“Woe to you!
Inhabitants of the seacoast!
You nation of the Cherethites!
The word of Yahweh
Is against you!
O Canaan!
Land of the Philistines!
I will destroy you
Until no inhabitant is left.
You,
O seacoast,
Shall be pastures,
Shall be meadows for shepherds,
Shall be folds for flocks.
The seacoast
Shall become the possession
Of the remnant
Of the house of Judah.
They shall pasture
In the houses of Ashkelon.
They shall lie down at evening.
Yahweh,
Their God,
Will be mindful of them.
He will restore
Their fortunes.”
Yahweh, via Zephaniah, rebuked the whole seacoast area of the Philistines, about 32 miles along the Mediterranean coast line and about 10-16 miles wide inland in southwestern Canaan. They were called Cherethites, since they may have had some connection to the island of Crete. Yahweh was against them, so that he was going to destroy them until there was nothing left of them. They would become a possession of the remnants of Judah. Their land would become like meadows for sheep. Their houses in Ashkelon would become pastures. Yahweh was going to restore the fortunes of the Israelites.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 