Zephaniah 2:5

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

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.

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.

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.Ver. 5. Woe to the inhabitants of the sea coast] These were the Philistines; they lay between the Jews and the sea; God having so disposed of it, that his people might not have much commerce with foreign nations, nor learn their manners. Into havens and maritime towns there is usually a conflux of vices, like as there is of waters into the sea: witness Tyre and Sidon, Corinth, Carthage, Capernaum, &c. Hence that proverb, maritimi mores; naval customs, and that censure of such people, littorales duri, horridi, immanes, latrociniis dediti, omnium denique pessimi, Those that dwell by the seaside are usually ill-conditioned, ferce, cruel, thievish, and the worst of men. These Philistines were no better, and are therefore here put under a woe, and threatened with utter destruction. The nation of the Cherethites] i.e. Destroyer; so the Philistines had styled themselves, as glorying to have conquered and cut off many people. The old Latin translation rendereth it Gens perditorum, The nation of destroyers; so doth Aquila, Theodotion, and Symmachus. Now it comes to their turn to be destroyed, according to Isaiah 33:1. That these Cherethites were a sort of Philistines, see 1 Samuel 30:14; 1 Samuel 30:16 Ezekiel 25:16 That they were valiant men appears by that legion of them that guarded David, 2 Samuel 8:4, and were highly esteemed by him, because they stuck to him in his affliction at Gath, and also when Absalom was up in arms, 2 Samuel 15:18. The word of the Lord is against you] And not only against Israel. This was spoken, as for the terror of those Philistines, who thought themselves out of the reach of God’ s rod, and slighted his word, so for the comfort of the people of God, who thought much that themselves should be so severely dealt with, and the uncircumcised Philistines escape scot free. O Canaan, the land of the Philistines] Indeed, of the Israelites, Joshua 13:3, but held by force by the Philistines, who were of the stock of the Canaanites, but not subdued; and had detained part of the land from the right owners for eight hundred years and upwards; and now they come to be reckoned with. Subito tollitur qui diu toleratur. Suddenly be destroyed who where tolerated for a long time. I will even destroy thee, that there shall be no inhabitant] No settled inhabitant, that shall fix there, as the word signifieth. Thus Poena venit gravior, quo mage sera venit, the longer God stays the heavier he strikes.

(5) The Cherethites.—Perhaps Cretans. See on 1 Samuel 30:14; Ezekiel 25:16, where the same term is applied to the Philistines. Canaan originally means “low-lying ground.” It here indicates the low maritime plain inhabited by the Philistines.

Verse 5. The sea-coasts, the nation of the Cherethites] The sea-coasts mean all the country lying on the Mediterranean coast from Egypt to Joppa and Gaza. The Cherethites - the Cretans who were probably a colony of the Phoenicians. See on 1 Samuel 30:14, and Amos 9:7.

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.

The “woe” having been pronounced on the five cities apart, now falls upon the whole nation of the Cherethites or Philistines.

4-7. The doom of Philistia. Gaza… Ashkelon… Ashdod… Ekron — See on Amos 1:6-8. Gath is again absent. Shall be forsaken — Depopulated.