King James Version
Jeremiah 47
7 verses with commentary
Prophecy Against the Philistines
The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet against the Philistines, before that Pharaoh smote Gaza. Gaza: Heb. Azzah
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet against the Philistines, before that Pharaoh smote Gaza</strong> (אֲשֶׁר־הָיָה דְבַר־יְהוָה אֶל־יִרְמְיָהוּ הַנָּבִיא אֶל־פְּלִשְׁתִּים בְּטֶרֶם יַכֶּה פַרְעֹה אֶת־עַזָּה)—The superscription establishes divine origin (<em>davar YHWH</em>, word of the LORD) and prophetic authority (<em>hannavi</em>, the prophet). <em>Beterem</em> (befor...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
XLVII.
(1) **Against the Philistines.**—Here also we have, as in the preceding chapter, a message connected with Jeremiah 25:20. The Gaza of this verse is the Azzah of that, and the date is fixed at a time prior to Necho’s 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 Car...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
24. (Psa 1:4).
**by the wind--**before the wind.
**of the wilderness--**where the wind has full sweep, not being broken by any obstacle.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 47
God's judgments on Babylon. (Is. 47:1-6) Carelessness and confidence shall not prevent the evil. (Is. 47:7-15)
**Verses 1-6** Babylon is represented under the emblem of a female in deep distress. She was to be degraded and endure sufferings; and is represented sitting on the ground, grinding at the handmill, the lowest and most laborious service. God was righteous in his vengeance...
Read full commentary →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. all that: Heb. the fulness thereof
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Thus saith the LORD; Behold, waters rise up out of the north</strong> (כֹּה אָמַר יְהוָה הִנֵּה־מַיִם עֹלִים מִצָּפוֹן)—The <em>mayim olim</em> (rising waters) metaphor depicts Babylonian invasion as an unstoppable flood. <strong>And shall be an overflowing flood</strong> (וְהָיוּ לְנַחַל שׁוֹטֵף) uses <em>nachal shotef</em> (torrential stream), evoking the destructive power of flash flood...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(2) **Behold, waters rise up out of the north.—**The reference to the north indicates that the invasion which the prophet contemplates is that of Nebuchadnezzar, not of Pharaoh-necho. For the metaphor of the overflowing river see Jeremiah 46:7; Isaiah 8:7. For “the land and all that is therein” read, as in the margin, “the land and the fulness thereof.”
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**25. portion of thy measures--**the portion which I have measured out to thee (Job 20:29; Psa 11:6).
**falsehood--**(Jr 13:27), false gods and alliances with foreign idolaters.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 47
God's judgments on Babylon. (Is. 47:1-6) Carelessness and confidence shall not prevent the evil. (Is. 47:7-15)
**Verses 1-6** Babylon is represented under the emblem of a female in deep distress. She was to be degraded and endure sufferings; and is represented sitting on the ground, grinding at the handmill, the lowest and most laborious service. God was righteous in his vengeance...
Read full commentary →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;
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>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</strong> (מִקּוֹל שַׁעֲטַת פַּרְסוֹת אַבִּירָיו מֵרַעַשׁ לְרִכְבּוֹ הֲמוֹן גַּלְגִּלָּיו)—The triple auditory assault creates overwhelming sensory terror: <em>shaatah</em> (stamping), <em>raash</em> (rushing/rattling), and <em>hamon</em> (rumbling/tumult). <em>A...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(3) **The fathers shall not look back to their children.**—The selfishness of panic was to reach its highest point, and to crush out the instincts of natural affection. Even fathers would be content to save themselves, regardless of their children’s lives.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**26. discover ... upon thy face--**rather, "throw up thy skirts over thy face," or head; done by way of ignominy to captive women and to prostitutes (Na 3:5). The Jews' punishment should answer to their crime. As their sin had been perpetrated in the most public places, so God would expose them to the contempt of other nations most openly (La 1:8).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 47
God's judgments on Babylon. (Is. 47:1-6) Carelessness and confidence shall not prevent the evil. (Is. 47:7-15)
**Verses 1-6** Babylon is represented under the emblem of a female in deep distress. She was to be degraded and endure sufferings; and is represented sitting on the ground, grinding at the handmill, the lowest and most laborious service. God was righteous in his vengeance...
Read full commentary →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. the country: Heb. the isle
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KJV Study Commentary
The prophecy against Philistia emphasizes total destruction - God will 'cut off from Tyrus and Zidon every helper that remaineth.' The Philistines would lose all allies. This demonstrates that human alliances fail when God decrees judgment. The rhetorical question 'how long will it be ere thou be quiet?' (v6) emphasizes the unstoppable nature of divine judgment once unleashed.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(4) **To cut off from Tyrus and Zidon.**—The two Phœnician cities are coupled with Philistia. Both, as occupying the sea-board of Palestine, were to suffer from Nebuchadnezzar’s invasion. Psalm 83:7 indicates that they were not unfrequently in alliance. In the “helper that remaineth” we have probably a reference to the foreign mercenaries, especially the Philistines, employed by the two great comm...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**27. neighings--**(Jr 5:8), image from the lust of horses; the lust after idols degrades to the level of the brute.
**hills--**where, as being nearer heaven, sacrifices were thought most acceptable to the gods.
**wilt thou not ... ? when--**literally, "thou wilt not be made clean after how long a time yet." (So Jr 13:23). Jeremiah denies the moral possibility of one so long hardened in sin be...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 47
God's judgments on Babylon. (Is. 47:1-6) Carelessness and confidence shall not prevent the evil. (Is. 47:7-15)
**Verses 1-6** Babylon is represented under the emblem of a female in deep distress. She was to be degraded and endure sufferings; and is represented sitting on the ground, grinding at the handmill, the lowest and most laborious service. God was righteous in his vengeance...
Read full commentary →Baldness is come upon Gaza; Ashkelon is cut off with the remnant of their valley: how long wilt thou cut thyself?
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Baldness is come upon Gaza; Ashkelon is cut off with the remnant of their valley: how long wilt thou cut thyself?</strong> This verse depicts mourning rituals among the Philistines facing Babylonian conquest. "Baldness" (<em>qorchah</em>, קָרְחָה) refers to shaving the head as a sign of grief—a practice forbidden to Israelites (Leviticus 21:5, Deuteronomy 14:1) but common among pagan natio...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(5) **Baldness is come upon Gaza.**—The baldness is the outward sign of extremest mourning (Jeremiah 48:37; Isaiah 15:2-3), perhaps, also, of extremest desolation (Isaiah 7:20).
**Ashkelon is cut off . . .**—Better, perhaps, *Ashkelon is speechless. *The LXX. apparently followed a different text, and gives “the remnant of the Anakim” instead of “the remnant of their valley.” Hitzig adopts this ren...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 47
God's judgments on Babylon. (Is. 47:1-6) Carelessness and confidence shall not prevent the evil. (Is. 47:7-15)
**Verses 1-6** Babylon is represented under the emblem of a female in deep distress. She was to be degraded and endure sufferings; and is represented sitting on the ground, grinding at the handmill, the lowest and most laborious service. God was righteous in his vengeance...
Read full commentary →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. put: Heb. gather thyself
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>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.</strong> The prophet personifies the sword of divine judgment, crying out for it to cease its devastating work. "Sword of the LORD" (<em>cherev laYHVH</em>, חֶרֶב לַיהוָה) identifies Babylon's military conquest as God's instrument—not merely human warfare but divine judgme...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(6) **O thou sword of the Lord . . .**—This is the question and entreaty of the Philistines, “When will there be an end of war?” And the prophet has but one answer: the sword must do its work till it has done what Jehovah had appointed it to do.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
CHAPTER 14 Jr 14:1-22. Prophecies on the Occasion of a Drought Sent in Judgment on Judea.
1. Literally, "That which was the word of Jehovah to Jeremiah concerning the dearth"
**drought--**literally, the "withholdings," namely, of rain (De 11:17; 2Ch 7:13). This word should be used especially of the withholding of rain because rain is in those regions of all things the one chiefly needed (Jr 17:...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 47
God's judgments on Babylon. (Is. 47:1-6) Carelessness and confidence shall not prevent the evil. (Is. 47:7-15)
**Verses 1-6** Babylon is represented under the emblem of a female in deep distress. She was to be degraded and endure sufferings; and is represented sitting on the ground, grinding at the handmill, the lowest and most laborious service. God was righteous in his vengeance...
Read full commentary →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. How: Heb. How canst thou
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>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.</strong> God Himself answers the plea from verse 6, explaining why the sword cannot yet be sheathed. "How can it be quiet" (<em>eikh tishqoti</em>, אֵיךְ תִּשְׁקֹטִי) poses a rhetorical question: cessation is impossible because divine commission remains unful...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(7) **Against the sea shore.**—In the “sea shore,” as in Ezekiel 25:16, we have the term specially appropriate to the territory of the Philistines.
**Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**2. gates--**The place of public concourse in each city looks sad, as being no longer frequented (Is 3:26; 24:4).
**black--**that is, they mourn (blackness being indicative of sorrow), (Jr 8:21).
**unto the ground--**bowing towards it.
**cry--**of distress (1Sa 5:12; Is 24:11).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 7-15** Let us beware of acting and speaking as Babylon did; of trusting in tyranny and oppression; of boasting as to our abilities, relying on ourselves, and ascribing success to our own prudence and wisdom; lest we partake of her plagues. Those in the height of prosperity, are apt to fancy themselves out of the reach of adversity. It is also common for sinners to think they shall be safe...
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