Jeremiah 47:6

6 "You cry, 'Sword of the Lord, how long will you keep fighting? Return to your holder. Stop and be still.'

Jeremiah 47:6 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 47:6

O thou sword of the Lord
For though it was the sword of the Chaldeans, yet being appointed and sent by the Lord, and having a commission from him, and being ordered and directed in his providence to do his will, it is called his sword: how long [will it be] ere thou be quiet?
and cease from destroying men; wilt thou not cease till thou hast no more to destroy? put up thyself into thy scabbard, rest, and be still;
and make no more havoc among the people: these are either the words of the Philistines, entreating a stop might be put to the ravages of the sword, and that the war might cease, and the desolations of it; or rather of the prophet, commiserating their state as a man, though they had been the avowed enemies of his people; to which the following words of him are an answer, either to the Philistines, showing why their request could not be granted, or as correcting himself.

Jeremiah 47:6 In-Context

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?

6 "You cry, 'Sword of the Lord, how long will you keep fighting? Return to your holder. Stop and be still.'

7 But how can his sword rest when the Lord has given it a command? He has ordered it to attack Ashkelon and the seacoast."