Zephaniah 2:12

12 The Lord will also put the people of Ethiopia to death. 1

Zephaniah 2:12 Meaning and Commentary

Zephaniah 2:12

Ye Ethiopians also
Or, "as for ye Ethiopians also" {h}; not the Ethiopians in Africa beyond Egypt, at a distance from the land of Israel, and the countries before mentioned; but the inhabitants of Arabia Chusea, or Ethiopia, which lay near to Moab and Ammon; these should not escape, but suffer with their neighbours, who sometimes distressed the people of the Jews, and made war with them, being nigh them; see ( 2 Chronicles 14:9 ) ( 21:16 ) : ye [shall be] slain by my sword;
or, "the slain of my sword are they" F9; R. Japhet thinks here is a defect of the note of similitude "as", which should be supplied thus, "ye" are, or shall be, "the slain of my sword", as they; as the Moabites and Ammonites; that is, these Ethiopians should be slain as well as they by the sword of Nebuchadnezzar; which is called the sword of God, because he was an instrument in the hand of God for punishing the nations of the earth. This was fulfilled very probably when Egypt was subdued by Nebuchadnezzar, with whom Ethiopia was confederate, as well as near unto it, ( Jeremiah 46:1 Jeremiah 46:2 ) . The destruction of these by the Assyrians is predicted, ( Isaiah 20:4 ) .


FOOTNOTES:

F8 (Myvwk Mta Mg) "etiam ad vos Aethiopes quod attinet", Piscator.
F9 (hmh ybrx yllx) "interfecti gladio meo ipsi", Montanus.

Zephaniah 2:12 In-Context

10 That is how the people of Moab and Ammon will be punished for their pride and arrogance and for insulting the people of the Lord Almighty.
11 The Lord will terrify them. He will reduce the gods of the earth to nothing, and then every nation will worship him, each in its own land.
12 The Lord will also put the people of Ethiopia to death.
13 The Lord will use his power to destroy Assyria. He will make the city of Nineveh a deserted ruin, a waterless desert.
14 It will be a place where flocks, herds, and animals of every kind will lie down. Owls will live among its ruins and hoot from the windows. Crows will caw on the doorsteps. The cedar wood of her buildings will be stripped away.

Cross References 1

  • 1. 2.12Isaiah 18.1-7.

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. [Hebrew] Cush: [Cush is the ancient name of the extensive territory south of the First Cataract of the Nile River. This region was called Ethiopia in Graeco-Roman times, and included within its borders most of modern Sudan and some of present-day Ethiopia (Abyssinia).]
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.