Zephaniah 1

1 The word of the Lord, that was made to Zephaniah, son of Cushi, son of Gedaliah, son of Amariah, son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah, the son of Amon, king of Judah.

2 I gathering shall gather all things from the face of (the) earth, saith the Lord;

3 I gathering man and beast, I gathering volatiles of (the) heaven(s), and fishes of the sea; and fallings of unpious men shall be, and I shall lose men from the face of [the] earth, saith the Lord. (I shall gather people and beasts, and I shall gather the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea; and I shall bring the unrighteous, or the wicked, unto their downfall, or unto their knees, and I shall destroy all the people from off the face of the earth, saith the Lord.)

4 And I shall stretch out mine hand on Judah, and on all the dwellers of Jerusalem; and I shall lose from this place the remnants of Baal, and the names of keepers of [the] houses, with [the] priests; (And I shall stretch out my hand over Judah, and over all the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and I shall destroy from this place the last remnants of Baal, and the very names of the heathen priests;)

5 and them that worship on roofs the knighthood of heaven, and worship, and swear in the Lord, and swear in Malcham; (and those who worship upon rooftops the host of the heavens, and who worship, and swear by the Lord, and then also swear by Molech, or by Milcom;)

6 and which be turned away behind the back of the Lord, and which sought not the Lord, neither ensearched him. (and those who be turned away behind the back of the Lord, and those who did not seek the Lord, nor consulted him.)

7 Be ye still from the face of the Lord God, for nigh is the day of the Lord; for the Lord made ready a sacrifice, he hallowed his called men. (Be ye still before the face of the Lord God, for the day of the Lord is near; for the Lord hath made ready a sacrifice, and he hath consecrated, or hath dedicated, his chosen people.)

8 And it shall be, in the day of sacrifice of the Lord, I shall visit on princes, and on sons of the king, and on all that be clothed with pilgrims?, either strange, clothing. (And it shall be, on the day of the sacrifice of the Lord, I shall punish the leaders, and the king's sons, and all those who be clothed in foreign, or in strange, clothing.)

9 And I shall visit on each that proudly entereth on the threshold in that day, which fill the house of their Lord God with wickedness and guile. (And I shall punish all who proudly enter onto the threshold on that day, they who fill their lord's house with wickedness and deceit.)

10 And there shall be in that day, saith the Lord, a voice of cry from the gate of fishes, and yelling from the second gate, and great defouling from little hills. (And there shall be on that day, saith the Lord, loud cries from the Fish Gate, and yelling from the second gate, or from the second quarter, and great defiling from the little hills.)

11 Yell ye, dwellers of Pila; all the people of Canaan was still together, all men wrapped in silver perished. (Yell, ye inhabitants of Maktesh; and then all the merchant people were altogether silent, or perished, and also all those dealing in silver perished.)

12 And it shall be, in that time, I shall seek (throughout) Jerusalem with lanterns, and I shall visit on all men pitched in their dregs, which say in their hearts, The Lord shall not do well, and he shall not do evil. (And it shall be, at that time, I shall seek throughout Jerusalem with lanterns, and I shall punish all those pitched in their dregs, yea, those who say in their hearts, The Lord shall not do good, and he shall not do evil.)

13 And the strength of them shall be into ravishing, and the houses of them into desert; and they shall build houses, and shall not inhabit; and they shall plant vineyards, and they shall not drink the wine of them. (And their wealth shall be robbed, and their houses shall be made desolate, or deserted; and they shall build houses, but shall not inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, but they shall not drink their wine.)

14 Nigh is the great day of the Lord, nigh and swift full much; the voice of the day of the Lord is bitter, a strong man shall be in tribulation there. (The great day of the Lord is near, near and coming very swiftly, or very soon; the day of the Lord shall be bitter, the strong shall cry out in tribulation there.)

15 That day is a day of wrath, day of tribulation and anguish, day of neediness and wretchedness, day of darknesses and mist, day of cloud and whirlwind, (That day shall be a day of anger, a day of tribulation and anguish, a day of neediness and wretchedness, a day of darknesses and mist, a day of cloud and whirlwind,)

16 day of trump and of noise on strong cities and on high corners. (a day of trumpets and of battle cries against the fortified cities and the high towers.)

17 And I shall trouble men, and they shall walk as blind, for they have sinned against the Lord; and the blood of them shall be shed out as earth, and the bodies of them shall be as turds. (And I shall trouble people, and they shall walk as if they be blind, for they have sinned against the Lord; and their blood shall be poured out like dust, and their bodies shall be like turds.)

18 But the silver of them, and [the] gold of them, shall not be able to deliver them in the day of wrath of the Lord; in fire of his fervor all earth shall be devoured, for he shall make end with hasting to all men inhabiting the earth. (But their silver, and their gold, shall not be able to save them on the day of the Lord's anger; in the fire of his fervor all the earth shall be devoured, for he shall make a hasty end to all those who inhabit the earth.)

Zephaniah 1 Commentary

Chapter 1

Zephaniah excites to repentance, foretells the destruction of the enemies of the Jews, and comforts the pious among them with promises of future blessings, the restoration of their nation, and the prosperity of the church in the latter days.

Threatenings against sinners. (1-6) More threatenings. (7-13) Distress from the approaching judgments. (14-18)

Verses 1-6 Ruin is coming, utter ruin; destruction from the Almighty. The servants of God all proclaim, There is no peace for the wicked. The expressions are figurative, speaking every where desolation; the land shall be left without inhabitants. The sinners to be consumed are, the professed idolaters, and those that worship Jehovah and idols, or swear to the Lord, and to Malcham. Those that think to divide their affections and worship between God and idols, will come short of acceptance with God; for what communion can there be between light and darkness? If Satan have half, he will have all; if the Lord have but half, he will have none. Neglect of God shows impiety and contempt. May none of us be among those who draw back unto perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul.

Verses 7-13 God's day is at hand; the punishment of presumptuous sinners is a sacrifice to the justice of God. The Jewish royal family shall be reckoned with for their pride and vanity; and those that leap on the threshold, invading their neighbours' rights, and seizing their possessions. The trading people and the rich merchants are called to account. Secure and careless people are reckoned with. They are secure and easy; they say in their heart, the Lord will not do good, neither will he do evil; that is, they deny his dispensing rewards and punishments. But in the day of the Lord's judgment, it will clearly appear that those who perish, fall a sacrifice to Divine justice for breaking God's law, and because they have no interest by faith in the Redeemer's atoning sacrifice.

Verses 14-18 This warning of approaching destruction, is enough to make the sinners in Zion tremble; it refers to the great day of the Lord, the day in which he will show himself by taking vengeance on them. This day of the Lord is very near; it is a day of God's wrath, wrath to the utmost. It will be a day of trouble and distress to sinners. Let them not be laid asleep by the patience of God. What is a man profited if he gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? And what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? Let us flee from the wrath to come, and choose the good part that shall never be taken from us; then we shall be prepared for every event; nothing shall separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO ZEPHANIAH

This book in some Hebrew copies is called "Sepher Zephaniah", the Book of Zephaniah. Its title, in the Vulgate Latin version, is, the Prophecy of Zephaniah; and, in the Syriac version, the Prophecy of the Prophet Zephaniah; and so the Arabic version calls him a prophet; and he is the last of the minor prophets that prophesied before the Babylonish captivity. The time of his prophesying, as well as his, parentage, are expressed Zep 1:1, and therefore need not be inquired into; only the sad mistake of Hobbes {a} may be observed, who makes him to be the most ancient of the prophets, and to be contemporary with Amaziah and Uzziah, kings of Judah, when he is expressly said to prophesy in the days of Josiah. Pseudo-Epiphanius {b} calls him a prophet of Sarabatha, of a mountain of that name, and says he was of the tribe of Simeon; and in this Isidore {c} agrees with him; and both affirm that he died and was buried in his own native place; but the author of the Cippi Hebraici {d} says he was buried at Geba, in Mount Lebanon, in the midst of a cave shut up, where his school continues; and from which place the clouds never depart, and where also are flowing fountains. His name, according to Jerom, signifies either "the Lord's watch tower", or "watchman"; or else "the secret of the Lord"; or, "his hidden one"; deriving his name, either from hpu, which signifies to "look out", as a watchman from his tower; or from Npu, "to hide"; which latter derivation is best; and some interpret it "a revealer of the secrets", or "hidden things, of the Lord"; and take it to be much the same with Zaphnathpaaneah, the name given to Joseph by Pharaoh, Ge 41:45, and is of the same signification: but Hillerus {e} interprets the name of Zephaniah, "the Lord hid himself"; which agrees with the times in which he lived. That this prophecy was wrote by himself, there need be no doubt of; nor of the authenticity of it, being always received by the Jewish synagogue as authentic; and as it appears to be from its style and manner of composition; from the subject matter of it agreeing with other parts of Scripture, especially with Jeremiah and Ezekiel; and from the accomplishment of various prophecies in it. There are indeed some spurious things which have been ascribed to him, as the "analepsis" or assumption of Zephaniah the prophet, and the prophecy of Zephaniah, consisting of six hundred verses; but these are apocryphal, and have no likeness to this prophecy; in which he foretells the destruction of the Jews by the Chaldeans for their sins, which he inveighs against, and calls them to repentance for them, as also the ruin of many other nations, all which came to pass; as well as he prophesies of the calling of the Gentiles, and the conversion of the Jews, and of the comfortable state of the church in Gospel times, and especially in the latter day.

{a} Leviathan, c. 33. {b} De Prophet. Vita & Interitu, c. 19. {c} De Vita & Morte Sanct. c. 48. {d} P. 50. Ed. Hottinger. {e} Onomastic. Sacr. p. 471, 952.

\\INTRODUCTION TO ZEPHANIAH 1\\

After the title of the book, Zep 1:1, follows the Lord's threatening of the land of Judea with an utter consumption of it, and of all creatures in it, for the sins of its inhabitants, especially their idolatry and apostasy, Zep 1:2-6, and this is represented under the notion of a sacrifice, to which guests are bid; and which even princes, and those of the blood royal, should not escape, nor ministers of state, or such who filled their masters' houses with violence, Zep 1:7-9. Some particular places are mentioned, where there should be a great noise of crying and howling, and especially Jerusalem, which should be diligently searched, and its goods become a booty, and its houses desolate, Zep 1:10-13. This destruction is spoken of as near at hand, and is described as very terrible and distressing, Zep 1:14-17 and as inevitable; nothing would be able to deliver from it, Zep 1:18.