The big picture
Jeremiah receives a warning about the Philistines, a people living along the coast west of Judah. The message is placed before Pharaoh, Egypt's ruler, attacks Gaza, one of their cities. A force comes like a flood from the north. Its noise brings terror. Families lose contact, and nearby coastal cities lose their help. The prophecy then asks how long God's sword will continue. The answer is that it has a task from him against this coast and cannot yet rest.
In this chapter
- A Northern Flood Overwhelms the Coast Jeremiah 47:1-4
Waters rise from the north in God's warning.
- The Plea for Rest Meets an Assigned Task Jeremiah 47:5-7
Gaza bears signs of mourning, and Ashkelon, another Philistine city, is cut off with the people of its valley.
Central truth
The Philistine coast faces overwhelming invasion, and the plea for the sword to rest meets the announcement that God's assigned judgement must continue.
Scripture beside the summary
Jeremiah · King James Version · 7Jeremiah 47:1-4
A Northern Flood Overwhelms the Coast
Waters rise from the north in God's warning. They flood fields, towns, and all who live there. Cries spread through the region. Hooves pound and chariot wheels roar. Fathers are too weak with fear to look back for their children. The coming day will devastate the Philistines and remove the remaining helpers of Tyrus and Zidon, neighbouring coastal trading cities. The people are described through their link to Caphtor, their ancestral place of origin. Help from neighbours fails. Even family bonds cannot hold people together in the panic.
In everyday life
An emergency family-tracing worker hears parents describe losing sight of children during a panicked flight. She records names carefully instead of treating the broken contact as proof they did not care. They were too afraid to act. Now they need help to find those they lost. Jeremiah announces a divinely appointed invasion, while the worker helps after displacement without interpreting God's purpose.
Notice
Jeremiah 47:3 The fathers' weakness is named beside the noise of the attackers. The image shows terror disrupting even the impulse to turn back for children, rather than merely military defeat.
Jeremiah 47:1-4
King James Version1The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet against the Philistines, before that Pharaoh smote Gaza.
2Thus 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.
3At 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;
4Because 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.
Jeremiah 47:5-7
The Plea for Rest Meets an Assigned Task
Gaza bears signs of mourning, and Ashkelon, another Philistine city, is cut off with the people of its valley. The grief includes cutting the body, an ancient mourning practice. A voice asks the Lord's sword to return to its sheath and be quiet. The answer asks how it can rest when the Lord has charged it against the city and seacoast. No date for relief is given. The plea for an end is still heard. Yet God's judgement goes on.
In everyday life
A memorial volunteer sits beside mourners who ask when the stream of loss will finally stop. She lets the question remain without inventing a date for peace. Their exhaustion is part of what must be heard. Jeremiah's answer says God's sword still has its assigned task; the volunteer cannot explain suffering through a divine commission.
Notice
Jeremiah 47:7 The answer concerns the sword's commission rather than its weariness. The sword cannot rest yet. The Lord has given it work that is not finished.
Jeremiah 47:5-7
King James Version5Baldness is come upon Gaza; Ashkelon is cut off with the remnant of their valley: how long wilt thou cut thyself?
6O thou sword of the LORD, how long will it be ere thou be quiet? put up thyself into thy scabbard, rest, and be still.
7How can it be quiet, seeing the LORD hath given it a charge against Ashkelon, and against the sea shore? there hath he appointed it.
Details worth noticing
The opening image
Jeremiah 47:1 begins with “The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet against the Philistines, before that Pharaoh smote Gaza.”
Where the chapter turns
Jeremiah 47:5 forms a natural hinge: “Baldness is come upon Gaza; Ashkelon is cut off with the remnant of their valley: how long wilt thou cut thyself?”
The final note
Jeremiah 47:7 leaves the reader with “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.”
A word trail through the chapter
The words LORD, Philistines, Ashkelon, Gaza, land, long help reveal the chapter’s repeated concerns.
KJV words made clear
- scabbard
- A sheath that holds and covers a sword when it is not in use.
Music and video connected to the passage
Related media appears when its Scripture reference overlaps this study. Music and video can illuminate a theme while the biblical text remains the foundation.
