Jeremiah 47:2

2 This is what the Lord says: "See, the enemy is gathering in the north like rising waters. They will become like an overflowing stream and will cover the whole country like a flood, even the towns and the people living in them. Everyone living in that country will cry for help; the people will cry painfully.

Jeremiah 47:2 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 47:2

Thus saith the Lord, behold, waters rise up out of the north,
&c.] Meaning an army of men, which should come in great numbers, and with great force and rapidity, like an overflowing flood. So the Targum,

``behold, people shall come from the north;''

that is, from Chaldea, which lay north of Palestine: and shall be an overflowing flood, and shall overflow the land, and all
that is therein;
or, "the fulness of it" ^F21; the land of the Philistines, and carry off the men and cattle, and all the riches thereof; the city, and them that dwell therein;
not any particular or single city, as Gaza; but the several cities of Palestine, and the inhabitants of them: then the men shall cry, and all the inhabitants of the land shall howl;
not being able to do anything else; not to defend themselves, their families, and property; and seeing nothing but ruin and destruction before their eyes.

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FOOTNOTES:

F21 (hawlmw) "et plenitudinem ejus", Schmidt

Jeremiah 47:2 In-Context

1 Before the king of Egypt attacked the city of Gaza, the Lord spoke his word to Jeremiah the prophet. This message is to the Philistine people.

2 This is what the Lord says: "See, the enemy is gathering in the north like rising waters. They will become like an overflowing stream and will cover the whole country like a flood, even the towns and the people living in them. Everyone living in that country will cry for help; the people will cry painfully.

3 They will hear the sound of the running horses and the noisy chariots and the rumbling chariot wheels. Parents will not help their children to safety, because they will be too weak to help.

4 The time has come to destroy all the Philistines. It is time to destroy all who are left alive who could help the cities of Tyre and Sidon. The Lord will soon destroy the Philistines, those left alive from the island of Crete.

5 The people from the city of Gaza will be sad and shave their heads. The people from the city of Ashkelon will be made silent. Those left alive from the valley, how long will you cut yourselves?