Zephaniah 3:4

4 Her prophets are vain-glorious, treacherous persons; her priests profane the sanctuary, they do violence to the law.

Zephaniah 3:4 Meaning and Commentary

Zephaniah 3:4

Her prophets [are] light [and treacherous persons
The false prophets, as the Targum and Kimchi explain it: these seem to design the lawyers spoken of in the New Testament, whose business it was to interpret the law to the people; these were "light" men, good for nothing, of no worth and value; light in knowledge, as Kimchi gives the sense of the word; men of no brains; empty headed men, that had no substantial knowledge; giddy, unstable, and inconstant, and compliant with the humours and vices of the people; men of no gravity in their countenance, speech, and conversation. Schultens F1, from the use of the word in the Arabic language, renders it "proud", as these men were, proud boasters; for, though they had but a superficial knowledge of things, they boasted of much, and carried it with a haughty and insolent air to the common people: and they were "treacherous" to God, and to his truths, and to the souls of men, and took away the key of knowledge from them; and particularly were so to Christ, of whom they were the betrayers and murderers, delivering him up into the hands of the Gentiles to be scourged and crucified, ( Matthew 20:18 Matthew 20:19 ) : her priests have polluted the sanctuary;
the temple; by selling, or suffering to be sold in it, various things, whereby it became a den of thieves, which once was called a house of prayer, ( Matthew 21:12 Matthew 21:13 ) and also our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the sanctuary or temple was a type, by denying, blaspheming, and reproaching him, and by shedding his blood: they have done violence to the law;
by not teaching it as they should; and by their false glosses, senses, and interpretations of it; and by the traditions of the elders they preferred unto it, and whereby they made it void; see ( Matthew 5:1-48 ) and ( Matthew 15:1-39 ) .


FOOTNOTES:

F1 Animadv. Philol. in Job, p. 144.

Zephaniah 3:4 In-Context

2 She hearkened not to the voice; she received not correction; she confided not in Jehovah; she drew not near her God.
3 Her princes in the midst of her are roaring lions; her judges are evening wolves, that leave nothing for the morning.
4 Her prophets are vain-glorious, treacherous persons; her priests profane the sanctuary, they do violence to the law.
5 The righteous Jehovah is in the midst of her: he doeth no wrong. Every morning doth he bring his judgment to light; it faileth not: but the unrighteous knoweth no shame.
6 I have cut off nations: their battlements are desolate; I made their streets waste, that none passeth by; their cities are destroyed, so that there is no man, so that there is no inhabitant.
The Darby Translation is in the public domain.