“ ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “Because the Philistines have taken revenge, and have taken vengeance with contempt of soul to destroy with perpetual hostility;”
Parallel Translations
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“ ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “Because the Philistines have taken revenge, and have taken vengeance with contempt of soul to destroy with perpetual hostility;”
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Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because the Philistines have dealt by revenge, and have taken vengeance with a despiteful heart, to destroy it for the old hatred;
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Thus saith the Lord GOD: Because the Philistines have dealt by revenge, and have taken vengeance with disdain of soul to destroy, for the old hatred;
Cross-references (19)
Passages linked to Ezekiel 25:15 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Ezekiel 25:6 For the Lord Yahweh says: “Because you have clapped your hands, stamped with the feet, and rejoiced with all the contempt of your soul against the land of Israel;
- Isaiah 14:29-31 Don’t rejoice, O Philistia, all of you, because the rod that struck you is broken; for out of the serpent’s root an adder will emerge, and his fruit will be a fiery flying serpent. The firstborn of the poor will eat, and the needy will lie down in safety; and I will kill your root with famine, and your remnant will be killed. Howl, gate! Cry, city! You are melted away, Philistia, all of you; for smoke comes out of the north, and there is no straggler in his ranks.
- 2 Chronicles 28:18 The Philistines also had invaded the cities of the lowland, and of the South of Judah, and had taken Beth Shemesh, Aijalon, Gederoth, Soco with its villages, Timnah with its villages, and also Gimzo and its villages; and they lived there.
- Jeremiah 25:20 and all the mixed people, and all the kings of the land of Uz, all the kings of the Philistines, Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod;
- Ezekiel 25:12 “ ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “Because Edom has dealt against the house of Judah by taking vengeance, and has greatly offended, and taken revenge on them;”
- Zechariah 9:5-8 Ashkelon will see it, and fear; Gaza also, and will writhe in agony; as will Ekron, for her expectation will be disappointed; and the king will perish from Gaza, and Ashkelon will not be inhabited. Foreigners will dwell in Ashdod, and I will cut off the pride of the Philistines. I will take away his blood out of his mouth, and his abominations from between his teeth; and he also will be a remnant for our God; and he will be as a chieftain in Judah, and Ekron as a Jebusite. I will encamp around my house against the army, that no one pass through or return; and no oppressor will pass through them any more: for now I have seen with my eyes.
- Judges 14:1-16 Samson went down to Timnah, and saw a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines. He came up, and told his father and his mother, saying, “I have seen a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines. Now therefore get her for me as my wife.” Then his father and his mother said to him, “Isn’t there a woman among your brothers’ daughters, or among all my people, that you go to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines?” Samson said to his father, “Get her for me, for she pleases me well.” But his father and his mother didn’t know that it was of Yahweh; for he sought an occasion against the Philistines. Now at that time the Philistines ruled over Israel. Then Samson went down to Timnah with his father and his mother, and came to the vineyards of Timnah; and behold, a young lion roared at him. Yahweh’s Spirit came mightily on him, and he tore him as he would have torn a young goat with his bare hands, but he didn’t tell his father or his mother what he had done. He went down and talked with the woman, and she pleased Samson well. After a while he returned to take her, and he went over to see the carcass of the lion; and behold, there was a swarm of bees in the body of the lion, and honey. He took it into his hands, and went on, eating as he went. He came to his father and mother and gave to them, and they ate, but he didn’t tell them that he had taken the honey out of the lion’s body. His father went down to the woman; and Samson made a feast there, for the young men used to do so. When they saw him, they brought thirty companions to be with him. Samson said to them, “Let me tell you a riddle now. If you can tell me the answer within the seven days of the feast, and find it out, then I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothing; but if you can’t tell me the answer, then you shall give me thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothing.” They said to him, “Tell us your riddle, that we may hear it.” He said to them, “Out of the eater came out food. Out of the strong came out sweetness.” They couldn’t in three days declare the riddle. On the seventh day, they said to Samson’s wife, “Entice your husband, that he may declare to us the riddle, lest we burn you and your father’s house with fire. Have you called us to impoverish us? Isn’t that so?” Samson’s wife wept before him, and said, “You just hate me, and don’t love me. You’ve told a riddle to the children of my people, and haven’t told it to me.” He said to her, “Behold, I haven’t told my father or my mother, so why should I tell you?”
- 1 Samuel 4:1-6 The word of Samuel came to all Israel. Now Israel went out against the Philistines to battle, and encamped beside Ebenezer; and the Philistines encamped in Aphek. The Philistines put themselves in array against Israel. When they joined battle, Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who killed about four thousand men of the army in the field. When the people had come into the camp, the elders of Israel said, “Why has Yahweh defeated us today before the Philistines? Let’s get the ark of Yahweh’s covenant out of Shiloh and bring it to us, that it may come among us and save us out of the hand of our enemies.” So the people sent to Shiloh, and they brought from there the ark of the covenant of Yahweh of Armies, who sits above the cherubim; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God. When the ark of Yahweh’s covenant came into the camp, all Israel shouted with a great shout, so that the earth resounded. When the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they said, “What does the noise of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews mean?” They understood that Yahweh’s ark had come into the camp.
- 1 Samuel 13:1-14 Saul was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned over Israel forty-two years. Saul chose for himself three thousand men of Israel, of which two thousand were with Saul in Michmash and in the Mount of Bethel, and one thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin. He sent the rest of the people to their own tents. Jonathan struck the garrison of the Philistines that was in Geba, and the Philistines heard of it. Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, “Let the Hebrews hear!” All Israel heard that Saul had struck the garrison of the Philistines, and also that Israel was considered an abomination to the Philistines. The people were gathered together after Saul to Gilgal. The Philistines assembled themselves together to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots, and six thousand horsemen, and people as the sand which is on the seashore in multitude. They came up and encamped in Michmash, eastward of Beth Aven. When the men of Israel saw that they were in trouble (for the people were distressed), then the people hid themselves in caves, in thickets, in rocks, in tombs, and in pits. Now some of the Hebrews had gone over the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead; but as for Saul, he was yet in Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling. He stayed seven days, according to the time set by Samuel; but Samuel didn’t come to Gilgal, and the people were scattering from him. Saul said, “Bring the burnt offering to me here, and the peace offerings.” He offered the burnt offering. It came to pass that as soon as he had finished offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him, that he might greet him. Samuel said, “What have you done?” Saul said, “Because I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that you didn’t come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines assembled themselves together at Michmash; therefore I said, ‘Now the Philistines will come down on me to Gilgal, and I haven’t entreated the favor of Yahweh.’ I forced myself therefore, and offered the burnt offering.” Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the commandment of Yahweh your God, which he commanded you; for now Yahweh would have established your kingdom on Israel forever. But now your kingdom will not continue. Yahweh has sought for himself a man after his own heart, and Yahweh has appointed him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept that which Yahweh commanded you.”
- 1 Samuel 17:1-58 Now the Philistines gathered together their armies to battle; and they were gathered together at Socoh, which belongs to Judah, and encamped between Socoh and Azekah, in Ephesdammim. Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together, and encamped in the valley of Elah, and set the battle in array against the Philistines. The Philistines stood on the mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on the mountain on the other side: and there was a valley between them. A champion out of the camp of the Philistines named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span went out. He had a helmet of bronze on his head, and he wore a coat of mail; and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of bronze. He had bronze shin armor on his legs, and a bronze javelin between his shoulders. The staff of his spear was like a weaver’s beam; and his spear’s head weighed six hundred shekels of iron. His shield bearer went before him. He stood and cried to the armies of Israel, and said to them, “Why have you come out to set your battle in array? Am I not a Philistine, and you servants to Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me. If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then will we be your servants; but if I prevail against him and kill him, then you will be our servants and serve us.” The Philistine said, “I defy the armies of Israel today! Give me a man, that we may fight together!” When Saul and all Israel heard those words of the Philistine, they were dismayed, and greatly afraid. Now David was the son of that Ephrathite of Bethlehem Judah, whose name was Jesse; and he had eight sons. The man was an elderly old man in the days of Saul. The three oldest sons of Jesse had gone after Saul to the battle: and the names of his three sons who went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, and next to him Abinadab, and the third Shammah. David was the youngest; and the three oldest followed Saul. Now David went back and forth from Saul to feed his father’s sheep at Bethlehem. The Philistine came near morning and evening, and presented himself forty days. Jesse said to David his son, “Now take for your brothers an ephah of this parched grain, and these ten loaves, and carry them quickly to the camp to your brothers; and bring these ten cheeses to the captain of their thousand, and see how your brothers are doing, and bring back news.” Now Saul, and they, and all the men of Israel, were in the valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines. David rose up early in the morning, and left the sheep with a keeper, and took and went, as Jesse had commanded him. He came to the place of the wagons, as the army which was going out to the fight shouted for the battle. Israel and the Philistines put the battle in array, army against army. David left his baggage in the hand of the keeper of the baggage, and ran to the army, and came and greeted his brothers. As he talked with them, behold, the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, came up out of the ranks of the Philistines, and said the same words; and David heard them. All the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him, and were terrified. The men of Israel said, “Have you seen this man who has come up? He has surely come up to defy Israel. The king will give great riches to the man who kills him, and will give him his daughter, and make his father’s house free in Israel.” David spoke to the men who stood by him, saying, “What shall be done to the man who kills this Philistine, and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?” The people answered him in this way, saying, “So shall it be done to the man who kills him.” Eliab his oldest brother heard when he spoke to the men; and Eliab’s anger burned against David, and he said, “Why have you come down? With whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your pride, and the naughtiness of your heart; for you have come down that you might see the battle.” David said, “What have I now done? Is there not a cause?” He turned away from him toward another, and spoke like that again; and the people answered him again the same way. When the words were heard which David spoke, they rehearsed them before Saul; and he sent for him. David said to Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail because of him. Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth.” David said to Saul, “Your servant was keeping his father’s sheep; and when a lion or a bear came, and took a lamb out of the flock, I went out after him, and struck him, and rescued it out of his mouth. When he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and struck him, and killed him. Your servant struck both the lion and the bear. This uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, since he has defied the armies of the living God.” David said, “Yahweh who delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine.” Saul said to David, “Go! Yahweh will be with you.” Saul dressed David with his clothing. He put a helmet of bronze on his head, and he clad him with a coat of mail. David strapped his sword on his clothing, and he tried to move; for he had not tested it. David said to Saul, “I can’t go with these; for I have not tested them.” Then David took them off. He took his staff in his hand, and chose for himself five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag which he had. His sling was in his hand; and he came near to the Philistine. The Philistine walked and came near to David; and the man who bore the shield went before him. When the Philistine looked around, and saw David, he disdained him; for he was but a youth, and ruddy, and had a good looking face. The Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” The Philistine cursed David by his gods. The Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the sky, and to the animals of the field.” Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin; but I come to you in the name of Yahweh of Armies, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. Today, Yahweh will deliver you into my hand. I will strike you, and take your head from off you. I will give the dead bodies of the army of the Philistines today to the birds of the sky, and to the wild animals of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that Yahweh doesn’t save with sword and spear; for the battle is Yahweh’s, and he will give you into our hand.” When the Philistine arose, and walked and came near to meet David, David hurried, and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine. David put his hand in his bag, took a stone, and slung it, and struck the Philistine in his forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the earth. So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and struck the Philistine, and killed him; but there was no sword in the hand of David. Then David ran, stood over the Philistine, took his sword, drew it out of its sheath, killed him, and cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled. The men of Israel and of Judah arose and shouted, and pursued the Philistines as far as Gai and to the gates of Ekron. The wounded of the Philistines fell down by the way to Shaaraim, even to Gath and to Ekron. The children of Israel returned from chasing after the Philistines and they plundered their camp. David took the head of the Philistine, and brought it to Jerusalem; but he put his armor in his tent. When Saul saw David go out against the Philistine, he said to Abner, the captain of the army, “Abner, whose son is this youth?” Abner said, “As your soul lives, O king, I can’t tell.” The king said, “Inquire whose son the young man is!” As David returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand. Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, you young man?” David answered, “I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.”
- 1 Samuel 21:1-15 Then David came to Nob to Ahimelech the priest. Ahimelech came to meet David trembling, and said to him, “Why are you alone, and no man with you?” David said to Ahimelech the priest, “The king has commanded me to do something, and has said to me, ‘Let no one know anything about the business about which I send you, and what I have commanded you. I have sent the young men to a certain place.’ Now therefore what is under your hand? Please give me five loaves of bread in my hand, or whatever is available.” The priest answered David, and said, “I have no common bread, but there is holy bread; if only the young men have kept themselves from women.” David answered the priest, and said to him, “Truly, women have been kept from us as usual these three days. When I came out, the vessels of the young men were holy, though it was only a common journey. How much more then today shall their vessels be holy?” So the priest gave him holy bread; for there was no bread there but the show bread that was taken from before Yahweh, to put hot bread in the day when it was taken away. Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before Yahweh; and his name was Doeg the Edomite, the best of the herdsmen who belonged to Saul. David said to Ahimelech, “Isn’t there here under your hand spear or sword? For I have neither brought my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king’s business required haste.” The priest said, “Behold, the sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in the valley of Elah, is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If you would like to take that, take it; for there is no other except that here.” David said, “There is none like that. Give it to me.” David arose, and fled that day for fear of Saul, and went to Achish the king of Gath. The servants of Achish said to him, “Isn’t this David the king of the land? Didn’t they sing to one another about him in dances, saying, ‘Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands?’ ” David laid up these words in his heart, and was very afraid of Achish the king of Gath. He changed his behavior before them, and pretended to be insane in their hands, and scribbled on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle fall down on his beard. Then Achish said to his servants, “Look, you see the man is insane. Why then have you brought him to me? Do I lack madmen, that you have brought this fellow to play the madman in my presence? Should this fellow come into my house?”
- 2 Samuel 8:1-18 After this, David struck the Philistines and subdued them; and David took the bridle of the mother city out of the hand of the Philistines. He struck Moab, and measured them with the line, making them to lie down on the ground; and he measured two lines to put to death, and one full line to keep alive. The Moabites became servants to David, and brought tribute. David struck also Hadadezer the son of Rehob, king of Zobah, as he went to recover his dominion at the River. David took from him one thousand seven hundred horsemen and twenty thousand footmen. David hamstrung all the chariot horses, but reserved of them for one hundred chariots. When the Syrians of Damascus came to help Hadadezer king of Zobah, David struck twenty two thousand men of the Syrians. Then David put garrisons in Syria of Damascus; and the Syrians became servants to David, and brought tribute. Yahweh gave victory to David wherever he went. David took the shields of gold that were on the servants of Hadadezer, and brought them to Jerusalem. From Betah and from Berothai, cities of Hadadezer, king David took a great quantity of bronze. When Toi king of Hamath heard that David had struck all the army of Hadadezer, then Toi sent Joram his son to king David, to greet him, and to bless him, because he had fought against Hadadezer and struck him; for Hadadezer had wars with Toi. Joram brought with him vessels of silver, vessels of gold, and vessels of bronze. King David also dedicated these to Yahweh, with the silver and gold that he dedicated of all the nations which he subdued; of Syria, of Moab, of the children of Ammon, of the Philistines, of Amalek, and of the plunder of Hadadezer, son of Rehob, king of Zobah. David earned a reputation when he returned from striking down eighteen thousand men of the Syrians in the Valley of Salt. He put garrisons in Edom. Throughout all Edom, he put garrisons, and all the Edomites became servants to David. Yahweh gave victory to David wherever he went. David reigned over all Israel; and David executed justice and righteousness for all his people. Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the army, Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder, Zadok the son of Ahitub and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar were priests, Seraiah was scribe, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and the Pelethites, and David’s sons were chief ministers.
- 1 Chronicles 7:21 Zabad his son, Shuthelah his son, Ezer, and Elead, whom the men of Gath who were born in the land killed, because they came down to take away their livestock.
- Psalms 83:7 Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek; Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre;
- Isaiah 9:12 The Syrians in front, and the Philistines behind; and they will devour Israel with open mouth. For all this, his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
- Jeremiah 47:1-7 Yahweh’s word that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the Philistines, before Pharaoh struck Gaza. Yahweh says: “Behold, waters rise up out of the north, and will become an overflowing stream, and will overflow the land and all that is therein, the city and those who dwell therein. The men will cry, and all the inhabitants of the land will wail. At the noise of the stamping of the hoofs of his strong ones, at the rushing of his chariots, at the rumbling of his wheels, the fathers don’t look back to their children for feebleness of hands; because of the day that comes to destroy all the Philistines, to cut off from Tyre and Sidon every helper who remains; for Yahweh will destroy the Philistines, the remnant of the isle of Caphtor. Baldness has come on Gaza; Ashkelon is brought to nothing, the remnant of their valley: how long will you cut yourself? “ ‘You sword of Yahweh, how long will it be before you are quiet? Put yourself back into your scabbard; rest, and be still.’ “How can you be quiet, since Yahweh has given you a command? Against Ashkelon, and against the seashore, there has he appointed it.”
- Joel 3:4-21 “Yes, and what are you to me, Tyre, and Sidon, and all the regions of Philistia? Will you repay me? And if you repay me, I will swiftly and speedily return your repayment on your own head. Because you have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried my finest treasures into your temples, and have sold the children of Judah and the children of Jerusalem to the sons of the Greeks, that you may remove them far from their border. Behold, I will stir them up out of the place where you have sold them, and will return your repayment on your own head; and I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hands of the children of Judah, and they will sell them to the men of Sheba, to a faraway nation, for Yahweh has spoken it.” Proclaim this among the nations: “Prepare for war! Stir up the mighty men. Let all the warriors draw near. Let them come up. Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears. Let the weak say, ‘I am strong.’ Hurry and come, all you surrounding nations, and gather yourselves together.” Cause your mighty ones to come down there, Yahweh. “Let the nations arouse themselves, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat; for there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations. Put in the sickle; for the harvest is ripe. Come, tread, for the wine press is full, the vats overflow, for their wickedness is great.” Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of Yahweh is near, in the valley of decision. The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining. Yahweh will roar from Zion, and thunder from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth will shake; but Yahweh will be a refuge to his people, and a stronghold to the children of Israel. “So you will know that I am Yahweh, your God, dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain. Then Jerusalem will be holy, and no strangers will pass through her any more. It will happen in that day, that the mountains will drop down sweet wine, the hills will flow with milk, all the brooks of Judah will flow with waters, and a fountain will flow out from Yahweh’s house, and will water the valley of Shittim. Egypt will be a desolation, and Edom will be a desolate wilderness, for the violence done to the children of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land. But Judah will be inhabited forever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation. I will cleanse their blood, that I have not cleansed: for Yahweh dwells in Zion.”
- Amos 1:6-8 Yahweh says: “For three transgressions of Gaza, yes, for four, I will not turn away its punishment; because they carried away captive the whole community, to deliver them up to Edom; but I will send a fire on the wall of Gaza, and it will devour its palaces. I will cut off the inhabitant from Ashdod, and him who holds the scepter from Ashkelon; and I will turn my hand against Ekron; and the remnant of the Philistines will perish,” says the Lord Yahweh.
- Zephaniah 2:4-7 For Gaza will be forsaken, and Ashkelon a desolation. They will drive out Ashdod at noonday, and Ekron will be rooted up. Woe to the inhabitants of the sea coast, the nation of the Cherethites! Yahweh’s word is against you, Canaan, the land of the Philistines. I will destroy you, that there will be no inhabitant. The sea coast will be pastures, with cottages for shepherds and folds for flocks. The coast will be for the remnant of the house of Judah. They will find pasture. In the houses of Ashkelon, they will lie down in the evening, for Yahweh, their God, will visit them, and restore them.
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Explain this verse (16 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Eze 25:15 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because the…
Eze 25:15 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because the Philistines have dealt by revenge, and have taken vengeance with a despiteful heart, to destroy [it] for the old hatred;
Ver. 15. Because the Philistines have dealt by revenge.] See on Eze 25:12-13. Heathens thought revenge lawful, and tallying of injuries to be but justice. But Christianity teacheth us that non minus mali est referre iniuriam, quam inferre, {a}
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For the old hatred.] The Philistines were of the old inhabitants the Canaanites, and kept up a deadly feud.
{a} Lactant.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain The Philistines; next neighbours to the Jews, between whom…
The Philistines; next neighbours to the Jews, between whom many quarrels, wars, and mutual spoil, slaughter, and injuries happened, as ever among borderers, who make all their own they can catch.
Have dealt by revenge; took the opportunity to revenge themselves when the Jews were weak and low.
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With a despiteful heart; with hatred to them, and contempt of them.
To destroy it for the old hatred: this tells us what their hatred appeared in, it was a hatred to the name and being of Israel, they would cut them off, as Psa 83:7, with a perpetuated, endless enmity pursuing them.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Thus saith the Lord God,.... Once more, and concerning…
Thus saith the Lord God,.... Once more, and concerning another enemy of the people of Israel, and who had been of old an implacable one:
because the Philistines have dealt by revenge: for what they suffered in the times of Saul, when Goliath was slain by David, and their army was discomfited; and for the overthrow of them by David, when he came to throne; and for his burning their images, and subduing them, Sa1 17:51, this revenge they took in the time of Ahaz, Ch2 28:18, and very probably also showed their spite at the time of Jerusalem's destruction:
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and have taken vengeance with a despiteful heart, to destroy it for the old hatred; which they bore to the people of Israel, from their first settlement in Canaan; from the times of the judges, particularly Samson; and from the times of Saul and David: it was an old grudge they bore, they had spite and malice in their hearts, and wanted an opportunity to vent it; having determined to take vengeance when they could, and utterly destroy them from being a people; very likely, through despite, they assisted the Chaldean army: or, this they did "with a perpetual hatred" (z); they did everything they could, in a spiteful and malicious way, to perpetuate the hatred between them and Israel.
(z) "inimictias perpetuas", Pagninus; "iuimietia perpetua", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain It - Israel.
It - Israel.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 15. Because the Philistines] They were as inimical…
Verse 15. Because the Philistines] They were as inimical to the Jews as the Ammonites, c., were. Nebuchadnezzar punished them because they had assisted the Tyrians during the time he was besieging their city.
I will cut off the Cherethims] 2Sa 8:18.
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The remnant of the sea coasts.] The different seignories of the Philistines inhabited the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, from Judea to Egypt. For other matters relative to these prophecies, see the passages in the margin.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Eze 25:15-17. Because the Philistines have dealt by revenge…
Eze 25:15-17. Because the Philistines have dealt by revenge — The Philistines being borderers upon the Jews, were their ancient enemies, from the very time of the judges downward, more particularly in the time of Ahaz: see 2Ch 28:18. Therefore I will stretch out my hand upon the Philistines — I will bring calamities upon them, and enemies who shall subdue them. They were accordingly subdued by Nebuchadnezzar: see Jer 25:20; Jer 47:1. The Cherethims, or Cherethites, are the same with the Philistines, or a tribe of that people: see the margin. And destroy the remnant of the sea-coast — The same who are called the remnant of the Philistines, Amo 1:8; the remnant of Ashdod, Jer 25:20; and the remnant of the country of Caphthor, chap. Eze 47:4: on which two places see the notes. It is called the remnant, or remains, because the sea-coast of the Philistines, namely, about Ashdod, had been before much wasted and spoiled by the invasion of Psammetichus, king of Egypt.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain The Philistines occupying lands to the south of Judah…
The Philistines occupying lands to the south of Judah were a Hamite race Gen 10:14, but of a different branch from the Canaanites. They were a powerful people never dispossessed by the Israelites Jos 13:3. They were a thorn in the side of the chosen people throughout, and joined in attacking Jerusalem in the day of her trouble. They were much reduced by the Assyrians Isa 14:31, and Egyptians Jer 47:1-7, before the time of this prophecy, but further destruction came upon them in the general ruin of the inhabitants of Canaan, which commenced with the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar.
Eze 25:16
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Cherethims - The inhabitants of the southern portion of Philistia Zep 2:5.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Enmities. They also watched every moment to injure the…
Enmities. They also watched every moment to injure the Jews, Amos i. 5. But Nabuchodonosor was irritated, because they had assisted Tyre, Jeremias xlvii. 4.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain (1Sa. 13:1-14:52; Ch2 28:18). The "old hatred" refers to…
(1Sa. 13:1-14:52; Ch2 28:18). The "old hatred" refers to their continual enmity to the covenant-people. They lay along Judea on the seacoast at the opposite side from Ammon and Moab. They were overthrown by Uzziah (Ch2 26:6), and by Hezekiah (Kg2 18:8). Nebuchadnezzar overran the cities on the seacoast on his way to Egypt after besieging Tyre (Jer 47:1-7). God will take vengeance on those who take the avenging of themselves out of His hands into their own (Rom 12:19-21; Jam 2:13).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 15, 16. The Philistines,… the Cherethim — Whether the…
15, 16. The Philistines,… the Cherethim — Whether the Philistines were Aryans or Semites is not settled. George Adam Smith describes them as a Semitic people with non-Semitic habits, language, and institutions. An Egyptian traveler, 1000 B.C., declared that he found a colony of Philistines at the foot of Mount Carmel which traced its descent from the Zuk(k)ara, a warlike tribe of Asia Minor (Pap. Golenischeff). The original home of the Philistines, however, was not Asia Minor nor the Egyptian Delta (Sayce) nor Phoenicia (Muller), but almost certainly Crete. The features of the inhabitants of Philistia, as portrayed on the Egyptian monuments by Ramses II (1350 B.C.), have a Hittite cast and differ very greatly from those pictured by later Pharaohs, which probably indicates that this warlike people had entered the country and seized the “seacoast cities” — Gaza, Askelon, Ashdod, Ekron, Gath — which they ever afterward held, though it may possibly only point to an abnormal admixture of racial types in the nation. The Cretes were a mixed race, and the writer has noticed that the modern inhabitants of Philistia show this same peculiarity in a marked degree. Certain it is that only a little previous to the Exodus the Philistines began to figure prominently in the war records of Egypt (Egyptian, Purasati; Assyrian, Pulista or Pilista). In the latter part of the fifteenth century B.C., as is proved by the Tel-el-Amarna letters, the Philistine cities were in complete subjection to Egypt. They had rather a high degree of civilization. Clear cases of commerce with Cyprus were found at Tel-el-Hesy (Lachish). After the Exodus the Philistines (allying themselves with the Anakim) had many severe struggles with the Hebrews, with varying fortunes, as is proved by the story of David and Goliath, Shamgar, Samson, etc. Sometimes it seemed as if the Hebrews were destined to be nothing more than the abject slaves of this people. (See Jdg_5:8; 1Sa_13:19.) After Israel had successfully revolted, Philistia, no doubt, allied herself with her enemies for revenge (Eze_25:15). So great did the Philistines become that the land of Canaan and Israel is known by their name even to this day (Palestine). Philistia was always a stronghold of idolatry, and Gaza continued to boast of idol temples long after Christianity had dominated the rest of Palestine. The writer still saw indications of the survival of the old heathen worship as late as 1890. The Cherethims or Cherethites was probably another name of the Philistines, referring to their Cretan origin (Zep_2:5). Arthur J. Evans has proved that the Philistines on the Egyptian monuments wear Cretan dress and carry Cretan vases.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 15–17. Prophecy against the Philistines
15–17. Prophecy against the Philistines
15. with a despiteful heart] Lit. with despite in soul, as Eze_25:6, i.e. the deepest despite of heart, chaps. Eze_16:57, Eze_36:5.
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destroy it for the old hatred] Rather: to destroy with perpetual hatred, cf. Eze_35:5; Amo_1:11. The power of the Philistines was conclusively broken by David, but references to their rancour and injuriousness when opportunity occurred run through all the literature of Israel, Amo_1:6 seq.; Isa_9:12; Zep_2:5; Oba_1:19; Joe_3:4; Zec_9:5.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (15) The Philistines.—The historical books of the Old Testament…
(15) The Philistines.—The historical books of the Old Testament are almost a continuous record of the hostility of the Philistines. At times they held the greater part of the land of Israel in subjection, and at times were subdued in their turn. Although belonging to another branch of the Hamitic family, their land was included with that of the Canaanites in the territory to be given to the Israelites (Jos_13:2-3). It was never, however, occupied by them, although the cities were fortified and garrisoned by some of the kings. The land lay along the coast of the Mediterranean, on the highway between Egypt and Assyria and Chaldæa, and consequently, in the struggles of those nations with each other the Philistines were gradually more and more reduced, until they disappeared entirely. Among the many prophecies against them, the following may be especially referred to: Isa_14:29-32; Jeremiah 47; Amo_1:6-8; Zep_2:4-7.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain The sin of the Philistines is virtually the same…
The sin of the Philistines is virtually the same as that of the Edomites. They also had a perpetual hatred. Century after century they had been, with various fortunes, the enemies of Israel defeated (to confine ourselves to more recent history) by Jehoshaphat (2Ch_17:11) and Uzziah, (2Ch_26:6) formidable under Jehoram (2Ch_21:16) and Ahaz, (2Ch_28:18) repressed by Hezekiah, (Isa_14:31) combining with Amalek, and Ammon, and Tyre, and Assyria against Jerusalem. (Psa_83:7)
Vers. 15-17. The hating nation.
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The Philistines are signalized by an ugly preeminence in hatred, and they are to be punished with an extremity of Divine vengeance.
I THE PRE-EMINENT HATRED. Partly through her own mischief-making, but largely on account of unwarrantable jealousy, the favored land of Israel had been troubled with the enmity of most of her neighbors. But no people had shown such bitter and long-cherished animosity as the little fishing and farming community on its southwestern border. From the days of the judges, the Philistines appear as the hereditary enemies of Israel. Possibly the fact that they were hemmed in between the hill country of Judah and the sea, and so were cramped for room and had their access to the east and the west cut off from them, made them jealous of their more prosperous and expansive neighbors. Be that as it may, hatred characterizes the relations between the two peoples. Close contact does not produce friendship if sympathy or its worldly substitute, mutual interest, be lacking. The most bitter quarrels are those between near neighbors. Family feuds are proverbially rancorous. Means of communication will not bring "peace on earth" and "good will towards men." Commerce does not abolish war. Railways have not made friends of France and Germany. Hatred must be conquered by deeper means than worldly advantage.
II THE DREADFUL DOOM.
1. It is a Divine vengeance. This must always be fearful; but there are degrees in the execution of it determined by varieties in the character and conduct of men. Here it is described as peculiarly heavy vengeance," "with furious rebukes." There is nothing that God prizes so highly as unselfish love, the queen of all virtues; and accordingly there is nothing that he so deeply hates as hatred. This is a sin that most surely provokes the wrath of Heaven.
2. It is seen in destructions. The Philistines had been named "Cherethims from their old land when they came as exiles across theLevant and settled on its eastern shore. Now they will deserve that name a second time, for they must be extirpated outright. This thing has been accomplished. The Philistines have ceased to exist. A similar doom had been threatened against the other nations, but with Philistia it was most impressive, as coming most directly from the hand of God.
3. It is experienced after long delay. For generations the Philistines had been the incessant enemies of Judah, a perpetual thorn in her side, sometimes utilized for purposes of needful castigation, often slumbering in impotent inactivity, but never truly reconciled to the Jews. Their punishment was long delayed, but it was not outlived. It is a fearful thing to suffer from accumulated punishment. Awful must be the doom of the aged sinner. Yet it is never too late to return. Even penitent Philistines will be pardoned.
Vers. 15-17. The old hatred.
Between the Israelites, the children of light, and the Philistines, the children of darkness, there existed for centuries almost uninterrupted hostility. Their position upon the coast, their powerful cities, their formidable warriors, their imposing yet debasing religion, concurred to make them mighty. And the immediate neighborhood of the descendants of Abraham brought the two peoples into frequent collision. The Philistines were sometimes used as the means of humiliating the unfaithful and disobedient children of Israel; and bitterly was the discipline felt when the Philistines rejoiced over them. For the Philistines on the west, as well as for the Ammonites and Edomites upon the east, the day of reckoning was at hand.
I THE HATRED OF THE PHILISTINES TOWARDS ISRAEL WAS ANCIENT, PERENNIAL, AND UNDECAYING. This may be illustrated from the historical books of the Old Testament Scriptures.
II THIS HATRED HAD ITS POLITICAL ORIGIN IN THE SETTLEMENT OF THE ISRAELITES IN CANAAN.
III AND ITS RELIGIOUS ORIGIN IN THE CONTRAST BETWEEN THE PURE WORSHIP OF JEHOVAH AND THE DEGRADING RELIGION PRACTICED IN PHILISTIA.
IV THIS HATRED DISPLAYED ITSELF OFFENSIVELY IN THE TIME OF ISRAEL"S DEPRESSION AND HUMILIATION.
V THIS HATRED BROUGHT DOWN UPON THE PHILISTINES THE INDIGNATION AND THE RETRIBUTIVE RECOMPENSE OF THE MOST HIGH.
VI THIS HATRED THUS FURNISHED AN OCCASION FOR THE VINDICATION BY GOD OF HIS OWN RIGHTEOUS GOVERNMENT AND IRRESISTIBLE AUTHORITY.
APPLICATION.
1. There is such a thing as national morality. Apart from the character and conduct of individuals, a nation by its collective action proves itself to possess a certain moral unity.
2. There is such a thing as national responsibility. The people sin, and the people suffer; the people repent and call upon God, and the people are saved.
3. There is especial scope for the display of national virtues, and for the right use of national opportunity and probation, in the relations which subsist between different and sometimes rival communities.
4. National pride, power, and prosperity are of no avail in God"s sight, if injustice and malevolence are exhibited by nations in their intercourse and transactions with each other. "The righteous Lord loveth righteousness. T.
Vers. 15-17. The heinous sin and severe punishment of the Philistines.
saith the Lord God; Because the Philistines have dealt by revenge," etc. This paragraph treating of the Philistines is similar in its prominent features to those which dealt with the Ammonites, Moabites, and Edomites, especially the last. In each case there is a setting forth of the sin and an announcement of the punishment. And there is a close resemblance between the Edomites and the Philistines, both in their sin and in their punishment. With this similarity of essential character in the paragraphs of this chapter, it is not easy to suggest variety of homiletical treatment for each paragraph. In our text we have
I A BRIEF STATEMENT OF A LONG COURSE OF HEINOUS SIN. "The Philistines have dealt by revenge, and have taken vengeance with despite of soul to destroy it with perpetual enmity." Mark the gradations of their sin as they are indicated in the text.
1. The sin of the Philistines was hatred against the Jews. They were a powerful people, occupying territory to the south-west of Judah, and were unvarying in their hostility to the Israelites. Their sin was the very opposite of that love which God commands as the supreme duty of man to his fellow-man: "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself". (Lev_19:18) And in Christian ethics their sin is equivalent to murder: "Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer". (1Jn_3:15)
2. Their hatred was intense and scornful, it was no superficial emotion. They took "vengeance with despite of soul." They were hearty and passionate and zealous in their enmity to the Jews.
3. Their hatred was inveterate. "The old hatred," or "perpetual enmity." A glance at their history shows this. In the time of the judges "they vexed and oppressed the children of Israel". (Jud_1:10:7, 8) Near the close of the career of Eli they defeated Israel in battle with great slaughter, and seized the ark of God. (1Sa_4:10, 1Sa_4:11) They were conquered by the Israelites under Samuel, and were kept in check all his days. (1Sa_7:7-14) But in the days of Saul they again became troublesome, and brought Israel in a measure into subjection to them. (1Sa_13:19, 1Sa_13:20) In the battle in which Saul and his sons were slain, they inflicted a disastrous defeat upon Israel. (1Sa 31) They were vanquished by David. But in after-times they caused much trouble and damage to Judah. (2Ch_21:16, 17 28:18) And they showed their old animosity by acts of hostility at the time when Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem. Their hatred was ancient and persistent.
4. Their hatred was habitually active. "The Philistines have dealt by revenge, and have taken vengeance." Their enmity existed not simply as an emotion, but found vigorous expression. And it expressed itself, not simply in hostile and bitter words, but in malignant deeds, in revengeful actions. And these deeds were not occasional, but habitual. They "dealt by revenge," as if it had been their trade or occupation. "A perpetually enduring war," says Schroder, "is the standing feature of the relation, while fixed hostility was the root of it.
5. This hatred was destructive in its design. "Have taken vengeance with despite of soul to destroy it with perpetual enmity." The aim of the hostile Philistines was to bring the Jewish nation to an utter end. This was their steadfast purpose. One aspect of hatred is very conspicuous in this brief delineation, and it is as admonitory as it is conspicuous, viz. its tendency to continuance and growth. If animosity be not resisted, if it be not combated by the presentation of prayer to God and by the cultivation and expression of kindness towards men, especially towards the object of our aversion, it will increase in depth and intensity. Hence it is of the utmost importance to check the beginnings of hatred. "Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and railing be put away from you, with all malice; and be ye kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, even as God also in Christ forgave you.
II A STARTLING ANNOUNCEMENT OF SEVERE PUNISHMENT FOR PROTRACTED AND HEINOUS SINS. "Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will stretch out mine hand upon the Philistines," etc. (Vers. 16, 17). We see here:
1. Punishment of great severity. "I will execute great vengeance upon them with furious rebukes." Who can conceive the dread severity of the great vengeance of the Almighty with furious rebukes? They who had dealt by revenge and taken vengeance on Israel should suffer the great vengeance of the God of Israel. After the destruction of Jerusalem, when Nebuchadnezzar turned his mighty forces against Egypt, "the result was specially disastrous to the Philistines: Gaza was taken by the Egyptians, and the population of the whole plain was reduced to a mere "remnant" by the invading armies.
2. Punishment ending in destruction. "I will cut off the Cherethites, and destroy the remnant of the sea coast." The name "Cherethites" is given "to the whole of the Philistines, for the sake of the paronomasia." The name signifies "cut off," or "extirpated," and it was to find its fulfillment in their doom. "The destruction of the remnant points to this," says Hengstenberg, "that they shall be destroyed to the last man, as in fact the Philistines have utterly disappeared. It is the great privilege of the people of God, that how heavy soever the judgments of God may be upon them, never will it be said of them, "I will destroy the remnant." "They who had made it their object to destroy the Jewish nation should themselves be destroyed by the Almighty. "With what measure ye mete, it shall be measured unto you.
3. Punishment from the hand of God. Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will stretch out mine hand upon the Philistines," etc. The Chaldeans and others were but as weapons in the hands of the supreme Sovereign and righteous Judge of all.
The Lord sitteth as King for ever: He hath prepared his throne for judgment. And he shall judge the world in righteousness, He shall minister judgment to the peoples in uprightness.
And if men will not be brought to know him by the sweet influences of his grace, then by the stern severities of his vengeance they shall know that he is the Lord. W.J.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
F. W. Grant 1903 · Public Domain Section 3 (Eze 25:15-17).
Section 3 (Eze 25:15-17).
The Philistines under ban.
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The Philistines next come before us, as partakers of this inherent and perpetual enmity of Edom. They were intruders into a land promised to Israel, though with a conviction of their own prior right. They have given their name to the whole land (Palestine, from Phtlistia), which they claim, though they have never been able to take possession of more than its mere lowest border. We have seen them abundantly elsewhere, as typically natural men intruding into spiritual things. As Philistines they are "immigrants," but never Hebrews -that is, "passengers" or "pilgrims." They figure largely in the earlier historical books as far as Samuel, and must have a corresponding importance in their signification for us. As Christians, we should know these Philistines very well. They are seen today in what claims to be the Catholic, the Univer_ sal Church, but which spiritual judgment recognizes as but Judaism with a thin veil of Christianity drawn over its face, and with the full inheritance of Jewish enmity to the children of the free woman apparent through it. Into this also we cannot enter now, and need not, as any that will can find it fully where the interpretation naturally belongs. (See Notes on Gen 20:1-18; Gen 26:12; Jos 13:2-3; 1Sa 17:1-58, etc.)
We have but one class of these Philistines specially noticed here, the Cherethites, the "cutters off," which have been also elsewhere considered. (See Act 27:1-44, Notes.) "Cutting off" naturally characterizes asceticism in its every shape, a remnant merely of the old heathenism, whatever its Christian dress. Externalism is manifest here, even in the most zealous forms of devotion. The Cherethites are taken by many, in certain passages at least, to mean "executioners," and in this form of cutting off, Philistinism has ever distinguished itself; and, doubtless, many who sacrificed in this way the deepest feelings of their nature have thought they were doing God service. But all through, the enmity against Israel (the literal as well as the typical enmity) is apparent in what is here, and God threatens the Cherethites in a special manner: "Behold, I will stretch out my hands upon the Philistines, and I will cut off the Cherethites, and destroy the remnant of the seacoast." Thus Philistia will perish in the day of God, and all that are with God will only rejoice over the judgment.
F. W. Grant, The Numerical Bible (4th ed., 1903) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 The Philistines have taken vengeance with malice and from…
The Philistines have taken vengeance with malice and from within themselves they tried to destroy Judah again and again
The phrase "from within themselves" is an idiom. AT: "The Philistines hate Judah and have tried to take revenge against it by their own strength again and again" (See: Idiom)
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to destroy Judah
Here "Judah" refers to the people who live there. AT: "to destroy the people of Judah" (See: Metonymy)
Behold
This tells the reader to pay special attention to what follows. AT: "Look" or "Listen" or "Pay attention to what I am about to tell you"
I will reach out with my hand against the Philistines
Here Yahweh's power is represented by his "hand." AT: "I will turn my powerful hand against the Philistines" or "I will turn my great power against the Philistines" (See: Metonymy)
I will cut off
This is an idiom. AT: "I will destroy" or "I will get rid of" (See: Idiom)
Kerethites
people who lived in the city of Kereth in Philistia (See: How to Translate Names)
translationWords
Lord Yahweh
Philistines
avenge
remnant
punish
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 25:15-17 The Philistines also had a long-standing contempt for…
25:15-17 The Philistines also had a long-standing contempt for Judah. Their crimes are not specified, but they did not escape the Lord’s notice, and he would return vengeance for vengeance. Then they, too, would recognize the Lord’s sovereign power. • The Kerethites were a Philistine tribe (see 1 Sam 30:14).
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