Worthy.Bible » STRONG » Zephaniah » Chapter 1 » Verse 16

Zephaniah 1:16 King James Version with Strong's Concordance (STRONG)

16 A day H3117 of the trumpet H7782 and alarm H8643 against the fenced H1219 cities, H5892 and against the high H1364 towers. H6438

Cross Reference

Isaiah 2:12-15 STRONG

For the day H3117 of the LORD H3068 of hosts H6635 shall be upon every one that is proud H1343 and lofty, H7311 and upon every one that is lifted up; H5375 and he shall be brought low: H8213 And upon all the cedars H730 of Lebanon, H3844 that are high H7311 and lifted up, H5375 and upon all the oaks H437 of Bashan, H1316 And upon all the high H7311 mountains, H2022 and upon all the hills H1389 that are lifted up, H5375 And upon every high H1364 tower, H4026 and upon every fenced H1219 wall, H2346

Psalms 48:12-13 STRONG

Walk about H5437 Zion, H6726 and go round about H5362 her: tell H5608 the towers H4026 thereof. Mark H7896 ye well H3820 her bulwarks, H2430 consider H6448 her palaces; H759 that ye may tell H5608 it to the generation H1755 following. H314

Isaiah 32:14 STRONG

Because the palaces H759 shall be forsaken; H5203 the multitude H1995 of the city H5892 shall be left; H5800 the forts H6076 and towers H975 shall be for dens H4631 for H5704 ever, H5769 a joy H4885 of wild asses, H6501 a pasture H4829 of flocks; H5739

Isaiah 59:10 STRONG

We grope H1659 for the wall H7023 like the blind, H5787 and we grope H1659 as if we had no eyes: H5869 we stumble H3782 at noonday H6672 as in the night; H5399 we are in desolate H820 places as dead H4191 men.

Jeremiah 4:19-20 STRONG

My bowels, H4578 my bowels! H4578 I am pained H2342 H3176 at my very H7023 heart; H3820 my heart H3820 maketh a noise H1993 in me; I cannot hold my peace, H2790 because thou hast heard, H8085 O my soul, H5315 the sound H6963 of the trumpet, H7782 the alarm H8643 of war. H4421 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

Jeremiah 6:1 STRONG

O ye children H1121 of Benjamin, H1144 gather yourselves to flee H5756 out of the midst H7130 of Jerusalem, H3389 and blow H8628 the trumpet H7782 in Tekoa, H8620 and set up H5375 a sign H4864 of fire in Bethhaccerem: H1021 for evil H7451 appeareth H8259 out of the north, H6828 and great H1419 destruction. H7667

Jeremiah 8:16 STRONG

The snorting H5170 of his horses H5483 was heard H8085 from Dan: H1835 the whole land H776 trembled H7493 at the sound H6963 of the neighing H4684 of his strong ones; H47 for they are come, H935 and have devoured H398 the land, H776 and all H4393 that is in it; the city, H5892 and those that dwell H3427 therein.

Hosea 5:8 STRONG

Blow H8628 ye the cornet H7782 in Gibeah, H1390 and the trumpet H2689 in Ramah: H7414 cry aloud H7321 at Bethaven, H1007 after H310 thee, O Benjamin. H1144

Hosea 8:1 STRONG

Set the trumpet H7782 to thy mouth. H2441 He shall come as an eagle H5404 against the house H1004 of the LORD, H3068 because they have transgressed H5674 my covenant, H1285 and trespassed H6586 against my law. H8451

Amos 3:6 STRONG

Shall a trumpet H7782 be blown H8628 in the city, H5892 and the people H5971 not be afraid? H2729 shall there be evil H7451 in a city, H5892 and the LORD H3068 hath not done H6213 it?

Habakkuk 1:6-10 STRONG

For, lo, I raise up H6965 the Chaldeans, H3778 that bitter H4751 and hasty H4116 nation, H1471 which shall march H1980 through the breadth H4800 of the land, H776 to possess H3423 the dwellingplaces H4908 that are not theirs. They are terrible H366 and dreadful: H3372 their judgment H4941 and their dignity H7613 shall proceed H3318 of themselves. Their horses H5483 also are swifter H7043 than the leopards, H5246 and are more fierce H2300 than the evening H6153 wolves: H2061 and their horsemen H6571 shall spread H6335 themselves, and their horsemen H6571 shall come H935 from far; H7350 they shall fly H5774 as the eagle H5404 that hasteth H2363 to eat. H398 They shall come H935 all for violence: H2555 their faces H6440 shall sup up H4041 as the east wind, H6921 and they shall gather H622 the captivity H7628 as the sand. H2344 And they shall scoff H7046 at the kings, H4428 and the princes H7336 shall be a scorn H4890 unto them: they shall deride H7832 every strong hold; H4013 for they shall heap H6651 dust, H6083 and take H3920 it.

Habakkuk 3:6 STRONG

He stood, H5975 and measured H4128 the earth: H776 he beheld, H7200 and drove asunder H5425 the nations; H1471 and the everlasting H5703 mountains H2042 were scattered, H6327 the perpetual H5769 hills H1389 did bow: H7817 his ways H1979 are everlasting. H5769

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].