Woe to 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 you, that there shall be no inhabitant.
Woe to 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 you, that there shall be no inhabitant.
Woe unto the inhabitants of the sea-coast, the nation of the Cherethites! The word of Jehovah is against you, O Canaan, the land of the Philistines; I will destroy thee, that there shall be no inhabitant.
Sorrow to the people living by the sea, the nation of the Cherethites! The word of the Lord is against you, O Canaan, the land of the Philistines; I will send destruction on you till there is no one living in you.
Woe to the inhabitants of the sea coasts, 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 to the inhabitants of the sea coast, the nation of the Cherethites! The word of Yahweh is against you, Canaan, the land of the Philistines. I will destroy you, that there will be no inhabitant.
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 destroy thee, that there shall be no inhabitant.
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 (note), and Amos 9:7 (note).
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.
2:5 The inhabitants - All the Philistines. Cherethites - Or destroyers, men that were stout, fierce, and terrible to their neighbours. O Canaan - That part that the Philistines kept by force from the Jews.