Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 47:1
The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet against the Philistines, before that Pharaoh smote Gaza.
1. This v. in LXX consists simply of the words “Concerning the Philistines.” At any rate we shall probably be right in considering “before that Gaza” as a gloss added by a scribe who had regard to Jer 47:5, but failing to see that the disaster there spoken of was to come on Gaza from the north, not from Egypt, identified it with Pharaoh-neco’s capture of “Kadytis,” probably Gaza (Herod. II. 159), after the battle of Megiddo (b.c. 608).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
that Pharaoh – Pharaoh-Necho though defeated at Carchemish, was probably able to seize Gaza upon his retreat, when obviously the possession of so strong a fortress would be most useful to him to prevent the entrance of the victorious Chaldaeans into Egypt.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
CHAPTER XLVII
Among the nations doomed to suffer from the hostilities of
Nebuchadnezzar are the Philistines, (see Jer 25:20.)
And the calamities predicted in this chapter befell them
probably during the long siege of Tyre, when their country was
desolated to prevent their giving Tyre or Sidon any assistance,
1-5.
The whole of this chapter is remarkably elegant. The address to
the sword of Jehovah, at the close of it, is particularly a
very beautiful and bold personification, 6, 7.
NOTES ON CHAP. XLVII
Verse 1. The word of the Lord – against the Philistines] The date of this prophecy cannot be easily ascertained. Dr. Blayney thinks it was delivered about the fourth year of Zedekiah, while Dahler assigns it some time in the reign of Josiah.
Before that Pharaoh smote Gaza.] We have no historical relation of any Egyptian king smiting Gaza. It was no doubt smitten by some of them; but when, and by whom, does not appear either from sacred or profane history.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
In the former chapter the prophet foretold the judgments of God upon the Egyptians, who were the Jews seeming friends, but their real enemies, as they were occasions to them of idolatry, and of a sinful confidence in them. He comes in this chapter to foretell the judgments of God upon the Philistines, who were inveterate enemies to the Jews, against whom also Isaiah, Isa 14:29 of his prophecy, and Ezekiel, and Amos prophesied, Eze 25:15; Amo 1:6; and also Zephaniah, in Zep 2:4,5 of his prophecy. When the king of Egypt took Gaza, one of the five cities of the Philistines, the Scripture doth not tell us. Some think it was either in his way to Carchemish, or as he came back a conqueror from the battle at Megiddo, where Josiah was slain. The time when Jeremiah had this revelation is set down to let us know that it was in the time of the Philistines prosperity, when the prophet could see no such effect existent, or probable in its causes.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
1. Pharaoh-necho probablysmote Gaza on his return after defeating Josiah at Megiddo (2Ch35:20) [GROTIUS]. Or,Pharaoh-hophra (Jer 37:5;Jer 37:7) is intended: probablyon his return from his fruitless attempt to save Jerusalem from theChaldeans, he smote Gaza in order that his expedition might not bethought altogether in vain [CALVIN](Amo 1:6; Amo 1:7).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet against the Philistines,…. As the former prophecies were against the Egyptians, the friends and allies of the Jews, in whom they trusted; this is against the Philistines, the near neighbours of the Jews, and their implacable enemies: the time of this prophecy was,
before Pharaoh smote Gaza; one of the five cities of the Philistines, a very strong and fortified place, as its name signifies;
[See comments on Ac 8:26]. The Jews, in their chronicle, say t this was fulfilled in the eighth year of Zedekiah, when Pharaoh came out of Egypt, while the Chaldeans were besieging Jerusalem; which they hearing of, broke up the siege, and went forth to meet him; upon which he went to Gaza, and destroyed that, and returned to Egypt again. Both Jarchi and Kimchi make mention of this, but say it was in the tenth year of Zedekiah; and which, no doubt, is the truest reading, since the Chaldean army did not come up against Jerusalem until the ninth year of his reign. But it is more likely that this Pharaoh was Pharaohnecho, and that he fell upon Gaza, and smote it, either when he came to Carchemish, or when he returned from thence, after he had slain Josiah. Now this prophecy was delivered out before anything of this kind happened, and when the Philistines were in the utmost peace, and in no fear or expectation of destruction; and the smiting of this single city by the king of Egypt is foretold, as the forerunner and pledge of a greater destruction of the land by the king of Babylon, next mentioned.
t Seder Olam Rabba, c. 26. p. 75.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The word of the Lord against the Philistines came to Jeremiah “before Pharaoh smote Gaza.” If we understand this time-definition in such a way that “the prophecy would refer to the conquest of Gaza by Pharaoh,” as Graf thinks, and as Hitzig also is inclined to suppose, then this portion of the title does not accord with the contents of the following prophecy; for, according to Jer 47:2, the devastator of Philistia approaches from the north, and the desolation comes not merely on Gaza, but on all Philistia, and even Tyre and Sidon (Jer 47:4, Jer 47:5). Hence Graf thinks that, if any one is inclined to consider the title as utterly incorrect, only two hypotheses are possible: either the author of the title overlooked the statement in Jer 47:2, that the hostile army was to come from the north; in which case this conquest might have taken place at any time during the wearisome struggles, fraught with such changes of fortune, between the Chaldeans and the Egyptians for the possession of the border fortresses, during the reign of Jehoiakim (which is Ewald’s opinion): or he may possibly have noticed the statement, but found no difficulty in it; in which case, in spite of all opposing considerations (see M. von Niebuhr, Gesch. Assyr. und Bab. p. 369), it must be assumed that the conquest was effected by the defeated army as it was returning from the Euphrates, when Necho, on his march home, reduced Gaza (Hitzig), and by taking this fortress from the enemy, barred the way to Egypt. Of these two alternatives, we can accept neither as probable. The neglect, on the part of the author of the title, to observe the statement that the enemy is to come from the north, would show too great carelessness for us to trust him. But if he did notice the remark, then it merely follows that Pharaoh must have reduced Gaza on his return, after being defeated at Carchemish. Nor is it legitimate to conclude, as Ewald does, from the statement in 2Ki 24:7 (“The king of Egypt went no more out of his land; for the king of Babylon had taken all that had belonged to the king of Egypt, from the river of Egypt unto the river Euphrates”), that the wars between the Chaldeans and the Egyptians for the possession of the border fortresses, such as Gaza, were tedious, and attended with frequent changes of fortune. In the connection in which it stands, this statement merely shows that, after Nebuchadnezzar had made Jehoiakim his vassal, the latter could not receive any help from Egypt in his rebellion, after he had ruled three years, because Pharaoh did not venture to march out of his own territory any more. But it plainly follows from this, that Pharaoh cannot have taken the fortress of Gaza while retreating before Nebuchadnezzar. For, in this case, Nebuchadnezzar would have been obliged to drive him thence before ever he could have reduced King Jehoiakim again to subjection. The assumption is difficult to reconcile with what Berosus says regarding the campaign of Nebuchadnezzar, viz., that the continued in the field till he heard of the death of his father. Add to this, that, as M. von Niebuhr very rightly says, “there is every military probability against it” (i.e., against the assumption that Gaza was reduced by Necho on his retreat). “If this fortress had stood out till the battle of Carchemish, then it is inconceivable that a routed eastern army should have taken the city during its retreat, even though there were, on the line of march, the strongest positions on the Orontes, in Lebanon, etc., where it might have taken its stand.” Hence Niebuhr thinks it “infinitely more improbable either that Gaza was conquered before the battle of Carchemish, about the same time as Ashdod, and that Jeremiah, in Jer 47:1-7, predicts the approach of the army which was still engaged in the neighbourhood of Nineveh; or that the capture of the fortress did not take place till later, when Nebuchadnezzar was again engaged in Babylon, and that the prophet announces his return, not his first approach.”
Rosenmller and Ngelsbach have declared in favour of the first of these suppositions. Both of them place the capture of Gaza in the time of Necho’s march against the Assyrians under Josiah; Rosenmller before the battle of Megiddo; Ngelsbach after that engagement, because he assumes, with all modern expositors, that Necho had landed with his army at the Bay of Acre. He endeavours to support this view by the observation that Necho, before marching farther north, sought to keep the way clear for a retreat to Egypt, since he would otherwise have been lost after the battle of Carchemish, if he did not previously reduce Gaza, the key of the high road to Egypt. In this, Ngelsbach rightly assumes that the heading, “before Pharaoh smote Gaza,” was not intended to show the fulfilment of the prophecy in the conquest of Gaza by Necho soon afterwards, but merely states that Jeremiah predicts to the Philistines that they will be destroyed by a foe from the north, at a time when conquest by a foe from the north was impending over them. Rightly, too, does Niebuhr remark that, in support of the view that Gaza was taken after the battle at Carchemish, there is nothing more than the announcement of the attack from the north, and the arrangement of the prophecies in Jeremiah, in which that against the Philistines is placed after that about the battle of Carchemish. Hitzig and Graf lay great weight upon this order and arrangement, and thence conclude that all the prophecies against the nations in Jer 46-49, with the exception of that regarding Elam, were uttered in the fourth year of Jehoiakim. There are no sufficient grounds for this conclusion. The agreement between this prophecy now before us and that in Jer 46, as regards particular figures and expressions (Graf), is too insignificant to afford a proof that the two belong to the same time; nor is much to be made out of the point so strongly insisted on by Hitzig, that after the Egyptians, as the chief nation, had been treated of, the author properly brings forward those who, from the situation of their country, must be visited by war immediately before it is sent on the Egyptians. The main foundation for this view is taken from the notice by Herodotus (ii. 159), that Necho, after the battle at Magdolos, took the large Syrian city . Magdolos is here taken as a variation of Megiddo, and Kadytis of Gaza. But neither Hitzig nor Stark have proved the identity of Kadytis with Gaza, as we have already remarked on 2Ki 23:33; so that we cannot safely draw any conclusion, regarding the time when Gaza was taken, from that statement of Herodotus. In consequence of the want of evidence from other sources, the date of this event cannot be more exactly determined.
From the contents of this prophecy and its position among the oracles against the nations, we can draw no more than a very probable inference that it was not published before the fourth year of Jehoiakim, inasmuch as it is evidently but a further amplification of the sentence pronounced in that year against all the nations, and recorded in Jer 25. Thus all conjectures as to the capture of Gaza by Necho on his march to the Euphrates, before the battle at Carchemish, become very precarious. But the assumption is utterly improbable also, that Necho at a later period, whether in his flight before the Chaldeans, or afterwards, while Nebuchadnezzar was occupied in Babylon, undertook an expedition against Philistia: such a hypothesis is irreconcilable with the statement given in 2 Kings 24; 7. There is thus no course left open for us, but to understand, by the Pharaoh of the title here, not Necho, but his successor Hophra: this has been suggested by Rashi, who refers to Jer 37:5, Jer 37:11, and by Perizonius, in his Origg. Aegypt. p. 459, who founds on the notices of Herodotus (ii. 261) and of Diodorus Siculus, i. 68, regarding the naval battle between Apries on the one hand and the Cyprians and Phoenicians on the other. From these notices, it appears pretty certain that Pharaoh-Hophra sought to avenge the defeat of Necho on the Chaldeans, and to extend the power of Egypt in Asia. Hence it is also very probable that he took Gaza, with the view of getting into his hands this key of the highway to Egypt. This assumption we regard as the most probable, since nothing has been made out against it; there are no sufficient grounds for the opinion that this prophecy belongs to the same time as that in Jer 46.
Contents of the Prophecy. – From the north there pours forth a river, inundating fields and cities, whereupon lamentation begins. Every one flees in haste before the sound of the hostile army, for the day of desolation is come on all Philistia and Phoenicia (Jer 47:2-4). The cities of Philistia mourn, for the sword of the Lord is incessantly active among them (Jer 47:5-7). This brief prophecy thus falls into two strophes: in the first (Jer 47:2-4), the ruin that is breaking over Philistia is described; in the second (Jer 47:5-7), its operation on the country and on the people.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| The Judgment of the Philistines. | B. C. 588. |
1 The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet against the Philistines, before that Pharaoh smote Gaza. 2 Thus saith the LORD; Behold, waters rise up out of the north, and shall be an overflowing flood, and shall overflow the land, and all that is therein; the city, and them that dwell therein: then the men shall cry, and all the inhabitants of the land shall howl. 3 At the noise of the stamping of the hoofs of his strong horses, at the rushing of his chariots, and at the rumbling of his wheels, the fathers shall not look back to their children for feebleness of hands; 4 Because of the day that cometh to spoil all the Philistines, and to cut off from Tyrus and Zidon every helper that remaineth: for the LORD will spoil the Philistines, the remnant of the country of Caphtor. 5 Baldness is come upon Gaza; Ashkelon is cut off with the remnant of their valley: how long wilt thou cut thyself? 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. 7 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.
As the Egyptians had often proved false friends, so the Philistines had always been sworn enemies, to the Israel of God, and the more dangerous and vexatious for their being such near neighbours to them. They were considerably humbled in David’s time, but, it seems they had got head again and were a considerable people till Nebuchadnezzar cut them off with their neighbours, which is the event here foretold. The date of this prophecy is observable; it was before Pharaoh smote Gaza. When this blow was given to Gaza by the king of Egypt is not certain, whether in his expedition against Carchemish or in his return thence, after he had slain Josiah, or when he afterwards came with design to relieve Jerusalem; but this is mentioned here to show that this word of the Lord came to Jeremiah against the Philistines when they were in their full strength and lustre, themselves and their cities in good condition, in no peril from any adversary or evil occurrent. When no disturbance of their repose was foreseen by any human probabilities, yet then Jeremiah foretold their ruin, which Pharaoh’s smiting Gaza soon after would be but an earnest of, and, as it were, the beginning of sorrows to that country. It is here foretold, 1. That a foreign enemy and a very formidable one shall be brought upon them: Waters rise up out of the north, v. 2. Waters sometimes signify multitudes of people and nations (Rev. xvii. 15), sometimes great and threatening calamities (Ps. lxix. 1); here they signify both. They rise out of the north, whence fair weather and the wind that drives away rain are said to come; but now a terrible storm comes out of that cold climate. The Chaldean army shall overflow the land like a deluge. Probably this happened before the destruction of Jerusalem, for it should seem that in Gedaliah’s time, which was just after, the army of the Chaldeans was quite withdrawn out of those parts. The country of the Philistines was but of small extent, so that it would soon be overwhelmed by so vast an army. 2. That they shall all be in a consternation upon it. The men shall have no heart to fight, but shall sit down and cry like children: All the inhabitants of the land shall howl, so that nothing but lamentation shall be heard in all places. The occasion of the fright is elegantly described, v. 3. Before it comes to killing and slaying, the very stamping of the horses and rattling of the chariots, when the enemy makes his approach, shall strike a terror upon the people, to such a degree that parents in their fright shall seem void of natural affection, for they shall not look back to their children, to provide for their safety, or so much as to see what becomes of them. Their hands shall be so feeble that they shall despair of carrying them off with them, and therefore they shall not care for seeing them, but leave them to take their lot; or they shall be in such a consternation that they shall quite forget even those pieces of themselves. Let none be over-fond of their children, nor dote upon them, since such distress may come that they may either wish they had none or forget that they have, and have no heart to look upon them. 3. That the country of the Philistines shall be spoiled and laid waste, and the other countries adjoining to them and in alliance with them. It is a day to spoil the Philistines, for the Lord will spoil them, v. 4. Note, Those whom God will spoil must needs be spoiled; for, if God be against them, who can be for them? Tyre and Zidon were strong and wealthy cities, and they used to help the Philistines in a strait, but now they shall themselves be involved in the common ruin, and God will cut off from them every helper that remains. Note, Those that trust to help from creatures will find it cut off when they most need it and will thereby be put into the utmost confusion. Who the remnant of the country of Caphtor were is uncertain, but we find that the Caphtorim were near akin to the Philistines (Gen. x. 14), and probably when their own country was destroyed such as remained came and settled with their kinsmen the Philistines, and were now spoiled with them. Some particular places are here named, Gaza, and Ashkelon, v. 5. Baldness has come upon them; the invaders have stripped them of all their ornaments, or they have made themselves bald in token of extreme grief, and they are cut off, with the other cities that were in the plain or valley about them. The products of their fruitful valley shall be spoiled, and made a prey of, by the conquerors. 4. That these calamities should continue long. The prophet, in the foresight of this, with his usual tenderness, asks them first (v. 5), How long will you cut yourselves, as men in extreme sorrow and anguish do? O how tedious will the calamity be! not only cutting, but long cutting. But he turns from the effect to the cause: They cut themselves, for the sword of the Lord cuts them. And therefore, (1.) He bespeaks that to be still (v. 6): O thou sword of the Lord! how long will it be ere thou be quiet? He begs it would put up itself into the scabbard, would devour no more flesh, drink no more blood. This expresses the prophet’s earnest desire to see an end of the war, looking with compassion, as became a man, even upon the Philistines themselves, when their country was made desolate by the sword. Note, War is the sword of the Lord; with it he punishes the crimes of his enemies and pleads the cause of his own people. When war is once begun it often lasts long; the sword, once drawn, does not quickly find the way into the scabbard again; nay, some when they draw the sword throw away the scabbard, for they delight in war. So deplorable are the desolations of war that the blessings of peace cannot but be very desirable. O that swords might be beaten into ploughshares! (2.) Yet he gives a satisfactory account of the continuance of the war and stops the mouth of his own complaint (v. 7): How can it be quiet, seeing the Lord hath given it a charge against such and such places, particularly specified in its commission? There hath he appointed it. Note, [1.] The sword of war hath its charge from the Lord of hosts. Every bullet has its charge; you call them blind bullets, but they are directed by an all-seeing God. The war itself has its charge; he saith to it, Go, and it goes–Come, and it comes–Do this, and it does it; for he is commander-in-chief. [2.] When the sword is drawn we cannot expect it should be sheathed till it has fulfilled its charge. As the word of God, so his rod and his sword, shall accomplish that for which he sends them.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
JEREMIAH – CHAPTER 47
AN ORACLE CONCERNING PHPISTIA
The Philistines had been Israel’s closest and most perpetual enemy.
Though their power had been considerably diminished during the reign of David, they had managed to maintain their national status.
1. Though this prophecy cannot be dated exactly, it was evidently given between 609-605 B.C.
2 The overflowing flood that Jeremiah sees rising out of the north is a poetic description of the Chaldean army which overwhelms everything that is in its path, (vs. 2a; Jer 46:8; Isa 14:31; comp. Isa 8:78).
3. So utterly terrorized are the Phpistines by the approaching Chaldeans, so vividly described by Jeremiah in verse 3, that strong men cry out in fear, and fathers abandon their children to destruction, in an effort to flee!
4. The time has come for Philistia to be destroyed, and for every potential helper of Tyre and Sidon to be cut off; it is the Lord Himself who is bringing consuming judgment upon the Philistines – a people who evidently sprang from Caphtor (possibly referring to Crete of Cilicia, vs. 4; comp. Amo 9:7; Deu 2:23).
5. Mourning has come upon the enemies of Israel before whose overwhelming physical superiority they once regarded themselves as “grasshoppers”, (vs. 5; Jer 16:6; Deu 14:1; Mic 1:16 Num 13:22; Num 13:28; Num 13:33; Jos 11:21-22; Jdg 1:20).
6. It appears that verse 6 is a plea from the Philistines for the Lord to put His sword of judgment back into its scabbard that they might find rest.
7. But Jeremiah replies that since the Lord has given it a charge against Ashkelon, there is no way that it can be quiet until its appointed task it accomplished!
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
Jeremiah prophesies here against the Philistines, who were enemies to the Israelites, and had contrived against them many cruel and unjust things. There is then no doubt, but that God intended to testify, by this prophecy, his love towards the Israelites, for he undertook their cause, and avenged the wrongs done to them. We hence perceive why God had predicted the ruin of the Philistines, even that the Israelites might know his paternal love towards them, as he set himself against their enemies; and thus he gave them a reason for patience, because it behooved them to wait until God fulfilled this prophecy.
And he points out the time, Before Pharaoh smote Aza, or Gaza. The ancient Gaza, as far as we can find out, was near the sea; but after it was destroyed, another was built, which is mentioned by Luke, (Act 8:26😉 it appears from heathen writers that it was a celebrated city and opulent. But they are mistaken who think that its name is derived from the Persic word “Gaza,” which means treasures; for they say, that when Cambyses led an army against Egypt, he left there his riches. But the word עזה, Oze, is a very ancient Hebrew word; and it is well known that the ע, oin, has been pronounced like our g; and this is the case as to other words, as for instance, Gomorrah, עמרה, the ע, oin, has the sound of ג, gimel; so also צער, Tsor, the Greek and Latin interpreters have rendered it, Segor. Then Gaza has not derived its name from treasures, but it is a Hebrew word, signifying fortitude or strength.
Now Jeremiah says, that he prophesied against the Philistines before Pharaoh smote that city, but he did not demolish it. But we see that the Prophet threatens nothing to it from the Egyptians, but rather from the Chaldeans. Why then does he speak here of Pharaoh?
We must refer to history, and then we shall see what the design of the Holy Spirit was. When Pharaoh came to bring assistance to the Jews under Zedekiah, as we have already seen, he was soon compelled to return to Egypt, for the Chaldeans, having raised the siege, went against the Egyptians; for if they routed them, they knew that they could soon possess themselves of the whole of Judea. Haying then left the Jews for a time, they went against the Egyptians. Pharaoh, possessing no confidence in himself, as I have said, retreated; but he plundered Gaza in his way, because it was very hostile to the Jews; and he wished to shew that he did not come altogether in vain, though this afforded no relief to the Jews. But thus in things of nought earthly kings shew off themselves. Pharaoh then at that time plundered Gaza, but he did not retain it. At this time Jeremiah predicted greater calamities. And this ought to be carefully noticed, for there would be no reason why the Prophet spake of the Philistines, except, he had respect to something farther. Let us now then come to the second verse:
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
CRITICAL AND EXEGETICAL NOTES.1. Chronology of the Chapter.Before that Pharaoh smote Gaza (Jer. 47:1); but which Pharaoh? Pharaoh-Necho, on his return from defeating Josiah at Megiddo (2Ch. 35:20), or Pharaoh-Hophra, on his return from the fruitless effort to save Jerusalem from the Chaldeans (chap. Jer. 37:5; Jer. 37:7); or this same Pharaoh-Hophra after his defeat at Carchemish (vide previous chapter, notes)? The probabilities favour Pharaoh-Necho, and date the prophecy before the fourth year of Jehoiakim. Note, that just as an enemy from the north (Egypt) is about to assail Philistia, the prophet predicts the seemingly unlikely and remote fact that an enemy from the north (the Babylonians) should invade and spoil them! Note further, that the country of the Philistines was overrun by the army of Nebuchadnezzar during, or immediately after, the siege of Tyre, while prosecuting his march towards Egypt.
2. Geographical References (Jer. 47:1). Philistines Gaza. Philistia bordered upon Egypt, and Pharaoh-Necho seized this on his retreat (defeated by the Chaldeans) from Carchemish; for Gaza was the key to Egypt, and his holding this would check the now victorious Chaldeans from invading Egypt itself.
Jer. 47:4. Tyrus and Zidon. Neighbours to Philistia, so that the Phnicians of Tyre and Sidon would naturally become helpers to the Philistines, making common cause against the invader, for the overthrow of Philistia carried, as a consequence, the overthrow of Tyre and Sidon also. The country of Caphtor: perhaps Crete (so Gesenius), or Cyprus (so Kitto). Others suggest Cappadocia; and the city Caparorsa, situate between Palestine and Iduma, is pointed out as probable on account of being adjacent.
Jer. 47:5. Ashkelon their valley. The valley is the inland valley of Philistia as distinguished from her maritime fortresses, Gaza and Askelon.
THE SWORD OF THE LORD UPON PHILISTIA
For ages long had the Philistines embittered the lot of Israel. From the times of Shamgar (Jdg. 3:31), down to those of Hezekiah (2Ki. 18:8), they were both hostile and dangerous neighbours. Now the day of retribution had arrived, when Philistias hostility should be punished. For God is not slack concerning His promise as some men count slackness, but is long-suffering, &c.
I. The avenging sword
1. Falls at length, though long sheathed (Jer. 47:4). Compare Psa. 37:12-13.
2. Is wielded by other hands than we surmise (Jer. 47:2). The north (see note above to Chronology). God selects His own agencies for punishing men.
II. The smitten sufferers
1. Paralysed with terror (Jer. 47:3). Solicitous for themselves to the forgetting of all natural affection.
2. Destitute of helpers (Jer. 47:4). For when Gods sword smites, no confederacy of defence can protect or shield.
3. Abject in grief and dismay (Jer. 47:5). Baldness a sign of anguish; cut thyself the conduct of terrified despair. When God smites, we feel His strokes.
III. The appeal for mercy (Jer. 47:6).
1. Though smitten for their sin, men cry out against its punishment.
2. Though prayerless while sinning, men appeal for pity when its chastisements are upon them.
3. Though stubborn against Gods word, sinners cannot hold out long under His sword.
IV. The full measure of doom (Jer. 47:7).
1. Appointed judgments will be effectually carried out.
2. No pleadings for mercy will stay those judgments when they at last come on the guilty.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
III. AN ORACLE AGAINST THE PHILISTINE Jer. 47:1-7
TRANSLATION
(1) The word of the LORD which came unto Jeremiah concerning the Philistine before Pharaoh smote Gaza. (2) Thus says the LORD: Behold, waters are rising from the north and they shall become an overflowing stream. They shall overflow the land and all in it, the city and its inhabitants. Mankind shall cry out and all inhabitants of the land wail. (3) At the noise of the stamping of the hoofs of his mighty ones, from the shaking of his chariots and the noise of his wheels fathers will not turn back unto children because of feebleness of hands. (4) Because the day comes to destroy all Philistines, to cut off from Tyre and Sidon every remaining helper; for the LORD is about to destroy the Philistine, the remnant of the isle of Caphtor. (5) Baldness is come upon Gaza. Ashkelon is made silent, the remnant of their valley. How long will you cut yourself? (6) Alas! O sword of the LORD, how long will you not be quiet? Put yourself into your scabbard! Rest! Be silent! (7) How can you be quiet when the LORD has commissioned you against Ashkelon and the seashore, there has He appointed it.
COMMENTS
The oracle against the Philistine has a heading which furnishes a date for the oracle in terms of a battle that must have been familiar to the prophets audience. According to the heading this word came from the Lord before Pharaoh smote Gaza (Jer. 47:1). Unfortunately for the modern student of the book, the prophet did not identify the particular Pharaoh who conquered Gaza. Since Pharaoh Hophra (588569 B.C.) made an expedition as far north as Sidon during his reign he has been nominated as the mysterious Pharaoh of Jer. 47:1. But in view of the fact that Jeremiah is still talking about the enemy from the north rather than of the Chaldeans or Nebuchadnezzar it seems probable that the oracle comes from the earliest period of the prophets ministry. In the main Jeremiah used the phrase enemy from the north in his messages prior to the battle of Carchemish. Probably then it was Pharaoh Necho who captured Gaza some time before the battle of Carchemish. Perhaps evidence[379] for this conquest will be forthcoming from the new materials which are constantly coming to light concerning the relations of the Pharaohs and Palestine.
[379] Some scholars feel there is a reference to the capture of Gaza by Pharaoh Necho in Herodotus II, 159 but the evidence is far from conclusive.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
XLVII.
(1) Against the Philistines.Here also we have, as in the preceding chapter, a message connected with Jer. 25:20. The Gaza of this verse is the Azzah of that, and the date is fixed at a time prior to Nechos attack on that city. Writers who, like Hitzig, identify the Oadytis of Herod. ii. 159, 3:5, with Gaza, suppose his attack to have been made on his return from his victory at Carchemish. The date of the prophecy is thus fixed in the interval between the two events. Eze. 25:15 should be compared as a contemporary and parallel prediction.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
THE TITLE, Jer 47:1.
1. The word of the Lord against the Philistines “The prophecy against Philistia was one of those contained in Jehoiakim’s roll, but there are many difficulties connected with the superscription, owing to our ignorance of contemporaneous history.” Dean Smith.
Before that Pharaoh smote Gaza Probably Pharaoh-necho, after his defeat at Carchemish. The possession of this stronghold might enable him to hold in check his conquering enemy, and thus serve as a protection to his own land. With this view this prophecy would come between the battle of Carchemish and the capture of Gaza.
THE PROPHECY OF RUIN, 2-7.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
C). Prophecy Concerning Philistia And Its Great Cities Including Within It A Word Against Tyre and Sidon ( Jer 47:1-7 ).
To the west of Judah was Philistia, with its great semi-independent cities such as Gaza (the Azzah of Jer 25:20) and Ashkelon (along with Ekron and the remnant of Ashdod – Jer 25:20, and earlier, Gath), and to the north-west the Phoenician cities of Tyre and Sidon. The Philistines had been a constant thorn in the side of Israel ever since they had arrived from the Aegean in the Coastal Plain around 1200 BC where, having been repulsed by Egypt, they had established themselves as a military elite over the Canaanites on the Coastal Plain. Indeed during the Judges period they had almost swallowed up central Israel and Judah, a situation which was partly alleviated by Samuel and was finally solved by David. After David any Philistine encroachment was limited. But ruled over by five semi-independent ‘tyrants’, and relatively strong in themselves, they had still caused trouble for Israel/Judah, either by their belligerence at times of weakness (compare Eze 25:15-17), or by persuading them to enter into alliances against a common enemy. Their own problem was that they were in the direct path of any northern incursion against Egypt, for invaders from the north would march down the Coastal Plain through Philistia.
Jer 47:1
‘The word (dbr) of YHWH which came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the Philistines, before Pharaoh smote Gaza.’
The timing of the prophecy is indicated by the fact that it was ‘before Pharaoh smote Gaza’. This may suggest a date between 609-600 BC. During that period the Egyptians were active in the region a number of times, including their march to the aid of the Assyrians in 609 BC, as a result of which Josiah was slain, their control over the area until their defeat at Carchemish in 605 BC, and their subsequent repulsion of the Babylonians in that area in 601 BC. Herodotus, 2:159, says that Pharaoh Necho took Kadytis, which may well be Greek for Gaza , in 609 BC, presumably on his march north, and the Babylonian Chronicles indicate that Necho may have attacked and defeated Gaza in 601 BC. If this be the case the prophecy occurs either in the latter part of the reign of Josiah or in that of Jehoiakim. The reference to the sacking of Ashkelon (Jer 47:7) may point to a date prior to 604 BC when the Babylonian Chronicles tell us that Nebuchadrezzar sacked Ashkelon.
Some view it as unlikely that Pharaoh Necoh ‘smote Gaza’, and argue that this refers to a later Pharaoh, namely Pharaoh Hophra, who is known to have been widely belligerent..
Jer 47:2
‘Thus says YHWH:
“Behold, waters rise up out of the north,
And will become an overflowing stream,
And will overflow the land and all that is in it,
The city and those who dwell in it,
And the men will cry,
And all the inhabitants of the land will wail.”
That this refers to an enemy ‘out of the north’ and not to Pharaoh Necho points to a coming Babylonian invasion. For the picture used compare Jer 46:8; Isa 8:7. The invasion is likened to a great flood which inundates the land and overwhelms the cities, something illustrated in the following verses. The consequence is that the people wail and mourn because of what has come on them.
Jer 47:3-4
“At the noise of the stamping of the hoofs of his strong ones,
At the rushing of his chariots, at the rumbling of his wheels,
The fathers do not look back to their children,
Because of feebleness of hands;
Because of the day which comes to destroy all the Philistines,
To cut off from Tyre and Sidon every helper who remains,
For YHWH will destroy the Philistines,
The remnant of the isle of Caphtor.”
The vivid picture portrays the awfulness of seeing the invaders arrive in irresistible force. The hoofbeats of the horses and the noise of the chariots brings terror to the neighbourhood such that children are abandoned in the haste to get away. It is a day of destruction and it is a day which will destroy ‘all the Philistines’, and will include their allies in Tyre and Sidon (compare Psa 83:7). And all this was because YHWH has determined to destroy the Philistines who had previously arrived (among the Sea People) from Crete and the Aegean, taking over parts of YHWH’s land and harassing His people. Once again we see that YHWH’s purposes are being brought about by the activities of men, and that although His action is sometimes delayed He never forgets how His people have been treated.
‘To cut off from Tyre and Sidon every helper who remains.’ This may suggest that Philistia’s great fault in Nebuchadrezzar’s eyes (their being seen as ‘the helper who remains’) was that they had assisted Tyre and Sidon in their struggle against Babylon, possibly by rebelling at the same time. Tyre, which had gained its independence at the demise of the Assyrian Empire, resisted Nebuchadrezzar’s siege for thirteen years, and proved a constant thorn in the flesh to him.
‘The remnant of the isle of Caphtor.’ According to Deu 2:23; Amo 9:7; the Philistines came from Caphtor, which many see as referring to Crete and its connections. In the second millennium BC the Minoan empire was extensive. But the original origins of the Philistines lay in North Africa (Gen 10:13-14).
Jer 47:5
“Baldness is come on Gaza,
Ashkelon is brought to nought (or ‘is silenced’),
The remnant of their valley,
How long will you cut yourself?”
It is clear from this that the great Philistine cities of Gaza and Ashkelon were the prominent ones in the area at this time, although Ekron and Ashdod are also mentioned in Jer 25:20. But in spite of their importance both of them will be brought down. Baldness is a sign of extreme mourning (compare Jer 16:6; Jer 41:5; Jer 48:37; Isa 15:2-3; Mic 1:16), and of total desolation (Isa 7:20). It indicates the removal of their strength and manliness (the hair was seen as a source of strength). Ashkelon will be ‘silenced’ or ‘bought to nothing’, its great pride totally humbled. The relatively few who remain alive outside the cities in the surrounding countryside will cut themselves in order to indicate their anguish. This cutting of themselves was a regular Canaanite religious practise to indicate mourning and grief (Jer 41:5: 1Ki 18:28). And the question as to how long it will be necessary indicates the dire situation. The Babylonian Chronicle refers to the destruction of Ashkelon in 604 BC.
Jer 47:6-7
“O you sword of YHWH,
How long will it be before you are quiet?
Put up yourself into your scabbard,
Rest, and be still.
How can you be quiet,
Seeing that YHWH has given you a charge?
Against Ashkelon, and against the seashore,
There has he appointed it.
But Nebuchadrezzar is in the end nothing but the sword of YHWH. And the prophet, disturbed at what is coming, asks him how long he intends to go on with his destructive work. He calls on him to sheathe his sword and cease his destructive activity. But then he recognises that he cannot do so because he is acting on a charge from YHWH. It is YHWH Who has determined on the destruction of Ashkelon and the coastland. It is by His appointment that it is happening. All nations are in His hands. What He has purposed, the wages of sin, must come about.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Jer 47:1-7 Prophecy Against the Philistines Jer 47:1-7 is a prophecy against the Philistines.
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
Prophecies Against the Nations Jer 46:1 to Jer 51:64 consists of a collection of nine prophecies against the nations surrounding the land of Israel. The Lord had spoken to Jeremiah during his divine commission and said, “Then the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth. See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.” (Jer 1:9-10)
1. Prophecy Against Egypt Jer 46:2-28
2. Prophecy Against the Philistines Jer 47:1-7
3. Prophecy Against Moab Jer 48:1-47
4. Prophecy Against the Ammonites Jer 49:1-6
5. Prophecy Against Edom Jer 49:7-22
6. Prophecy Against Damascus Jer 49:23-27
7. Prophecy Against Kedar and Hazor Jer 49:28-33
8. Prophecy Against Elam Jer 49:34-39
9. Prophecy Against Babylon Jer 50:1 to Jer 51:64
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
Prophecy against the Philistines.
v. 1. The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah, the prophet, against the Philistines, v. 2. Thus saith the Lord, Behold, waters rise up out of the North, v. 3. At the noise of the stamping of the hoofs of his strong horses, at the rushing of his chariots, and at the rumbling of his wheels, v. 4. because of the day that cometh to spoil all the Philistines and to cut off from Tyrus and Zidon every helper that remaineth, v. 5. Baldness is come upon Gaza, v. 6. O thou sword of the Lord, v. 7. How can it be quiet, seeing the Lord hath given it a charge against Ashkelon and against the seashore?
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
PROPHECY ON THE PHILISTINES.
EXPOSITION
It is clear from the contents of the prophecy (and the inference is thoroughly confirmed by its position) that it was written after the battle of Carchemish, with reference to the dreaded northern foeNebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon. The prophecy against Egypt precedes, because Egypt was by far the most important of the nations threatened by the advance of Nebuchadnezzar. But chronologically and geographically, it ought rather to have been placed at the end of the series, for Palestine had to be conquered before a design upon Egypt could have a reasonable chance of success. The commentators have given themselves much unnecessary trouble with the heading in Jer 47:1, which assigns the date of the prophecy to a period prior (as it would seem) to the battle of Carchemish. They forget that the headings are not to be received without criticism as historical evidence for the date of the prophecies. Knowing, as we do, that the prophecies were edited, not only by the disciples of the prophets, but by students of the Scriptures long after their time, it is gratuitously embarrassing one’s self to give as much historical weight to the statement of a heading as to a clear inference from the contents of a prophecy. No doubt Providence watched over the movements of the editors; they must even be credited with a degree of inspiration, so far as moral and religious truths are concerned; but they were not exempt from being dependent on the ordinary sources of information in matters of history. It would seem, then, that, out of the various sieges of Gaza in the last century of the Jewish state, one in particular had fixed itself in the memory of the Jews; and it was not a siege by the Babylonians, but by the Egyptians. Seeing a reference to Gaza in Jer 47:5, a late editor of Jeremiah appended to the heading already in existence the words, “before that Pharaoh smote Gaza.” He was wrong in so doing, but he only carried out, like many favourite modern preachers, what has been called the atomistic method of exegesis, by which a single verse is isolated from its context, and interpreted with total disregard of the rest of the passage.
But which Pharaoh did this editor mean? and when did he lay siege to Gaza? The general view is that he means Pharaoh-necho, who, according to Herodotus (2:159), first defeated “the Syrians at Magdolus,” and then “made himself master of Cadytis, a large city of Syria.” It is assumed that Magdolus is a mistake for Megiddo, and that Cadytis means Gaza; and the former supposition is probable enough (a similar confusion has been made by certain manuscripts at Mat 15:39; comp. the Authorized and Revised Versions); but the latter is rather doubtful. It is true that in Jer 3:5 Herodotus speaks of “the country from Phoenicia to the borders of the city Cadyfis” as belonging to “the Palestine Syrians;” but is it not more probable that Herodotus mistook the position of Jerusalem (Cadushta, “the holy (city),” in Aramaic) than that he called Gaza “a city almost as large as Sardis”? Gaza was never called” the holy city;” Jerusalem was. Sir Gardner Wilkinson (ap. Rawlinson’s ‘Herodotus’) takes a different view. According to him (and to Rashi long before) it was Pharaoh-hophra or Apries who captured Gaza. We know from Herodotus (2:161) that this king waged war with Phoenicia, which is, perhaps, to be taken in connection with the notice in Jer 37:5, Jer 37:11, of the diversion created by an Egyptian army during the siege of Jerusalem. This hypothesis is to a certain extent confirmed by the mention of “Tyrus and Zidon” in Jer 37:4, but stands in much need of some direct historical confirmation.
Jer 47:1
Against the Philistines; rather, concerning (as usual in similar cases). Before that Pharaoh, etc. (see introduction to chapter).
Jer 47:2-4
Hostile bands advance from the north; horror seizes the Philistines.
Jer 47:2
Waters rise up. The prophets think in figures, and no figure is so familiar to them (alas for the unstable condition of those times!) as that of an overflowing torrent for an invading army (see on Jer 46:8, and add to the parallel passages Isa 28:18; Eze 26:19; Dan 11:10). Out of the north. To suppose that this refers to Pharaoh-necho returning from Carchemish seems forced and unnatural. If Necho conquered Gaza at the period supposed, it would be on his way to Carchemish, and not on his return. Besides,” the north” is the standing symbol for the home of the dreaded Assyrian and Babylonian foes (see on Jer 1:14). Isaiah had uttered a very similar prediction when the Assyrian hosts were sweeping through Palestine (Isa 14:31). An overflowing flood; rather, torrent. The same phrase occurs in Isa 30:28, where the “breath” of the angry God is described with this figurative expression. It is in autumn time that the torrents of Palestine become dangerous, and water courses, dry or almost dry in summer (comp. Jer 15:18), become filled with a furiously rushing stream.
Jer 47:3
A fine specimen of Hebrew word painting. The rushing of his chariots. “Rushing” has the sense of the German rauschen, to make a rustling, murmuring sound. It is used (but as the equivalent of a different Hebrew word) in the Authorized Version of Isa 18:1-7 :12, 13 of the confused sound made by an army in motion. In the present passage, the Hebrew word means something more definite than that in Isaiah, l.c.; it is the “crashing” of an earthquake, or (as here) the “rattling” of chariots. The rumbling of his wheels. “Rumbling” is a happy equivalent. The Hebrew (hamon) is the word referred to in the preceding note as meaning an indefinite confused sound. The fathers shall not look back to their children, etc. An awful picture, and still more effective in the concise language of the original. The Hebrew Scriptures excel (as still more strikingly, but with too great a want of moderation, does the Koran) in the sublime of terror. So overpowering shall the panic be that fathers will not even turn an eye to their helpless children. Observe, it is said “the fathers,” not “the mothers.” The picture is poetically finer than that in Deu 28:56, Deu 28:57, because the shade of colouring is a degree softer. Feebleness of hands. A common expression for the enervation produced by extreme terror (see Jer 6:24; Isa 13:7; Eze 7:17; Nah 2:11).
Jer 47:4
The day that cometh; rather, the day that hath come (i.e. shall have come). It is “the day of the Lord” that is meant, that revolutionary “shaking of all things” (to use Haggai’s expression, Hag 2:21), as to which see further in note on Jer 46:10. To cut off every helper that remaineth; i.e. every ally on whom they could still reckon. This passage favours the view that the judgment upon the Philistines took place at the same time as that upon Tyre. Nebuchadnezzar’s object was to isolate Tyre and Sidon as completely as possible. The remnant. The Philistines had suffered so much from repeated invasions as to be only a “remnant” of the once powerful nation which oppressed Israel (see on Jer 25:20). The country of Caphtor. Some would render “the coastland of Caphtor,” but the idea of “coast” seems to be a secondary one, derived in certain passages from the context. Properly speaking, it is a poetic synonym for “land,” and is generally applied to distant and (accidentally) maritime countries. “Caphtor” was understood by the old versions to be Cappadocia. But as the remains of the Cappadocian language point to a Persian origin of the population which spoke it, and as the Caphtorim originally came from Egypt, it is more plausible to suppose, with Ebers, that Caphtor was a coast district of North Egypt. Crete has also been thought of (comp. Amo 9:7; Gen 10:14; Deu 2:23).
Jer 47:5-7
The prophet changes his style. In ecstasy or imagination, he sees the calamity which he has foretold already come to pass. Philistia is not, indeed, altogether annihilated; it was not the will of God to make a full end as yet with any of the nations round about. But it is reduced to extremities, and fears the worst.
Jer 47:5
Baldness. A sign of the deepest sorrow (comp. on Jer 16:6). Ashkelon is cut off. Ruins of Ashkelon are still visible. “It is evident that the walls of the old city were built on a semicircular range of rocky hills, which ended in perpendicular cliffs of various heights on the seashore. Wherever nature failed, the weak places were strengthened by the help of earthworks or masonry. On the southern and southeastern sides, the sand has penetrated the city by means of breaches in the walls, and every day it covers the old fortifications more and more, both within and without. The ancient towns alone rise distinctly, like rocky islands, out of the sea of sand. The ruins on the north are bordered by plantations of trees. They lie in such wild confusion that one might suppose that they were thrown down by an earthquake. There is no secure landing place; the strip of sand at the foot of the western wall is covered at high tide, when the waves beat against the cliffs. Still J.G. Kinnear, in 1841, found some remains of a mole, and this discovery is confirmed by Schick [the able German architect now at Jerusalem].” Thus writes Dr. Guthe, in the Journal of the German Palestine Exploration Society, remarking further that, in a few generations, the ruins of Ashkelon will be buried under the drifting sand. It is partly the sand hills, partly the singular fragmentariness of the ruins of Ashkelon, which gives such an air of desolation to the scene, though, where the deluge of sand has not invaded, the gardens and orchards are luxuriant. Dr. W.M. Thomson, in the enlarged edition of ‘The Land and the Book’, observes that “the walls and towers must have been blown to pieces by powder, for not even earthquakes could throw these gigantic masses of masonry into such extraordinary attitudes. No site in this country has so deeply impressed my mind with sadness.” With the remnant of their valley. “With” should rather be “even.” “Their valley” means primarily the valley of Ashkelon; but this was not different from the valley or low-lying plain (more commonly called the Shefelah) of the other Philistian towns; and the whole phrase is an enigmatical, poetic way of saying “the still surviving population of Philistia.” But this addition certainly weakens the passage, and leaves the second half of the verse abnormally short. It is far better to violate the Massoretic tradition, and attach “the remnant,” etc; to the second verse half. But “their valley” is still a rather feeble expression; a proper name is what we look for to make this clause correspond to those which have gone before. The Septuagint reads differently, for it renders . We know from Jos 11:22 that some of the Anakim were left “in Gaza, in Gath, and in Ashdod;” and in David’s time the Philistines could still point to giants in their midst (1Sa 17:4; 2Sa 21:16-22), who, like the Anakim (Deu 2:20), are called in the Hebrew, Rephaim. It may be objected, indeed (as it is by Keil), that the Anakim would not be traceable so late as Jeremiah’s time; but Jeremiah was presumably a learned man, and was as likely to call the Philistines Anakim, as an English poet to call his countrymen Britons. No one who has given special attention to the phenomena of the Hebrew text elsewhere can doubt that “their valley” is a corruption; the choice lies between the “Anakim” of the Septuagint and the plausible correction of a Jewish scholar (A. Krochmal), “Ekron.” How long wilt thou cut thyself? Shall thy lamentation never cease? (comp. on Jer 16:6). The question is in appearance addressed to “the remnant” (personified as a woman), but in reality the judicial Providence who sends the calamity.
Jer 47:6
O thou sword, etc.; rather, alas! thou sword of the Lord.. It is the mystic sword of which we have heard already (see on Jer 12:10; Jer 46:10).
Jer 47:7
The seashore. So Ezekiel speaks of “the remnant of the seashore” (Eze 25:16), referring to Philistia.
HOMILETICS
Jer 47:1-7
The judgment of the Philistines.
I. A JUDGMENT ON THE ANCIENT ENEMIES OF THE PEOPLE OF GOD. They have long ceased to be a power; now they shall cease to have any national existence. They are but a remnant; even this is to be cut off. Gradually the spiritual foes of the Christian are reduced in power and number. Old sins and old temptations are slowly subdued. Some linger on till the end of life. But all shall be overthrown, even the last enemy, death.
II. AN OVERWHELMING JUDGMENT. It comes up like a flood; i.e. it is swift, and it spreads far and wide. Such is a characteristic of Divine judgments.
1. They may be long delayed, but when they appear they rush down as a flood.
2. They penetrate to secret hiding places and flow to the most remote quarters, reaching those who would fain separate themselves from their companions in sin when they are forced to be also companions in suffering.
III. A DISTRESSING JUDGMENT. The Philistines suffer griefthey cry and howl; these people are also smitten with the paralysis of fear”the fathers shall not look back to their children for feebleness of hands” (Jer 47:3). Some troubles can be endured and lived down by fortitude, by patient submission, or by the comforting resources of the inner life. But this is not possible with the judgments of Heaven. They are too terrific to be calmly endured. The inner sources of consolation are withheld. The soul is punished as well as the body. There is the bitterest drop in the cup of anguish. The soul will be tortured with shame, with remorse, with horror. That is hell.
IV. A DESTRUCTIVE JUDGMENT. “Baldness is come upon Gaza; Ashkelon is cut off.” Great cities are overthrown, the ruins of them testifying to this day to the violence they have undergone. The end of the broad way is destruction. “The wages of sin is death.” Whatever be the exact character of the destruction and death, the analogy of national judgment and the known deadening effects of sin upon the spiritual, the intellectual, and even the physical powers lead us to expect that the fearful fate of sin continued, unchecked, and unrepented of through all stages of chastisement will be some destroying process.
V. AN ENDURING JUDGMENT. “Alas! thou sword of the Lord, how long will it be ere thou be quiet?” (Jer 47:6). Philistia has never been restored. Some judgments appear to be irretrievable. All punishment must be sufficiently enduring to effect its end. The punishment of the next world is always referred to as terribly enduring, as partaking of the awful duration of aeons. How long such vague, vast ages will last none can say. May it not be the fate of any of us to make the experiment!
Jer 47:6, Jer 47:7
The sword of the Lord.
I. THE TERROR OF MAN BEFORE THE SWORD OF THE LORD. (Jer 47:6.)
1. God wields a sword. There are terrors in some of the doings of the God of love. “Our God is a consuming fire.” It is foolish and wrong to. blind ourselves to the stern side of God’s government, and to represent him as almost soft and weak in his indulgence of his children.
2. God’s sword may be seen in earthly calamities. It does not flash before us as when it was held by cherubim at the gates of Eden. It works in the form of natural calamities. It also makes use of human actions, wars, etc. Above the sword of man there glitters this terrible, irresistible sword. Thus calamities in this world are sent by God or overruled by God.
3. God’s sword may be restlessly active. It is not displayed for one fearful moment and then sheathed. Often there comes blow upon blow. Thus Job cries out beneath the wearying strokes, “How long wilt thou not depart from me, nor let me alone till I swallow down my spittle?” (Job 7:19).
4. We cannot see the reason for the terrible work of the sword of the Lord. We cry out in dismay before it. From a human point of view it may appear cruel and relentless.
5. We may naturally fed pity for those who suffer from this terrible sword. It is right, too, that we should intercede for them if it be possible for the judgment of Heaven to be stayed.
II. THE DIVINE MISSION OF THE SWORD OF THE LORD. (Verse 7.)
1. The wielding of the sword is necessary. “How can it be quiet?” There are moral necessities which even the Almighty God freely accepts. Justice must be done. Right must be established. Evil must be suppressed. The process may be painful, and such as God would not choose on its own account and can take no delight in. Yet for these high requirements, though his children suffer and his own heart is wrung with commiseration, he cannot sheathe the sword till its work is done.
2. The wielding of the sword is for a good purpose. The necessity is not blind and objectless. The sword has its mission. To us who are in the thick of the battle this may not be discernible. The dust and heat, the rush and noise and confusion, the mingled cries of triumph and pain, are all we can observe; the plan of the commander cannot be read through all the turmoil of the field. But he has a plan, and the whole battle is converging to it.
3. The sword cannot be sheathed till its mission is accomplished. The mission is more important than the temporary comfort arising out of the immediate quieting of the sword. If this were to be done before the end were obtained, where would be the use of all that was already suffered? If the sword is stayed before victory is won, every drop of blood spilt is wasted, every pang suffered is suffered in vain. If the discipline of life were to cease before its great purpose were accomplished, its earlier stages would be stultified.
4. When the mission of the sword is accomplished the sword will be sheathed. It is drawn for a definite object. “The Lord is a man of war” for a season and for a purpose, not by delight nor perpetually. He is essentially the God of peace. No one is more anxious to see the sword laid aside than he who wields it. His joy is in peace and in benediction. Judgment is temporary. The victory and rest that follow will be eternal.
HOMILIES BY A.F. MUIR
Jer 47:5
The sorrow of the ungodly.
The allusion is to a fashion common to the Philistines and other idolatrous nations in appealing to their gods. We perceive a similar tendency in the natural mind in its first moral concerns and spiritual troubles. It is the sorrow of the world to which, as to the Philippian jailor, the injunction has to be addressed, “Do thyself no harm.” Notice
I. THE PRINCIPLE IN HUMAN NATURE. It is that self-inflicted suffering or deprivation will be of spiritual advantage and secure Divine favour. This is the secret of penance, pilgrimages, monastic life, and asceticism in general. The saying, often uttered of losses or pains over which one has no control, “Ah, well! it will be set down to our credit!” witnesses to the same idea. Remorse is largely explained on the same principle.
II. THAT IT IS FOUNDED ON A MISCONCEPTION OF THE DIVINE NATURE. Baal was a cruel goda huge abortion and monstrosity. Not less cruel are the ideas of God’s character entertained by many reputedly religious persons.
1. The gospel declares that “God is love.” Such self-inflictions are but folly, and have no religious value in view of this great truth. “Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not Lo, I come I delight to do thy will, O my God” (Psa 40:6-8; Heb 10:5-7); “I will have mercy, and not sacrifice” (Mat 9:13; cf. Hos 6:6); and “Wherewithal shall I come before the Lord, he hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God? (Mic 6:6-8),are the expressions of the spirit of true religion, which alone harmonizes with the doctrine of a loving God.
2. God himself in the person of his Son has “borne our griefs and carried our sorrows.” The worship which is alone acceptable to the Father must begin with the recognition of this. There is a “godly sorrow,” but its advantage consists in its moral influence on ourselves, making us hate sin and follow after righteousness, etc.
3. Everything which ignores the merit of Christ’s sufferings and God’s revelation of himself must needs be hateful to him, and bring upon its authors his wrath and curse.M.
Jer 47:6, Jer 47:7
The sword of Jehovah.
I. A PERSONIFICATION OF DIVINE WRATH. “Sword of Jehovah” is an expression that seems to suggest the Philistines as the sneakers: “for though not bad Hebrew, it has a foreign sound, and makes the impression that the speakers attribute the sword raging against them only unwillingly and hesitatingly to Jehovah” (Naegelsbach). God in his true character is still unknown, but conscience witnesses to him as a dimly realized agent of moral recompense. Such language tells:
1. How ceaseless and terrible is the judgment of the heathen world. Ezekiel uses the same figure in relation to the Amorites (Eze 21:30). “There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked;” “Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God” (Psa 139:19); “When they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them,” etc. (1Th 5:3).
2. Of ignorance and moral distance from God. He is only conceived of as a God of vengeancean all but impersonal fate.
3. Of the helplessness and superstitious dread of sinners. An imperfect knowledge is eked out and distorted by a diseased imagination. All moral strength seems to have gone out of them.
II. EXPLAINED AND JUSTIFIED AS A DIVINE APPOINTMENT. At first the answer of the prophet appears little other than a repetition of the Philistines’ thought; but it is far more.
1. This is not blind fate, but judgment strictly meted out and determined.
2. It declares, in effect, that the wicked cannot be suffered to remain on the earth. They must be subjects of continual and exterminating judgment. There is no escape. Is this so? Yes, so long as they remain impenitent and at a distance from him. Is it contradictory, then, for Zechariah to prophecy the conversion of the Philistines? The rightful end of judgment is mercy. The sinner is driven into the arms of the Divine love. Our helplessness prepares for the reception of his salvation.M.
HOMILIES BY S. CONWAY
Jer 47:7
The sword that cannot be quiet.
This chapter tells of another of the Gentile nations on whom the judgment of God was to come. These nations all lay in the march of the Babylonian armies, and were one after another overthrown. Philistia is represented as asking of the sword of the Lord, when it will be quiet, and the answer is, “How can it be quiet, when,” etc.? (Jer 47:7). It reminds
I. OF THE SWORD OF CONSCIENCE. The Lord hath given it a charge, and, though we may blunt it, we cannot perfectly quiet it (cf. Macbeth, Judas, and other conscience-haunted men).
II. OF THE SWORD OF SCRIPTURE. “The Word of the Lord is not bound. How men have sought to sheathe it in the scabbard, to hide and hold it there, so that they may go on unchecked in their own ways! But it has leapt forth in spite of them; and, in spite of pagan, Roman, and other persecutions, has asserted its supreme might.”
III. OF THE SWORD OF THE DIVINE JUDGMENT AGAINST SIN. Sin and sorrow are eternally married, and can never be put asunder. Where one is the other is never far off, and never will be in this world or the next. But forevery believer Christ has offered his own heart as a sheath for it. For such that sword is sheathed therein, and will be quiet there forever.
“When Christ gave up the ghost
The Law was satisfied;
And now to its most rigorous claims
I answer, ‘Jesus died.'”
C.
HOMILIES BY D. YOUNG
Jer 47:6, Jer 47:7
Apostrophe to the sword.
I. WHAT IS MEANT BY THE SWORD OF JEHOVAH. Any man, or army of men, or any inanimate thing even, may be as a sword in the hand of God. Men are restricted in their agents to injure and destroy, and well it is so, though in old and superstitious times some of them were believed to control the powers of nature so that they could raise winds and tempests. But God, with his real and complete control over all natural forces, can turn them against rebellious man whenever and to whatever extent it may be necessary. It is not a case of a strong arm and a weak weapon, or a weak arm and a strong weapon beyond what the arm can wield. God smites, and not imperfectly; nor does he need to smite twice.
II. WHAT IS SUGGESTED BY THE APOSTROPHE.
1. The thought of God’s enemies. Here the Philistines are mentioned, so long the troublesome and jealous neighbours of Israel. But they are only types. There are still enemies numerous enough and active enough to keep the sword of God from lying quiet in its scabbard. Why were these Philistines reckoned enemies? Simply because of their wickedness. God is hostile to nothing but wickedness in man, and to that he is always hostile. There are Philistines still against whom a charge has to be given to the sword of God. And such must ever be destroyed, that is, not the men themselves must be destroyed, but that in them which selfishly upholds evil and profits by it. And even they themselves, if they continue the foolish war against God, must perish in the end.
2. The thought of God’s opposing activity to his enemies. Wherever there is emnity to God, Divine opposition to it becomes manifest. Hard as it may be to fight for God, it is harder still to fight against him. In being on God’s side against evil all the difficulties are at the beginning; in being on the evil side against God the difficulties, though they may look as nothing to start with, soon multiply and increase to the end. A charge is given to all God’s servants to be resolute and uncompromising in their opposition to all wickedness.
3. The thought of ultimate cessation of the sword’s activity. Surely the time is to come when the sword will lie quietly in the scabbard. He who came not to bring peace but a sword has peace for his ultimate aim. He will not say, “Peace, peace,” when there is no peace; and when at last he will say, “Peace,” we may be sure of the reality corresponding with the word.Y.
Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary
Jer 47:1. Before that Pharaoh smote Gaza When the country was in seeming quiet and security. The destruction of Gaza probably followed Pharaoh’s victories at Megiddo and Carchemish, when Judaea became tributary to him. See 2Ch 35:20; 2Ch 36:3. This prophesy was the more remarkable, as at the time of its delivery there was a common hatred to the Jews between the Chaldeans and the Philistines. See Grotius.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
4. Prophecy Against The Philistines
Chap. 47
1The word of Jehovah, which came to Jeremiah, the prophet, against the Philistines, before Pharaoh had smitten Gaza.
2Thus saith Jehovah:
Behold, waters rise out of the North,
And become an overflowing torrent,
And overflow the land and whatever is therein,
The city and those that dwell therein;
And the men shall cry aloud,1
And all the inhabitants of the country shall howl,
3Before the thundering hoof-beat2 of his horses,3
Before the rattling of his chariots,4 the rumbling of his wheels.
Fathers, for feebleness5 of hands, turn not for their children,
4Because of the day that cometh to extirpate6 all the Philistines,
To exterminate from Tyre and Sidon every escaped one that might help;
For Jehovah extirpates the Philistines,
The remnant of the coasts of Caphtor.
5Baldness is come upon Gaza,
Ashkelon is struck dumb,7 the remnant of their valley.
How long wilt thou still wound thyself by cutting?
6Alas! sword of Jehovah, how long ere thou wilt rest?
Back8 into thy sheath, rest and be still!
7How canst thou rest? Jehovah has given it a charge
Against Ashkelon and against the sea-shore
Thither9 has he appointed it.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
From the North the prophet sees the hostile hosts approaching like great water-floods against the Philistines. Terror will seize these to such a degree, that fathers will not once look round after their children. Then will the Philistines be extirpated even to the last remnant, and the last helper be taken from the Phnicians (Jer 47:2-4). Gaza and Ashkelon will fall, for the consideration that the sword of the Lord has already had enough bloody work, and will now stand still before the last of these cities, does not hold good (Jer 47:5-7).
Jer 47:1. The word smitten Gaza. According to history Jeremiah lived to see one, and possibly two conquests of Gaza by Pharaoh, for Herodotus relates (II., 159): . Thus after the battle of Megiddo (for this is admitted to be ) Pharaoh-necho conquered Gaza. That is Gaza (according to the Egyptian Katatu; comp. Duncker. I., S. 342, 818) is now generally acknowledged. Comp. M. Niebuhr, Ass. u. Bab., S. 369; Arnold in Herzog, R.-Enc. IV., S. 672; Grafad h. loc., S. 523; Duncker, etc.Possibly Gaza had also been conquered by Psammetichus. He took Ashdod, according to Herodotus (II., 157), after a twenty years siege. Duncker is correctly of opinion that the siege of Ashdod could not well be undertaken, before Gaza and Ashkelon had been captured (S. 816, Anm.). Jeremiah must have survived the capture of Ashdod, for he speaks in Jer 25:20 of the remnant of Ashdod. This must also have occurred in the second decennium of his prophetic labors, since Psammetichus cannot have commenced his expeditions against the Philistines before B. C., 640 (comp. Duncker, S. 816). If then Jeremiah did witness a conquest of Gaza in consequence of the undertaking against Ashdod, it was yet an event of relatively small importance. Gaza appears by no means to have been destroyed, for in the same passage, where Jeremiah speaks of the remnant of Ashdod (Jer 25:20), he speaks of Ashkelon, Gaza and Ekron, as cities still intact. It is inconceivable that this capture of Gaza, which if it took place, was of secondary importance, could be the occasion of this prophecy, since the words before Pharaoh smote Gaza, can be understood only of a celebrated, well-known conquest of Gaza. Any other must have required a more particular designation. Add to this, that when Jeremiah prophesies the visitation of Philistia, and mentions the cities to be destroyed by name, he could not have left Ashdod unmentioned, if the great and celebrated siege of this city was then in progress. From his not mentioning it, we may with safety conclude that the capture of this city was already a fact in the past. From all which it follows that the superscription must refer to the capture of Gaza by Pharaoh-necho, which, Herodotus says, took place after the battle of Magdolos or Megiddo. Two points are now to be observed:
1. This capture took place before the fourth year of Jehoiakim, the battle of Megiddo occurring in B. C., 608 (comp. Duncker, S. 817). It is perfectly intelligible that Necho, who, as we have seen above, landed with his army in the bay of Acco, sought to keep his retreat open by subjugating the large fortified cities of Philistia, especially Gaza, the key of the road to Egypt. He would have been lost after the battle of Carchemish, if he had not taken these precautionary measures. Accordingly the present prophecy belongs not to those which Jeremiah published in the year 604, after the battle of Carchemish, but is older. It agrees with this, that in this chapter the Chaldeans and Nebuchadnezzar are not mentioned, but an enemy from the north is spoken of generally.
2. If now the waters rising from the north (Jer 47:2) are the Chaldeans, as according to Jeremiahs constant usage they must be, this superscription has not the sense that it asserts the fulfilment of the prophecy by the conquest of Gaza which soon followed on the part of Necho, but on the contrary it is to declare, that Jeremiah prophesied destruction to the Philistines by an enemy from the north, at a time when conquest by an enemy from the south was impending. It might indeed be alleged that Jeremiah understood by the waters from the north the Egyptians, because they were then making their attack on Philistia from the north. This, however, was only an accidental circumstance which Jeremiah would certainly have designated as such. It was natural that at a time when the Egyptian forces, after the battle of Megiddo, were turned against Philistia, Jeremiah should find occasion for a prophecy against this country, but that at this time he should designate its destruction as the work of a northern enemy, corresponds perfectly to the character of that prophet who buys land which is in possession of the enemy (Jeremiah 32), and proclaims to the Jews in Tahpanhes, that the throne of the Chaldean king will stand before the gates of the royal palace (Jeremiah 43) I do not think that the capture of Gaza was made by the army of the Egyptians returning defeated from Carchemish. I lay no great weight on Herodotus placing it immediately after the battle of Magdolos, yet it is in itself improbable that Necho could have deferred the capture of the key to Egypt so long, or have accomplished it with his defeated army.
Jer 47:2-4. Thus saith coasts of Caphtor. The figure of an overflowing stream is frequently used of armies. Comp. ex. gr., Isa 8:7; Jer 46:7.From the north. Comp. Jer 1:13-17.And overflow. Comp. Jer 8:16.The city, etc. Comp. Jer 46:8.On turn not. Comp. Jer 46:5. The exhaustion caused by the terror of that day will hinder even parents from going to the help of their children. A similar expression, but in a different sense, is found in Mal. 3:24; Luk 1:17.The prediction of Jer 47:4 was soon afterwards fulfilled. The Phnicians in the distress caused by the Chaldeans which followed the destruction of Jerusalem, must have grievously missed the aid of their Philistine neighbors.The remnant, etc. Comp. Amo 9:7; Gen 10:14; Deu 2:23; Eze 25:16; Zep 2:5. It is certain that a part of the Philistines originated from Caphtor, but not whether by Caphtor we are to understand Creta or the coast of the Egyptian delta (so Starke, Gaza, S. 76). Comp. Herz.R.-Enc., the articles Philistia, Creta, and Caphtor.
Jer 47:5-7. Baldness appointed it. While in the previous context the catastrophe is designated as still future, it appears here in great part to have occurred. The prophet in spirit sees the country already in the hands of the enemy. Gaza, the strong southern fortification, the key of the country is, as it were, a head shaven bare (comp. Jer 2:16); Ashkelon, the seaport, the mouth of the stream of traffic, is a mouth struck dumb. It is not yet, indeed, destroyed like Gaza, but its gates are closed. No one any more goes in or out, for the enemy is before them:Remnant of their valley. In the topography of Philistia a hilly country (in the east), and a low country may be distinguished. Comp. Vaihingers art., Philistia in Herz. R.-Enc. XI., S. 553. Although the proper name of this low land is , it is yet possible that also may be put for it (comp. 1Sa 31:7). It must further be admitted that Ashkelon and Gaza are not inappropriately termed the remnant of the valley, for they were the strongest cities: the enemy coming from the north through Judea, has beset the hill region (, Jos 10:40; Jos 12:8. Comp. Vaihinger, ut sup.): in the low country Gaza and Ashkelon resist the longest; when these are fallen, the last remnant of the low lands, consequently the whole land, is in the power of the enemy.Their and the following sentence how long, etc., refer to the whole Philistia. These self-woundings were a heathen custom in conjunction with earnest supplication of their deities (comp. 1Ki 18:28; Herz.R.-Enc., Art. Baal). The prophet then represents the Philistines here as humbling themselves. They perceive that it is the God of Israel, who is bringing this judgment upon them (comp. 1 Samuel 5), they therefore appeal to Him after their manner for grace. The prophet tells them, however, that this can no longer help them, the judgment having already begun with the facts intimated in Jer 47:5, a. This explanation appears satisfactory. I cannot, therefore, conclude to read with Gesenius (Thes. s. v., ), Hitzig and Graf after the LXX., (Anakim), much as this reading has in its favor, affording, as it does, a suitable supplementation to remnant of the coasts of Caphtor, Jer 47:4, and an appropriate allusion to Gath, the chief residence of the last of these giants (1Sa 17:4; 1Ch 20:5-8). Alterations of the reading are to be permitted only in cases of extreme necessity. The words of Jer 47:6 contain the import of the supplications accompanying the self-woundings. There seems to me to be an intimation that these were the words of the Philistines in the expression of Jehovah (), for though not bad Hebrew, it has a foreign sound and makes the impression that the speakers attribute the sword raging against them only unwillingly and hesitatingly to Jehovah. In Jer 6:25; Jer 12:12, the construction is different.In Jer 47:7 the prophet, answers the petition of Jer 47:6. In the first clause attaching himself closely to the question, a change of person is thus occasioned, as so often in Jeremiah. Comp. Jer 5:14; Jer 12:13; Jer 17:13; Jer 21:12 (Chethibh), Jer 36:29-30; Jer 46:3; Jer 46:9.The seashore is used in Eze 25:16 also of Philistia, but it is not impossible that, as Graf supposes, it may refer also to the Phenicians of Jer 47:4. It also intimates that the enemy will advance from the East. Comp. Jer 23:19-20; Jer 48:10; Isa 55:10.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
Among all the neighboring nations the Philistines were those who showed enmity to the Israelites longest and with most success. For from the times of Shamgar (Jdg 3:31) down to Hezekiah (2Ki 18:8), they were both hostile (comp. , Eze 25:15), and dangerous neighbors. Even Israels great heroic and victorious period, the time of Samuel, Saul and David, did not result in rendering these opponents perfectly innoxious (comp. 1Ki 15:27; 1Ki 16:15; 2Ch 21:16-17; 2Ch 28:18). Ezekiel even mentions them among those who delighted with malicious joy in the fall of Jerusalem. Since now it is perfectly natural that the theocratic prophecy should include the Philistines and reckon the destruction of these old enemies among the bright points in Israels future (comp. Isa 11:14; Isa 14:28-29 : Oba 1:19; Amo 1:6; Zep 2:4; Eze 25:15), our prophecy is probably the earliest of Jeremiahs predictions against foreign nations. As, however, Jeremiah in Jer 47:6 predicts a humbling of the Philistines, so Zechariah their complete conversion to the Lord and their reception into Israel (Jer 9:7).
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
1. On Jer 47:1. The inviolable majesty of the divine word has nothing to fear from an apparent momentary violation. Jeremiah predicts too the Philistines destruction by an enemy from the north, at the moment when an enemy from the south was about successfully to assail them.
2. On Jer 47:3. A noble picture of extreme despair! Comp. Isa 49:15. Yet it has occurred that women have killed and eaten their children: 2Ki 6:28-29. Comp. Deu 28:53-57; Lam 2:20; Lam 4:10.
3. On Jer 47:6. The terribly pathetic discourse which the prophet here holds with Gods sword, should remind us; 1, that no calamity comes, but by the Lords will; 2, that it goes no further than God will; 3, that it will not cease before God will. Cramer.
Footnotes:
[1]Jer 47:2.In regard to the construction, there are only two principal verbs from 2 b to 4 a: and . Evidently whatever comes before the latter depends on the former, and what follows on the latter.
[2]Jer 47:3. . . From analogies like and , and , and (Samar.), and (comp. Fuerst, H.- W.- B., s. v. ) there can be no doubt that the radix is identical with , which appears to me, according to , flagellum, (Eze 27:8, remiges, remigareremis percutere), (strike out, discurrere), to have the radical signification of beating.
[3]Jer 47:3.. Comp. rems. on Jer 46:15.
[4]Jer 47:3. The construction with seems to proceed here from a striving after change. Otherwise in Jer 47:6. Comp. Naegelsb. Gr., 67, 2.
[5]Jer 47:3. is . .
[6]Jer 47:4.. Comp. Jer 44:7. We should expect . But the radical meaning of is not reliquus, but elapsus. Hence the meaning of the expression is not every helper remaining, but every escaped one that might help, i.e. even the weakest, separated, ineffective helper.
[7]Jer 47:5.If we should take in the sense of being destroyed, the prophet must have suddenly dropped his figure. I therefore take , with Graf, in its original meaning= (comp. Psa 49:13), and regard this being made dumb as a lower grade, or preliminary, of destruction, for Philistia still supplicates and according to Jer 47:7 b the enemy has still to take Ashkelon and the sea-coast.
[8]Jer 47:6., put up thyself. Comp. Ezek. 21:35.
[9]Jer 47:7.The emphatic repetition of the object by is the reverse of the anticipatory construction, which occurs more frequently in Jeremiah. Comp. Jer 9:14; Jer 11:15; Jer 41:3; Jer 51:56, etc.
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
CONTENTS
We have the same subject prosecuted through this chapter as in the former. The Lord is about to punish Israel’s enemies, and having begun with the Egyptians, he here declares the destruction of the Philistines.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
We shall find this Chapter, as well as the several around it, truly profitable, if we spiritualize it. The Egyptians and Philistines, Moab and Ammon, were all sworn foes to the people of God from the beginning, and so their spawn continues through all ages. But, though the Lord causeth them to act as rods to correct his children with; yet, when he hath finished the correction, he will throw, (as parents do that punish their little ones,) the rod away. Here the Lord calls the Philistines to account, and gives some most awful threatenings concerning them. And thus the Lord hath said, he will deal with all the foes of his people, and finally bring them under their feet. Jer 47:1-4 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
XI
THE PROPHECIES OF JEREMIAH CONCERNING THE NATIONS
Jeremiah 46-51
We now take up the prophecies of Jeremiah to the foreign nations, recorded in Jeremiah 46-51. We note first, by way of introduction, that when Jeremiah was called to be a prophet, it was said, Jer 1:5 : “I have appointed thee a prophet unto the nations.” Note again in Jer 1:10 : “I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow.” Thus Jeremiah’s work was not to be confined to Israel, but to comprise the known world, at least all that part of it which had any relation to or connection with Israel. So, in Jer 25 , we see him exercising this function of prophet to the nations. Jehovah speaks to him and says) Jer 25:15 : “Take this cup of wine of wrath at my hand, and cause all the nations to whom I send thee to drink it.”
We are not told that Jeremiah visited other nations. By this passage it seems that he did either visit them and deliver the prophecy, or that he wrote it and sent it to them by a messenger. Certain it is that he sent this message of destruction to all the nations that troubled Israel. He goes on, Jer 25:17 : “Then took I the cup at Jehovah’s hand and caused all nations to drink it unto whom Jehovah sent me.” In the next several verses we have all these nations named. There are twenty-one, altogether. And those nations which he names in Jer 25 constitute some of the very people to whom he is writing the messages in this section. Again in Jer 27 we have Jeremiah exercising the prophetic function to the nations. In verses 2, 4 he makes a yoke to be sent to the kings of the nations and addresses the ambassadors that have been assembled at Jerusalem to arrange a plan for rebellion against Babylon and devise methods by which they may throw off the Babylonian yoke. Jeremiah meets them and Zedekiah and says, as recorded in the latter part of Jer 27:12 : “Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him arid live.” He gave them this advice because he had said, “All the nations shall serve the king of Babylon, and all those that do not serve him shall perish, or go into captivity, at the hands of the great Nebuchadnezzar. It is interesting to note that in the Septuagint Version, made in the third century before Christ, the prophecies found in chapters 46-51 are found immediately following Jer 25:13 , where their names are mentioned. That looks as if these were written and sent to the nations about the same time that Jeremiah gives his counsel to the messengers of the nations and to Zedekiah.
The dates of these chapters range from 604 B.C. to about 594 B.C. The critics put some of them much later. But there is ample evidence to lead to the conclusion that they occurred in that period in which Pharaoh-Necho suffered defeat at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, unto the fourth year of the reign of Zedekiah. Notice that these various prophecies to the nations are grouped together as Isaiah and Ezekiel grouped them. See Isaiah 12-23 and Ezekiel 25-32.
The date of the prophecy concerning Egypt is about 604 B.C. Probably the latter portion of the chapter was written a little later, but certainly the first twelve verses were written about 604 B.C. Compare with this Isa 19 and Ezekiel 29-32 which deal with the same subject, the downfall and punishment of Egypt. Jer 46:1 is a general introduction to all these various prophecies.
We have an account of Egypt’s defeat at Carohemish (Jer 46:2-12 ). The second verse gives the date and the occasion of the prophecy. They occurred somewhere about tour years after the disastrous defeat and death of the good King Josiah at Megiddo. Pharaoh-Necho had pressed as far north and east as the fords of the Euphrates, seeking to swell his coffers and enlarge his territory. He was met there by the invincible Nebuchadnezzar. There was fought the great battle which was to decide the fate of one or the other of these two kings. Carchemish was a large city on the banks of the Euphrates, commanding the fords of that great river, which was the dividing line between the empires. Pharaoh-Necho was overwhelmed and driven back to Egypt. Jeremiah in the spirit of sarcasm addresses the great army of Pharaoh-Necho: “Prepare ye the buckler and shield, and draw near to battle. Harness the horses, and get up, ye horsemen, and stand forth with your helmets; furbish the spears, put on the coats of mail.”
Note the tone of verse Jer 46:5 : “Wherefore have I seen it? they are dismayed and are turned backward; and their mighty ones are beaten down, and are fled apace, and look not back: terror is on every side.” Then again with a note of sarcasm he raises this question, verse Jer 46:7 : “Who is this that riseth up like the Nile, whose waters toss themselves like the rivers?” That is Egypt. Again, with a note of stinging sarcasm he continues in verse Jer 46:9 : “Go up, ye horses; and rage, ye chariots; and let the mighty men go forth: Gush and Put, that handle the shield; and the Ludim, that handle and bend the bow.” In Jer 46:10 he pictures the defeat: “For that day is a day of the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, a day of vengeance, that he many avenge him of his adversaries: and the sword shall devour and be satiate, and shall drink its fill of their blood; for the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, hath a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates.” This magnificent picture is the description of the hand of God punishing Egypt. It is a sacrifice of Jehovah’s righteousness.
In Jer 46:13 he gives the occasion and the substance of the prophecy. Nebuchadnezzar would come and smite the land of Egypt. Then in Jer 46:14 he speaks of the cities of Egypt. He tells them to be ready and prepared. With a note of sarcasm he continues in Jer 46:15 by asking a question, “Why are thy strong ones [thy gods] swept away?” Then the answer follows in the same verse: “Because Jehovah did drive them.” That is the reason. In Jer 46:17 we have a striking prophecy: “Pharaoh) the king of Egypt, is but a noise.” He has no power; he is only a noise; all boast and brag and not to be feared.
In Jer 46:25 he prophesies that Pharaoh’s city, the city of Thebes, called “Noamon,” or “Amon of No,” shall perish. Of late years Egyptologists have discovered that city, and it is today just as Jeremiah described it in this prophecy. It is utterly destroyed. In the latter part of Jer 46:26 he makes a remarkable promise regarding the kingdom of Egypt. There shall not be made a full end of it; “afterward it shall be inhabited, as in the days of old”; Egypt shall not be utterly destroyed. It shall live. But Egypt was never the same after her defeat and subjugation by Nebuchadnezzar. Profane history tells us that in the year 560 B.C. or thereabout, Nebuchadnezzar defeated and overthrew Egypt. Jeremiah is vindicated in his prophecy here, since what he wrote took place beyond any doubt.
There are words of reassurance and encouragement to Israel in Jer 46:27-28 : “Fear not thou, O Jacob my servant, saith Jehovah; for I am with thee: for I will make a full end of all nations whither I have driven thee; but I will not make a full end of thee, but I will correct thee in measure, and will in no wise leave thee unpunished.” That sounds much like the second part of Isaiah. In that prophecy this same promise is worked out in the great doctrine of the servant of God. The Philistines were the old, hereditary enemies of Israel. From the days of Samuel and the Judges, David and Solomon this nation had existed and was, all the time, an enemy and troubler of Israel and Judah.
The date of the prophecy (Jer 47:1-7 ) is a little uncertain. The latter part of the first verse says that this prophecy came before Pharaoh smote Gaza. Now that was the Pharaoh-Necho who defeated Josiah, some time previous to 604 B.C. He had laid siege to Gaza, the chief city of Philistia, and had utterly overwhelmed it. Previous to that Jeremiah uttered this prophecy against Philistia. He says in Jer 47:2 , “Behold, waters rise up out of the north, and shall become an overflowing stream, and shall overflow the land and all that is therein.” Thus he pictures the invading hosts of Nebuchadnezzar coming from the north like an overflowing river, down the plains of Tyre to this Philistine city. In Jer 47:4 he says that they shall all be overthrown.
Now, we have a remarkable question on this part of Jeremiah, Jer 47:6 . He sees this fearful shedding of blood, and raises the question, “O thou sword of Jehovah, how long will it be ere thou be quiet? put up thyself into thy scabbard; rest, and be still.” Evidently this implies that God ordered this bloodshed and that the nation was doing his will in thus punishing the wickedness of the Philistines.
What the relation of Moab to Israel and what the main points of the prophecy against her (Jer 48:1-47 )? It is interesting here to compare this passage with Isaiah 15-16, and also Eze 25:9-11 . Israel had come into very intimate relations with Moab. They passed through that land, and the tribe of Reuben had the territory which joined Moab. Between these two (Reuben and Moab) there were constant feuds with intermittent friendship. Finally Moab succeeded in throwing off the yoke of Israel and absorbing the tribe of Reuben. Moab was famous for her pride, her self-sufficiency. She was one of the proudest nations of the world. It was against this pride and self-sufficiency that this prophecy was directed. It contains a great many expressions that are identical with what we find in Isaiah 15-16. In this chapter the prophet gives us much of the geography of Moab. He mentions, altogether, about twenty-six cities. The principal thoughts are these:
1. Moab’s threatened destruction and exile by Babylon (Jer 48:1-10 ).
2. Moab’s disappointed hope, and the imminence of her calamity (Jer 48:11-25 ).
3. The humiliation of Moab, and her fate described (Jer 48:26-46 ).
4. A promise of return: “Yet will I bring back the captivity of Moab in the latter days, saith Jehovah” (Jer 48:47 ).
I call attention to two or three striking passages in this prophecy against Moab. In Jer 48:10 Jeremiah is speaking of the terrible work which Nebuchadnezzar will do to Moab and he wants that work thoroughly done, and says, “Cursed be he that doeth the work of Jehovah negligently.” Now that is a fine text. He continues, “Cursed be he that keepeth back his sword from blood.” The idea in it all is that Jehovah wants these Babylonians to do their work thoroughly. Also in Jer 48:11 we have a striking passage: “Moab hath been at ease from his youth, and he hath settled on his lees, and hath not been emptied from vessel to vessel, neither hath he gone into captivity: therefore his taste remaineth in him, and his scent is not changed.” The figure here is that of fresh wine left to stand. When it is left thus, sediment gathers in the bottom. It becomes thick and stagnant and the quality is injured. Something like that had happened in Moab. She had grown stagnant; had been quiet for years. It was not good for her to remain in this condition. Self-satisfaction is not a good thing.
We have the prophecy against Ammon (Jer 49:1-6 ). The country of Ammon bordered on the land of Moab and the territory of the tribe of Reuben. There was constant strife between Ammon and Reuben. When Tiglath-Pileser invaded the land and deported the inhabitants, Ammon came up and seized the country that belonged to Reuben. Because of that incident Jeremiah uttered these oracles: “Hath Israel no sons? hath he no heir? Why then doth Malcam possess Gad, and his people dwell in the cities thereof?” He had seized the property that belonged to Israel, and that is what Jeremiah is denouncing. They shall all go into exile. He then closes this prophecy with a promise of restoration: “But I will bring back the captivity of the children of Ammon.”
Compare with the prophecy against Edom the prophecy of Obadiah, which is almost identical. Jeremiah must have been familiar with the prophecy of Obadiah. Compare also Isa 34 . Edom was a kinsman of the house of Jacob. Edom dwelt in his mountain fastnesses and impregnable heights, and was something of a military power. He never lost the bitterness of Esau against Jacob because the latter got his birthright and blessing. They first dwelt in tents and were Bedouin, but at this time most of them dwelt in cities or towns. Edom watched from his fastnesses the career of Jacob and, as Obadiah says, looked on her destruction without pity. When she had opportunity she took some of the inhabitants of Israel, made them slaves and rejoiced over the downfall of Jerusalem. For such unbrotherly conduct Judah never forgave Edom. Sufficient is it to say that we have here the pronouncement of doom upon her and there is no promise of restoration. For several centuries Edom flourished to some extent, and in the time of the restoration she occupied considerable territory of Judah. In the time of Christ an Edomite sat upon the throne of Judah, but since then Edom has gone down and today nothing remains of her but a great wilderness of mountains and deserts.
In connection with the prophecy against Damascus (Jer 49:23-27 ) we have prophecies concerning two little countries, namely, Hamath and Arpad. Damascus is to have troubles, she is to be sad in her fate and she is to wax very feeble. Her city is to be, not utterly destroyed, but greatly humbled. There is no promise of restoration.
Kedar is the name of the wandering and marauding, warlike tribes that live in the deserts east of Palestine, between eastern Palestine and the river Euphrates. They are called the “Children of the East.” They have lived there from time immemorial. They were there before the days of Abraham and are there yet. The men of Kedar are to be overwhelmed by the Babylonian power. The city of Hazor is referred to as belonging to this people. The larger portion of these Arabians lived in tents and were Bedouin, but some of them lived in cities or villages. So the prophet addresses both classes, Kedar and Hazor, pronouncing destruction upon them.
We have the prophecy against Elam (Jer 49:34-39 ). In Abraham’s time there was a king of Elam, who was the overlord of Babylon, and the over-lord of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. He came to the plains of Palestine and collected tribute from them. Elam was one of the principal forces that Abraham attacked and destroyed. A great many of the inhabitants were transported to northern Palestine when Samaria was destroyed by Sargon, so that Jeremiah is brought into touch with these Elamites because they lived in the northern part of the country. The fate of Elam is bound ‘up with the fate of Babylon and that of Israel. Elam is threatened with destruction, but in Jer 49:39 there is a promise of restoration. It is interesting to note that in the fulfilment of that promise of restoration, there were Elamites in the city of Jerusalem when Peter preached his great sermon at Pentecost. Doubtless there were Elamites converted at that time and brought into the fold of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The prophecy against Babylon (Jeremiah 50-51) is the longest of any of the prophecies concerning the foreign nations. Compare this with Isaiah 13-14; 40-48. The date of this prophecy is set forth in Jer 51:59 . It was in the fourth year of the reign of Zedekiah, about 494 B.C. Jeremiah penned this long prophecy and sent it by a messenger to the king of Babylon, to be read by the exiles, and he says in Jer 51:63 , “When thou hast made an end of reading this book, thou shall bind a stone to it, and cast it into the midst of the Euphrates: and thou shall say, Thus shalt Babylon sink, and shall not rise again because of the evil that I will bring upon her.” A copy of the prophecy was kept by the prophet. This action was symbolical. We cannot go into detail in the study of this prophecy. The situation is the same as that set forth in Isaiah 40-66. It presents many of the same ideas and the same problems. There are scores of similar expressions. The principal ideas are as follows:
1. The people of Israel were in exile in Babylon and the city of Jerusalem had been destroyed: Jer 50:6-7 ; Jer 50:17 ; Jer 50:28 ; Jer 50:33 ; Jer 51:11 ; Jer 51:34 ; Jer 51:51 .
2. Babylon was the instrument of Jehovah in punishing Israel and the nations, four times stated: Jer 50:7 ; Jer 50:17 ; Jer 51:7 ; Jer 51:20-23 .
3. Jehovah remains the deliverer of his people. This is stated by the prophet four times: Jer 50:34 ; Jer 51:5 ; Jer 51:15-19 ; Jer 51:36 .
4. Jehovah will execute his wrath upon Babylon and her gods and they shall be destroyed. Fully two-thirds of this entire prophecy is given to the discussion of this thought: Jer 50:2-3 ; Jer 50:10-16 ; Jer 50:18 ; Jer 50:21-27 ; Jer 51:1-4 ; Jer 51:8-9 ; Jer 51:11-19 .
5. The Modes and their allies are to break the Babylonian yoke. This is stated eight times altogether: Jer 50:3 ; Jer 50:9 ; Jer 50:41-42 ; Jer 50:44 ; Jer 51:11 ; Jer 51:27-28 .
6. Promise of release from Babylon and command to leave the city. Eleven times the prophet makes statements to that effect: Jer 50:4-5 ; Jer 50:8 ; Jer 50:19-20 ; Jer 50:28 ; and others.
7. Spiritual renewal of Israel shall follow the return from Babylon. This is stated by the prophet five times: Jer 50:4-5 ; Jer 51:10 ; Jer 51:50-51 .
In these seven divisions we have the substance of these chapters. Isaiah 40-48 contains the same thoughts, sometimes even in the same words.
Almost all the critics maintain that Jeremiah did not write these chanters. Even a Baptist professor produced a commentary that was published by a Baptist publishing house, in which it is plainly affirmed that Jeremiah did not write them. The arguments used against the Jeremiah-authorship are in substance, as follows:
1. The historical situation had not yet arrived. These chapters picture Israel in exile, the Temple destroyed and Jerusalem in ruins. If Jeremiah wrote these chapters in 594 B.C. (and it is plainly stated that he did) Jerusalem was still standing, the Temple intact, and the end of Babylon was yet seventy years more in the future. Therefore, the critics conclude that since the historical situation was not in harmony with these chapters, Jeremiah did not write them. That conclusion is undeniably based upon the assumption that Jeremiah could not see the future.
2. There is not the same point of view on the part of the prophet. The point of view of the prophet about this time was that Zedekiah and his people must submit to Babylon, and if they would submit, they would be saved. But now in these chapters the point of view of the prophet seems to be that these nations are to be destroyed and Judah triumph. Therefore, Jeremiah must have a different point of view. Did he? As in the other contention, it is based upon the assumption that Jeremiah could not see the future.
3. The temper which permeates these chapters was not that of Jeremiah. In other words, Jeremiah, during the reign of Zedekiah, had been friendly to Babylon in that he continually counseled submission to Babylon. He seems to be a friend to Babylon. Now, these two chapters were written by a man whose soul seemed to be on fire with denunciation of Babylon because of her ruthless and unrelenting cruelty to Israel. The critics cannot account for the change in the temper of Jeremiah, if it is conceded that he wrote these two chapters in question.
In reply, it may be asked, Does it follow that because he advised submission to a foreign power he loved that power and was not loyal to his own people? Jeremiah counseled submission to Babylon, not because he loved Babylon, but because he could see, in fact it was revealed to him, that Babylon was destined to prevail and that if his people would quietly submit, it would be better than to resist. By no means does it follow that he loved Babylon. He did not love Babylon; he was a patriotic Israelite and could not but have hated that savage nation that overwhelmed his own beloved kinsmen. It is easy to see how he could, with perfect consistency, thus write the doom that was coming upon this savage nation for its wickedness. Though it was a wicked heathen nation, God could overrule its cruelty to be the just punishment for Israel’s sins and wickedness.
4. It is full of repetitions and lacks logical development. And so it does. But is it not in that very fact, like the work of Jeremiah? Our critical friends have worked out a system of logical development and they make heaven and earth fit into the mold of their theory. I fear that in trying to get all heaven into their logical system, they have failed to get any of it into their hearts.
Here are five reasons for accepting the Jeremiah authorship of chapters Jeremiah 50-51:
1. It is expressly stated that Jeremiah did write it (Jer 51:59-64 ). That ought to settle the question.
2. The style is like that of Jeremiah, full of repetitions. We have called attention to that very thing over and over again in our studies of the book.
3. The prophecy is altogether appropriate. Jeremiah was a patriotic Israelite, and his feelings toward Babylon could not have been that of friendship. He must have been permeated with the spirit of denunciation.
4. Denial of his authorship is based upon a mechanical theory of prophecy and inspiration. That is, after all, the real source of these denials.
5. Granting inspiration, Jeremiah was thoroughly competent to write every word of these two chapters. We could not expect that Jeremiah, a prophet to the nations, would live and die without having something to say about Babylon.
QUESTIONS
1. What the theme of Jeremiah 46-51 and what the evidence elsewhere of Jeremiah’s call to this special function as a prophet?
2. What the dates of these several prophecies?
3. What the date of the prophecy concerning Egypt, what parallel prophecies in the other prophets and what the nature of Jer 46:1 ?
4. Give an account of Egypt’s defeat at Carchemish (Jer 46:2-12 ).
5. Give an account of the overthrow of Egypt by Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 46:13-26 ).
6. What the words of reassurance and encouragement to Israel in Jer 46:27-28 ?
7. Who were the Philistines, what the date of this prophecy (Jer 47:1-6 ) against them and what the prophecy itself, especially verse 6?
8. What the relation of Moab to Israel and what the main points of the prophecy against her? (Jer 48:1-47 .)
9. What things worthy of special note in this prophecy against Moab?
10. What the occasion of the prophecy against Ammon in Jer 49:1-6 and what the points of the prophecy?
11. What the relation of Edom to Israel and what the prophecy here (Jer 49:7-22 ) against her?
12. What the prophecy against Damascus? (Jer 49:23-27 .)
13. Who was Kedar and what the prophecy here against Kedar? (Jer 49:28-33 .)
14. Who were the Elamites and what the prophecy against Elam in Jer 49:34-39 ?
15. How does the prophecy against Babylon compare with the other prophecies here given, what the date and what the symbolical action in this connection, the meaning of it, and what the principal ideas?
16. What the arguments of the critics against the authenticity of this section and upon what is each based?
17. Give five reasons for accepting the Jeremiah authorship of Jeremiah 50-51.
Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible
Jer 47:1 The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet against the Philistines, before that Pharaoh smote Gaza.
Ver. 1. Before that Pharaoh smote Gaza. ] Called also Gazer and Gazera, having its name not from the Persian Gaza, signifying wealth or treasure, but from a Hebrew word signifying strength. It was first smitten by Pharaoh at his return from Carchemish likely, after he had slain Josiah, and afterwards worsted the Babylonian at Euphrates. Next by Nebuchadnezzar; this and the four other satrapies of the Philistines were overrun then when he came against Egypt. After that it was besieged and taken by Alexander the Great, who laid it waste. Yet was it built again and called Constantia, after the name of Constantine the Great’s sister, being one of the chief cities in Syria, and having received the faith. a
a Euseb., De Vit. Constant., lib. iv.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Jeremiah Chapter 47
Jehovah was now judging: who could escape? Certainly not the Philistines. They were very far from the importance of Egypt; but it was the judgment of the nations under God’s hand, and their diminished might since the days of Saul, or their insignificance compared with a power which aspired (though in vain) to the sovereignty of the world, could furnish no protection.
“The word of Jehovah that came to Jeremiah the prophet against the Philistines, before that Pharaoh smote Gaza. Thus saith Jehovah; Behold, waters rise up out of the north, and shall be an overflowing flood, and shall overflow the land, and all that is therein; the city, and them that dwell therein. then the men shall cry, and all the inhabitants of the land shall howl.” (Ver. 1, 2.) The king of the south might smite Gaza; but there were graver perils impending from a wholly different quarter, and this too announced before the blow struck by the king of Egypt. Under the well-known figure of rising waters and an overflowing flood, which Isaiah makes so familiar to his reader, was set forth the overwhelming scourge, and this from “the north,” by which God was going to visit the neighbours of Israel on their south-western frontier. Utter devastation should come through their Chaldean invaders. Country and town should alike feel, men and all howl for anguish.
“At the noise of the stamping of the hoofs of his strong horses, at the rushing of his chariots, and at the rumbling of his wheels, the fathers shall not look back to their children for feebleness of hands; because of the day that cometh to spoil all the Philistines, and to cut off from Tyrus and Zidon every helper that remaineth. for Jehovah will spoil the Philistines, the remnant of the country of Caphtor. Baldness is come upon Gaza; Ashkelon is cut off with the remnant of their valley; how long wilt thou cut thyself?” (Ver. 3-5.) Thus does the Spirit energetically set forth the might of the assailants bearing down all before them, and the helpless agony of the once proud lords who formerly tyrannized over Israel, when they should look in vain for succour to Tyre and Zidon, and superstitious humiliation before their gods be as useless as the help of their old allies, themselves wasted and cut off. In truth, as the prophet tells them, it was Jehovah who would spoil the Philistines, whatever instrumentality he might be pleased to employ; and even this, to make all the more evidently of Himself, is not obscurely intimated.
Hence the bold appeal of the closing verses: “O thou sword of Jehovah, 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 Jehovah hath given it a charge against Ashkelon, and against the sea shore? there hath he appointed it.” (Ver. 6, 7.) It is a tremendous thought that Jehovah’s sword should have no rest; but so it was. Little did Nebuchadnezzar think that Jehovah arranged the campaign of that bitter and hasty nation whose judgment and dignity proceeded of themselves. Little did Ashkelon on the sea shore see in those swift and fiery horsemen a charge appointed of Jehovah against them.
Fuente: William Kelly Major Works (New Testament)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Jer 47:1
1That which came as the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the Philistines, before Pharaoh conquered Gaza.
Jer 47:1 This first verse dates the prophecy (i.e., before Pharaoh conquered Gaza).
The Babylonian conquest of Philistia was also prophesied in Jer 25:20. There are several other places where the destruction of Philistia is prophesied (cf. Isa 14:29-31; Eze 25:15-17; Joe 3:4-8; Amo 1:6-8; Zep 2:4-7; Zec 9:5-7).
Herodotus (Hist. II, 159) mentions that Pharaoh Necho II conquered a Philistine city (i.e., Gaza) about 609 B.C. This would link up with his replacing Josiah’s heir (Jehoahaz) with another puppet king (Jehoiakim), also in 609 B.C. The problem with this date is that Nebuchadnezzar did not invade until 601 B.C.
The Expositors Bible Commentary, vol. 6, p. 655, lists three possible dates for the invasion of Babylon (if the MT is correct).
1. 609 B.C. – same time as the death of Josiah by Necho II
2. 604 B.C. – after the defeat of the Egyptian army at Carchemish
3. still later in the reign of Pharaoh Hophra (or Apries, 588-569 B.C.), when he invaded Phoenicia and Philistia, which were on the way (i.e., southern coast)
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
The Forty-Third Prophecy of Jeremiah (see book comments for Jeremiah).
the LORD. Hebrew. Jehovah. App-4.
against = concerning. Compare Jer 48:1; Jer 49:1, Jer 49:7, Jer 49:23.
before. To show that this prophecy was not the anticipation of human foresight.
Pharaoh. Pharaoh-necho, after his victory over Josiah (2Ki 23:29. 2Ch 35:20).
Gaza. Hebrew. ‘azzah (with ‘eth). Now Ghuzzeh. Still standing at the time of this prophecy (the fourth year of Jehoiakim). Not Carchemish, for compare 2Ki 24:7.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Chapter 47
In chapter 47 he takes now his prophecies against the Philistines. And the city of Gaza was already taken by the Pharaoh.
The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet against the Philistines before that Pharaoh smote Gaza ( Jer 47:1 ).
Now, Pharaoh ultimately smote Gaza, one of the large Philistine cities.
Thus saith the LORD; Behold, waters rise up out of the north, and shall be an overflowing flood ( Jer 47:2 ),
So the waters out of the north would be Babylon.
and they shall overflow the land ( Jer 47:2 ),
The overflowing flood is a type. The word flood is used in typology as the armies. They will overflow the land.
and all that is therein; the city, and them that dwell therein: then the men shall cry, and all the inhabitants of the land shall howl. At the noise of the stamping of the hoofs of his strong horses, at the rushing of his chariots, and at the rumbling of his wheels, the fathers shall not look back to their children for feebleness of hands; Because of the day that cometh to spoil all the Philistines, and to cut off from Tyrus and Zidon every helper that remaineth: for the LORD will spoil the Philistines, the remnant of the country of Caphtor ( Jer 47:2-4 ).
Caphtor is the island of Cyprus from which, or is it Crete where the Philistines originally came from.
Baldness is come upon Gaza; Ashkelon [another Philistine city] is cut off with the remnant of their valley: how long wilt thou cut thyself? O thou sword of the LORD, how long will it be ere you 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 seashore? there hath he appointed it ( Jer 47:5-7 ).
And so the destruction that was to come upon the Philistines. And, of course, the Philistines were utterly destroyed. The modern Palestinian is not at all related to the Philistines. But the word Palestine does come from this word Philistine.
“
Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary
Jer 47:1-7
Jer 47:1
The word of Jehovah that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the Philistines, before that Pharaoh smote Gaza.
Before that Pharaoh smote Gaza…
(Jer 47:1). What makes this difficult is that there is no hint here of which Pharaoh is meant. Three different dates are suggested for the capture of Gaza mentioned here. (1) Pharaoh-Necho marched against Babylon in 609 B.C., that being when Josiah opposed him and was killed at Megiddo. It is not certainly known, but it is supposed that Pharaoh-Necho might have taken and fortified Gaza at the beginning of that campaign in order to secure his eventual retreat. (2) It has also been suggested that this same Pharaoh-Necho, severely defeated at Carchemish, took Gaza and fortified it, as a bastion against Nebuchadnezzar’s following him into Egypt. (3) Another king, Pharaoh-Hophra (588-570 B.C.) is alleged to have taken Gaza in an expedition against Tyre and Sidon. J. R. Dummelow mentions all three of these possibilities.
The trouble with finding any certainty in the answer is due to, “Our ignorance of contemporary history.”
Other dates for Pharaoh’s capture of Gaza, as mentioned here, have been proposed as 608 B.C., and 605-604 B.C.
Our own preference for the date is grounded in our conviction that the Jeremiahic prophecy of the Babylonian campaign against Jerusalem, Egypt, Philistia, and the whole region was written well in advance of the actual advance of the Babylonians, and in fact, at a time when Egypt, not Babylon, was the power most people feared. The weight of this first verse, as we understand it is, therefore: “At a time when Pharaoh of Egypt was the dominating power, even at that early time, Jeremiah prophesied the great flood of the Babylonian invasion ‘from the north.'”
Another excellent reason for dating this prophecy prior to 609 B.C., is seen in the fact that, according to the Babylonian Chronicle for the year 604 B.C., “Nebuchadnezzar marched against Ashkelon, took its king captive, carried off booty, and prisoners, turning the city into ruins and a heap of rubble.” This of course, is a complete fulfillment of Jeremiah’s prophecy.
We cannot believe that Jeremiah’s prophecy of that destroying flood from the north was a “prophecy after the event,” but that it came long before the actual destruction; and that conviction limits this writer to the conclusion that the date of the prophecy was before the death of Josiah in 609 B.C. Certainly, our guess on this is as good as anyone’s! We are glad to note that R. K. Harrison, writing in the Tyndale Commentaries also favored this date.
Jeremiah is not the only one who prophesied against the Philistines. Amo 1:6-8; Eze 25:15-17; Isa 14:28-31; and Zep 2:4-7, are others.
HISTORY OF THE PHILISTINES
The Philistines were a vigorous people who migrated to the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea from the Island of Crete in very early times, in fact, giving their name (Palestine) to the whole area. Israel never was able to drive them out of the land; but, under king David, they did submit to the government of Israel.
However, in the days of the divided kingdom, they quickly regained their independence, which they maintained through many military operations against them through the ages, which gradually weakened them, leading to their final conquest by the Maccabees in the second century B.C. From this time, they seem to have been totally merged with Israel.
Their principal cities were Ekron, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Gath and Gaza.
Jer 47:2-3
Thus saith Jehovah: Behold, waters rise up out of the north, and shall become an overflowing stream, and shall overflow the land and all that is therein, the city and them that dwell therein; and the men shall cry, and all the inhabitants of the land shall wail. At the noise of the stamping of the hoofs of his strong ones, at the rushing of his chariots, at the rumbling of his wheels, the fathers look not back to their children for feebleness of hands;
Waters rise up out of the north…
(Jer 47:2). Isaiah also compared the ravages of the great Assyrian army as the Euphrates River at flood (Isa 8:7-8); and here Jeremiah uses the same metaphor to describe the ravages of the Babylonians.
Fathers look not back to their children for feebleness of hands…
(Jer 47:3). This depicts the terror stricken fathers as so overcome with fear that they could not even try to protect their children. It is an exceedingly powerful comment on the kind of terror inspired by the terrible armies of the Babylonians.
Jer 47:4-5
because of the day that cometh to destroy all the Philistines, to cut off from Tyre and Sidon every helper that remaineth: for Jehovah will destroy the Philistines, the remnant of the isle of Caphtor. Baldness is come upon Gaza; Ashkelon is brought to nought, the remnant of their valley: how long wilt thou cut thyself?
Remnant of the isle of Caphtor…
(Jer 47:4). Caphtor is usually identified with Crete.
The mention of Tyre and Sidon here puzzles some writers, but, apparently, all that is meant is that the way was then open for Babylon to destroy those cities also, but no prophecy that their destruction would follow.
Baldness is upon Gaza. how long wilt thou cut thyself
(Jer 47:5). These were signs of grief and sorrow and are a prophecy of the terrible doom in store for Philistia.
The remnant of their valley…
(Jer 47:5). John Bright stated that, This makes no sense! But such a comment only means that the commentator does not understand it. Neither can this writer tell what it means; but we heartily agree with Bright that the rendition given in the LXX, which reads, The remnant of the Anakim (the giants), while tempting, May be nothing but a guess on the part of the LXX.
Jer 47:6-7
O thou sword of Jehovah, how long will it be ere thou be quiet? put up thyself into thy scabbard; rest, and be still. How canst thou be quiet, seeing Jehovah hath given thee a charge? Against Ashkelon, and against the sea-shore, there hath he appointed it.
“Jeremiah’s reference to the sword of Jehovah is one of his most awesome figures. The sword of the Lord symbolizes righteous judgment. That judgment which is now falling upon Judah is also coming upon other countries. The Philistines also must drink of the cup of the wrath of God.”
There are two addresses in these verses to the personified Sword of Jehovah: (1) The Philistines cry out for the sword to rest, and be still. (2) The prophet answers, “How canst thou, seeing Jehovah hath given thee a charge?”
There hath he appointed it…
(Jer 47:7). Jehovah hath appointed his sword to bring terrible vengeance upon wicked peoples. And what is God’s sword?
(1) It is his supernatural power, like that “flaming sword” turning in all directions that prevented Adam’s race from re-entering the Garden of Paradise.
(2) It is also the literal sword, and all kinds of armament that belonged to many wicked nations, whom God used to punish others, they themselves, in turn, receiving their own punishment. The king of Assyria is called “God’s razor” (Isa 7:20); and the armies of pagan Rome were referred to as God’s armies in the prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem (Mat 22:7)
Terrible indeed as God’s judgments surely were, Adam’s race has not yet mastered the lesson that the infinitely Holy God can not and will not tolerate wickedness. It should be remembered that in the instance of the Great Deluge, all mankind perished at one time! and that once more, at the conclusion of this dispensation of God’s grace, there will be a second and final destruction of all flesh from the face of the earth, only the redeemed being spared.
AN ORACLE AGAINST THE PHILISTINE Jer 47:1-7
The oracle against the Philistine has a heading which furnishes a date for the oracle in terms of a battle that must have been familiar to the prophets audience. According to the heading this word came from the Lord before Pharaoh smote Gaza (Jer 47:1). Unfortunately for the modern student of the book, the prophet did not identify the particular Pharaoh who conquered Gaza. Since Pharaoh Hophra (588-569 B.C.) made an expedition as far north as Sidon during his reign he has been nominated as the mysterious Pharaoh of Jer 47:1. But in view of the fact that Jeremiah is still talking about the enemy from the north rather than of the Chaldeans or Nebuchadnezzar it seems probable that the oracle comes from the earliest period of the prophets ministry. In the main Jeremiah used the phrase enemy from the north in his messages prior to the battle of Carchemish. Probably then it was Pharaoh Necho who captured Gaza some time before the battle of Carchemish. Perhaps evidence for this conquest will be forthcoming from the new materials which are constantly coming to light concerning the relations of the Pharaohs and Palestine. Some scholars feel there is a reference to the capture of Gaza by Pharaoh Necho in Herodotus II, 159 but the evidence is far from conclusive.
The Overflowing Stream Jer 47:2-4
Borrowing a figure used earlier by Isaiah (Isa 8:7) Jeremiah describes the conqueror of the Philistine as an overflowing flood. The prophet sees the waters slowly rising in the north, gradually swelling, and then sweeping southward like a torrential stream which carries ruin and destruction along its course. That mighty river shall overflow all the land of the Philistine (Jer 47:2). Jeremiah can hear the shrieks, screams and howls of despair mingled with the sounds of the prancing steeds and rumbling chariots and grinding wheels of the Chaldean forces. The fathers are so terrified that they abandon their wives and children to the on-rushing enemy (Jer 47:3). The day of ruin has come to Philistia. No Philistine will be able to go to the aid of Tyre and Sidon and those cities as well will taste the wrath of the invincible conqueror. Eze 26:1-21; Eze 27:1-36 describes at length the humiliation of the two proud commercial cities of Phoenicia. Those who inhabited Philistia in the days of Jeremiah are only the remnant of the original invaders from Caphtor, the island of Crete. The Philistine had already suffered greatly in wars with Egypt and Assyria. Now the remnant of that once proud people will again suffer judgment at the hands of the God of Israel (Jer 47:4).
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).
Prophecies about Foreign Nations – Jer 46:1 to Jer 51:64
Open It
1. What, in your mind, is a good example of a situation in which justice was served?
2. In what strategic defense or weapon would you have the most confidence during a personal attack?
Explore It
3. Why did Jeremiah say that the mighty warriors of Egypt would cower before Nebuchadnezzar? (Jer 46:13-17)
4. Despite the judgment coming on Egypt, what did God promise them eventually? (Jer 46:25-26)
5. What promises did God make to Israel with honesty, justice, and hope? (Jer 46:27-28)
6. To what terrifying natural disaster did God compare the Egyptian conquest of Philistia? (Jer 47:2-5)
7. Where did the people of Moab misplace their trust, sending themselves and their idols into captivity? (Jer 48:6-9)
8. In the context of judging the nations, what curse did Jeremiah pronounce on the lax or merciful? (Jer 48:10)
9. Why would it be particularly appropriate when Moab became an object of scorn and ridicule? (Jer 48:26-27)
10. What brought about Moabs destruction as a nation? (Jer 48:42)
11. What was the source of Ammons false sense of security? (Jer 49:4)
12. What did God promise to the Ammonites when their punishment was complete? (Jer 49:6)
13. How did God say He would treat the helpless, even within the borders of His enemy, Edom? (Jer 49:11)
14. Why did Edom think its location made it invincible? (Jer 49:15-16)
15. How would Damascus along with Kedar and the kingdoms of Hazor also fall under Gods judgment? (Jer 49:23-33)
16. What would eventually happen to the nation of Elam after it was defeated and taken into exile? (Jer 49:37-39)
17. With their enemies facing Gods wrath, what did Jeremiah predict Israel and Judah would do? (Jer 50:4-5)
18. What attitude of the Babylonians in relation to Gods people convinced God to leave them desolate? (Jer 50:11-13)
19. Since the Babylonians had exiled many of the peoples they conquered from their own land, what would happen when God punished them? (Jer 50:16)
20. When Babylon was made accountable to God, what would become of Israels guilt? (Jer 50:20)
21. What did Jeremiah tell us about Israels Redeemer? (Jer 50:34)
22. To what historic event did God compare the coming destruction of Babylon? (Jer 50:39-40)
23. What were the Babylonians failing to take into account about Gods relationship to Israel? (Jer 51:5)
24. What nation was to become Gods instrument of justice against Babylon? (Jer 51:11-14)
25. How did Jeremiah contrast the God of Israel with the idols of the other nations? (Jer 51:17-19)
26. What religious disgrace of the people of Israel would be remedied by God Himself? (Jer 51:51-53)
27. What message about Babylon was Seraiah to deliver to the exiles in Babylon? (Jer 51:59-64)
Get It
28. Why was it important for the Jews exiled in Babylon to know that Babylons great power would soon fall?
29. Why was it important that each instrument of Gods wrath not be lax?
30. In what ways does modern society practice some of the same evil and rebellious attitudes that brought on Gods punishments for these nations?
31. What will become of those who rejoice when one of Gods servants stumbles morally?
32. How does our worship become acceptable to God?
Apply It
33. In what situation can you demonstrate a new attitude toward a Christian who has stumbled?
34. Through what difficult circumstance will you ask God to give you perspective, patience, and (eventually) freedom?
Questions On Jeremiah Chapters Forty-Seven thru Forty-Nine
By Brent Kercheville
1 What is Gods message to the Philistines (Jer 47:1-7)?
2 What do we learn about God (cf. Jer 47:7)?
3 What is Gods message to Moab (Jer 48:1-47)?
4 What sin does God condemn the people of Moab for (Jer 48:7)?
5 What lessons do we learn about ourselves and about God?
6 What sin does God condemn the people of Moab for (Jer 48:26)?
7 What lessons do we learn about ourselves and about God?
8 What sin does God condemn the people of Moab for (Jer 48:29-30)?
9 What lessons do we learn about ourselves and about God?
10 What hope is given to Moab (Jer 48:47)? Explain how this would be fulfilled.
11 What is Gods message to Ammon (Jer 49:1-6)? Explain how verse 2 and verse 6 would be fulfilled.
12 What is Gods message to Edom (Jer 49:7-22)?
13. Explain the imagery of Jer 49:9-10.
14 Explain the imagery of Jer 49:15-18.
15 What is Gods message to Damascus (Jer 49:23-27)?
16 What is Gods message to Kedar and Hazor (Jer 49:28-33)?
17 What is Gods message to Elam (Jer 49:34-39)?
What hope is given to Elam (Jer 49:39)? Explain how this would be fulfilled.
TRANSFORMATION:
How does this relationship change your relationship with God?
What did you learn about him?
What will you do differently in your life?
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
In this brief chapter we find the word concerning the Philistines. It consists of foretelling a scourge coming against them from the north which would utterly break their power. In figurative language, the prophet described the sorrow which would overtake the proud yet broken people.
Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible
The seven verses of chap. 47 are devoted to this subject. The date when first uttered is not definitely stated, but ver. 1 informs us that it was “before that Pharaoh smote Gaza,” (Jer 47:1) which would place it about the time of the first prophecy regarding Egypt.
From the north “waters should rise up;” (Jer 47:2)that is, the Babylonian armies should overwhelm them; while the power of Egypt in the south was also to be turned against them. Even the world hates a hypocrite.
Fear and anguish should take hold upon them; fathers and sons should be overwhelmed in the dreadful carnage. Tyrus and Zidon, Phoenician cities of Philistine origin, would have no power to help. It was the Lord who was about to destroy Philistia. The cup of the iniquity of this warlike and aggressive people was full. They must know the power of the Lord’s anger. “The country of Caphtor” (Jer 47:4) is a general name for the entire strip of country which they had occupied since the days of Abraham and Lot. Caphtor is an Egyptian word, and plainly indicates the ancient home and lineage of these intruders in the land of promise.
“Baldness is come upon Gaza” (Jer 47:5) indicates that this ancient city, for long in possession of Judah (Jos 10:41; Jdg 1:18; 1Ki 4:24), had again fallen into the hands of its original occupants. It was devoted to destruction – so complete that it could be described as shaving city and people off the face of the ground; a figure frequently used by the prophets to signify utter desolation (Isa 7:20; Eze 5:1-2; Amo 8:10, etc).
As hair symbolizes the strength of dependence upon GOD (as in the example of Samson), and glory (as in the woman’s case), baldness indicates the absence of both. Philistia should be weak and helpless before her foes; her glory a mere memory, and her power departed.
Ashkelon, likewise, was to be cut off “with the remnant of their valley” (Jer 47:5). This, too, was one of the five cities of the lords of the Philistines in the days of Joshua. For location and the fertility of the surrounding country it was unexcelled. No doubt the desolations of Judah had permitted the Philistines once more to occupy it, but their season of repose should be brief. They must be broken and fall before the might of the armies sent against them by the Lord whom they had defied.
“The sword of the Lord” (Jer 47:6) could not be quiet until its charge against Ashkelon had been fulfilled. That accomplished, it should be put into its scabbard. It is not that GOD authorized the numberless cruelties perpetrated by the armies of Pharaoh and Nebuchadrezzar, but He used them, in spite of all that was contrary to His mind, to wreak summary vengeance upon those who had so long been the oppressors and the enemies of His people. He is the Governor of the world, ruling among the nations; and it was true then, and it is true now, that “righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.” (Pro 14:34)
The burden of Philistia ended, the prophet abruptly turns to
MOAB
The somewhat lengthy forty-eighth chapter is taken up with the Word of the Lord to these descendants of inglorious Lot and his wretched first-born daughter; as the next chapter deals in part with the woes to come upon the children of the younger.
Typically, these Moabites picture that large and careless class today who “have a name that they live, and are dead,” called in Heb 12:8 “bastards, and not sons.” illegitimately born, Moab was without claim to an inheritance in Israel, yet a near neighbor, dwelling upon the eastern shores of the Dead Sea. Lifeless, easy going profession is thus set forth. Such may glide on carelessly throughout life, partaking not of the chastisement of the Lord, which is for His own children; but judgment must come eventually.
Fuente: Commentaries on the New Testament and Prophets
CHAPTER 47
Concerning the Philistines
This brief chapter is concerning the inhabitants of the borderland of Canaan, called Philistia. This announced judgment was fulfilled a short time after it was spoken by the prophet.
Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)
Cir, am 3387, bc 617
against: Exo 25:15-17, Amo 1:6-8, Zep 2:4-7, Zec 9:5-7
Gaza: Heb. Azzah, Jer 25:20, Gen 10:19, *marg. 1Ki 4:24
Reciprocal: Jos 15:47 – Gaza Isa 14:30 – and I Jer 27:3 – Edom Jer 36:2 – against all Jer 47:5 – Gaza Eze 25:15 – Because Eze 36:7 – the heathen Amo 1:7 – a fire
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jer 47:1. Again I will remind the reader that chronological order was not always observed in compiling the several parts of a prophets writings. Historically we last knew of Jeremiah when he was being taken by force to Egypt, and little is known of what became of him after that. But his writings seem to have been available and were finally put together by the friends of Truth in the form now with us and known as the book of Jeremiah. Hence we shall read yet many of his prophecies that he wrote before the time he was taken captive. Many of those were against heathen nations that had mistreated the people of God, or had otherwise displeased Him by their practices. The present chapter was written against the Philistines and it was dated at a time prior to the fall of Gaza which was a prominent city of the Philistines. That date is mentioned in order to explain that a prediction was made against the Philistines and that its fulfillment was to be brought about, through the Egyp-tian king.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Jer 47:1. The word of the Lord against the Philistines Among the other nations, who were doomed to suffer by the hostilities of Nebuchadnezzar, the Philistines are enumerated, Jer 25:20; and the calamities foretold in this present chapter most probably befell them during the long siege of Tyre, when that prince ravaged their country, in order, as it is said, Jer 47:4, to cut off from Tyre and Sidon all chance of assistance from that quarter. But as no history, sacred or profane, has mentioned the taking of Gaza by the king of Egypt, there is no means of ascertaining the precise date of the delivery of this prophecy. Before that Pharaoh smote Gaza Some have supposed the Pharaoh here spoken of to be Pharaoh-necho, and that he subdued Gaza after the battle of Megiddo, (2Ki 23:29,) when the whole country round submitted to his victorious arms. Others have thought that it was Pharaoh-hophra, who, having marched out of Egypt to the relief of Jerusalem, when besieged by the Chaldeans, in the ninth or tenth year of Zedekiah, thought proper to retire again on the approach of the enemy toward him, (Jer 37:5; Jer 37:7,) but, on his return, fell upon Gaza, and pillaged it. All this, however, is no better than mere conjecture. Blaney.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Jer 47:1. Before that Pharaoh smote Gaza. This is thought to be Pharaoh- necho; but critics are not agreed as to the time of the war, whether it was after the defeat of Josiah, when he was returning to Egypt, or in the tenth year of Zedekiah, when the Chaldeans went to meet him, and gave him a defeat. Their final overthrow was by the Assyrians.
Jer 47:2. Behold waters rise up out of the north. Waters, overflowing rivers, hail and tempests, are common figures to describe invading armies. Isa 28:17.
Jer 47:4. To cut off from Tyrus and Zidon every helper. This was illustrated in Isaiah 23. Caphtor is of uncertain import, whether it signifies the sea-coast, or a colony of the Philistines who took refuge in Crete, or Cappadocia. Lowth, after Vitringa, thinks the Cherethims who inhabited Crete to be the same with the Philistines.
Jer 47:5. Baldness is come upon Gaza. The fine tresses of hair were cut off, because their relatives were slain, and their national glory for ever gone.
Jer 47:6. Oh thou sword of the Lord, how long ere thou be quiet? The tender eyes of the prophet, on viewing the wars of the bloody Assyrians, wept again. War is horrible to the feelings of a virtuous mind.
The gods from heaven survey the fatal strife, And mourn the miseries of human life.
Jer 47:7. How can it be quiet? When the harvest is ripe, the corn must be reaped; and so it is with nations, when their iniquities are full. Cursed be the man that doeth the administration of justice deceitfully. Saul lost his crown for not avenging innocent blood on Amalek. What a question to teach us justice, mercy and truth; and that our children may revere the God of heaven and earth.
REFLECTIONS.
We now enter on a new scene of visitations on the surrounding nations of Judea. Their joy was unbounded when Jerusalem fell, for with her they had often been at war. But their joy was of short duration. In the course of five years the king of Babylon, overflowing the west with countless armies, overthrew all the nations, as the holy prophets had foretold, and left their cities and countries in the utmost desolation.
While all nations drank of the cup of divine displeasure, it was handed to the daughter of Philistia in turn; and in an age of peace when they expected no trouble. But the apostrophe which the tender-hearted prophet makes to the sword of the Lord, is extremely fine; and it shows that he desired not the calamities which came upon the gentile nations. Let us in like manner pray that the Lord would shorten the days of visitation, and that our sins may be purged by repentance rather than with vengeance.
Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Jeremiah 47. Philistia.Instead of Jer 47:1, LXX has simply On the Philistines, which is probably original. The waters rising from the north (Jer 47:2) would suggest Babylon, not Egypt, as the foe; the editorial reference to Egypt in 1 might be suggested (wrongly) by Jer 47:5. Pharaoh is supposed to have smitten Gaza (Cadytis, Herod. ii. 159) in 608. The devastating waters (Isa 8:7 f.) of an overflowing wady flood the land (Jer 47:2); the terror of the enemys approach breaks even the closest bonds of affection (Jer 47:3). The Philistines, being destroyed, will not be able to help the Phnicians (Jer 47:4). The cities of Philistia mourn (Jer 47:5), and the Philistines appeal to Yahwehs sword for mercy (Jer 47:6); the prophet answers them (Jer 47:7) with the question How can it be quiet? (so read, with VSS, and note mg.).
Jer 47:4. Tyre and Sidon: chief cities of Phnicia; the text is dubious, every helper that remaineth being really every helping survivor, an improbable phrase.Caphtor: the original home of the Philistines, i.e. Crete (pp. 56f., Amo 9:7*).
Jer 47:5. Baldness . . . cut thyself: see on Jer 16:5 f. For their valley, read of the Anakim (Jos 11:22), with LXX, taking the phrase as a vocative, O remnant of the Anakim!
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
47:1 The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet against the Philistines, before Pharaoh smote {a} Gaza.
(a) Or Azzah, a city of the Philistines.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Jeremiah received a message from the Lord concerning the Philistines before Pharaoh conquered Gaza in 609 or 601 B.C. [Note: Herodotus, 2:159, mentioned that Pharaoh Necho conquered Gaza (Gr. Kadytis) in 609 B.C., and the Chronicles of the Chaldean Kings indicate that Necho may have attacked and defeated Gaza in 601 B.C. See Wiseman, pp. 23-25, 67-69. See Feinberg, "Jeremiah," pp. 654-55; Graybill, p. 688; or Dyer, "Jeremiah," p. 1194, for a brief history of the Philistines.] The 609 B.C. date is more probable, since we know that Nebuchadnezzar invaded Ashkelon in 604 B.C., and an invasion of that town was still in the future when Jeremiah gave this oracle (cf. Jer 47:7).
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
CHAPTER XVIII
THE PHILISTINES
Jer 47:1-7
“O sword of Jehovah, how long will it be ere thou be quiet? put up thyself into thy scabbard; rest, and be still.”- Jer 47:6
ACCORDING to the title placed at the head of this prophecy, it was uttered “before Pharaoh smote Gaza.” The Pharaoh is evidently Pharaoh Necho, and this capture of Gaza was one of the incidents of the campaign which opened with the victory at Megiddo and concluded so disastrously at Carchemish. Our first impulse is to look for some connection between this incident and the contents of the prophecy: possibly the editor who prefixed the heading may have understood by the northern enemy Pharaoh Necho on his return from Carchemish; but would Jeremiah have described a defeated army thus?
“Behold, waters rise out of the north, and become an overflowing torrent;
They overflow the land, and all that is therein, the city and its inhabitants.
Men cry out, and all the inhabitants of the land howl,
At the sound of the stamping of the hoofs of his stallions,
At the rattling of his chariots and the rumbling of his wheels.”
Here as elsewhere the enemy from the north is Nebuchadnezzar. Pharaohs might come and go, winning victories and taking cities, but these broken reeds count for little; not they, but the king of Babylon is the instrument of Jehovahs supreme purpose. The utter terror caused by the Chaldean advance is expressed by a striking figure:-
“The fathers look not back to their children for slackness of hands.”
Their very bodies are possessed and crippled with fear, their palsied muscles cannot respond to the impulses of natural affection; they can do nothing but hurry on in headlong flight, unable to look round or stretch out a helping hand to their children:-
“Because of the day that cometh for the spoiling of all the Philistines,
For cutting off every ally that remaineth unto Tyre and Zidon:
For Jehovah spoileth the Philistines the remnant of the coast of Caphtor.
Baldness cometh upon Gaza; Ashkelon is destroyed:
O remnant of the Anakim, how long wilt thou cut thyself?”
This list is remarkable both for what it includes and what it omits. In order to understand the reference to Tyre and Zidon, we must remember that Nebuchadnezzars expedition was partly directed against these cities, with which the Philistines had evidently been allied. The Chaldean king would hasten the submission of the Phoenicians, by cutting off all hope of succour from without. There are various possible reasons why out of the five Philistine cities only two-Ashkelon and Gaza-are mentioned; Ekron, Gath, and Ashdod may have been reduced to comparative insignificance. Ashdod had recently been taken by Psammetichus after a twenty-nine years siege. Or the names of two of these cities may be given by way of paronomasia in the text: Ashdod may be suggested by the double reference to the spoiling and the spoiler, Shdod and Shoded; Gath may be hinted at by the word used for the mutilation practised by mourners, Tithgoddadi, and by the mention of the Anakim, who are connected with Gath, Ashdod, and Gaza in Jos 11:22.
As Jeremiah contemplates this fresh array of victims of Chaldean cruelty, he is moved to protest against the weary monotony of ruin:-
“O sword of Jehovah, how long will it be ere thou be quiet?
Put up thyself into thy scabbard; rest, and be still.”
The prophet ceases to be the mouthpiece of God, and breaks out into the cry of human anguish. How often since, amid the barbarian inroads that overwhelmed the Roman Empire, amid the prolonged horrors of the Thirty Years War, amid the carnage of the French Revolution, men have uttered a like appeal to an unanswering and relentless Providence! Indeed, not in war only, but even in peace, the tide of human misery and sin often seems to flow, century after century, with undiminished volume, and ever and again a vain “How long” is wrung from pallid and despairing lips. For the Divine purpose may not be hindered, and the sword of Jehovah must still strike home.
“How can it be quiet, seeing that Jehovah hath given it a charge?
Against Ashkelon and against the seashore, there hath He appointed it.”
Yet Ashkelon survived to be a stronghold of the Crusaders, and Gaza to be captured by Alexander and even by Napoleon. Jehovah has other instruments besides His devastating sword; the victorious endurance and recuperative vitality of men and nations also come from Him.
“Come and let us return unto Jehovah:
For He hath torn, and He will heal us;
He hath smitten, and He will bind us up.” {Hos 6:1}