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Jeremiah 47:2 World English Bible (WEB)

2 Thus says Yahweh: Behold, waters rise up out of the north, and shall become an overflowing stream, and shall overflow the land and all that is therein, the city and those who dwell therein; and the men shall cry, and all the inhabitants of the land shall wail.

Cross Reference

Jeremiah 46:20 WEB

Egypt is a very beautiful heifer; [but] destruction out of the north is come, it is come.

Jeremiah 8:16 WEB

The snorting of his horses is heard from Dan: at the sound of the neighing of his strong ones the whole land trembles; for they are come, and have devoured the land and all that is in it; the city and those who dwell therein.

Jeremiah 1:14 WEB

Then Yahweh said to me, Out of the north evil shall break forth on all the inhabitants of the land.

Isaiah 15:2-5 WEB

They are gone up to Bayith, and to Dibon, to the high places, to weep: Moab wails over Nebo, and over Medeba; on all their heads is baldness, every beard is cut off. In their streets they gird themselves with sackcloth; on their housetops, and in their broad places, everyone wails, weeping abundantly. Heshbon cries out, and Elealeh; their voice is heard even to Jahaz: therefore the armed men of Moab cry aloud; his soul trembles within him. My heart cries out for Moab; her nobles [flee] to Zoar, to Eglath Shelishiyah: for by the ascent of Luhith with weeping they go up; for in the way of Horonaim they raise up a cry of destruction.

Isaiah 8:7-8 WEB

now therefore, behold, the Lord brings up on them the waters of the River, strong and many, [even] the king of Assyria and all his glory: and it shall come up over all its channels, and go over all its banks; and it shall sweep onward into Judah; it shall overflow and pass through; it shall reach even to the neck; and the stretching out of its wings shall fill the breadth of your land, Immanuel.

Daniel 11:22 WEB

The overwhelming forces shall be overwhelmed from before him, and shall be broken; yes, also the prince of the covenant.

Revelation 17:15 WEB

He said to me, "The waters which you saw, where the prostitute sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations, and languages.

Revelation 17:1 WEB

One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying, "Come here. I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute who sits on many waters,

Revelation 12:15-16 WEB

The serpent spewed water out of his mouth after the woman like a river, that he might cause her to be carried away by the stream. The earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the river which the dragon spewed out of his mouth.

James 5:1 WEB

Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming on you.

1 Corinthians 10:28 WEB

But if anyone says to you, "This was offered to idols," don't eat it for the sake of the one who told you, and for the sake of conscience. For "the earth is the Lord's, and all its fullness."

1 Corinthians 10:26 WEB

for "the earth is the Lord's, and its fullness."

Zephaniah 1:10-11 WEB

In that day, says Yahweh, there will be the noise of a cry from the fish gate, a wailing from the second quarter, and a great crashing from the hills. Wail, you inhabitants of Maktesh, for all the people of Canaan are undone! All those who were loaded with silver are cut off.

Nahum 1:8 WEB

But with an overflowing flood, he will make a full end of her place, and will pursue his enemies into darkness.

Amos 9:5-6 WEB

For the Lord, Yahweh of Hosts, is he who touches the land and it melts, and all who dwell in it will mourn; and it will rise up wholly like the River, and will sink again, like the River of Egypt. It is he who builds his chambers in the heavens, and has founded his vault on the earth; he who calls for the waters of the sea, and pours them out on the surface of the earth; Yahweh is his name.

Psalms 24:1 WEB

> The earth is Yahweh's, with its fullness; The world, and those who dwell therein.

Jeremiah 48:39 WEB

How is it broken down! [how] do they wail! how has Moab turned the back with shame! so shall Moab become a derision and a terror to all who are round about him.

Jeremiah 48:3-5 WEB

The sound of a cry from Horonaim, desolation and great destruction! Moab is destroyed; her little ones have caused a cry to be heard. For by the ascent of Luhith with continual weeping shall they go up; for at the descent of Horonaim they have heard the distress of the cry of destruction.

Jeremiah 46:13 WEB

The word that Yahweh spoke to Jeremiah the prophet, how that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon should come and strike the land of Egypt.

Jeremiah 46:6-8 WEB

Don't let the swift flee away, nor the mighty man escape; in the north by the river Euphrates have they stumbled and fallen. Who is this who rises up like the Nile, whose waters toss themselves like the rivers? Egypt rises up like the Nile, and his waters toss themselves like the rivers: and he says, I will rise up, I will cover the earth; I will destroy cities and the inhabitants of it.

Isaiah 59:19 WEB

So shall they fear the name of Yahweh from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun; for he will come as a rushing stream, which the breath of Yahweh drives.

Isaiah 28:17 WEB

I will make justice the line, and righteousness the plummet; and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding-place.

Isaiah 22:4-5 WEB

Therefore said I, Look away from me, I will weep bitterly; don't labor to comfort me for the destruction of the daughter of my people. For it is a day of confusion, and of treading down, and of perplexity, from the Lord, Yahweh of Hosts, in the valley of vision; a breaking down of the walls, and a crying to the mountains.

Isaiah 22:1 WEB

The burden of the valley of vision. What ails you now, that you are wholly gone up to the housetops?

Isaiah 15:8 WEB

For the cry is gone round about the borders of Moab; the wailing of it to Eglaim, and the wailing of it to Beer-elim.

Isaiah 14:31 WEB

Howl, gate; cry, city; you are melted away, Philistia, all of you; for there comes a smoke out of the north, and there is no straggler in his ranks.

Psalms 98:7 WEB

Let the sea roar with its fullness; The world, and those who dwell therein.

Psalms 96:11 WEB

Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice. Let the sea roar, and it's fullness!

Psalms 50:12 WEB

If I were hungry, I would not tell you, For the world is mine, and all that is in it.

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.

  • I. It is foretold that the forces of the northern crowns should come upon them, to their great terror (v. 1-5).
  • II. That the war should continue long, and their endeavours to put an end to it should be in vain (v. 6-7).

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,

  • 1. That a foreign enemy and a very formidable one shall be brought upon them: Waters rise up out of the north, v. 2. Waters sometimes signify multitudes of people and nations (Rev. 17:15), sometimes great and threatening calamities (Ps. 69:1); here they signify both. They rise out of the north, whence fair weather and the wind that drives away rain are said to come; but now a terrible storm comes out of that cold climate. The Chaldean army shall overflow the land like a deluge. Probably this happened before the destruction of Jerusalem, for it should seem that in Gedaliah's time, which was just after, the army of the Chaldeans was quite withdrawn out of those parts. The country of the Philistines was but of small extent, so that it would soon be overwhelmed by so vast an army.
  • 2. That they shall all be in a consternation upon it. The men shall have no heart to fight, but shall sit down and cry like children: All the inhabitants of the land shall howl, so that nothing but lamentation shall be heard in all places. The occasion of the fright is elegantly described, v. 3. Before it comes to killing and slaying, the very stamping of the horses and rattling of the chariots, when the enemy makes his approach, shall strike a terror upon the people, to such a degree that parents in their fright shall seem void of natural affection, for they shall not look back to their children, to provide for their safety, or so much as to see what becomes of them. Their hands shall be so feeble that they shall despair of carrying them off with them, and therefore they shall not care for seeing them, but leave them to take their lot; or they shall be in such a consternation that they shall quite forget even those pieces of themselves. Let none be over-fond of their children, nor dote upon them, since such distress may come that they may either wish they had none or forget that they have, and have no heart to look upon them.
  • 3. That the country of the Philistines shall be spoiled and laid waste, and the other countries adjoining to them and in alliance with them. It is a day to spoil the Philistines, for the Lord will spoil them, v. 4. Note, Those whom God will spoil must needs be spoiled; for, if God be against them, who can be for them? Tyre and Zidon were strong and wealthy cities, and they used to help the Philistines in a strait, but now they shall themselves be involved in the common ruin, and God will cut off from them every helper that remains. Note, Those that trust to help from creatures will find it cut off when they most need it and will thereby be put into the utmost confusion. Who the remnant of the country of Caphtor were is uncertain, but we find that the Caphtorim were near akin to the Philistines (Gen. 10:14), and probably when their own country was destroyed such as remained came and settled with their kinsmen the Philistines, and were now spoiled with them. Some particular places are here named, Gaza, and Ashkelon, v. 5. Baldness has come upon them; the invaders have stripped them of all their ornaments, or they have made themselves bald in token of extreme grief, and they are cut off, with the other cities that were in the plain or valley about them. The products of their fruitful valley shall be spoiled, and made a prey of, by the conquerors.
  • 4. That these calamities should continue long. The prophet, in the foresight of this, with his usual tenderness, asks them first (v. 5), How long will you cut yourselves, as men in extreme sorrow and anguish do? O how tedious will the calamity be! not only cutting, but long cutting. But he turns from the effect to the cause: They cut themselves, for the sword of the Lord cuts them. And therefore,
    • (1.) He bespeaks that to be still (v. 6): O thou sword of the Lord! how long will it be ere thou be quiet? He begs it would put up itself into the scabbard, would devour no more flesh, drink no more blood. This expresses the prophet's earnest desire to see an end of the war, looking with compassion, as became a man, even upon the Philistines themselves, when their country was made desolate by the sword. Note, War is the sword of the Lord; with it he punishes the crimes of his enemies and pleads the cause of his own people. When war is once begun it often lasts long; the sword, once drawn, does not quickly find the way into the scabbard again; nay, some when they draw the sword throw away the scabbard, for they delight in war. So deplorable are the desolations of war that the blessings of peace cannot but be very desirable. O that swords might be beaten into ploughshares!
    • (2.) Yet he gives a satisfactory account of the continuance of the war and stops the mouth of his own complaint (v. 7): How can it be quiet, seeing the Lord hath given it a charge against such and such places, particularly specified in its commission? There hath he appointed it. Note,
      • [1.] The sword of war hath its charge from the Lord of hosts. Every bullet has its charge; you call them blind bullets, but they are directed by an all-seeing God. The war itself has its charge; he saith to it, Go, and it goes-Come, and it comes-Do this, and it does it; for he is commander-in-chief.
      • [2.] When the sword is drawn we cannot expect it should be sheathed till it has fulfilled its charge. As the word of God, so his rod and his sword, shall accomplish that for which he sends them.