In some languages it may be difficult to speak of the day that is coming to destroy. It may be more natural to render this part of the verse “because of the day when all the Philistines will be destroyed.” Or, if a passive is impossible, we may render “because the time has come when the LORD is going to destroy all the Philistines.” This is a good model also because it links well with the previous statement about their helplessness.

To cut off from Tyre and Sidon every helper that remains: For cut off, see 11.19; for Tyre and Sidon, see 25.19-26. Every helper that remains is literally “every survivor, helper.” Translators can use a sentence such as “[For the time has come] to take away from the cities of Tyre and Sidon every ally they have left.”

Caphtor; that is, Crete, the original homeland of the Philistines (see Deut 2.23; Amos 9.7). The last part of the verse means “For the LORD is destroying the Philistines, those people who are the survivors from the island of Crete.”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Jeremiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2003. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .