Bible Strands
Jeremiah 47:6
‘Alas, O sword of the LORD, how long until you rest? Return to your sheath; cease and be still!’
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Jeremiah addresses the sword of the LORD as a personified agent, asking how long it will continue its destruction. The oracle occurs during the mourning of Gaza and Ashkelon, immediately before noting that God has commanded the sword to target them.
The words — The phrase חֶרֶב יְהוָה (ḥereb YHWH) literally renders "sword of Yahweh," identifying the military force as divinely directed. The imperative הֵאָסְפִי (he'asisi) commands the weapon to "gather yourself" or retreat to its sheath.
The thread — This personified sword motif appears in Jeremiah 12:12 and Ezekiel 21:3, where the weapon draws from its sheath to execute judgment, and in Ezekiel 21:30, which commands it to return to its sheath after the appointed judgment.
Why it lands — The text reports that historical warfare operates under direct divine command rather than human autonomy. It requires the reader to acknowledge that prolonged judgment remains subject to God's sovereign timing and purpose.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
O thou sword of the Lord, how long will it be ere thou be quiet? put up thyself into thy scabbard, rest, and be still.
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 12:12 Over all the barren heights in the wilderness the destroyers have come, for the sword of the LORD devours from one end of the earth to the other. No flesh has peace.
- Ezekiel 21:3 and tell her that this is what the LORD says: ‘I am against you, and I will draw My sword from its sheath and cut off from you both the righteous and the wicked.
- Ezekiel 21:30 Return the sword to its sheath! In the place where you were created, in the land of your origin, I will judge you.
- John 18:11 “Put your sword back in its sheath!” Jesus said to Peter. “Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given Me?”
- Deuteronomy 32:41 when I sharpen My flashing sword, and My hand grasps it in judgment, I will take vengeance on My adversaries and repay those who hate Me.
- 2 Samuel 2:26 Then Abner called out to Joab: “Must the sword devour forever? Do you not realize that this will only end in bitterness? How long before you tell the troops to stop pursuing their brothers?”
- 1 Chronicles 21:27 Then the LORD spoke to the angel, who put his sword back into its sheath.
- Psalms 17:13 Arise, O LORD, confront them! Bring them to their knees; deliver me from the wicked by Your sword,
- Isaiah 10:5 Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger; the staff in their hands is My wrath.
- Isaiah 10:15 Does an axe raise itself above the one who swings it? Does a saw boast over him who saws with it? It would be like a rod waving the one who lifts it, or a staff lifting him who is not wood!