Jeremiah 47:1-7·~1 min

Judgment on the Philistines

Jeremiah receives the LORD's word about the Philistines before Gaza is struck. The coming enemy is pictured as overwhelming northern floodwaters whose thunder and chariot noise spread such terror that families collapse and the whole coastland reels. The day has come to destroy the Philistines and cut off the help of Tyre and Sidon; Gaza shaves itself in mourning, Ashkelon is silenced, and the chapter closes with a lament to the sword of the LORD that is answered by a hard truth: it cannot rest, because the LORD has given it a specific commission against Philistia's coast.

T¹his is the word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet about the Philistines before Pharaoh struck down Gaza. ²This is what the LORD says: ³at the sound of the galloping hooves of stallions, ⁴For the day has come ⁵The people of Gaza will shave their heads in mourning; ⁶‘Alas, O sword of the LORD, ⁷How can it rest

Section summaryThe word of the LORD comes concerning the Philistines before Pharaoh strikes Gaza. The LORD describes northern waters rising like a torrent that overwhelms the land, cities, and inhabitants, bringing so much fear that even fathers fail their children, while Tyre and Sidon lose the last support still available to them. Gaza and Ashkelon are reduced to mourning, and when the people cry out for the sword of the LORD to rest, the answer is that it cannot rest because the LORD Himself has appointed it against Ashkelon and the seacoast.

Role in the chapterThis single section compresses Philistia's judgment into a vivid picture of irresistible invasion directed by the LORD's own sword.