Jeremiah 47 Study Notes: Judgment on the Philistines
The LORD pictures an invasion from the north sweeping over the Philistines like a flood, leaving fathers too weak to go back for their children. Gaza and Ashkelon mourn, and a plea for the LORD’s sword to rest is answered that it cannot stop, since He has given it its orders against them.
General
When a cry goes up asking the LORD’s sword to go back into its sheath (47:6), what answer is given in 47:7?
Answer: It cannot be still, since the LORD has given it its orders
A cry goes up to the LORD’s sword, asking how long it will be before it rests and pleading with it to go back into its sheath and be quiet (47:6). The answer comes at once: how could it be quiet, since the LORD has given it orders? He has aimed it at Ashkelon and the coast (47:7). The sword stands for the LORD’s judgment, carried out through invading armies. Jeremiah used the same picture elsewhere of the LORD’s sword consuming the land (12:12), and in the Song of Moses God speaks of sharpening His sword to judge His enemies (Deuteronomy 32:41). What God sends out to do His will always does it; His word never returns to Him without accomplishing His purpose (Isaiah 55:11).
- Jeremiah 47:6 (BSB)“‘Alas, O sword of the LORD, how long until you rest? Return to your sheath; cease and be still!’”Someone cries out, pleading for the LORD’s sword to stop and be put away.
- Jeremiah 47:7 (BSB)“How can it rest when the LORD has commanded it? He has appointed it against Ashkelon and the shore of its coastland.””The answer: the sword cannot rest, because the LORD has given it orders and a target.
- Jeremiah 12:12 (BSB)“Over all the barren heights in the wilderness the destroyers have come, for the sword of the LORD devours from one end of the earth to the other. No flesh has peace.”Jeremiah elsewhere speaks of the sword of the LORD consuming across the land.
- Deuteronomy 32:41 (BSB)“when I sharpen My flashing sword, and My hand grasps it in judgment, I will take vengeance on My adversaries and repay those who hate Me.”God describes sharpening His sword to bring judgment on His adversaries.
- Isaiah 55:11 (BSB)“so My word that proceeds from My mouth will not return to Me empty, but it will accomplish what I please, and it will prosper where I send it.”What God sends out by His word always accomplishes His purpose.
Theological
How is the plea for the LORD’s sword to rest (47:6) answered in 47:7?
Answer: It cannot be still, since the LORD has given it its orders
The plea addresses the LORD’s sword directly, asking how long until it rests and urging it back into its sheath (47:6). The reply is that it cannot be still, because the LORD has given it orders and aimed it at Ashkelon and the coast (47:7). The sword personifies the LORD’s judgment executed through human armies, and it acts only under His command and cannot stop until His decree is carried out. Jeremiah uses the same image of the LORD’s sword devouring (12:12); the Song of Moses portrays God whetting His sword for judgment on His adversaries (Deuteronomy 32:41); and Isaiah affirms that what God sends forth by His word will certainly accomplish His purpose (Isaiah 55:11).
- Jeremiah 47:6 (BSB)“‘Alas, O sword of the LORD, how long until you rest? Return to your sheath; cease and be still!’”Someone cries out, pleading for the LORD’s sword to stop and be put away.
- Jeremiah 47:7 (BSB)“How can it rest when the LORD has commanded it? He has appointed it against Ashkelon and the shore of its coastland.””The answer: the sword cannot rest, because the LORD has given it orders and a target.
- Jeremiah 12:12 (BSB)“Over all the barren heights in the wilderness the destroyers have come, for the sword of the LORD devours from one end of the earth to the other. No flesh has peace.”Jeremiah elsewhere speaks of the sword of the LORD consuming across the land.
- Deuteronomy 32:41 (BSB)“when I sharpen My flashing sword, and My hand grasps it in judgment, I will take vengeance on My adversaries and repay those who hate Me.”God describes sharpening His sword to bring judgment on His adversaries.
- Isaiah 55:11 (BSB)“so My word that proceeds from My mouth will not return to Me empty, but it will accomplish what I please, and it will prosper where I send it.”What God sends out by His word always accomplishes His purpose.
General
True or False: In 47:4, the destruction of the Philistines is presented as the work of the LORD Himself.
Answer: True
This is true. The verse announces that the time has arrived for the Philistines to be destroyed and to cut off any helper left to Tyre and Sidon, and then says plainly that it is the LORD Himself who will destroy them (47:4). Gaza and Ashkelon are pictured shaving their heads in grief and falling silent (47:5). The Philistines were not part of God’s covenant people, yet they were still under His rule. Other prophets announce the same judgment: Amos announces that God will act against the Philistine cities (Amos 1:8), and Zephaniah says the LORD’s word stands against their land (Zephaniah 2:4-5). Ezekiel also announces judgment on the Philistines for their long hatred and spiteful revenge against Judah (Ezekiel 25:15-17).
- Jeremiah 47:4 (BSB)“For the day has come to destroy all the Philistines, to cut off from Tyre and Sidon every remaining ally. Indeed, the LORD is about to destroy the Philistines, the remnant from the coasts of Caphtor.”The day of the Philistines’ destruction has come, and the LORD is the One bringing it.
- Jeremiah 47:5 (BSB)“The people of Gaza will shave their heads in mourning; Ashkelon will be silenced. O remnant of their valley, how long will you gash yourself?”Gaza and Ashkelon are pictured in mourning and silence.
- Amos 1:8 (BSB)“I will cut off the ruler of Ashdod and the one who wields the scepter in Ashkelon. I will turn My hand against Ekron, and the remnant of the Philistines will perish,” says the Lord GOD.”Amos also announces that the Lord GOD will act against the Philistine cities.
- Zephaniah 2:4-5 (BSB)“For Gaza will be abandoned, and Ashkelon left in ruins. Ashdod will be driven out at noon, and Ekron will be uprooted. Woe to the dwellers of the seacoast, O nation of the Cherethites! The word of the LORD is against you, O Canaan, land of the Philistines: “I will destroy you, and no one will be left.””Zephaniah announces the LORD’s judgment on the Philistine coastland.
- Ezekiel 25:15-17 (BSB)“This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Because the Philistines acted in vengeance, taking vengeance with malice of soul to destroy Judah with ancient hostility, therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: Behold, I will stretch out My hand against the Philistines, and I will cut off the Cherethites and destroy the remnant along the coast. I will execute great vengeance against them with furious reproof. Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I lay My vengeance upon them.’””In Ezekiel the LORD judges the Philistines for their spiteful, long-standing hostility toward Judah.
Theological
True or False: 47:4 attributes the destruction of the Philistines directly to the LORD.
Answer: True
This is true. The day of the Philistines’ destruction is announced, along with the cutting off of every remaining ally of Tyre and Sidon, and the agent is named: the LORD Himself will destroy them (47:4). Mourning and silence fall on Gaza and Ashkelon (47:5). Whatever armies carry out the invasion, the judgment is the LORD’s act, and His sovereignty extends over nations outside the covenant. Amos (Amos 1:8) and Zephaniah (Zephaniah 2:4-5) pronounce the same judgment on the Philistine cities. Ezekiel likewise pronounces judgment on the Philistines for their long-standing, spiteful hostility toward Judah (Ezekiel 25:15-17).
- Jeremiah 47:4 (BSB)“For the day has come to destroy all the Philistines, to cut off from Tyre and Sidon every remaining ally. Indeed, the LORD is about to destroy the Philistines, the remnant from the coasts of Caphtor.”The day of the Philistines’ destruction has come, and the LORD is the One bringing it.
- Jeremiah 47:5 (BSB)“The people of Gaza will shave their heads in mourning; Ashkelon will be silenced. O remnant of their valley, how long will you gash yourself?”Gaza and Ashkelon are pictured in mourning and silence.
- Amos 1:8 (BSB)“I will cut off the ruler of Ashdod and the one who wields the scepter in Ashkelon. I will turn My hand against Ekron, and the remnant of the Philistines will perish,” says the Lord GOD.”Amos also announces that the Lord GOD will act against the Philistine cities.
- Zephaniah 2:4-5 (BSB)“For Gaza will be abandoned, and Ashkelon left in ruins. Ashdod will be driven out at noon, and Ekron will be uprooted. Woe to the dwellers of the seacoast, O nation of the Cherethites! The word of the LORD is against you, O Canaan, land of the Philistines: “I will destroy you, and no one will be left.””Zephaniah announces the LORD’s judgment on the Philistine coastland.
- Ezekiel 25:15-17 (BSB)“This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Because the Philistines acted in vengeance, taking vengeance with malice of soul to destroy Judah with ancient hostility, therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: Behold, I will stretch out My hand against the Philistines, and I will cut off the Cherethites and destroy the remnant along the coast. I will execute great vengeance against them with furious reproof. Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I lay My vengeance upon them.’””In Ezekiel the LORD judges the Philistines for their spiteful, long-standing hostility toward Judah.
General
What picture does the LORD use in 47:2-3 for the disaster coming on the Philistines?
Answer: A flood from the north that sweeps over the country and its people
This oracle is about the Philistines, a people living along the coast west of Judah who were long-standing enemies of Israel (47:1). The LORD pictures the coming disaster as waters swelling out of the north into a torrent that overflows the land, its towns and everyone living in them (47:2). The people cry out at the pounding of horses’ hooves and the rumble of chariots, and fathers are so weak with fear that they do not even go back for their own children (47:3). From the time of Jeremiah’s call, judgment had been described as trouble coming from the north (1:14), and Isaiah also pictured an invading army as a river overflowing its banks (Isaiah 8:7-8). In the chapter just before, Egypt too is handed over to a people from the north (46:24).
- Jeremiah 47:2 (BSB)“This is what the LORD says: “See how the waters are rising from the north and becoming an overflowing torrent. They will overflow the land and its fullness, the cities and their inhabitants. The people will cry out, and all who dwell in the land will wail”Judgment on the Philistines is pictured as waters rising into a torrent that overflows the land.
- Jeremiah 47:3 (BSB)“at the sound of the galloping hooves of stallions, the rumbling of chariots, and the clatter of their wheels. The fathers will not turn back for their sons; their hands will hang limp.”The sound of horses and chariots leaves fathers too weak with fear to turn back for their children.
- Jeremiah 1:14 (BSB)“Then the LORD said to me, “Disaster from the north will be poured out on all who live in the land.”From Jeremiah’s call onward, judgment is described as disaster coming from the north.
- Isaiah 8:7-8 (BSB)“the Lord will surely bring against them the mighty floodwaters of the Euphrates—the king of Assyria and all his pomp. It will overflow its channels and overrun its banks. It will pour into Judah, swirling and sweeping over it, reaching up to the neck; its spreading streams will cover your entire land, O Immanuel!”Isaiah also pictures an invading army as floodwaters overflowing the land.
- Jeremiah 46:24 (BSB)“The Daughter of Egypt will be put to shame; she will be delivered into the hands of the people of the north.””In the oracle just before, Egypt too is handed over to a people from the north.
Theological
How is the judgment on the Philistines pictured in 47:2-3?
Answer: A flood from the north that sweeps over the country and its people
The oracle concerns the Philistines (47:1). Their coming judgment is portrayed as waters rising out of the north into an overflowing torrent that engulfs the land, its towns and all who live there (47:2). The sound of cavalry and chariots brings such terror that fathers, their strength gone, fail to go back for their own sons (47:3). The northern origin of judgment is a recurring motif from Jeremiah’s call onward (1:14), Isaiah uses the same flood imagery for an invading army (Isaiah 8:7-8), and the preceding oracle likewise delivers Egypt into northern hands (46:24). The image stresses that the invasion is overwhelming and irresistible because it is the LORD’s judgment.
- Jeremiah 47:2 (BSB)“This is what the LORD says: “See how the waters are rising from the north and becoming an overflowing torrent. They will overflow the land and its fullness, the cities and their inhabitants. The people will cry out, and all who dwell in the land will wail”Judgment on the Philistines is pictured as waters rising into a torrent that overflows the land.
- Jeremiah 47:3 (BSB)“at the sound of the galloping hooves of stallions, the rumbling of chariots, and the clatter of their wheels. The fathers will not turn back for their sons; their hands will hang limp.”The sound of horses and chariots leaves fathers too weak with fear to turn back for their children.
- Jeremiah 1:14 (BSB)“Then the LORD said to me, “Disaster from the north will be poured out on all who live in the land.”From Jeremiah’s call onward, judgment is described as disaster coming from the north.
- Isaiah 8:7-8 (BSB)“the Lord will surely bring against them the mighty floodwaters of the Euphrates—the king of Assyria and all his pomp. It will overflow its channels and overrun its banks. It will pour into Judah, swirling and sweeping over it, reaching up to the neck; its spreading streams will cover your entire land, O Immanuel!”Isaiah also pictures an invading army as floodwaters overflowing the land.
- Jeremiah 46:24 (BSB)“The Daughter of Egypt will be put to shame; she will be delivered into the hands of the people of the north.””In the oracle just before, Egypt too is handed over to a people from the north.