Jeremiah

The word of GOD that came to the prophet Jeremiah concerning the Philistines, before Pharaoh conquered Gaza.

Thus said GOD:See, waters are rising from the north,They shall become a raging torrent,They shall flood the land and its creatures,The towns and their inhabitants.People shall cry out,All the inhabitants of the land shall howl,

At the clatter of the stamping hoofs of Pharaoh’saPharaoh’s Heb. “his”; cf. v. 1. stallions,At the noise of his chariots,The rumbling of their wheels,Parents shall not look to their childrenOut of sheer helplessnessbsheer helplessness Lit. “weakness of hands.”

Because of the day that is comingFor ravaging all the Philistines,For cutting off every last allyOf Tyre and Sidon.For GOD will ravage the Philistines,The remnant from the island of Caphtor.

BaldnesscBaldness Shaving the head and gashing the body were expressions of mourning; cf. Deut. 14.1. has come upon Gaza,Ashkelon is destroyed.O remnant of their valley,dtheir valley Septuagint reads “the Anakites”; cf. Josh. 11.22. How long will you gash yourself?egash yourself Meaning of Heb. uncertain.

“O sword of GOD,When will you be quiet at last?Withdraw into your sheath,Rest and be still!”

How can itfit Heb. “you.” be quietWhen GOD has given it ordersAgainst Ashkelon and the seacoast,Given it assignment there?