Sophonias 2:12

12 Ye Ethiopians also are the slain of my sword.

Sophonias 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 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

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

Sophonias 2:12 In-Context

10 This is their punishment in return for their haughtiness, because they have reproached and magnified themselves against the Lord Almighty.

11 The Lord shall appear against them, and shall utterly destroy all the gods of the nations of the earth; and they shall worship him every one from his place, all the islands of the nations.

12 Ye Ethiopians also are the slain of my sword.

13 And he shall stretch forth his hand against the north and destroy the Assyrian, and make Nineve a dry wilderness, as a desert.

14 And flocks, and all the wild beasts of the land, and chameleons shall feed in the midst thereof: and hedgehogs shall lodge in the ceilings thereof; and wild beasts shall cry in the breaches thereof, and ravens in her porches, whereas her loftiness was as cedar.