Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 47:6
O thou sword of the LORD, how long [will it be] ere thou be quiet? put up thyself into thy scabbard, rest, and be still.
6, 7. These vv. have been suspected, but on insufficient (partly metrical) grounds. They contain (a) the cry of the Philistines for mercy, ( b) the prophet’s reply.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Jer 47:6
Put up thyself into thy scabbard, rest, and be still.
War overruled for Gods glory
Notwithstanding all the boasted improvements of modem times, in knowledge and refinement, wars have not been less frequent than formerly, when mankind were in a rude and barbarous state. In making this reflection, the philosopher may profess his astonishment, but the genuine Christian will weep. Such are the mournful and ruinous effects which sin has produced in the world. Not only has it filled mens minds with enmity against God, but also with implacable enmity and revenge against one another.
I. Whence it is that the sword of war may be called the sword of the Lord.
1. Because the seasons in which this sword is drawn are governed or appointed by the Lord. The kindling of war, or the settling of peace, are appointed by the providence of that God who ruleth over all the earth. The direction of cabinets, the ambition of princes, of governors, of statesmen, are only the instruments which God employs with a powerful and a holy hand, to execute His will.
2. Because it receives its direction from the Lord. When God gives the commission, when He opens the brazen gates of destruction, no country, no city is secured against the ravages of war; and when His providence forms a wall of protection around a country, no army can prevail, no weapon formed against it can prosper, for the Almighty God Himself is its fortress, its pillar, and its strength.
3. Because the execution done by it is of the Lord. It is a saying of King William, who had himself been in many battles, that every bullet had its billet; intimating that it was under Gods direction whom to miss and whom to strike.
4. Because God sanctifies and glorifies Himself in its operation. In the management of war, the reputation of kings and statesmen, of generals or soldiers, is considered, but this is only a secondary consideration. The glory of the Lord, whom the Scriptures call a Man of War, is illustrated and made conspicuous in the eyes of the world. The slayer and those who are slain are His creatures and subjects, and the instruments which defend the one and kill the other are His sword.
II. The reason why all Gods people so ardently long to see the sword of war sheathed and at rest.
1. Conviction that the wrath of God bringeth upon man the punishment of the sword, will cause the saints to long earnestly for its being sheathed and at rest.
2. All Gods people will earnestly long to see the sword of war in -its scabbard and at rest, when they reflect what multitudes of men are hurried by it into eternity without thought or preparation.
3. Gods people earnestly long to see the sword of war sheathed and at rest, when they reflect on the unparalleled distresses and miseries inflicted on those countries which are the seat of war. Gracious persons are deeply affected with the miseries of their fellow-creatures, even though they he enemies.
4. Gods people earnestly desire to see the sword of war sheathed and at rest, that Christs Gospel may be propagated throughout the whole world, and its Divine power and influence felt by all nations. (James Hay, D. D.)
The sword of the warrior the sword of the Lord
As patriots, prophets felt the miseries which they denounced; as mourners, they lamented the sins which brought on these miseries; and as men, they wept over the graves of the enemies by whom their country had been harassed and wasted.
I. The sword of the warrior is the sword of the Lord.
1. The seasons in which the sword is drawn and sheathed are appointed by the Lord. The direction of cabinets, the ambition of princes, and the caprices of statesmen in these affairs, are subordinated by His invisible influence to His own will, without violating the order of second causes, or breaking in upon the freedom of rational agents.
2. The sword of the warrior is put in commission by the Lord.
3. The direction of the sword of the warrior is from the Lord. The seat of war is marked out, and its bounds circumscribed, in the purpose of the will of God; and thither the warrior marches without mistaking his way, whether it he to the shore of Tyrus, the valley of Jehoshaphat, the plains of Blenheim, the heights of Saratoga, or the mountains of Armageddon.
4. The execution done by the sword of the warrior is of the Lord. A sparrow falleth not to the ground without our heavenly Father, and in the day of battle, no soldier loses his life without His knowledge and predetermination.
5. By the sword of the warrior the Lord sanctifies and magnifies Himself. According to the states of the sufferers wars of conquest and extirpation are corrections and punishments, and whichever of the sides gains or loses the victory, the supremacy of Jehovah over all is main, rained, and the glory of His justice and holiness displayed and magnified. The cause in which the sword is drawn is always sinful on one side, and frequently sinful on both sides. But whatever be the quality of the cause, the views of men, or the issues of the contest, the Lord will not lose His end. He rules in the seat of war, and commands on the day of battle.
II. The reasons for which mourners in Zion long to see this sword sheathed.
1. Compassion for those who are delivered to the sword, or subjected to the insolence and rage of fierce and lawless men whose tender mercies are cruelty.
2. Knowledge of the consequences of driving men unprepared into eternity.
3. The peace of God, which rules in the hearts of mourners in Zion, inclines and constrains them to cry for the sheathing of the sword of the warrior.
4. Convictions that the wrath of God bringeth upon men the punishment of the sword, dispose mourners in Zion to long for its being put up into the scabbard. (A. Shanks.)
The means of terminating war
I. The evils of protracted war.
1. War is a tremendous evil.
2. Well might the prophet desire its speedy termination.
II. The reason of its continuance.
1. War is one of those judgments with which God punishes the sins of men.
2. Till He has effected His purposes by it, no human efforts can bring it to a close.
III. Means of its termination.
1. The intention of Gods chastisements is to bring us to repentance.
2. On the attainment of this end He will instantly remove HIS judgments from us.
IV. Some hints respecting those heavy judgments which God has denounced against sinners in another world, and respecting the best means of averting them from our souls. (C. Simeon, M. A.)
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Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 6. O thou sword of the Lord] This is a most grand prosopopoeia-a dialogue between the sword of the Lord and the prophet. Nothing can be imagined more sublime.
Put up thyself into thy scabbard, rest, and be still.] Shed no more blood, destroy no more lives, erase no more cities, desolate no more countries. Rest:-hast thou not been long enough at this work of judgment? O be still:-let wars and desolations cease for ever.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
6. Jeremiah, in the person ofthe Philistines afflicting themselves (Jer47:5), apostrophizes the “sword of the Lord,”entreating mercy (compare Deu 32:41;Eze 21:3-5; Eze 21:9;Eze 21:10).
up thyselfHebrew,“Gather thyself,” that is, retire or return.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
O thou sword of the Lord,…. For though it was the sword of the Chaldeans, yet being appointed and sent by the Lord, and having a commission from him, and being ordered and directed in his providence to do his will, it is called his sword:
how long [will it be] ere thou be quiet? and cease from destroying men; wilt thou not cease till thou hast no more to destroy?
put up thyself into thy scabbard, rest, and be still; and make no more havoc among the people: these are either the words of the Philistines, entreating a stop might be put to the ravages of the sword, and that the war might cease, and the desolations of it; or rather of the prophet, commiserating their state as a man, though they had been the avowed enemies of his people; to which the following words of him are an answer, either to the Philistines, showing why their request could not be granted, or as correcting himself.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Here Jeremiah turns to address the sword of God; and it is a happy apostrophe. It is very striking and forcible, when the Prophet at one time addresses the land of the Philistines, and at another, the sword of God; and he had no other object but to confirm his prophecy, of which otherwise, the Jews might have doubted.
He then says, Ho! sword of Jehovah! Though he puts here the preposition ל, lamed, which designates the dative case; yet it is often redundant. There is, in the meantime, no doubt but that he intimates that the slaughter of which he speaks would be, as it were, by God’s sword, or by a sword hired by him. Thus he shews that the Chaldeans would do the work of God in destroying the land of the Philistines.
How long, he says, ere thou restest! Hide thyself in thy sheath, rest and be still Here the Prophet assumes the character of another, as though he wished to soothe with blandishments the sword of God, and mitigate its fury. “O sword,” he says, “spare them, leave off to rage against the Philistines.” The Prophet, it is certain, had no such feeling; but, as we have said elsewhere, it was a common thing with the Prophets to assume different characters while endeavor-ing more fully to confirm their doctrine. It is the same, then, as though he represented here the Philistines; and the Prophets speak also often in the person of those on whom they denounce the vengeance of God. It is here as though he had said, “The Philistines will humbly ask pardon of God’s sword, but it will be without advantage or profit; for when they seek to mitigate the wrath of God, the answer will be, How can it rest?” Here the Prophet, as it were, reproves himself, “I act foolishly in wishing to repress the sword of God; for how canst thou rest?” It could not be; and why? because God hath commanded it against Ashkelon He now changes the person, but without any injury to the sense. God, then, hath commanded it, therefore the whole world would intercede in vain; in vain also will the Philistines deprecate it; for it will not be in their power to mitigate God’s wrath, when it shall burn against them and against Ashkelon.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(6) O thou sword of the Lord . . .This is the question and entreaty of the Philistines, When will there be an end of war? And the prophet has but one answer: the sword must do its work till it has done what Jehovah had appointed it to do.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
6. O thou sword how long As if it may no longer be endured. The prayer is in behalf of Philistia and in behalf of humanity for respite and mercy.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Jer 47:6. O thou sword of the Lord It is with great elegance that life is attributed to inanimate things. This dialogue between the sword of the Lord and the prophet, is a very bold, and at the same time a very sublime prosopopoeia, See Bishop Lowth’s 13th Prelection. Schultens reads the latter clause, Retreat to thy scabbard; strike, and be still.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
DISCOURSE: 1085
THE MEANS OF TERMINATING WAR
Jer 47:6-7. O thou sword of the Lord, how long will it be ere thou be quiet? Put up thyself into thy scabbard; rest, and be still. How can it be quiet, seeing the Lord hath given it a charge against Ashkelon, and against the sea-shore? there hath he appointed it.
THOUGH the two nations of Judah and Israel were the primary objects of attention to the prophets, yet many other nations were referred to in their prophecies; and the most important events respecting them were circumstantially foretold. The chapter before us relates to the Philistines: and it was written at a time when they had recovered the power, of which David had deprived them. It foretells the invasion of their land by the Chaldeans, together with the long continuance of the conflict, which should end in the subjugation of them and their allies.
We shall not confine our attention to them, but take the text as expressing generally,
I.
The evils of protracted war
War is a tremendous evil
[It is so even in its commencement: the distress of the Philistines at the approach of the invading army is very strongly depicted [Note: The men cry and howl: and the fathers are so terrified and enfeebled, as either to forget their own children, or to be afraid to look back for them. ver. 2, 3.]: and doubtless the representation is suited to any other country that is similarly circumstanced What then must be the miseries attendant on a protracted warfare! the desolations must spread far and wide; the slaughters be multiplied; famines be produced; perhaps pestilence also be generated. But who can enumerate the miseries which war brings in its train? ]
Well might the prophet desire its speedy termination
[Humanity alone, independent of patriotic feelings or private interests, would make one desire to see the sword restored to its scabbard. Some who fatten on the spoils of war, or whose ambition is insatiable, may wish to have these fatal contests protracted; but every one who regards either the temporal or spiritual welfare of mankind, will ardently wish for the termination of them. The days described by the prophet will be desired, infinitely beyond any national aggrandizement, or personal advancement [Note: Isa 11:6-9.].]
Whilst all acknowledge the evils of war, few seem to be aware of,
II.
The reason of its continuance
War is one of those judgments with which God punishes the sins of men
[We are apt to look only to second causes, instead of acknowledging, as we ought, the First Great Cause. Doubtless the passions of men are the immediate sources from whence the calamities of war arise: and men are strictly amenable, both to God and their fellow-creatures, for the evils, which, by their undue exercise of those passions, they inflict upon the world, But God, who accomplishes his own purposes without at all infringing on the liberty of the human will, renders those passions subservient to his own designs; and employs men as his agents, as a man employs an axe in the execution of any work which he chooses to effect [Note: Jer 51:20-23.]. Man is the instrument; but God is the real author of the work that is done [Note: Isa 10:14-15.].]
Till he has effected his own purposes by it, no human efforts can bring it to a close
[What are his ultimate designs, is known to himself alone: but whatever his counsel be, it shall stand; and he will do all his will. He had given the sword a charge against Ashkelon and the sea-shore; and therefore it could not be quiet, till it had executed its commission. He puts a cup into the hand of different nations; and it must go round, till they have all drunk of it. In vain will any refuse it: taste they must, yea and drink too, even to the dregs, if God has so decreed [Note: Jer 25:15-17; Jer 25:27-28.]. And, as we ourselves have been his instruments, to carry war to coasts which were, according to human appearances, most secure; so may we have it brought to our own shores, not with standing the security we appear to enjoy; and, if God has so appointed, no power or policy of men will be able to avert the storm: we have partaken largely of the sins of other nations; and we must expect to partake also of their punishments [Note: Eze 23:31-35.].]
But what is impossible with man, is possible with God; who has mercifully declared to us,
III.
The means of its termination
The intention of Gods chastisements is to bring us to repentance
[God has no pleasure in correcting the children of men: on the contrary, judgment is his strange act, to which with reluctance and difficulty he proceeds. But he tells us plainly, that he will proceed, till he has accomplished his gracious ends; yea that, if we hold fast our iniquities, he will increase his chastisements seven-fold [Note: Lev 26:27-28.]. On the contrary, he promises, that if we humble ourselves before him, he will remove them [Note: Lev 26:40-42.]. When his rod does not produce the desired effect, he complains of us [Note: Zec 7:11-12.], and expresses the deepest regret that we have not suffered him to exercise the mercy which was in his heart towards us [Note: Psa 81:13-16.]. In a word, his message to the whole world is this, Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin [Note: Eze 18:30.].]
On the attainment of his end, he will instantly remove his judgments from us
[What an example is given us, in his mercy towards the inhabitants of Nineveh! How did he regard even the humiliation of Ahab, though he knew it to be only external, selfish, and partial [Note: 1Ki 21:29.]! This then is the way to terminate the calamities of war. Sin is, as it were, the target, at which God shoots his arrows. The sword is drawn, to avenge the quarrel of his covenant: let that quarrel be composed, and the sword will be returned to its scabbard; it will rest, and be still.]
Having considered the means of terminating the calamities of war, and of averting the judgments of God from our land, we would, in
Conclusion
Suggest some hints respecting those heavy judgments, which God has denounced against sinners in another world, and respecting the best means of averting them from our souls
[That the sword has a charge against impenitent sinners, is certain [Note: Psa 7:11-13; Psa 9:17; Psa 11:6.] nor, however secure they may think themselves, shall they be able to escape it [Note: Pro 11:21.] Except they repent, they must all inevitably perish [Note: Luk 13:3; Luk 13:5.]. Moreover, if it be once drawn out against a person in the eternal world, it shall never be returned to its scabbard. Think then whether it have not received a charge against you. It is true, you are not mentioned by name; but you may be as clearly marked by character, as if your very name were specified. Possibly enough your works are such as to determine your state, beyond any possibility of doubt [Note: Gal 5:19-21.]: or, if not, your want of regeneration and conversion may no less clearly mark you as monuments of Gods displeasure [Note: Joh 3:3; Joh 3:5.] Know then, that in Christ only can you obtain pardon and peace: There is no other name given, whereby you can be saved. Seek then to be found in him: and know for your comfort, if your life be hid with Christ in God, it will be out of the reach of Gods avenging sword; and when Christ, who is your life, shall appear, then shall you also appear with him in glory.]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
Jer 47:6 O thou sword of the LORD, how long [will it be] ere thou be quiet? put up thyself into thy scabbard, rest, and be still.
Ver. 6. O thou sword of the Lord. ] So called because whencesoever it cometh it is bathed in heaven. Isa 34:5 See Jer 25:29 Jdg 7:18 ; Jdg 7:20 .
How long will it be ere thou be quiet?
a Aug., De Civit. Dei.
Jeremiah
THE SWORD OF THE LORD
Jer 47:6 – Jer 47:7 The prophet is here in the full tide of his prophecies against the nations round about. This paragraph is entirely occupied with threatenings. Bearing the cup of woes, he turns to one after another of the ancestral enemies of Israel, Egypt and Philistia on the south and west, Moab on the south and east, then northwards to Ammon, south to Edom, north to Damascus, Kedar, Hagor, Elam, and finally to the great foe-Babylon. In the hour of Israel’s lowest fortunes and the foe’s proudest exultation these predictions are poured out. Jeremiah stands as if wielding the sword of which our text speaks, and whirls and points the flashing terror of its sharpened edge against the ring of foes. It turns every way, like the weapon of the angelic guard before the lost paradise, and wherever it turns a kingdom falls.
In the midst of his stern denunciations he checks himself to utter this plaintive cry of pity and longing. A tender gleam of compassion breaks through the heart of the thunder-cloud. It is very beautiful to note that the point at which the irrepressible welling up of sweet waters breaks the current of his prophecy is the prediction against Israel’s bitterest, because nearest, foe, ‘these uncircumcised Philistines.’ He beholds the sea of wrath drowning the great Philistine plain, its rich harvests trampled under foot by ‘stamping of hoofs of his strong ones,’ and that desolation wrings from his heart the words of our text. I take them to be spoken by the prophet. That, of course, is doubtful. It may be that they are meant to give in a vivid dramatic form the effect of the judgments on the sufferers. They recognise these as ‘the sword of the Lord.’ Their only thought is an impatient longing that the judgments would cease,-no confession of sin, no humbling of them selves, but only-’remove Thy hand from us.’
And the answer is either the prophet’s or the divine voice; spoken in the one case to himself, in the other to the Philistines; but in either setting forth the impossibility that the sweeping sword should rest, since it is the instrument in God’s hand, executing His charge and fulfilling His appointment.
I. The shrinking from the unsheathed sword of the Lord.
They may express the impatience of sufferers. Afflictions are too often wasted. Whatever the purpose of chastisement, the true lesson of it is so seldom learned, even in regard to the lowest wisdom it is adapted to teach. In an epidemic, how few people learn to take precautions, such as cleanliness or attention to diet! In hard times commercially, how slow most are to learn the warning against luxury, over-trading, haste to be rich! And in regard to higher lessons, men have a dim sense sometimes that the blow comes from God, but, like Balaam, go on their way in spite of the angel with the sword. It does not soften, nor restrain, nor drive to God. The main result is, impatient longing for its removal.
The text may express the rooted dislike to the thought and the fact of punishment as an element in divine government. This is a common phase of feeling always, and especially so now. There is a present tendency, good in many aspects, but excessive, to soften away the thought of punishment; or to suppose that God’s punishments must have the same purposes as men’s. We cannot punish by way of retribution, for no balance of ours is fine enough to weigh motives or to determine criminality. Our punishments can only be deterrent or reformatory, but this is by reason of our weakness. He has other objects in view.
Current ideas of the love of God distort it by pitting it against His retributive righteousness. Current ideas of sin diminish its gravity by tracing it to heredity or environment, or viewing it as a necessary stage in progress. The sense of God’s judicial action is paralysed and all but dead in multitudes.
All these things taken together set up a strong current of opinion against any teaching of punitive energy in God.
The text may express the pitying reluctance of the prophet.
Jeremiah is remarkable for the weight with which ‘the burden of the Lord’ pressed upon him. The true prophet feels the pang of the woes which he is charged to announce more than his hearers do.
Unfair charges are made against gospel preachers, as if they delighted in the thought of the retribution which they have to proclaim.
II. The solemn necessity for the unsheathing of the sword.
His character makes it inevitable. God’s righteousness cannot but hate sin and fight against it. To leave it unpunished stains His glory.
God’s love cannot but draw and wield the sword. It is unsheathed in the interests of all that is ‘lovely and of good report.’ If God is God at all, and not an almighty devil, He must hate sin. The love and the righteousness, which in deepest analysis are one, must needs issue in punishment. There would be a blight over the universe if they did not.
The very order of the universe makes it inevitable. All things, as coming from Him, must work for His lovers and against His enemies, as ‘the stars in their courses fought against Sisera.’
The constitution of men makes it inevitable. Sin brings its own punishment, in gnawing conscience, defiled memories, incapacity for good, and many other penalties.
It is to be remembered that the text originally referred to retribution on nations for national sins, and that what Jeremiah regarded as the strokes of the Lord might be otherwise regarded as political catastrophes. Let us not overlook that application of the principles of the text. Scripture regards the so-called ‘natural consequences’ of a nation’s sins as God’s judgments on them. The Christian view of the government of the world looks on all human affairs as moved by God, though done by men. It takes full account of the responsibility of men the doers, but above all, recognises ‘the rod and Him who hath appointed it.’ We see exemplified over and over again in the world’s history the tragic truth that the accumulated consequences of a nation’s sins fall on the heads of a single generation. Slowly, drop by drop, the cup is filled. Slowly, moment by moment, the hand moves round the dial, and then come the crash and boom of the hammer on the deep-toned bell. Good men should pray not, ‘Put up thyself into thy scabbard,’ but, ‘Gird Thy sword on Thy thigh, O thou most mighty. . . on behalf of truth and meekness and righteousness.’
III. The sheathing of the sword.
God does not delight in punishment. He has provided a way. Christ bears the consequence of man’s sin, the sense of alienation, the pains and sorrows, the death. He does not bear them for Himself. His bearing them accomplishes the ends at which punishment aims, in expressing the divine hatred of sin and in subduing the heart. Trusting in Him, the sword does not fall on us. In some measure indeed it still does. But it is no longer a sword to smite, but a lancet to inflict a healing wound. And the worst punishment does not fall on us. God’s sword was sheathed in Christ’s breast. So trust in Him, then shall you have ‘boldness in the day of judgment.’
sword of the LORD. Reference to Pentateuch (Deu 32:41).
thou sword: Jer 12:12, Jer 15:3, Jer 25:27, Jer 51:20-23, Deu 32:41, Deu 32:42, Psa 17:13, Isa 10:5, Isa 10:15, Eze 14:17, Eze 21:3-5
how long: Jer 4:21, Jer 12:4, 2Sa 2:26
put up thyself: Heb. gather thyself
into: 1Ch 21:27, Eze 21:30, Joh 18:11
Reciprocal: Deu 33:29 – the sword 1Ch 21:12 – the sword Psa 94:3 – Lord Psa 114:5 – General Isa 10:6 – will I give Isa 23:9 – Lord Isa 27:1 – with his Isa 34:5 – my sword Jer 34:17 – to the sword Jer 50:35 – sword Eze 33:2 – When I bring the sword upon a land Zep 2:12 – my Zec 13:7 – O sword Mat 8:9 – Go Mat 24:6 – ye shall hear
Jer 47:6. This verse represents the Philistines in a pleading mood asking the Lord to put up the sword; such is the meaning of how long .. . ere thou he quiet?
Jer 47:6-7. O thou sword of the Lord By the sword of the Lord, war is here intended, with which, as a great instrument of calamity and destruction, God punishes the crimes of his enemies, and pleads the cause of his people. Some have understood the prophet as speaking in the words of the Philistines, complaining of the havoc which the sword made among them; but however weary they might be of the war, and desirous of its ceasing, it is not likely they should see the hand of God in it, or term it his sword. The words are rather to be considered as the lamentation of the prophet, (and it is a most pathetic and animated one,) over the miseries with which God, in his just displeasure, was punishing the nations for their sins. How can it be quiet, seeing the Lord hath, given it a charge against Ashkelon, &c. Here the prophet returns an answer to the foregoing inquiry, importing, that the havoc made by the sword was the effect of Gods irreversible purpose and decree. He gives the sword its commission, and it slays when and where he appoints, and continues to destroy a longer or shorter time, as he determines. When it is drawn, it will not be sheathed till it has fulfilled its charge. As Gods word, so his rod and his sword shall accomplish that for which he sends them.
Jeremiah called on the Lord to sheath His sword, to stop the slaying. The prophet did not relish the prospect of such a slaughter.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)