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The Bible · 792 of 1189

Jeremiah 47

1.The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet against the Philistines, before that Pharaoh smote Gaza. 2. Thus saith the LORD; Behold, waters rise up out of the north, and shall be an overflowing flood, and shall overflow the land, and all that is therein; the city, and them that dwell therein: then the men shall cry, and all the inhabitants of the land shall howl. 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; 4. Because of the day that cometh to spoil all the Philistines, and to cut off from Tyrus and Zidon every helper that remaineth: for the LORD will spoil the Philistines, the remnant of the country of Caphtor. 5. Baldness is come upon Gaza; Ashkelon is cut off with the remnant of their valley: how long wilt thou cut thyself? 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. 7. 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.

Asked of Guide

Why does Jeremiah call the invading force an 'overflowing flood' from the north?

Jeremiah pictures the enemy as an “overflowing flood” to stress sudden, unstoppable force sweeping over the Philistine coast—waters rising from the north carry the image of total inundation that devastates city and people. The chapter pairs that image with military details: “stamping of the hoofs…rushing of his chariots,” which turns poetic flood into an advancing army and makes the threat both natural and martial.

This language shows the LORD directing judgment: the prophet says God “hath given it a charge against Ashkelon,” so the flood metaphor names a divinely-commissioned invasion. Readers familiar with Isaiah will recognize similar northern-invasion imagery (see Isaiah 8), where a foreign assault also functions as God’s instrument of discipline.

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