Jeremiah 47:3

At 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; AT THE NOISE OF THE STAMPING OF THE HOOFS OF HIS STRONG HORSES - (cf. , "The whole city shall flee from the noise of the horsemen"). FATHERS SHALL NOT LOOK BACK TO ... CHILDREN - each shall think only of his own safety, not even the fathers regarding their own children. So desperate shall be the calamity that men shall divest themselves of the natural affections. FOR FEEBLENESS OF HANDS - the hands, the principal instrument of action, shall have lost all power; their whole hope shall be in their feet....

He continues the same subject; for he says, that so grievous would be the calamity, that fathers would not have a care for their children, which is a proof of extreme sorrow; for men even in adversity do not divest themselves of their natural feelings. When a father has children, he would willingly undergo ten deaths, if necessary, in order to save their life; but when men forget that they are parents, it is a proof, as I have said, of the greatest grief, as though men, having changed their nature, were become logs of wood. But the Prophet expresses the cause, not only of sorrow, but also of anxiety; _From the voice, _he says_, of the noise of the hoofs of his valiant _ones; he does not name the horses, but פרסות, _peresut, _refer to horses; _hoofs, he _says, shall make a great noise by stamping. And then such would be the commotion by the driving of _chariots, _and such a _tumult _would...

Verse Jeremiah 47:3. _THE STAMPING OF THE HOOFS_] At the _galloping sound_, - Quadrupedante putrem sonitu quatit ungula campum, is a line of _Virgil_, (AEn. viii. 596,) much celebrated; and quoted here by _Blayney_, where the galloping sound of the horses' hoofs is _heard_. In the _stamping_ of the _horses_, the _rushing_ of the _chariots_, and the _rumbling_ of the _wheels_, our translators intended to convey the _sense_ by the _sound_ of the words; and they have not been unsuccessful. Their translation of the original is at the same time sufficiently literal. _THE FATHERS SHALL NOT LOOK BACK_] Though their children are left behind, they have neither _strength_ nor _courage_ to go back to bring them off....

HIS STRONG HORSES - War-horses, chargers. THE RUSHING OF HIS CHARIOTS - Rather, the rattling, the crashing noise which they make as they advance. FOR FEEBLENESS OF HANDS - The Philistines flee in such panic that a father would not even turn round to see whether his sons were effecting their escape or not....

PROPHECY ON THE PHILISTINES. EXPOSITION It is clear from the contents of the prophecy (and the inference is thoroughly confirmed by its position) that it was written after the battle of Carchemish, with reference to the dreaded northern foe—Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon. The prophecy against Egypt precedes, because Egypt was by far the most important of the nations threatened by the advance of Nebuchadnezzar. But chronologically and geographically, it ought rather to have been placed at the end of the series, for Palestine had to be conquered before a design upon Egypt could have a reasonable chance of success. The commentators have given themselves much unnecessary trouble with the heading in Jeremiah 47:1, which assigns the date of the prophecy to a period prior (as it would seem) to the battle of

AT THE NOISE OF THE STAMPING OF THE HOOFS OF HIS STRONG [HORSES],.... The noise of the cavalry of Nebuchadnezzar's army, as they came marching on towards the country of the Philistines; who, being mounted on strong prancing horses, made a great noise as they came along, and were heard at a distance: AT THE RUSHING OF HIS CHARIOTS, [AND AT] THE RUMBLING, OF HIS WHEELS; the rattling and clatter the chariot wheels made; in which rode the chief officers and generals, with other mighty men: chariots were much used in war in those times: THE FATHERS SHALL NOT LOOK BACK TO [THEIR] CHILDREN FOR FEEBLENESS OF HANDS; they should be so frightened at the approach of the enemy, and flee with much precipitancy to provide for their own safety, that they should not think of their children, or stay to deliver and save them, the most near and dear unto them; being so terrified as not to be able to lift...

CHAPTER 47 Concerning the Philistines This brief chapter is concerning the inhabitants of the borderland of Canaan, called Philistia. This announced judgment was fulfilled a short time after it was spoken by the prophet....

JEREMIAH 47. PHILISTIA. Instead of Jeremiah 47:1, LXX has simply On the Philistines, which is probably original. The waters rising from the north (Jeremiah 47:2) would suggest Babylon, not Egypt, as the foe; the editorial reference to Egypt in 1 might be suggested (wrongly) by Jeremiah 47:5. Pharaoh is supposed to have smitten Gaza (Cadytis, Herod. ii. 159) in 608. The devastating waters (Isaiah 8:7 f.) of an overflowing wady flood the land (Jeremiah 47:2); the terror of the enemy's approach breaks even the closest bonds of affection ...

STRONG HORSES. Compare Jeremiah 8:16. RUSHING. rattling. CHILDREN. sons....

The Prophecy regarding Philistia 2. _waters rise up_ In Jeremiah 46:8 the same figure was used for an army. Cp. Isaiah 8:7 (on which Co. thinks this _v_. to be based), where the Assyrian army is likened to the floods of the Euphrates. _an overflowing stream_ a river suddenly swelling up through the effect of the winter rains; a frequent occurrence in Palestine. _and the men … shall howl_ Co. rejects this part of the _v_. both as over-passing the proper limits of the metre, and suggesting a universal judgement, which would be, according to him, a later conception....