13 Therefore their goods H2428 shall become a booty, H4933 and their houses H1004 a desolation: H8077 they shall also build H1129 houses, H1004 but not inhabit H3427 them; and they shall plant H5193 vineyards, H3754 but not drink H8354 the wine H3196 thereof.
Thou shalt sow, H2232 but thou shalt not reap; H7114 thou shalt tread H1869 the olives, H2132 but thou shalt not anoint H5480 thee with oil; H8081 and sweet wine, H8492 but shalt not drink H8354 wine. H3196
Forasmuch H3282 therefore as your treading H1318 is upon the poor, H1800 and ye take H3947 from him burdens H4864 of wheat: H1250 ye have built H1129 houses H1004 of hewn stone, H1496 but ye shall not dwell H3427 in them; ye have planted H5193 pleasant H2531 vineyards, H3754 but ye shall not drink H8354 wine H3196 of them.
Thou shalt betroth H781 a wife, H802 and another H312 man H376 shall lie H7901 H7693 with her: thou shalt build H1129 an house, H1004 and thou shalt not dwell H3427 therein: thou shalt plant H5193 a vineyard, H3754 and shalt not gather the grapes H2490 thereof.
Many H7227 pastors H7462 have destroyed H7843 my vineyard, H3754 they have trodden H947 my portion H2513 under foot, H947 they have made H5414 my pleasant H2532 portion H2513 a desolate H8077 wilderness. H4057 They have made H7760 it desolate, H8076 and being desolate H8077 it mourneth H56 unto me; the whole land H776 is made desolate, H8074 because no man H376 layeth H7760 it to heart. H3820 The spoilers H7703 are come H935 upon all high places H8205 through the wilderness: H4057 for the sword H2719 of the LORD H3068 shall devour H398 from the one end H7097 of the land H776 even to the other end H7097 of the land: H776 no flesh H1320 shall have peace. H7965 They have sown H2232 wheat, H2406 but shall reap H7114 thorns: H6975 they have put themselves to pain, H2470 but shall not profit: H3276 and they shall be ashamed H954 of your revenues H8393 because of the fierce H2740 anger H639 of the LORD. H3068
Therefore shall Zion H6726 for your sake H1558 be plowed H2790 as a field, H7704 and Jerusalem H3389 shall become heaps, H5856 and the mountain H2022 of the house H1004 as the high places H1116 of the forest. H3293
They shall cast H7993 their silver H3701 in the streets, H2351 and their gold H2091 shall be removed: H5079 their silver H3701 and their gold H2091 shall not be able H3201 to deliver H5337 them in the day H3117 of the wrath H5678 of the LORD: H3068 they shall not satisfy H7646 their souls, H5315 neither fill H4390 their bowels: H4578 because it is the stumblingblock H4383 of their iniquity. H5771
Thy substance H2428 and thy treasures H214 will I give H5414 to the spoil H957 without price, H4242 and that for all thy sins, H2403 even in all thy borders. H1366
And he shall eat H398 the fruit H6529 of thy cattle, H929 and the fruit H6529 of thy land, H127 until thou be destroyed: H8045 which also shall not leave H7604 thee either corn, H1715 wine, H8492 or oil, H3323 or the increase H7698 of thy kine, H504 or flocks H6251 of thy sheep, H6629 until he have destroyed H6 thee.
For a voice H6963 of wailing H5092 is heard H8085 out of Zion, H6726 How are we spoiled! H7703 we are greatly H3966 confounded, H954 because we have forsaken H5800 the land, H776 because our dwellings H4908 have cast us out. H7993
And I will make H5414 Jerusalem H3389 heaps, H1530 and a den H4583 of dragons; H8577 and I will make H5414 the cities H5892 of Judah H3063 desolate, H8077 without an inhabitant. H3427
And they shall eat up H398 thine harvest, H7105 and thy bread, H3899 which thy sons H1121 and thy daughters H1323 should eat: H398 they shall eat up H398 thy flocks H6629 and thine herds: H1241 they shall eat up H398 thy vines H1612 and thy fig trees: H8384 they shall impoverish H7567 thy fenced H4013 cities, H5892 wherein thou H2007 trustedst, H982 with the sword. H2719
Destruction H7667 upon destruction H7667 is cried; H7121 for the whole land H776 is spoiled: H7703 suddenly H6597 are my tents H168 spoiled, H7703 and my curtains H3407 in a moment. H7281
The lion H738 is come up H5927 from his thicket, H5441 and the destroyer H7843 of the Gentiles H1471 is on his way; H5265 he is gone forth H3318 from his place H4725 to make H7760 thy land H776 desolate; H8047 and thy cities H5892 shall be laid waste, H5327 without an inhabitant. H3427
And they shall build H1129 houses, H1004 and inhabit H3427 them; and they shall plant H5193 vineyards, H3754 and eat H398 the fruit H6529 of them. They shall not build, H1129 and another H312 inhabit; H3427 they shall not plant, H5193 and another H312 eat: H398 for as the days H3117 of a tree H6086 are the days H3117 of my people, H5971 and mine elect H972 shall long enjoy H1086 the work H4639 of their hands. H3027
Behold, the LORD H3068 maketh the earth H776 empty, H1238 and maketh it waste, H1110 and turneth H5753 it upside down, H6440 and scattereth abroad H6327 the inhabitants H3427 thereof. And it shall be, as with the people, H5971 so with the priest; H3548 as with the servant, H5650 so with his master; H113 as with the maid, H8198 so with her mistress; H1404 as with the buyer, H7069 so with the seller; H4376 as with the lender, H3867 so with the borrower; H3867 as with the taker of usury, H5383 so H834 with the giver of usury H5378 to him. The land H776 shall be utterly H1238 emptied, H1238 and utterly H962 spoiled: H962 for the LORD H3068 hath spoken H1696 this word. H1697
Then said H559 I, Lord, H136 how long? And he answered, H559 Until the cities H5892 be wasted H7582 without inhabitant, H3427 and the houses H1004 without man, H120 and the land H127 be utterly H8077 desolate, H7582
Woe H1945 unto them that join H5060 house H1004 to house, H1004 that lay H7126 field H7704 to field, H7704 till there be no H657 place, H4725 that they may be placed H3427 alone in the midst H7130 of the earth! H776 In mine ears H241 said the LORD H3068 of hosts, H6635 Of a truth H3808 many H7227 houses H1004 shall be desolate, H8047 even great H1419 and fair, H2896 without inhabitant. H3427
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Zephaniah 1
Commentary on Zephaniah 1 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 1
Zep 1:1-18. God's Severe Judgment on Judah for Its Idolatry and Neglect of Him: The Rapid Approach of the Judgment, and the Impossibility of Escape.
1. days of Josiah—Had their idolatries been under former kings, they might have said, Our kings have forced us to this and that. But under Josiah, who did all in his power to reform them, they have no such excuse.
son of Amon—the idolater, whose bad practices the Jews clung to, rather than the good example of Josiah, his son; so incorrigible were they in sin.
Judah—Israel's ten tribes had gone into captivity before this.
2. utterly consume—from a root to "sweep away," or "scrape off utterly." See Jer 8:13, Margin, and here.
from off the land—of Judah.
3. Enumeration in detail of the "all things" (Zep 1:2; compare Jer 9:10; Ho 4:3).
the stumbling-blocks—idols which cause Judah to offend or stumble (Eze 14:3, 4, 7).
with the wicked—The idols and their worshippers shall be involved in a common destruction.
4. stretch out mine hand—indicating some remarkable and unusual work of vengeance (Isa 5:25; 9:12, 17, 21).
Judah—including Benjamin. These two tribes are to suffer, which thought themselves perpetually secure, because they escaped the captivity in which the ten tribes were involved.
Jerusalem—the fountainhead of the evil. God begins with His sanctuary (Eze 9:6), and those who are nigh Him (Le 10:3).
the remnant of Baal—the remains of Baal worship, which as yet Josiah was unable utterly to eradicate in remote places. Baal was the Phœnician tutelary god. From the time of the Judges (Jud 2:13), Israel had fallen into this idolatry; and Manasseh lately had set up this idol within Jehovah's temple itself (2Ki 21:3, 5, 7). Josiah began his reformation in the twelfth year of his reign (2Ch 34:4, 8), and in the eighteenth had as far as possible completed it.
Chemarims—idol priests, who had not reached the age of puberty; meaning "ministers of the gods" [Servius on Æneid, 11], the same name as the Tyrian Camilli, r and l being interchangeable (compare Ho 10:5, Margin). Josiah is expressly said (2Ki 23:5, Margin) to have "put down the Chemarim." The Hebrew root means "black" (from the black garments which they wore or the marks which they branded on their foreheads); or "zealous," from their idolatrous fanaticism. The very "name," as well as themselves, shall be forgotten.
the priests—of Jehovah, of Aaronic descent, who ought to have used all their power to eradicate, but who secretly abetted, idolatry (compare Zep 3:4; Eze 8:1-18; 22:26; 44:10). From the priests Zephaniah passes to the people.
5. worship the host of heaven—Saba: whence, in contrast to Sabeanism, Jehovah is called Lord of Sabaoth.
upon the housetops—which were flat (2Ki 23:5, 6, 12; Jer 19:13; 32:29).
swear by the Lord—rather, "swear to Jehovah" (2Ch 15:14); solemnly dedicating themselves to Him (compare Isa 48:1; Ho 4:15).
and—"and yet (with strange inconsistency, 1Ki 18:21; Eze 20:39; Mt 6:24) swear by Malcham," that is, "their king" [Maurer]: the same as Molech (see on Am 5:25), and "Milcom the god of … Ammon" (1Ki 11:33). If Satan have half the heart, he will have all; if the Lord have but half offered to Him, He will have none.
6. This verse describes more comprehensively those guilty of defection from Jehovah in any way (Jer 2:13, 17).
7. Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord—(Hab 2:20). Let the earth be silent at His approach [Maurer]. Or, "Thou whosoever hast been wont to speak against God, as if He had no care about earthly affairs, cease thy murmurs and self-justifications; submit thyself to God, and repent in time" [Calvin].
Lord … prepared a sacrifice—namely, a slaughter of the guilty Jews, the victims due to His justice (Isa 34:6; Jer 46:10; Eze 39:17).
bid his guests—literally, "sanctified His called ones" (compare Isa 13:3). It enhances the bitterness of the judgment that the heathen Chaldeans should be sanctified, or consecrated as it were, by God as His priests, and be called to eat the flesh of the elect people; as on feast days the priests used to feast among themselves on the remains of the sacrifices [Calvin]. English Version takes it not of the priests, but the guests bidden, who also had to "sanctify" or purify themselves before coming to the sacrificial feast (1Sa 9:13, 22; 16:5). Nebuchadnezzar was bidden to come to take vengeance on guilty Jerusalem (Jer 25:9).
8. the princes—who ought to have been an example of good to others, but were ringleaders in all evil.
the king's children—fulfilled on Zedekiah's children (Jer 39:6); and previously, on Jehoahaz and Eliakim, the sons of Josiah (2Ki 23:31, 36; 2Ch 36:6; compare also 2Ki 20:18; 21:13). Huldah the prophetess (2Ki 22:20) intimated that which Zephaniah now more expressly foretells.
all such as are clothed with strange apparel—the princes or courtiers who attired themselves in costly garments, imported from abroad; partly for the sake of luxury, and partly to ingratiate themselves with foreign great nations whose costume as well as their idolatries they imitated, [Calvin]; whereas in costume, as in other respects, God would have them to be separate from the nations. Grotius refers the "strange apparel" to garments forbidden by the law, for example, men's garments worn by women, and vice versa, a heathen usage in the worship of Mars and Venus (De 22:5).
9. those that leap on the threshold—the servants of the princes, who, after having gotten prey (like hounds) for their masters, leap exultingly on their masters' thresholds; or, on the thresholds of the houses which they break into [Calvin]. Jerome explains it of those who walk up the steps into the sanctuary with haughtiness. Rosenmuller translates, "Leap over the threshold"; namely, in imitation of the Philistine custom of not treading on the threshold, which arose from the head and hands of Dragon being broken off on the threshold before the ark (1Sa 5:5). Compare Isa 2:6, "thy people … are soothsayers like the Philistines." Calvin's view agrees best with the latter clause of the verse.
fill … masters' houses with violence, &c.—that is, with goods obtained with violence, &c.
10. fish gate—(2Ch 33:14; Ne 3:3; 12:39). Situated on the east of the lower city, north of the sheep gate [Maurer]: near the stronghold of David in Milo, between Zion and the lower city, towards the west [Jerome]. This verse describes the state of the city when it was besieged by Nebuchadnezzar. It was through the fish gate that he entered the city. It received its name from the fish market which was near it. Through it passed those who used to bring fish from the lake of Tiberias and Jordan. It answers to what is now called the Damascus gate [Henderson].
the second—namely, the gate which was second in dignity [Calvin]. Or, the second or lower part of the city. Appropriately, the fish gate, or extreme end of the lower part of the city, first resounds with the cries of the citizens as the foe approaches; then, as he advances further, that part of the city itself, namely, its inner part; lastly, when the foe is actually come and has burst in, the hills, the higher ones, especially Zion and Moriah, on which the upper city and temple were founded [Maurer]. The second, or lower city, answers to Akra, north of Zion, and separated from it by the valley of Tyropœon running down to the pool of Siloam [Henderson]. The Hebrew is translated "college," 2Ki 22:14; so Vatablus would translate here.
hills—not here those outside, but those within the walls: Zion, Moriah, and Ophel.
11. Maktesh—rather, "the mortar," a name applied to the valley of Siloam from its hollow shape [Jerome]. The valley between Zion and Mount Olivet, at the eastern extremity of Mount Moriah, where the merchants dwelt. Zec 14:21, "The Canaanite," namely, merchant [Chaldee Version]. The Tyropœon (that is, cheese-makers') valley below Mount Akra [Rosenmuller]. Better Jerusalem itself, so called as lying in the midst of hills (Isa 22:1; Jer 21:13) and as doomed to be the scene of its people being destroyed as corn or drugs are pounded in a mortar (Pr 27:22) [Maurer]. Compare the similar image of a "pot" (Eze 24:3, 6). The reason for the destruction is subjoined, namely, its merchant people's greediness of gain.
all the merchant people—literally, the "Canaanite people": irony: all the merchant people of Jerusalem are very Canaanites in greed for gain and in idolatries (see on Ho 12:7).
all … that bear silver—loading themselves with that which will prove but a burden (Hab 2:6).
12. search … with candles—or lamps; so as to leave no dark corner in it wherein sin can escape the punishment, of which the Chaldeans are My instruments (compare Zep 1:13; Lu 15:8).
settled on their lees—"hardened" or crusted; image from the crust formed at the bottom of wines long left undisturbed (Jer 48:11). The effect of wealthy undisturbed ease ("lees") on the ungodly is hardening: they become stupidly secure (compare Ps 55:19; Am 6:1).
Lord will not do good … evil—They deny that God regards human affairs, or renders good to the good; or evil to the evil, but that all things go haphazard (Ps 10:4; Mal 2:17).
13. Therefore their goods shall become a booty, &c.—Fulfilling the prophecy in De 28:30, 39 (compare Am 5:11).
14. voice of … day of … Lord—that is, Jehovah ushering in that day with a roar of vengeance against the guilty (Jer 25:30; Am 1:2). They who will not now heed (Zep 1:12) His voice by His prophets, must heed it when uttered by the avenging foe.
mighty … shall cry … bitterly—in hopeless despair; the might on which Jerusalem now prides itself, shall then fail utterly.
15. wasteness … desolation—The Hebrew terms by their similarity of sounds, Shoah, Umeshoah, express the dreary monotony of desolation (see on Na 2:10).
16. the trumpet—namely, of the besieging enemy (Am 2:2).
alarm—the war shout [Maurer].
towers—literally, "angles"; for city walls used not to be built in a direct line, but with sinuous curves and angles, so that besiegers advancing might be assailed not only in front, but on both sides, caught as it were in a cul-de-sac; towers were built especially at the angles. So Tacitus describes the walls of Jerusalem [Histories, 5.11.7].
17. like blind men—unable to see whither to turn themselves so as to find an escape from existing evils.
flesh—Hebrew, "bread"; so the Arabic term for "bread" is used for "flesh" (Mt 26:26).
18. Neither … silver nor … gold shall … deliver them, &c.—(Pr 11:4).
fire of his jealousy—(Eze 38:19); His wrath jealous for His honor consuming the guilty like fire.
make even a speedy riddance of all—rather, a "consummation" (complete destruction: "full end," Jer 46:28; Eze 11:13) "altogether sudden" [Maurer]. "A consumption, and that a sudden one" [Calvin].