as are all the rest) was for the most part uninhabited, but only for a few small and contemptible villages:” A state of desolation owing to the oppressions of a barbarous and ill-advised government. But we may easily conceive the populousness which must have prevailed there in its better days, especially if we consider the power that the Philistines once possessed, and the armies they brought into the field; although their country was scarcely forty English miles in length, and much longer than it was broad.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
I be g the Reader to remark with me, the beauty, as well as the power of this scripture. Calling to the sword to be quiet, is a fine image, to express the feelings of the Prophet, in the view of slaughter, even though of our enemies. Gracious feelings do not destroy natural ones, though they refine them. As men in one common nature, we tremble at the destruction of men; but as the followers of the Lord, Christ’s enemies are our enemies, and there can be nothing neutral in this war. He that is not for me is against me. These things will all be explained at last. But in the mean time, our duty is, to refer all to his unsearchable wisdom. Shall not the Judge of all the earth, do right?
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Jer 47:5 Baldness is come upon Gaza; Ashkelon is cut off [with] the remnant of their valley: how long wilt thou cut thyself?
Ver. 5. Baldness is come upon Gaza, ] i.e., Extreme grief, which might have been prevented, had she profited by her former calamity. Jer 47:1 But till God come in with sanctifying grace, afflictions, those hammers of his, do but beat upon cold iron. Lev 19:27-28 Jer 16:6
Ashkelon is cut off.
With the remnant of their valley.
a Adrichom.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Baldness = the sign of mourning. Compare Jer 16:6.
Ashkelon. Now ‘Aakalan.
their valley. Septuagint reads “Anakim” instead of ‘imkam.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Baldness: Jer 48:37, Isa 15:2, Eze 7:18, Mic 1:16
Gaza: Jer 47:1, Amo 1:6-8, Zep 2:4-7, Zec 9:5-7
the remnant: Jer 47:4, Jer 25:20, Eze 25:16
how: Jer 16:1, Jer 41:5, Jer 48:37, Lev 19:28, Lev 21:5, Deu 14:1, 1Ki 18:28, Mar 5:5
Reciprocal: Jos 15:47 – Gaza Jer 7:29 – Cut Jer 16:6 – nor cut Eze 27:31 – they shall make Amo 1:8 – I will cut
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jer 47:5. Oasa and Ashkelon were cities of the Philistines, and baldness was a figurative prediction that they would be made bare by the ravages of war. Cut thyself refers to the self- imposed motions of grief over the misfortunes of the country.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Jer 47:5. Baldness is come upon Gaza; how long wilt thou cut thyself, &c. Under great calamities, and for the loss of any near kindred, it was usual for men to express their grief by shaving their heads, and cutting their flesh. Instead of Ashkelon is cut off, &c., Blaney reads, Ashkelon is put to silence, observing, that silence likewise is expressive of great affliction. Thus Jobs friends are said to have sat with him seven days and seven nights upon the ground without addressing a word to him, because they saw his grief was very great, Job 2:13. And so the Hebrew word here used, , is to be understood, (Isa 15:1,) of Moabs being made speechless with grief and astonishment the night that its cities were spoiled: see chap. Jer 48:2. With the remnant of their valley Instead of this interpretation, the LXX. read , the remnant of the Anakims. And this reading may be thought to derive some countenance from what is said Jos 11:22. But we shall see reason to prefer the present reading of the text, if we consider the situation of Gaza and Ashkelon, about twelve miles distant from each other, near the sea, in a valley, of whose beauty and fertility an accurate traveller has given the following description: We passed this day through the most pregnant and pleasant valley that ever eye beheld. On the right hand a ridge of high mountains; (whereon stands Hebron;) on the left hand the Mediterranean sea; bordered with continued hills, beset with variety of fruits. The champaign between, about twenty miles over, full of flowery hills, ascending leisurely, and not much surmounting their ranker valleys; with groves of olives, and other fruits, dispersedly adorned. Sandyss Travels, book 3. p. 150. The author adds, that in his time, this wealthy bottom (as are all the rest) was, for the most part, uninhabited, but only for a few small and contemptible villages a state of desolation, owing to the oppressions of a barbarous and ill-advised government. But we may easily conceive the populousness that must have prevailed there in its better days, especially if we consider the power which the Philistines once possessed, and the armies they brought into the field; although their country was scarcely forty English miles in length, and much longer than it was broad. Blaney.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
47:5 {f} Baldness is come upon Gaza; Ashkelon is cut off [with] the remnant of their valley: how long wilt {g} thou cut thyself?
(f) They who shaved their heads for sorrow and heaviness.
(g) As the heathen used in their mourning, which the Lord forbade his people to do, De 14:1 .
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Gaza and Ashkelon, in the southern part of Philistia, would suffer ruin, and the Philistines in that area would mourn and wail for a long time. Shaving the head and cutting oneself were signs of mourning (cf. Jer 16:6; Jer 41:5; Jer 48:37).