“At the noise
Of the stamping
Of the hoofs
Of his stallions,
At the clatter
Of his chariots,
At the rumbling
Of their wheels,
The parents do not
Look back
For children.
Their hands are so feeble.
The day is coming
To destroy
All the Philistines.
They will be cut off
From Tyre and Sidon,
From every helper
That remains.
Yahweh is destroying
The Philistines,
The remnant
Of the coastland
Of Caphtor.”
The Philistines were going to hear the hoofs of the stallions of these invaders. They would hear the noise of the rumbling chariot wheels. Parents would not turn back to save their children, because their own hands would be too weak. The Philistines would be destroyed, since they were cut off from any help from the Phoenician cities of Tyre and Sidon. Yahweh was going to destroy the remnant of the coastal people, who may have come from the island of Caphtor or Crete.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 