Ezekiel 25:16 - Exposition

The Cherethims . The name appears, coupled with the Philistines, in Zephaniah 2:5 , and has been supposed to be connected with Crete as the region from which they came, or in which they afterwards settled. By many writers both names are identified with the Cherethites and Pelethites, who appear as David's body-guard in 2 Samuel 8:18 ; 2 Samuel 15:18 , et al ; and who are supposed to represent a body of mercenary or subject troops formed out of the two nations. Both Ezekiel and Zephaniah connect the Cherethims with a paronomasia, the verb I will cut off being almost identical in sound with it. (For other prophecies, see Isaiah 11:14 ; Isaiah 14:29-31 ; Jeremiah 47:1-7 .; Joel 3:4 ; Amos 1:6-8 ; Zephaniah 2:4-7 ; Zechariah 9:4-7 .)