Jeremiah 47:6

O thou sword of the LORD, how long will it be ere thou be quiet? put up thyself into thy scabbard, rest, and O thou sword of the LORD, how long will it be ere thou be quiet? put up thyself into thy scabbard, rest, and be still. O THOU SWORD OF THE LORD, HOW LONG WILL IT BE ERE THOU BE QUIET? Jeremiah, in the person of the Philistines afflicting themselves (), apostrophizes the sword of the Lord, entreating mercy (cf. ; Ezekiel 21:3; Ezekiel 21:9). PUT UP THYSELF - Hebrew, 'Gather thyself' - i:e., Retire or Return....

Here Jeremiah turns to address the sword of God; and it is a happy apostrophe. It is very striking and forcible, when the Prophet at one time addresses the land of the Philistines, and at another, the sword of God; and he had no other object but to confirm his prophecy, of which otherwise, the Jews might have doubted. He then says, _Ho! sword of Jehovah! _Though he puts here the preposition ל, _lamed, _which designates the dative case; yet it is often redundant. There is, in the meantime, no doubt but that he intimates that the slaughter of which he speaks would be, as it were, by God’s sword, or by a sword hired by him. Thus he shews that the Chaldeans would do the work of God in destroying the land of the Philistines. _How long, _he says, _ere thou restest! Hide thyself in thy sheath, rest and be still _Here the Prophet assumes the character of another, as though he wished to soothe w...

Verse Jeremiah 47:6. _O THOU SWORD OF THE LORD_] This is a most grand prosopopoeia-a dialogue between the sword of the Lord and the prophet. Nothing can be imagined more sublime. _PUT UP THYSELF INTO THY SCABBARD, REST, AND BE STILL._] Shed no more blood, destroy no more lives, erase no more cities, desolate no more countries. _Rest_:-hast thou not been long enough at this work of judgment? _O be still_:-let wars and desolations cease for ever....

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

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....

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 ...

SWORD OF THE LORD. Reference to Pentateuch (Deuteronomy 32:41)....

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....

DISCOURSE: 1085 THE MEANS OF TERMINATING WAR Jeremiah 47:6. _O thou sword of the Lord, how long will it be ere thou be quiet? Put up thyself into thy scabbard; rest, and be still. 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_. THOUGH the two nations of Judah and Israel were the primary objects of attention to the prophets, yet many other nations were referred to in their prophecies; and the most important events respecting them were circumstantially foretold. The chapter before us relates to the Philistines: and it was written at a time when they had recovered the power, of which David had deprived them. It foretells the invasion of their land by the Chaldeans, together with the long continuance of the conflict, which should end in the subjugation of them and their allies. We shal