Zephaniah 1:1
The name Zephaniah means “Jehovah hides” (see Intro.; cf. I Chron. 6:36; Jer. 21:1; and Zech. 6:10, 14). It has been suggested from this that the prophet was born during the “killing time of Manasseh.” This is the most detailed of any genealogy given for a prophet, and is best accounted for on the basis of its purpose to show Zephaniah to be of royal lineage.
Zephaniah's claim to authority, however, is in the fact that he spake the word of the Lord. While his natural descent may have gained him admission to the courts of royalty, the supernatural origin of his message gave it the urgency, certainty, and power which it manifested.
Section II The Threat of World Judgment
Zephaniah 1:2—3:7
A. DESCRIPTION OF THE JUDGMENT, 1:2-18
1. Universal Scope (1:2-3)
This divine visitation through human instrumentality is to be worldwide in scope, taking in not only man himself but all other living creatures: beasts, fowls, and fish (cf. Ezek. 38:19-20).
Here is the announcement of the major theme, universal catastrophe, which Zephaniah afterwards proceeds to apply in various ways and to different groups. The world has become exceedingly wicked, much as in the days of Noah, and God has determined to administer justice. Zephaniah knows no mercy. “There is no great hope in his book, hardly any tenderness and never a glimpse of beauty … no hotter book lies in all the O.T.”1
The stumbling blocks with the wicked (3) is a difficult phrase that some have considered to be an editorial addition because it doesn't seem to fit and sounds redundant. However there is no real reason for denying it to Zephaniah. As Henderson says, “The enumeration of particulars is designed to augment the fearful and universal character of the punishment.”2 Stumblingblocks is used in another place for idols, and it is proper that the causes of moral offense should be removed along with the offenders.
2. Application to Judah (1:4-13)
a. An idolatrous people (1:4-6). In this passage the prophet turns his attention to his own people, since the day of vengeance will affect them also. This is inevitable because of the raging idolatry which Zephaniah sees on every hand and describes in detail. The remnant of Baal (4) has been used for an argument to support the position that Zephaniah prophesied after 621 B.C., when Baal worship had been crippled by the reforms of Josiah. However, this view would be in too great a contrast to the other denunciations to be feasible.
The Septuagint renders the word “names” rather than remnant and many understand this to be the original.3 Others think it means “even to the last remnant,” thus stating that Baal worship would be completely destroyed. Baalism, a Canaanite and Phoenician religion, played a major role in the religious failure of the northern kingdom of Israel. Much of the Old Testament is unintelligible apart from a knowledge of the conflict between Baalism and the worship of the true God. Baalism was a fertility cult which fostered immoral practices in its worship and to which the Israelites seemed to have an unusual affinity.4
This place refers to Jerusalem, indicating incidentally that the prophet was in the city. Fundamentally, we are to see Jerusalem as the center of the nation, both politically and religiously. In a very real sense as the leaders go, so go the people. Therefore a decisive judgment upon idolatry must concentrate upon the capital city.
Chemarhns is an Aramaic word for “priests,” used in the Old Testament only for idolatrous priests. Perhaps it refers to the priests of foreign cults which were introduced into Israel. These, along with the degenerate regular priests of Jehovah, are to be cut off. The latter are more fully described in 3:4. It is suggested that they encourage idolatry either by their indifference or by the inconsistency of their conduct, or both.
Them that worship the host of heaven upon the house tops (5) refers to the worship of the Assyrian astral deities which were brought in during Manasseh's evil reign (cf. II Kings 21:3). A strong warning against such practices is issued in Deut. 4:19 and 17:3. This false worship involved offering incense and libations from the flat rooftops, normal places of activity in an oriental house and natural places to worship the heavenly bodies. Smith-Goodspeed renders this: “And those who prostrate themselves upon the roofs.”
The host of heaven includes all the heavenly bodies—the sun, moon, and stars. Certain ones were special objects of worship. Job 31:26-28 describes how this worship may have been performed. In Ezekiel's vision in Babylon he saw this type of worship being carried on in the Temple by priests (Ezek. 8:15-18). It was a practice which seems to have been confined to Judah (not practiced in Israel) because it was the result of Assyrian influence and Judah was a vassal state of the Assyrian Empire.
They that swear by the Lord render an allegiance to Jehovah but they also swear by Malcham, the national god of the Ammonites. Here is a divided loyalty, against which all prophets of Jehovah inveighed. The correct pronunciation is “Milcom” according to the Septuagint and others. Some scholars think it refers to Molech, the Phoenician god whose inhuman worship (II Kings 23:10; Jer. 7:31) was prevalent in Zephaniah's day.
Several translators render Malcham “their king.” Even though they rendered lip service to Jehovah, they honored Molech as king. To swear by a deity means to acknowledge him in a public manner, i.e., openly to pledge oneself to his service. This divided loyalty and service Jesus condemned in no uncertain terms: “Ye cannot serve God and mammon” (Matt. 6:24).
Two other classes of people are mentioned in 6 as being included in the judgment: the backsliders and the indifferent. Them that are turned back had evidently once followed the Lord but now have become apostates. Those that have not sought the Lord simply gave no heed to the things of Jehovah. Enquired for him very nearly means “to worship at the Temple” and thus has a parallel in Ps. 10:4, which may be paraphrased, “The wicked in the pride of his countenance does not go to church.”5
Thus we have three types of persons who fall under God's judgment and who may be thought of as being in eternal jeopardy in “the day of the Lord”: (1) the indifferent who go their own way without concern for spiritual things, (2) the backslider who has turned away from a former experience, and (3) the halfhearted who give Up service to God but who honor another god as king in their lives and do not give total allegiance to the Lord. Jehovah will be Lord of all or He will not be Lord at all.
b. Court officials and royal house condemned (1:7-9). Hold thy peace (7) is literally, “Hush.” The same term is used in Hab. 2:20. In view of the approaching judgment, the prophet bids all to be reverent as they prepare to meet it. The day of the Lord is the technical term (see Intro.) for the approaching judgment which is the major concern of Zephaniah. His central message may be summed up in the phrase, The day of the Lord is at hand. This is the day when God will manifest himself as Judge. It is not just any day of calamity, but a special time, the full and final manifestation of God.
This day is seen under the symbolism of a great sacrifice, and the guests have been prepared for their role. Bid means “consecrated.” It is not absolutely clear who are the guests, but apparently it is the menacing host from the north who remain unnamed throughout. It is probably the Scythians whom Zephaniah had in mind. Perhaps the victims are not all named but at least the upper classes are included (8). A New Testament parallel is Rev. 19:17-21, where the vultures are invited to the supper of the great God to “eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men.”
After the first phrase of verse 8, the first-person form of speech resumes and there is a continuation of the description of judgment with a listing of those who will be punished.
The king's children may or may not refer to Josiah's offspring. Most take it to refer to the royal house in general, since Josiah's sons were only about ten and twelve years old at the time (II Kings 23:31-36). The Septuagint reads” house “for children. They are commonly interchanged words.6
Strange apparel is better translated “foreign attire” (RSV). Here is another overtone from the reign of Manasseh when Assyrian customs, including dress, infiltrated the land. To the true Hebrew, this adoption of Assyrian fashions symbolized acceptance of the alien culture and religion. It was consequently and correctly condemned as a betrayal of faithfulness to Jehovah.
“The garments they wear reveal the nature of their ideal, They do not hesitate to surrender their distinctive national characteristics in their desire to make themselves and the nation one with the neighboring peoples.”7
Those that leap on (leap over) the threshold (9) is a phrase that has been variously interpreted. The key is said by some to be I Sam. 5:5, where the practice of the Philistine priests was to avoid treading on the threshold of the temple because the idol, Dagon, had fallen on it. This would make it a superstitious practice which would also be a capitulation to Philistine idolatry.
Most scholars, however, lean to an interpretation based more on the text itself, which seems to indicate a violent action. If it is tied to the next phrase, it would imply the forcible invasion of the privacy of the homes to rob and plunder.
c. Merchants and traders to be cut off (1:10-13). Verse 10 further extends the scope of judgment upon Jerusalem by showing that there shall be the noise of a cry from all quarters of the city, not just the royal palace. The fish gate was on the north side of Jerusalem. The significance of this reference seems to be that this is the direction from which the attack will come. The fish gate is mentioned in Neh. 3:3 and is probably so called because the men of Tyre traded in dried fish at the market by the north wall.8
An howling from the second indicates another place. Second is translated “Mishneh” by G. A. Smith, who notes that it means the second or new town. So Smith-Goodspeed renders it “the New Town, “while the RSV reads” Second Quarter. “The phrase may refer to a second division of the city, which had been recently added. In II Chron. 33:14, Manasseh is said to have built an outer wall extending as far as the fish gate; “New Town” may have been the name of the ground encompassed by Manasseh's wall. To the north was the only direction the city could expand, but it would be vulnerable to attack.
The hills does not refer to all the hills about Jerusalem but to those on which the northern part of the city was built. Howling means a “loud crash,” the noise of which resounds from the hills.
Maktesh (11) is probably the hollow between the western and eastern hills. It is literally “the mortar” but is translated “hollow place” in Judg. 15:19. It is supposed to have been the resort of traders and liable to invasion by a foe from the north. It has also been identified with the “Phoenician quarter” of Jerusalem (Driver). The literal term, “the Mortar,” means “a pounding place.” Thus there could be a connection between the name and the fate of the inhabitants. It is a place where they shall be pounded by the foe.
Taken together, these four locations are inclusive of the city's business life. This is further indicated by the final phrase of 11, “all who weigh out silver” (RSV).
The merchant people is “the people of Canaan” in the Hebrew, and Smith-Goodspeed renders it this way. However, merchant people is a correct paraphrase because the Canaanites (Phoenicians) were the chief traders in Palestine and so the term came to be used to denote a merchant.9
Verse 12 is a summary which pictures the Lord searching out the city of Jerusalem so as to render true justice upon those who are responsible for the spiritual indifference of the times. It is not certain whether or not Zephaniah intended to mean that the invaders would be the instrument of the Lord to search out the hidden transgressors. However it is done, the people involved are the indifferent who withdraw from public concerns. In the pictures of Zephaniah as a saint, he is represented as carrying a lantern.10
Settled on their lees (12) is a striking metaphor. Settled is an incorrect rendering. “Thickened” or “congealed” (cf. Exod. 15:8) is a better translation. The picture is taken from wine producing. During the process, wine was supposed to be poured from vessel to vessel (see Jer. 48:11-12) and left on its lees (dregs) only long enough to fix its color and body. Unless it was drawn or poured off, it grew thick and oversweet. Hence “to thicken upon one's lees” became a proverb for sloth, indifference, and the muddy mind.11
Judah was spiritually benumbed by security. Those who ought to have been leaders were relaxed into a selfish, idle existence, doing nothing about the situation in the land. It was an outlook that is so contemporary as to be startling. Either for good or evil, they thought, God will not act. Theirs was an absentee Deity, or one who was asleep—a practical atheism. It sounds very much like Ernst Renan, who said: “It has, in fact, never been established by observation that a superior being troubles himself, for a moral or immoral purpose, with the things of nature or the affairs of mankind.”12 A contemporary theologian has made a very similar faithless statement, “We cannot meet our time if we remain bound to a God who no longer appears in time and space. It is precisely by freely willing the death of God that we can be open to our time.”13
In v. 12 we have the “criminal apathy of the well-to-do classes sunk in ease and religious indifference,” which gives rise to G. A. Smith's classic comment: “The great causes of God and humanity are not defeated by the hot assaults of the devil, but by the slow, crushing, glacier-like mass of thousands and thousands of indifferent nobodies. God's causes are never destroyed by being blown up, but by being sat upon.”14
There follows another denunciation of these apathetic people. The expression, They shall also build houses, but not inhabit them (13), implies desolation. Those things which, in their ease, they contemplated enjoying would be snatched from them and they would not enjoy the fruit of their labors.
3. A Wider Application (1:14-18)
The day of the Lord was introduced in v. 7. In 14-18 this figure is developed and the terrors of the approaching great day (14) are pictured. The striking detail is probably drawn from the irruption of the Scythian hordes from the north into Asia. This vision seems to take on more universal proportions than the preceding one, which was directed specifically to Jerusalem. The day here is not so much a measure of time as expressive of a supreme crisis.
The day is seen to be near at hand and hastening rapidly. There are to be disturbances in the natural world as well as in the political order. “What the prophet expects here is a day when a corrupt international order will dissolve in the confused self-destructive conflict of its various elements and be swept away by calamitous manifestations of natural forces.”15
Taylor has shown how a simple rearrangement of letters in a line of the Massoretic text changes a section in 14 to a quite different and clearer reading without doing violence to the original.16 The voice of the day of the Lord: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly becomes, “Swifter than a runner, the day of the Lord, and speedier than a warrior” (cf. Moffatt).
Zephaniah's description of the day of the Lord (15-16) is closely akin to Joel 2:2 and Amos 5:20. But Zephaniah's account is fuller, and places chief emphasis upon the fact that this is to be a day of wrath. The original is a poem which cannot be adequately reproduced in translation. Even in the English version, however, one catches the tumultuous spirit and atmosphere of terror which it is designed to produce. Moffatt renders it:
A day of wrath, that day, of woe and anguish,
A day of stress and distress, darkness and gloom,
A day of cloud and thundercloud,
A day of trumpet blast and battle cry,
Against towers fortified and ramparts high.
The lives of men shall be worthless: Their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as dung (17). Their material possessions will give them no protection: Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them (18). The closing phrase of 18 reads literally, “For an end, surely a terrible [or sudden] destruction will he make.” A universal devastation will mark this final day when God will “make an end of all the inhabitants of the earth” (RSV).
B. JUDGMENT ON THE NATIONS, 2:1—3:7
1. The Summons (2:1-3)
This appeal is directed to Judah, Zephaniah's own people. The opening words, Gather yourselves together (1), are difficult to interpret. They may be taken to mean much the same as the colloquialism, “Pull yourselves together,” and so Eaton translates them. However the main word is formed from the term “stubble” and is used in the sense of assembling together. Using yet another possible root, Ewald would have it read “turn pale,” which fits in with the context.17
Judah is described as a nation not desired. This may be connected with an Aramaic root which means “colorless,” thus “pale.” The nation does not “turn pale,” hence it is not ashamed.18 The RSV translates it, “O shameless nation.” This is a call to Judah to be aware of the tragedy that awaits, and to take advantage of the respite to repent before the storm. Before the decree bring forth (2) refers to God's decree of judgment. Before it produces its fruit of destruction the people are exhorted to seek ye the Lord (3).
The Septuagint clarifies the obscure clause before the day pass as the chaff (2) as “before you become like drifting chaff.” The Hebrew phrase for the last half of 2 would literally suggest, according to Davidson, “before the day fixed by God breaks forth from the dark womb of the future.” There is a cumulative, rhetorical address in these declarations leading up to the expressed appeal in v. 3. This call is directed to the meek of the earth. There is some hope that they may escape the day of vengeance. Perhaps this is the remnant that played such a major role in Isaiah's thinking. Even here, however, there is no absolute assurance of deliverance, only it may be. These humble ones who obey the commandments are to continue seeking the Lord in the face of the approaching day of trouble. Smith notes the “absence of all mention of the Divine mercy as the cause of deliverance. Zephaniah has no gospel of that kind. The conditions of escape are sternly ethical—meekness, the doing of justice and righteousness.”19
In 1:14—2:3 we see Zephaniah's picture of “The Great Day of the Lord.” It has two sides: (1) The heavy hand of God's justice: will bring terror, 14; wrath, 15; and destruction, 16; because of flagrant sin, 17; and trusting in wealth, 18; (2) The high hope of God's mercy: in His long-suffering, 2; giving opportunity to seek Him in meekness, obedience, and righteousness, 3 (W.T.Purkiser).
2. Oracles Against Foreign Nations (2:4-15)
There are four heathen nations chosen as examples of the coming judgments. Two of them are small and near at hand. The Philistines, mentioned first, are actually in Palestine. The latter two are large and far away. Assyria, mentioned last, was the great threat to God's people in Zephaniah's time. She had destroyed the Northern Kingdom and had now lured the Southern Kingdom to the brink of ruin. These four nations are also Israel's enemies to the west, east, south, and north (see map 1).
a. The Philistines (2:4-7). The Philistines were like the Israelites in being located between the great military powers of Mesopotamia and the Kingdom of the Nile. They were therefore constantly threatened by opposing armies in their journeys of conquest. The four cities mentioned (see map 2) were the chief remaining strongholds of the Philistines. They shall drive out Ashdod (4) “suggests that Zephaniah's expectation here was of a sudden, irresistible military onslaught.”20 Undoubtedly Zepha-niah still has in mind the invading Scythians. Noon day is the time when inhabitants of hot countries are accustomed to lounging and would thus be unprepared.
The Philistines are the inhabitants of the sea coast (5), having lived along the Mediterranean since about 1200 B.C., when they invaded the area. They had migrated from the Mediterranean islands including Crete, with which the term Cherethites is connected.
Eaton suggests that Canaan may be more than a designation of the district. It is, perhaps, a description of the greedy commercialism associated with the Canaanites. He offers this possible rendering: “A Canaan (a land of grasping merchants) is the land of the Philistines.”21 The land shall be depopulated and stripped of its splendor. Her once great cities shall become cottages for shepherds, and folds for flocks (6).
In 7, Zephaniah promises that this country adjoining Judah shall be possessed by the remnant. There are two specific things that God will do for them. First He will visit them. This word means literally “to turn one's attention to” and therefore the RSV renders it “will be mindful of them.” The same term is used in 1:7 and there translated “punish.” The significance is that when God turns His attention to a people the results are dependent upon the spiritual condition of those people. It is very much like the approach of the returning father, whose coming is reacted to variously by his children according as they have kept his commandments. When God was mindful of Jerusalem (1:7) in its wickedness, punishment was the result. When He is mindful of the righteous remnant, the result is deliverance. Therefore the second thing that God promises Judah is to turn away their captivity. This does not necessarily refer to the Exile, although it may legitimately be a prediction of the return. Many commentators interpret it to be a promise of a return of an original state of paradise, the restoration of a former happy condition. Thus Smith-Goodspeed renders the phrase, “restore their fortunes.”
b. Moah and Ammon (2:8-11). Condemnation is pronounced upon Moab and Ammon because they reproached and reviled Israel and magnified themselves against her (8). This enmity is referred to in Amos 1:13-15; 2:1-3. These people lived directly to the east of Canaan (see map 2). They were never particularly friendly with Israel, and when the eastern tribes were weakened they seized the land of Reuben and Gad. Magnified themselves against their border means literally, “They enlarged [their mouths in arrogance] concerning their border.” That is, they boasted that they would annex Israel's land.22
As a punishment, their country would be desolated like Sodom and Gomorrah (9), Bible examples of utter destruction. Their land would be possessed of nettles, a plant characteristic of poor, salt soil and uncultivated places. It would be turned into saltpits. “Salt for Jerusalem is still procured chiefly from this district, being partly obtained from pits dug into the sand or slime of the shore, into which the waters of the Dead Sea are admitted, and then allowed to evaporate.”23
Zephaniah makes it clear that Moab and Ammon are in trouble because they have despised the people of the Lord of hosts (10). The clause, He will famish (make lean) all the gods of the earth (11), means that they will be rendered powerless by the Lord and unable to defend their worshippers.
c. The Ethiopians (2:12). This brief declaration is difficultto place. Douglas suggests that it is as if he said, “Also ye Ethiopians! No, I cannot address you; ye are dead and gone: they are those slain by my sword.”24 Some think that this verse refers to Egypt and is called Ethiopia (Kush) because of its long subjection to Ethiopic dynasties.25 It was the king of Ethiopia ruling over Egypt who had been the object of hope and trust against Assyria by many in Jerusalem at the time of Hezekiah.26
d. Assyria (2:13-15). This description of the destruction of Nineveh is rivalled only by the fiery eloquence of Nahum, to which it is closely related. This is the climactic oracle, and probably the chief one, since Assyria was the colossus of the ancient world of Zephaniah's time and she was now beginning to totter (see Introduction). The fulfillment of this oracle, then, would be the close of an epoch.
Nineveh lay 500 miles northeast of Judah (see map 1). That she is pictured as coming from the north is due to the fact that the army would cross the Euphrates at the great ford of Carchemish, 300 miles west of Nineveh, and so would approach Palestine from the north.27
The cormorant (14) is a wild creature thought by some to be the pelican, which is mentioned in Ps. 102:6. It is also translated “vulture” (RSV) and “jackdaw” (Smith-Goodspeed) and is mentioned in the list of unclean birds in Lev. 11:18 and Deut. 14:17. The bittern is translated “hedgehog” (RSV) or “porcupine.” The porcupine is a shy, solitary animal, which might well choose its home among desolate ruins.
We have here a picture of desolation and death. The great city which once revelled in splendor is now the haunt of wild beasts. Her dirge recounts the sins that brought her to the brink of doom.
This is the exultant city
that dwelt secure,
that said to herself,
“I am and there is none else.”
What a desolation she has become,
a lair for wild beasts!
Everyone who passes by her
hisses and shakes his fist (15, RSV).
Compare the denunciation of Nineveh in Nahum.
3. Further Word to Jerusalem (3:1-7)
Having given attention to the foreign nations, the prophet now turns home again with his oracles and speaks to his own city. Jerusalem is a city that is filthy (rebellious) and defiled because she is filled with oppression. The word translated polluted (1) means blood-stained and is so translated in Isa. 59:3. It is largely the leading classes that are morally rotten (3). Jerusalem cannot be spared from the judgment of God.
Verses 1-2 describe the fundamental nature of sin as rebellion against God. This is seen especially in the words, She trusted not in the Lord (2). Sin is thus self-idolatry; one who does not wholly trust the Lord has made a basic denial of the faith.
She listens to no voice,
she accepts no correction.
She does not trust in the Lord,
she does not draw near to her God (2, RSV).
Living Prophecies interprets v. 3, “Her leaders are like roaring lions hunting for their victims—out for everything that they can get. Her judges are like ravenous wolves at evening time, who by dawn have left no trace of their prey.”
Even the spiritual leaders have failed in their function. The prophets are light and treacherous persons (4). As Henderson says, “Her prophets are vainglorious, hypocritical men.”28 Light here seems to mean boastful, reckless in assertion and action. “Instead of being humble declarers of the will of God, they sought to give utterance to their own ideas.”29 They are treacherous (not to be trusted) because they have given out their own imaginations as revelations from God.
The priests have polluted the sanctuary. The word sanctuary is an incorrect translation. The RSV correctly renders the clause, “Her priests profane what is sacred.” Their function was to be “guardians of holiness ensuring conditions for the meeting of God and man in worship.”30 But instead they had become worldly, making no distinction between the holy and profane, and distorting the meaning of the law (Torah) (cf. Hab. 1:4).
How can God in justice overlook these corruptions? The fact that the just Lord is in the midst (5) of the people makes their conduct even more reprehensible. He will not do iniquity seems to be directed especially at the priests whose misinterpretations of the law denied this aspect of the nature of God.
Every morning the light of day testifies to God's faithfulness in the laws of nature; and He is just as faithful in the administration of the moral laws of His universe. But nothing seems to move the unjust—the calloused Israelites. The clear evidence of God's moral government does not stir them to action. Not even the visitation of judgment upon other nations (6-7) has shaken their carelessness and indifference. God says, Surely thou wilt fear me (7), but the results have been just the opposite. They rose early, and corrupted all their doings. The RSV says, “All the more they were eager to make all their deeds corrupt.”
In 3:1-7 we see “God's Concern for the Careless.” (1) A message to people who have once known God, 1; (2) The nature of sin, 2; (3) Backsliding is no respecter of persons, 3-4; (4) God is faithful with His warnings, 5-6; (5) The seeking God always hopes for repentance, 7ab; (6) Man can persist in sin in spite of all that divine love can do, 7c (A. F. Harper).