John Gill Commentary Jeremiah 47:2

"Thus saith Jehovah: Behold, waters rise up out of the north, and shall become an overflowing stream, and shall overflow the land and all that is therein, the city and them that dwell therein; and the men shall cry, and all the inhabitants of the land shall wail." — Jeremiah 47:2 (ASV)

Thus says the Lord, behold, waters rise up out of the north , &c.] Meaning an army of men, which should come in great numbers, and with great force and rapidity, like an overflowing flood. So the Targum, ``behold, people shall come from the north;'' that is, from Chaldea, which lay north of Palestine: and shall be an overflowing flood, and shall overflow the land, and all that is therein ; or, "the fulness of it" ^F21 ; the land of the Philistines, and carry off the men and cattle, and all the riches thereof; the city, and them that dwell therein ; not any particular or single city, as Gaza; but the several cities of Palestine, and the inhabitants of them: then the men shall cry, and all the inhabitants of the land shall howl ; not being able to do anything else; not to defend themselves, their families, and property; and seeing nothing but ruin and destruction before their eyes.

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FOOTNOTES:

• F21: (hawlmw) "et plenitudinem ejus", Schmidt