Zephaniah 2:5

Woe unto the inhabitants of the sea coast, the nation of the Cherethites! the word of the LORD is against you; O Canaan, the land of the Philistines, I will even destroy thee, that there shall be no inhabitant.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

2:4-15 Those are really in a woful condition who have the word of the Lord against them, for no word of his shall fall to the ground. God will restore his people to their rights, though long kept from them. It has been the common lot of God's people, in all ages, to be reproached and reviled. God shall be worshipped, not only by all Israel, and the strangers who join them, but by the heathen. Remote nations must be reckoned with for the wrongs done to God's people. The sufferings of the insolent and haughty in prosperity, are unpitied and unlamented. But all the desolations of flourishing nations will make way for the overturning Satan's kingdom. Let us improve our advantages, and expect the performance of every promise, praying that our Father's name may be hallowed every where, over all the earth.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The "woe" having been pronounced on the five cities apart, now falls upon the whole nation of the Cherethites or Philistines. The Cherethites are only named as equivalent to the Philistines, probably as originally a distinct immigration of the same people . The name is used by the Egyptian slave of the Amalekite 1 Samuel 30:14 for those whom the author of the first book of Samuel calls Philistines 1 Samuel 30:16. Ezekiel uses the name parallel with that of "Philistines," with reference to the destruction which God would bring upon them .

The word of the Lord - Comes not to them, but "upon" them, overwhelming them. To them He speaketh not in good, but in evil; not in grace, but in anger; not in mercy, but in vengeance. Philistia was the first enemy of the Church. It showed its enmity to Abraham and Isaac and would fain that they should not sojourn among them Genesis 21:34; Genesis 26:14-15, Genesis 26:28. They were the hindrance that Israel should not go straight to the promised land Exodus 13:17. When Israel passed the Red Sea Exodus 15:14, "sorrow" took hold of them." They were close to salvation in body, but far in mind. They are called "Canaan," as being a chief nation of it Genesis 15:21, and in that name lay the original source of their destruction. They inherited the sins of Canaan and with them his curse, preferring the restless beating of the barren, bitter sea on which they dwelt, "the waves of this troublesome world," to being a part of the true Canaan. They would absorb the Church into the world, and master it, subduing it to the pagan Canaan, not subdue themselves to it, and become part of the heavenly Canaan.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

5. inhabitants of the seacoast—the Philistines dwelling on the strip of seacoast southwest of Canaan. Literally, the "cord" or "line" of sea (compare Jer 47:7; Eze 25:16).

the Cherethites—the Cretans, a name applied to the Philistines as sprung from Crete (De 2:23; Jer 47:4; Am 9:7). Philistine means "an emigrant."

Canaan … land of the Philistines—They occupied the southwest of Canaan (Jos 13:2, 3); a name which hints that they are doomed to the same destruction as the early occupants of the land.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Woe unto the inhabitants! now all the Philistines are threatened, whereas before he named only those four cities.

Of the sea-coasts; the coasts of the great or western sea, now the Mediterranean, on which the Philistines of old did dwell.

The Cherethites, or destroyers, men that were stout, but fierce, and perhaps terrible to neighbours and foreigners that had the hard hap to be forced on their coasts by violence of sea. They were great soldiers, and lived Switzerlike, guards to David, it may be to other kings also.

The word of the Lord; his purpose, his threats too by his prophet.

Canaan; that part that the Philistines did by three keep from the Jews.

I will even destroy thee: though the Chaldeans be the men that shall destroy, yet the Lord will do it also; they his servants, he chief, in doing it.

There shall be no inhabitant; no more cities, nor citizens to dwell therein.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Woe unto the inhabitants of the sea coasts, the nation of the Cherethites,.... Which is a name of the Philistines in general, as Kimchi and Ben Melech; or these were a particular tribe belonging to them, that inhabited the southern part of their country; see 1 Samuel 30:14 those on the sea coast, the coast of the Mediterranean sea, and so lay between that and Judea: out of this nation, in the times of David and Solomon, were some choice soldiers selected, called the Cherethites and Pelethites, who were their bodyguards, as Josephus (a) calls them; a royal band, which never departed from the king's person; see 2 Samuel 15:18. The Septuagint version calls them "strangers of the Cretians"; and are thought by some to be a colony of the Cretians; a people that came originally from the island of Crete, and settled here; but, on the contrary, rather Crete was a colony of the Philistines, and had its name from them; for by the Arabians (b), the country of Palestine, or the Philistines, is called Keritha; and by the Syrians Creth; and, by the Hebrews the inhabitants thereof are called Cherethites, as here, and in Ezekiel 25:16 and so the south of the Cherethites, in 1 Samuel 30:14, is, in Ezekiel 25:16, called the land of the Philistines. In all the above places, where they are spoken of as the attendants of Solomon and David, they are in the Targum called "archers"; and it is a clear case the Philistines were famous for archery, whereby they had sometimes the advantage of their enemies; see 1 Samuel 31:3 and bows and arrows were the arms the Cretians made use of, and were famous for, as Bochart (c) from various writers has shown; the use of which they learned very probably from the Philistines, from whom they sprung; though Solinus (d) says they were the first that used arrows; and, according to Diodorus Siculus, Saturn introduced the art of using bows and arrows into the island of Crete; though others ascribe it to Apollo (e); and it is said that Hercules learnt this art from Rhadamanthus of Crete; which last instance seems to favour the notion of those, that these Cherethites were Cretians, or sprung from them; to which the Septuagint version inclines; and Calmet (f) is of opinion that Caphtor, from whence the Philistines are said to come, Amos 9:7 and who are called the remnant of the country of Caphtor, Jeremiah 47:4 is the island of Crete; and that the Philistines came from thence into Palestine; and that the Cherethites are the ancient Cretians; the language, manners, arms, religion and gods, of the Cretians and Philistines, being much the same; though so they might be, as being a colony of the Philistines; See Gill on Amos 9:7 though a learned man (1), who gives into the opinion that these were royal guards, yet thinks they were not strangers and idolaters, but proselytes to the Jewish religion at least; and rather Israelites, choice selected men, men of strength and valour, of military courage and skill, picked out of the nation, to guard the king's person; and who were called Cherethites and Pelethites, from the kind of shields and targets they wore, called "cetra" and "pelta": and it is a notion several of the Jewish writers (2) have, that they were two families in Israel; but it seems plain and evident that a foreign nation is here meant, which lay on the sea coast, and belonged to the Philistines. Another learned man (g) thinks they are the Midianites, the same with the Cretians that Luke joins with the Arabians, Acts 2:11 as the Midianites are with the Arabians and Amalekites by Josephus (h); however, a woe is denounced against them, and they are threatened with desolation. The Vulgate Latin version is, "a nation of destroyed ones": and the Targum,

"a people who have sinned, that they might be destroyed:''

the word of the Lord is against you; inhabitants of the sea coast, the Cherethites; the word of the Lord conceived in his own mind, his purpose to destroy them, which cannot be frustrated. So the Targum,

"the decree of the word of the Lord is against you;''

and the word pronounced by his lips, the word of prophecy concerning them, by the mouth of former prophets, as Isaiah, Isaiah 14:29 and by the mouth of the present prophet:

O Canaan, the land of the Philistines; Palestine was a part of Canaan; the five lordships of the Philistines before mentioned belonged originally to the Canaanite, Joshua 13:3 and these belonged to the land of Israel, though possessed by them, out of which now they should be turned, and the country wasted, as follows:

I will even destroy thee, that there shall be no inhabitant; so great should be the desolation; all should be removed from it, either by death or by captivity; at least there should be no settled inhabitant.

(a) Antiqu. l. 7. c. 5. sect. 4. and c. 11. sect. 8. Vid. Opitii Exercitat. de Crethi & Plethi. (b) Giggeius apud Bochart. Canaan, l. 1. c. 15. col. 422. (c) Ibid. col. 423. (d) Polyhistor. c. 16. (e) Diodor. Sicul. Bibliothec. l. 5. p. 334, 341. (f) Dictionary, in the word "Caphtor". (1) Fortunati Scacchi Elaeochrism, Myrothec. l. 3. c. 18, 19. (2) Kimchi & Ben Gersom in 2 Samuel 8.18. and xv. 18. (g) Texelii Phoenix. l. 3. c. 21. sect. 4. p. 389, 390. (h) Antiqu. l. 5. c. 6. sect. 1.

Geneva Study Bible

Woe unto the inhabitants of the sea {d} coast, the nation of the Cherethites! the word of the LORD is against you; O Canaan, the land of the Philistines, I will even destroy thee, that there shall be no inhabitant.

(d) That is, Galilee: by these nations he means the people that dwelt near to the Jews, and instead of friendship were their enemies: therefore he calls them Canaanites, whom the Lord appointed to be slain.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

5. the sea coast] Or, the region by the sea. The reference is to the strip of territory belonging to the Philistines; Ezekiel 25:16. The Cherethites are the Philistines, or at least those along the coast (1 Samuel 30:14). The word is supposed to have some relation to Crete, from which it is believed the Philistines migrated into Palestine. In Amos 9:7, Deuteronomy 2:23, Jeremiah 47:4 the Philistines are said to have come from Caphtor, which may be Crete. In 2 Samuel 8:18 the Cherethites and Pelethites (Philistines?) appear as mercenaries among David’s household troops. According to Joshua 13:3-4 the territory of the Philistines was reckoned to the Canaanites.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 5. - Woe. The denunciation extends to all Philistia. The inhabitants of the sea coast. Both the. Greek and Latin Versions retain the notion of the Hebrew word chebel: "Ye who inhabit the measured allotment of the sea." "Philistia," says Sir C. Warren, "consists of an undulating plain from fifty to a hundred feet above the level of the sea, reaching thirty-two miles from Ekron to Gaza, with a breadth of from nine to sixteen miles. To the east of this the hills commence, not the hill country, but a series of low spurs and undulating ground, culminating in hogs' backs, running nearly north and south, and rising in places to twelve hundred feet above the ocean" ('Survey Memoirs: Jerusalem,' p. 436). The nation of the Cherethites. So in Ezekiel 25:16. Zephaniah calls the Philistines by this name for the sake of a play on the word, Cherethites meaning "Cutters off," and they were devoted to being "cut off" (karath). Part of David's bodyguard was composed of the same people (1 Samuel 30:14). The name seems to have belonged to a portion of the Philistines who inhabited the southern part of the district. "One of the principal villages of Philistia is now called Keretiya, so that the term may apply to the inhabitants of this town - an ancient Cherith not mentioned in the Bible" (Courier's 'Handbook to the Bible,' p. 237). They have been supposed to have emigrated from Crete, but there are no reliable grounds for this theory, though the LXX. in the present passage has, Πάροικοι Κρητῶν, "sojourners of the Cretans;' and the Syriac gives a similar rendering. St. Jerome renders, "gens perditorum," "nation of destroyers." The word of the Lord is against you. The sentence is pronounced in the words following. O Canaan. O Philistia, which shall be as Canaan, and in like manner exterminated. Canaan means "Lowland," a name which originally was applied to the Phoenician and Philistine tracts on the seacoast. I will even destroy thee. The like threat is uttered by Jeremiah (Jeremiah 47:4, 5) and Ezekiel (Ezekiel 25:15-17). Zephaniah 2:5

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

Destruction of the Philistines. - Zephaniah 2:4. "For Gaza will be forgotten, and Ashkelon become a desert; Ashdod, they drive it out in broad day, and Ekron will be ploughed out. Zephaniah 2:5. Woe upon the inhabitants of the tract by the sea, the nation of the Cretans! The word of Jehovah upon you, O Canaan, land of the Philistines! I destroy thee, so that not an inhabitant remains. Zephaniah 2:6. And the tract by the sea becomes pastures for shepherds' caves, and for folds of sheep. Zephaniah 2:7. And a tract will be for the remnant of the house of Judah; upon them will they feed: in the houses of Ashkelon they encamp in the evening; for Jehovah their God will visit them, and turn their captivity." The fourth verse, which is closely connected by kı̄ (for) with the exhortation to repentance, serves as an introduction to the threat of judgment commencing with hōi in Zephaniah 2:5. As the mentioning of the names of the four Philistian capitals (see at Joshua 13:3) is simply an individualizing periphrasis for the Philistian territory and people, so the land and people of Philistia are mentioned primarily for the purpose of individualizing, as being the representatives of the heathen world by which Judah was surrounded; and it is not till afterwards, in the further development of the threat, that the enumeration of certain near and remote heathen nations is appended, to express more clearly the idea of the heathen world as a whole. Of the names of the Philistian cities Zephaniah makes use of two, ‛Azzâh and ‛Eqrōn, as a play upon words, to express by means of paronomasia the fate awaiting them. ‛azzâh, Gaza, will be ‛azûbhâh, forsaken, desolate. ‛Eqrōn, Ekron, will be tē‛âqēr, rooted up, torn out of its soil, destroyed. To the other two he announces their fate in literal terms, the shemâmâh threatened against Ashkelon corresponding to the ‛ăzūbhâh, and the gârēsh predicated of Ashdod preparing the way for Ekron's tē‛âqēr. בּצּהרים at noon, i.e., in broad day, might signify, when used as an antithesis to night, "with open violence" (Jerome, Kimchi); but inasmuch as the expulsion of inhabitants is not effected by thieves in the night, the time of noon is more probably to be understood, as v. Clln and Rosenmller suppose, as denoting the time of day at which men generally rest in hot countries (2 Samuel 4:5), in the sense of unexpected, unsuspected expulsion; and this is favoured by Jeremiah 15:8, where the devastation at noon is described as a sudden invasion. The omission of Gath may be explained in the same manner as in Amos 1:6-8, from the fact that the parallelism of the clauses only allowed the names of four cities to be given; and this number was amply sufficient to individualize the whole, just as Zephaniah, when enumerating the heathen nations, restricts the number to four, according to the four quarters of the globe: viz., the Philistines in the west (Zephaniah 2:5-7); the Moabites and Ammonites comprised in one in the east (Zephaniah 2:8-10); the Cushites in the south (Zephaniah 2:11, Zephaniah 2:12); and Asshur, with Nineveh, in the north (north-east), (Zephaniah 2:13-15). The woe with which the threat is commenced in Zephaniah 2:5 applies to the whole land and people of the Philistines. Chebhel, the measure, then the tract of land measured out or apportioned (see at Deuteronomy 3:4; Deuteronomy 32:9, etc.). The tract of the sea is the tract of land by the Mediterranean Sea which was occupied by the Philistines (chebhel hayyâm equals 'erets Pelishtı̄m). Zephaniah calls the inhabitants gōi Kerēthı̄m, nation of the Cretans, from the name of one branch of the Philistian people which was settled in the south-west of Philistia, for the purpose of representing them as a people devoted to kârath, or extermination. The origin of this name, which is selected both here and in Ezekiel 25:16 with a play upon the appellative signification, is involved in obscurity; for, as we have already observed at 1 Samuel 30:14, there is no valid authority for the derivation which is now current, viz., from the island of Crete (see Stark, Gaza, pp. 66 and 99ff.). דּבר יי עליכם forms an independent sentence: The word of the Lord cometh over you. The nature of that word is described in the next sentence: I will destroy thee. The name Kena‛an is used in the more limited sense of Philistia, and is chosen to indicate that Philistia is to share the lot of Canaan, and lose its inhabitants by extermination.