Zephaniah 2:8

8 I heard the shame of Moab, and blasphemies of the sons of Ammon, which they said shamefully to my people, and they were magnified on the terms of them. (I heard the insults of Moab, and the taunts of the Ammonites, which they shamefully said to my people, as they encroached upon their land.)

Zephaniah 2:8 Meaning and Commentary

Zephaniah 2:8

I have heard the reproach of Moab, and the revilings of the
children of Ammon
Two people that descended from Lot, through incest with his daughters; and are therefore mentioned together, as being of the same cast and complexion, and bitter enemies to the people of the Jews; whom they reproached and reviled, for the sake of their religion, because they adhered to the word and worship of God: this they did when the Jews were most firmly attached to the service of the true God; and the Lord heard it, and took notice of it; and put it down in the book of his remembrance, to punish them for it in due time; even he who hears, and sees, and knows all things: whereby they have reproached my people;
whom he had chosen, and avouched to be his people; and who were called by his name, and called on his name, and worshipped him, and professed to be his people, and to serve and obey him; and as such, and because they were the people of God, they were reproached by them; and hence it was so resented by the Lord; and there being such a near relation between God and them, he looked upon the reproaches of them as reproaches of himself: and magnified [themselves] against their border;
either they spoke reproachfully of the land of Israel, and the borders of it, and especially of the inhabitants of the land, and particularly those that bordered upon them; or they invaded the borders of their land, and endeavoured to add it to theirs; or as the Jews were carried captive by the Chaldeans, as they passed by the borders of Moab and Ammon, they insulted them, and jeered them, and expressed great pleasure and joy in seeing them in such circumstances; see ( Ezekiel 25:3 Ezekiel 25:8 ) . Jarchi represents the case thus; when the children of Israel went into captivity to the land of the Chaldeans, as they passed by the way of Ammon and Moab, they wept, and sighed, and cried; and they distressed them, and said, what do you afflict yourselves for? why do ye weep? are not you going to the house of your father, beyond the river where your fathers dwelt of old? thus jeering them on account of Abraham's being of Ur of the Chaldees.

Zephaniah 2:8 In-Context

6 and the little part of the sea shall be rest of shepherds, and folds of sheep. (and the sea coast shall be a resting place for shepherds, and folds for sheep.)
7 And it shall be a little part of him, that shall be left of the house of Judah, there they shall be fed in the houses of Ashkelon; at eventide they shall rest, for the Lord God of them shall visit them, and shall turn away the captivity of them. (And the coast shall be for those who shall be left of the house of Judah; they shall pasture their sheep there, and they shall rest in the evening in the houses of Ashkelon; for the Lord their God shall return to them, and shall restore their prosperity.)
8 I heard the shame of Moab, and blasphemies of the sons of Ammon, which they said shamefully to my people, and they were magnified on the terms of them. (I heard the insults of Moab, and the taunts of the Ammonites, which they shamefully said to my people, as they encroached upon their land.)
9 Therefore I live, saith the Lord of hosts, God of Israel, for Moab shall be as Sodom, and the sons of Ammon as Gomorrah; dryness of thorns, and heaps of salt, and desert till into without end. The remnants of my people shall ravish them, the residues of my folk shall wield them. (And so as I live, saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Moab shall become like Sodom, and the Ammonites like Gomorrah; yea, dryness of thorns, and heaps of salt, and a desert, or a wasteland, forevermore. The remnants of my people shall rob them, yea, those of my nation who remain, or who survive, shall rule over them.)
10 Soothly this thing shall come to them for their pride, for they blasphemed, and were magnified [up]on, (or lorded themselves over,) the people of the Lord of hosts.
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.