Zephaniah 3:6

6 ¹“I have cut off nations; their battlements are in ruins; I have laid waste their streets ²so that no one walks in them; their cities have been made desolate, without a man, without an inhabitant.

Zephaniah 3:6 Meaning and Commentary

Zephaniah 3:6

I have cut off the nations
Utterly destroyed them, as the Philistines, Moabites, Ethiopians, and Assyrians, as in the preceding chapters; all which were done before the coming of Christ in the flesh; and by which instances the Jews should have took warning, lest by their sins they should provoke the Lord to destroy their nation, city, and temple: their towers are desolate;
built on their frontiers, or on the walls of their cities, to defend them; these were demolished, and laid waste, and of no use: or, "their corners" ^F2; towers being usually built on the angles or corners of walls. Some interpret this of their princes, nobles, and great men, who were destroyed; see ( Zechariah 10:4 ) : I made their streets waste, that none passeth by;
the streets of their cities, the houses being pulled down by the enemy, the rubbish of them lay in the streets, so that there was no passing for any; and indeed, the houses being demolished, the streets were no more in form: their cities are destroyed, so that there is no man, that there is
none inhabitant;
the houses being burnt with fire, or pulled down, and plundered of the goods and substance in them, and the people cut off by famine, pestilence, or sword; and the rest carried captive, there was scarce a man or inhabitant left; so general was the destruction.

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FOOTNOTES:

F2 (Mtwnp) "anguli earum", Pagninus, Montanus, Drusius, Cocceius, Burkius.

Zephaniah 3:6 In-Context

4 Her prophets are fickle, treacherous men; her priests profane what is holy; they do violence to the law.

5 The Lord within her is righteous; he does no injustice; every morning he shows forth his justice; each dawn he does not fail; but the unjust knows no shame.

6 “I have cut off nations; their battlements are in ruins; I have laid waste their streets so that no one walks in them; their cities have been made desolate, without a man, without an inhabitant.

7 I said, ‘Surely you will fear me; you will accept correction. Then your dwelling would not be cut off according to all that I have appointed against you. ’ But all the more they were eager to make all their deeds corrupt.

8 “Therefore wait for me, ” declares the Lord, “for the day when I rise up to seize the prey. For my decision is to gather nations, to assemble kingdoms, to pour out upon them my indignation, all my burning anger; for in the fire of my jealousy all the earth shall be consumed.

Cross References

• 1. 3:6 See ch. 2:4-15
• 2. 3:6 [Zech. 7:14; 9:8]