4 Because of the day that hath come to spoil all the Philistines, To cut off to Tyre and to Zidon every helping remnant. For Jehovah is spoiling the Philistines, The remnant of the isle of Caphtor.
As sons of Cushim are ye not to Me? O sons of Israel -- an affirmation of Jehovah. Israel did I not bring up out of the land of Egypt? And the Philistines from Caphtor, and Aram from Kir?
and the inhabitant of this isle hath said in that day -- Lo, thus `is' our trust, Whither we have fled for help, To be delivered from the king of Asshur, And how do we escape -- we?'
And I have cut off the inhabitant from Ashdod, And a holder of a sceptre from Ashkelon, And have turned back My hand against Ekron, And perished have the remnant of the Philistines, Said the Lord Jehovah. Thus said Jehovah: For three transgressions of Tyre, And for four, I do not reverse it, Because of their delivering up a complete captivity to Edom, And they remembered not the brotherly covenant, And I have sent a fire against the wall of Tyre, And it hath consumed her palaces.
And thou, wounded, wicked one, Prince of Israel, whose day hath come, In the time of the iniquity of the end!
And also Hamath doth border thereon, Tyre and Zidon, for -- very wise! And Tyre doth build a bulwark to herself, And doth heap silver as dust, And gold as mire of out-places. Lo, the Lord doth dispossess her, And He hath smitten in the sea her force, And she with fire is consumed. See doth Ashkelon and fear, Also Gaza, and she is exceedingly pained, Also Ekron -- for her expectation dried up, And perished hath a king from Gaza, And Ashkelon doth not remain,
And also, what `are' ye to Me, O Tyre and Zidon, And all circuits of Philistia? Recompence are ye rendering unto Me? And if ye are giving recompence to Me, Swiftly, hastily, I turn back your recompence on your head. In that My silver and My gold ye took, And My desirable things that are good, Ye have brought in to your temples. And sons of Judah, and sons of Jerusalem, Ye have sold to the sons of Javan, To put them far off from their border. Lo, I am stirring them up out of the place Whither ye have sold them, And I have turned back your recompence on your head, And have sold your sons and your daughters Into the hand of the sons of Judah, And they have sold them to Shabeans, Unto a nation far off, for Jehovah hath spoken.
And they have known that I `am' Jehovah, In My giving fire against Egypt, And broken have been all her helpers.
And it cometh to pass, in the eleventh year, in the first of the month, there hath been a word of Jehovah unto me, saying: `Son of man, Because that Tyre hath said of Jerusalem: Aha, she hath been broken, the doors of the peoples, She hath turned round unto me, I am filled -- she hath been laid waste, Therefore, thus said the Lord Jehovah: Lo, I `am' against thee, O Tyre, And have caused to come up against thee many nations, As the sea causeth its billows to come up. And they have destroyed the walls of Tyre, And they have broken down her towers, And I have scraped her dust from her, And made her for a clear place of a rock. A spreading place of nets she is in the midst of the sea, For I -- I have spoken -- an affirmation of the Lord Jehovah, And she hath been for a spoil to nations. And her daughters who `are' in the field, by sword they are slain, And they have known that I `am' Jehovah, For, thus said the Lord Jehovah: Lo, I am bringing in unto Tyre Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, From the north -- a king of kings, With horse, and with chariot, and with horsemen, Even an assembly, and a numerous people. Thy daughters in the field by sword he slayeth, And he hath made against thee a fort, And hath poured out against thee a mount, And hath raised against thee a buckler. And a battering-ram before him he placeth against thy walls, And thy towers he breaketh by his weapons. From the abundance of his horses cover thee doth their dust, From the noise of horseman, and wheel, and rider, Shake do thy walls, in his coming in to thy gates, As the coming into a city broken-up. With hoofs of his horses he treadeth all thine out-places, Thy people by sword he doth slay, And the pillars of thy strength to the earth come down. And they have spoiled thy wealth, And they have plundered thy merchandise, And they have thrown down thy walls, And thy desirable houses they break down, And thy stones, and thy wood, and thy dust, In the midst of the waters they place. And I have caused the noise of thy songs to cease, And the voice of thy harps is heard no more. And I have given thee up for a clear place of a rock, A spreading-place of nets thou art, Thou art not built up any more, For I, Jehovah, I have spoken, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah. Thus said the Lord Jehovah to Tyre: Do not -- from the noise of thy fall, In the groaning of the wounded, In the slaying of the slaughter in thy midst, The isles shake? And come down from off their thrones have all princes of the sea, And they have turned aside their robes, And their embroidered garments strip off, Trembling they put on, on the earth they sit, And they have trembled every moment, And they have been astonished at thee, And have lifted up for thee a lamentation, And said to thee: How hast thou perished, That art inhabited from the seas, The praised city, that was strong in the sea, She and her inhabitants, Who put their terror on all her inhabitants! Now they tremble, is it not the day of thy fall? Troubled have been the isles that `are' in the sea, at thine outgoing. For thus said the Lord Jehovah: In my making thee a city wasted, Like cities that have not been inhabited, In bringing up against thee the deep, Then covered thee have the great waters. And I have caused thee to go down, With those going down to the pit, Unto the people of old, And I have caused thee to dwell in the land, The lower parts -- in wastes of old, With those going down to the pit, So that thou art not inhabited, And I have given beauty in the land of the living. Wastes I do make thee, and thou art not, And thou art sought, and art not found any more -- to the age, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah!'
In the seeing for thee of a vain thing, In the divining for thee of a lie, To put thee on the necks of the wounded of the wicked, whose day hath come, In the time of the iniquity of the end.
And Mitzraim hath begotten the Ludim, and the Anamim, and the Lehabim, and the Naphtuhim, and the Pathrusim, and the Casluhim, (whence have come out Philistim,) and the Caphtorim.
Thus said the Lord Jehovah: Evil, a single evil, lo, it hath come. An end hath come, come hath the end, It hath waked for thee, lo, it hath come. Come hath the morning unto thee, O inhabitant of the land! Come hath the time, near `is' a day of trouble, And not the shouting of mountains.
And that day `is' to the Lord Jehovah of Hosts A day of vengeance, To be avenged of His adversaries, And the sword hath devoured, and been satisfied, And it hath been watered from their blood, For a sacrifice `is' to the Lord Jehovah of Hosts, In the land of the north, by the river Phrat.
And all the mixed people, And all the kings of the land of Uz, And all the kings of the land of the Philistines, And Ashkelon, and Gazzah, and Ekron, And the remnant of Ashdod, Edom, and Moab, and the sons of Ammon, And all the kings of Tyre, And all the kings of Zidon, And the kings of the isle that `is' beyond the sea,
And fallen hath Asshur by sword, not of the high, Yea, a sword -- not of the low, doth consume him, And he hath fled for himself from the face of a sword, And his young men become tributary.
The Burden of Tyre. Howl, ye ships of Tarshish, For it hath been destroyed, Without house, without entrance, From the land of Chittim it was revealed to them. Be silent, ye inhabitants of the isle, Trader of Zidon, passing the sea, they filled thee. And in many waters `is' the seed of Sihor, The harvest of the brook `is' her increase, And she is a mart of nations. Be ashamed, O Zidon; for the sea spake, The strength of the sea, saying: `I have not been pained, nor have I brought forth, Nor have I nourished young men, `nor' brought up virgins.' As `at' the report of Egypt they are pained, So `at' the report of Tyre. Pass over to Tarshish, howl, ye inhabitants of the isle, Is this your exulting one? From the days of old `is' her antiquity, Carry her do her own feet afar off to sojourn. Who hath counselled this against Tyre, The crowning one, whose traders `are' princes, Her merchants the honoured of earth?' Jehovah of Hosts hath counselled it, To pollute the excellency of all beauty, To make light all the honoured of earth. Pass through thy land as a brook, Daughter of Tarshish, there is no more a girdle. His hand He hath stretched out over the sea, He hath caused kingdoms to tremble, Jehovah hath charged concerning the merchant one, To destroy her strong places. And He saith, `Thou dost not add any more to exult, O oppressed one, virgin daughter of Zidon, To Chittim arise, pass over, Even there -- there is no rest for thee.' Lo, the land of the Chaldeans -- this people was not, Asshur founded it for the Ziim, They raised its watch-towers, They lifted up her palaces, -- He hath appointed her for a ruin! Howl, ye ships of Tarshish, For your strength hath been destroyed. And it hath come to pass, in that day, That forgotten is Tyre seventy years, According to the days of one king. At the end of seventy years there is to Tyre as the song of the harlot. Take a harp, go round the city, O forgotten harlot, play well, Multiply song that thou mayest be remembered. And it hath come to pass, At the end of seventy years Jehovah inspecteth Tyre, And she hath repented of her gift, That she committed fornication With all kingdoms of the earth on the face of the ground. And her merchandise and her gift have been holy to Jehovah, Not treasured up nor stored, For to those sitting before Jehovah is her merchandise, To eat to satiety, and for a lasting covering!
The Lord doth laugh at him, For He hath seen that his day cometh.
God doth not turn back His anger, Under Him bowed have proud helpers.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Jeremiah 47
Commentary on Jeremiah 47 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 47
This chapter reads the Philistines their doom, as the former read the Egyptians theirs and by the same hand, that of Nebuchadnezzar. It is short, but terrible; and Tyre and Zidon, though they lay at some distance from them, come in sharers with them in the destruction here threatened.
Jer 47:1-7
As the Egyptians had often proved false friends, so the Philistines had always been sworn enemies, to the Israel of God, and the more dangerous and vexatious for their being such near neighbours to them. They were considerably humbled in David's time, but, it seems they had got head again and were a considerable people till Nebuchadnezzar cut them off with their neighbours, which is the event here foretold. The date of this prophecy is observable; it was before Pharaoh smote Gaza. When this blow was given to Gaza by the king of Egypt is not certain, whether in his expedition against Carchemish or in his return thence, after he had slain Josiah, or when he afterwards came with design to relieve Jerusalem; but this is mentioned here to show that this word of the Lord came to Jeremiah against the Philistines when they were in their full strength and lustre, themselves and their cities in good condition, in no peril from any adversary or evil occurrent. When no disturbance of their repose was foreseen by any human probabilities, yet then Jeremiah foretold their ruin, which Pharaoh's smiting Gaza soon after would be but an earnest of, and, as it were, the beginning of sorrows to that country. It is here foretold,