Introduction
This little chapter is a prophecy against Philistia. This would include the coastal towns of Tyre and Sidon. I would imagine it includes the whole western coastline of Palestine. The Philistines had migrated from Crete to the eastern shore of the Mediterranean. They gave the name Palestine to the whole area. They were a mighty force to reckon with, they were never completely driven out of the land by Israel.
At one time they submitted to King David, but, during the days of the divided kingdom, they quickly came back to power again. They were always a strong military power, but they were finally defeated by the Maccabees in the period between the Old and New Testament, in the second century B.C. God’s judgements were surely terrible but mankind generally and God’s people in particular, in particular, have never mastered the important lesson, that God will not tolerate the wickedness of men.
A MESSAGE ABOUT THE PHILISTINES
‘This is the word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the Philistines before Pharaoh attacked Gaza: This is what the LORD says: ‘See how the waters are rising in the north; they will become an overflowing torrent. They will overflow the land and everything in it, the towns and those who live in them. The people will cry out; all who dwell in the land will wail at the sound of the hooves of galloping steeds, at the noise of enemy chariots and the rumble of their wheels. Parents will not turn to help their children; their hands will hang limp. For the day has come to destroy all the Philistines and to remove all survivors who could help Tyre and Sidon. The LORD is about to destroy the Philistines, the remnant from the coasts of Caphtor. Gaza will shave her head in mourning; Ashkelon will be silenced. You remnant on the plain, how long will you cut yourselves? ‘Alas, sword of the LORD, how long till you rest? Return to your sheath; cease and be still.’ But how can it rest when the LORD has commanded it, when he has ordered it to attack Ashkelon and the coast?’ Jeremiah 47:1-7
This prophecy went out to the Philistines before they were attacked by the Egyptians, Jeremiah 47:1. We are not told when this attack transpired or by which Pharaoh. We would only assume that it would have been Pharaoh-Neco on his way to engage the Babylonians at Carchemish.
Taking the literal setting of the rising of the floodwaters of the Nile River, which meant a blessing of crops to the Egyptians would mean destruction to both the Egyptians and Philistines, Jeremiah 47:2. The Babylonian forces would come from the north and consume the Philistine cities, Jeremiah 47:2.
Coffman, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Isaiah also compared the ravages of the great Assyrian army as the Euphrates River at flood, Isaiah 8:7-8, and here Jeremiah uses the same metaphor to describe the ravages of the Babylonians.’
They had been exhausted from swinging their swords in the battle against the Babylonians, Jeremiah 47:3. In desperation, they could do nothing but flee for their lives.
Clarke, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Though their children are left behind, they have neither strength nor courage to go back to bring them off.’
Since these two Phoenician cities, Tyre and Sidon were probably in alliance with the Philistines at this time in history, they too would succumb to the flow of the Babylonian army from the north, Jeremiah 47:4. Caphtor, Jeremiah 47:4, though possibly a reference to Philistia, Amos 9:7, is used also as a reference to the island of Crete, Ezekiel 25:15-16.
The Babylonian Chronicle, wherein Nebuchadnezzar reported concerning his campaign into Palestine, reports that on his way to Egypt after Carchemish, he ravaged the Philistine cities. This took place around 605/604 B.C.
Gaza will her head, Jeremiah 47:5. Shaving your head and cutting yourself were individual signs of mourning Jeremiah 47:5. One would cut off his hair and cut himself, Jeremiah 47:5. There was a cry for relief from the attack, Jeremiah 47:6. It was a cry by the Philistines for mercy from the Lord. The sword of the Lord through the Babylonians could not be put into its scabbard until the punishment of the Philistines had been meted out in full, Jeremiah 47:7.
Clarke, in his commentary, says the following.
‘This is the answer of the Sword. I am the officer of God’s judgments, and he has given me a commission against Ashkelon, and against the sea shore; all the coast where the Philistines have their territories. The measure of their iniquities is full and these God hath appointed this sword to ravage. The Philistines were ever the implacable enemies of the Jews, and the basest and worst of all idolaters. On these accounts the sword of the Lord had its commission against them and it did its office most fearfully and effectually by the hand of the Chaldeans.’