CHAPTER XLVII _Among the nations doomed to suffer from the hostilities of_ _Nebuchadnezzar are the Philistines_, (see Jeremiah 25:20.) _And the calamities predicted in this chapter befell them_ _probably during the long siege of Tyre, when their country was_ _desolated to prevent their giving T... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 47:2. _WATERS RISE UP OUT OF THE NORTH_] _Waters_ is a common prophetic image for a _multitude of people_. The _north_ here, as in other places of this prophecy, means _Chaldea_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 47:3. _THE STAMPING OF THE HOOFS_] At the _galloping sound_, - Quadrupedante putrem sonitu quatit ungula campum, is a line of _Virgil_, (AEn. viii. 596,) much celebrated; and quoted here by _Blayney_, where the galloping sound of the horses' hoofs is _heard_. In the _stamping_ of th... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 47:4. _TO SPOIL ALL THE PHILISTINES_] These people, of whom there were _five seignories_, occupied the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, to the south of the Phoenicians. _TYRUS AND ZIDON_] Places sufficiently remarkable both in the Old and New Testament, and in profane history. They be... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 47:5. _BALDNESS IS COME UPON GAZA_] They have _cut off their_ _hair_ in token of deep sorrow and distress. _ASHKELON IS CUT OFF_] Or _put to silence_; another mark of the deepest sorrow. Ashkelon was one of the _five seignories_ of the Philistines, _Gaza_ was another. _THE REMNANT O... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 47:6. _O THOU SWORD OF THE LORD_] This is a most grand prosopopoeia-a dialogue between the sword of the Lord and the prophet. Nothing can be imagined more sublime. _PUT UP THYSELF INTO THY SCABBARD, REST, AND BE STILL._] Shed no more blood, destroy no more lives, erase no more cities... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 47:7. _HOW CAN IT BE QUIET_] 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... [ Continue Reading ]