Sefer Yirmiyahu, chapter 47. This is the word of Hashem that came to Yirmiyahu the prophet concerning the Philistines, before Pharaoh struck Gaza. The Malbim explains that Pharaoh struck Gaza when Egypt went out to help Tzidkiyahu, and afterward he returned to his own land, and on his way back he overran Gaza, as the Malbim says, as it appears in Seder Olam.
Afterward Nebuchadnezzar destroyed all of the Philistines. The Philistines are those who dwell in Gaza. We await for this to happen even now, but the vision is for an appointed time. And the reason he destroyed them, what was Nebuchadnezzar's concern to go and destroy the Philistines? Because the Philistines were helping Tzor. They were the allies of Tzor. Nebuchadnezzar had a war with Tzor. So a friend of my enemy is my enemy. And since they were friendly with them, aiding the people of Tzor, and Nebuchadnezzar had a war with Tzor, then he also had a war with them. Because of this, Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the Philistines.
The reason was so that no help would be found from them, so that when the people of Tzor would seek the help of the people of Gaza, they would see that there was no one to help them. This prophecy is one in which we will see primarily the destruction of the Philistines by Nebuchadnezzar, which was a complete destruction. And since this destruction was the total one, therefore he emphasizes it specifically more than Pharaoh who struck Gaza when he left Egypt after going to help Tzidkiyahu, as we said he returned and on the way back struck Gaza. But the total destruction came at the hands of and by Nebuchadnezzar.
So said Hashem: Behold, waters rise from the north and shall become an overflowing stream, and they shall flood the land and its fullness, the city and those who dwell in it, and men shall cry out and all the inhabitants of the land shall wail. So said Hashem, behold waters rise from the north, waters rising means waters that gather strength, like "the war rose up," meaning the war intensified. The waters, says the Radak, are a metaphor for the Chaldeans who come from the north like flooding waters. And Pharaoh struck Gaza, and Nebuchadnezzar, as we said, will destroy everything, so just as flooding waters leave nothing and sweep away everything, therefore he now compares Nebuchadnezzar to waters.
The Malbim explains what is written, "and they shall flood the land," for you say "and they shall flood the land and its fullness, the city and those who dwell in it." What is the repetition? He says that at first they will flood the land, that is the land itself, the fields, the vineyards. Afterward they will flood the cities, which is "the city and those who dwell in it." And then men shall cry out, in the manner that when a flood of waters comes, says the Malbim, people cry out to flee to the ships, there is a tsunami and everyone flees. And all the inhabitants of the land shall wail, all the inhabitants of the land will wail, "heilil" is from the expression of wailing, yes? All the inhabitants of the land will wail over the loss of their possessions, over the loss of their homes, over the loss of their money.
At the sound of the pounding of the hooves of his mighty ones, at the rattling of his chariots, the roar of his wheels, the fathers do not turn to their sons because of the slackness of their hands. The Malbim says that the prophet here comes to tell you, know this, here it will be more severe and more sharp than a flood of waters. He says here it will be from the sound of the pounding of the hooves of his mighty ones. From the sound of the pounding of the hooves, the pounding is the striking that the horse strikes with its legs forcefully upon the ground, this is called pounding. From the sound of the pounding of the hooves of his mighty horses, the noise of the chariot, the multitude of the wheels, all these will cause the fathers not to turn to their sons because of the slackness of their hands.
The fathers do not turn to their sons, the Malbim explains that when there is a flood of many waters, each father turns to save his son. When there is trouble, then each one goes to save those close to him. He says but in this flood of the troops that flooded the land, in this their hands will be slack. The fathers do not turn to their sons, that is to say, when you still have a bit of strength you still worry about your sons. But when a person has no strength, then he saves himself. He is now in survival mode, thinking how he himself will survive the trouble. And this is what he says here, the fathers do not turn to their sons because of the slackness of their hands, since there will be no strength, so who will think about saving his sons? He will now think about how he himself will not drown.
Because of the day that comes to plunder all the Philistines, to cut off from Tzor and Tzidon every surviving helper, for Hashem plunders the Philistines, the remnant of the isle of Kaftor. Because of the day that comes to plunder all the Philistines, meaning that you should not say that the prophecy now being given to us describes what is about to happen right now, as we said, for Pharaoh at first went and struck Gaza. So perhaps you might think I am speaking of Pharaoh's striking. He tells you, no, that was on a small scale. What Pharaoh did was only a preview of the one who will come and flood and leave nothing. The prophecy here is really about something that is destined to be, and therefore he says because of the day that comes to plunder all the Philistines, not this day when Pharaoh now arrives and, as we said, only strikes them a light blow, but rather we are speaking of the day on which all the Philistines will be plundered.
And the reason, why will he plunder all the Philistines? In order to cut off from Tzor and Tzidon every surviving helper. As we explained, since there was a concern here that Tzor and Tzidon would be helped by the strength of the Philistines, and Nebuchadnezzar had a war with Tzor and Tzidon, because of this he went now to destroy the helpers of Tzor and Tzidon. Another thing he tells you, there was here a matter of providence from Hashem, for Hashem plunders the Philistines, the remnant of the isle of Kaftor, since the Philistines are brothers of Kaftor.
Baldness has come upon Gaza, Ashkelon is cut off, the remnant of their valley, how long will you gash yourself. Baldness has come upon Gaza, Gaza that was already destroyed by Pharaoh, so its hairs, so to speak, had already thinned out. He says now there will be complete baldness here. Until now there were a few thinned hairs, but now baldness has come, someone will come here who will make complete baldness. So too he says Ashkelon is cut off, Ashkelon that, as we saw, was already plundered, whatever was there is "nidmeta," "nidmeta" is not in the sense of "resembled," but the Malbim explains that it is in the sense of being cut off, "Hashem hidmanu" and other expressions we saw that mean being cut off. So behold, see, the valley is destroyed, nothing remains, the remnant of their valley is completely finished.
How long will you gash yourself, what is "how long will you gash yourself"? The Malbim explains that here it is a kind of witty figure of speech. Since he gave us the figure of baldness, someone will come and make you completely bald, some hairs still remain but someone will come and shave you entirely, he continues with the same witty figure. For whom was it their custom to make baldness? For the dead. Since it was their custom to make baldness for the dead, he continues in this direction and says how long will you gash yourself. It is written, you shall not gash yourselves nor make baldness between your eyes for the dead. So he says the baldness has already come, behold you see that you have already become bald. And you will gash yourself as well, what is "tit'godedi"? They would slash their flesh over the dead, making a gash in their flesh as a sign of mourning. So since he began with the image of baldness, which expresses mourning, he continues also with "tit'godedi."
Woe, sword of Hashem, how long will you not be quiet? Gather yourself into your sheath, rest and be still. The Malbim explains, woe sword of Hashem, how long will you not be quiet, after the sword of Hashem came upon them twice, he now says to them as it were, when will the sword already be quiet? Or gather yourself into your sheath, its meaning is a figure of speech that the destroyer will return to his land, will no longer destroy nor terrify nor shake kingdoms. The "ta'ar," "and a sword you drew from its sheath, drawn against your foes," the sword has a place into which it is inserted, a kind of scabbard into which the sword is inserted, this is called a "ta'arah." In any case he says rest and be still, this is an address to the sword, in any case, O sword, even though you are still outside your sheath, it is fitting that you should, so to speak, calm down a bit and be still, be quiet, do not kill continually.
How can you be quiet when Hashem has commanded it, against Ashkelon and against the seashore, there He has appointed it? How can you be quiet, he responds and says the thing is impossible. You, as it were, say how long will you gash yourself, woe sword of Hashem how long will you not be quiet, as if to say how long will the sword continue and consume there in Ashkelon? Says the Malbim, how do you want the sword to be quiet? For Hashem commanded it, against Ashkelon and against the seashore there He appointed it. For Hashem appointed it and commanded it, "He commanded it" refers to Nebuchadnezzar, who here is an emissary from Hashem to destroy kingdoms. Another matter, for a natural reason, against Ashkelon and against the seashore there He appointed it, since he had a war with Tzor and Tzidon who dwell in the sea, and the Philistines dwell on the seashore and they were helping Tzor, so he appointed his sword to cut off the dwellers of the sea who help Tzor. So there are two things here, first, a matter of heavenly providence, and second, also a matter that appears to us as a natural matter, namely that Nebuchadnezzar does not want there to be helpers for those he wages war against, those against whom he fights, and therefore he goes to destroy Ashkelon. So in practice we have here two strong reasons, both a natural reason and a heavenly reason, to bring the sword upon Ashkelon, and because of this, do not ask how long will you not be quiet. How long will you not be quiet? Until Nebuchadnezzar finishes his work, until then the sword will not be quiet.