Zephaniah 3:11

11 1"On that day 2you shall not be put to shame because of the deeds by which you have rebelled against me; for then 3I will remove from your midst your proudly exultant ones, and 4you shall no longer be haughty in my holy mountain.

Zephaniah 3:11 Meaning and Commentary

Zephaniah 3:11

In that day shall thou not be ashamed for all thy doings,
wherein thou hast transgressed against me
Because these shall not be continued in, but repented of, and forsaken; and, besides, shall be forgiven, blotted out, covered, and remembered no more; so that they shall not be charged with them, condemned for them, or be confounded before God, angels, and men, on account of them; not but that shame always arises from a true sense of sin; and the more, as it is beheld in the glass of pardoning love, which is a branch of true evangelical repentance, at least a fruit and evidence of it, ( Ezekiel 16:63 ) but then such are not ashamed to appear before God; but can with a holy confidence stand in his sight, their sins being pardoned, and their persons justified. This respects the Christian church or churches in Judea, the few that believed in Christ, called in a following verse the remnant of Israel ( Zephaniah 3:13 ) , at the time when the generality of the people of the Jews rejected the Messiah, and their city and temple were destroyed, and the Lord turned the pure language of the Gospel to the Gentiles: for then I will take away out of the midst of thee them that
rejoice in thy pride;
the Scribes and Pharisees, and those that adhered to them of the Jewish nation, who rejoiced in those things which that people generally prided themselves in and boasted of; their descent from Abraham; their observance of the rites and ceremonies of the law, and the traditions of their elders, and their external legal righteousness; and they rejoiced in their boastings of these things, which rejoicing was evil; and they, in the pride of their hearts, despised Christ and his righteousness, his Gospel, ordinances, and people, which were the things in which they transgressed against the Lord, and for which they were taken away by the sword, famine, and pestilence, at the destruction of Jerusalem: this is further explained by the next clause: and thou shall no more be haughty because of mine holy mountain:
the temple; or, "in" F13 it; since it should now be destroyed: the Jews gloried in the temple, and behaved proudly and haughtily on the account of it; reckoned themselves secure, because of that; and trusted and gloried in the sacrifices there offered up, and the services there performed; see ( Jeremiah 7:4 ) .


FOOTNOTES:

F13 (yvdq rhb) "in monte sancto meo", V. L. Vatablus, Cocceius; "in monte sanctitatis meae", Pagninus, Montanus, Junius & Tremellius, Calvin, Burkius.

Zephaniah 3:11 In-Context

9 "For at that time I will change the speech of the peoples to a pure speech, that all of them may call upon the name of the LORD and serve him with one accord.
10 From beyond the rivers of Cush my worshipers, the daughter of my dispersed ones, shall bring my offering.
11 "On that day you shall not be put to shame because of the deeds by which you have rebelled against me; for then I will remove from your midst your proudly exultant ones, and you shall no longer be haughty in my holy mountain.
12 But I will leave in your midst a people humble and lowly. They shall seek refuge in the name of the LORD,
13 those who are left in Israel; they shall do no injustice and speak no lies, nor shall there be found in their mouth a deceitful tongue. For they shall graze and lie down, and none shall make them afraid."

Cross References 4

  • 1. Isaiah 2:11
  • 2. [Isaiah 54:4]
  • 3. [Malachi 4:1]
  • 4. Jeremiah 7:4; [Matthew 3:9]
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.