Woe unto the inhabitants of the sea coast, the nation of the Cherethites! the word of the LORD is against you; O Canaan, the land of the Philistines, I will even destroy thee, that there shall be no inhabitant.
Woe unto the inhabitants of the sea coast - the Philistine dwelling on the strip of sea coast southwest of Canaan. Literally, the cord or line of sea (cf. Jeremiah 47:7; Ezekiel 25:16).
The Cherethites - the Cretans, a name applied to the Philistines as sprung from Crete. Elsewhere the Philistines are said to have come from Caphtor, (Deuteronomy 2:23; Jeremiah 47:4; Amos 9:7, "Have not I brought up the Philistines from Caphtor?") Caphtor is probably Cappadocia (as the Targums and Vulgate and Syriac versions state). The term х 'iy (H336)], 'isle of Caphtor,' margin, Jeremiah 47:4, is made an argument by some for identifying Caphtor with Crete: but the term 'isle' is often used of maritime regions as Cappadocia. There were probably successive immigrations from Mizraim, and Crete was a half-way to Cappadocia. See note, Amos 9:7. Philistine means 'an emigrant' [from paalash (H6428), akin to the Ethiopic similar word, 'to migrate,' 'to rove.']
O Canaan, the land of the Philistines. They occupied the strip of shore land between the hills and the sea on the southwest of Canaan (Joshua 13:2-3); a name which hints that they are doomed to the same destruction as the early occupants of the land. This country was originally held by the Avims, whose land was seized on by "the Caphtorim from Caphtor." The Caphtorim, as well as the Philistim, are stated in Genesis 10:14 to have come out from the Casluhim, and these from Mizraim, or Egypt, and so from Ham. Tacitus,' 'Historiae,' 5: 2, says, the inhabitants of Palestine, whom he calls Jews, came from Crete. Probably they originally occupied part of Palestine, as the Canaanites, other descendants of Ham, also did; thence they went westward to Crete and Cappadocia, whence they were "brought up" to Palestine again, their original home, by the goodness of God (Amos 9:7). We know from other sources that Minos and the Hellenes supplanted the previous population of Crete: perhaps it was then that the final return of the Philistines from Crete to Palestine took place, though, doubtless, many previous bands successively had passed to Palestine from Crete, and also from Caphtor or Cappadocia.