He mentions Gaza first, a name which often occurs in scripture. The Hebrews called it Aza; but as ע, oin, is the first letter, the Greeks have rendered it Gaza, and heathen authors have thought it to be a Persia word, and it means in that language a treasure. But this is a vain notion, for it is no doubt a Hebrew word. He then adds Ashkelon, a city nigh to Gaza. In the third place he mentions Ashdod, which the Greeks have translated Azotus, and the Latins have followed the Greeks. He names Ekron in the last place. All these cities were near to the Jews, and were not far from one another towards the Moabites and the Idumeans. This verse, literally rendered, retains more of its poetic character,— 4. For Gaza, forsaken shall she be, And Ashkelon shall be a desolation; Ashdod, at mid-day shall they drive it out, And Ekron shall be rooted up. In the first and the last line there is a correspondence in the sound of the words. The following presents another instance of the nominative case absolute,— 5. Woe to the dwellers of the line of the sea, The nation of the Kerethites! The word of Jehovah is against you: Canaan, the land of the Philistines, I will even destroy thee, that there shall be no inhabitant. The line of the sea, meaning the coast along the shore, is so called, says Henderson, “from the custom of using a cord or line in measuring off or dividing a territory.” Some derive “Kerethites” from [כרת], to cut off, to destroy; and so they were cutters off or destroyers. They were celebrated men of war in the time of David, 2 Samuel 8:18. “Philistines” mean emigrants, says Henderson; the word being derived from a verb, which signifies, in the Ethiopic language, to rove, to migrate.—Ed.