Jeremiah 47
1The word of Jehovah that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the Philistines, before that Pharaoh smote Gaza.
2Thus 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. 3At 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; 4because 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. 5Baldness is come upon Gaza; Ashkelon is brought to nought, the remnant of their valley: how long wilt thou cut thyself? 6O thou sword of Jehovah, how long will it be ere thou be quiet? put up thyself into thy scabbard; rest, and be still. 7How canst thou be quiet, seeing Jehovah hath given thee a charge? Against Ashkelon, and against the sea-shore, there hath he appointed it.
What is Jeremiah 47 about?
From Egypt the word moves to the Philistines on the coastal plain, before Pharaoh struck Gaza. Waters rise out of the north as an overflowing flood to overwhelm Gaza and Ashkelon, and fathers grow so feeble with terror that they do not turn back for their children. The oracle ends by crying to the sword of the LORD to ask how long until it rests, yet it cannot be still, for He has charged it against the seacoast and against Ashkelon. That Israel's ancient adversary falls under the same northern judgment shows His hand directing the rise and fall of every people.
Matthew Henry on Jeremiah 47