Commentary and critical notes on the Bible/Zephaniah

by Adam Clarke

Introduction

This chapter begins with denouncing God's judgments against Judah and Jerusalem, ^[1]. Idolaters, and sinners of several other denominations, are then particularly threatened; and their approaching visitation enlarged on, by the enumeration of several circumstances which tend greatly to heighten its terrors, ^[2].

Verse 1

The word of the Lord which came unto Zephaniah - Though this prophet has given us so large a list of his ancestors, yet little concerning him is known, because we know nothing certain relative to the persons of the family whose names are here introduced. We have one chronological note which is of more value for the correct understanding of his prophecy than the other could have been, how circumstantially soever it had been delivered; viz., that he prophesied in the days of Josiah, son of Amon, king of Judah; and from the description which he gives of the disorders which prevailed in Judea in his time, it is evident that he must have prophesied before the reformation made by Josiah, which was in the eighteenth year of his reign. And as he predicts the destruction of Nineveh, ^[3], which, as Calmet remarks, could not have taken place before the sixteenth of Josiah, allowing with Berosus twenty-one years for the reign of Nabopolassar over the Chaldeans; we must, therefore, place this prophecy about the beginning of the reign of Josiah, or from b.c. 640 to b.c. 609. But see the chronological notes.

Verse 2

I will utterly consume all things - All being now ripe for destruction, I will shortly bring a universal scourge upon the land. He speaks particularly of the idolaters.

Verse 3

I will consume man and beast - By war, and by pestilence. Even the waters shall he infected, and the fish destroyed; the air become contaminated, and the fowls die.

Verse 4

I will cut off the remnant of Baal - I think he refers here, partly at least, to the reformation which Josiah was to bring about. See the account, ^[4] (note).
The Chemarims - The black-robed priests of different idols. See the note on ^[5]. These were put down by Josiah.

Verse 5

The host of heaven - Sun, moon, planets, and stars. This worship was one of the most ancient and the most common of all species of idolatry; and it had a greater semblance of reason to recommend it. See ^[6], ^[7]; ^[8]; ^[9].
That swear by the Lord, and that swear by Malcham - Associating the name of an idol with that of the Most High. For Malcham, see on ^[10] (note), and ^[11] (note).

Verse 6

Them that are turned back - Who have forsaken the true God, and become idolaters.
Nor inquired for him - Have not desired to know his will.

Verse 7

Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lords God - הס has, the same as hush, hist, among us. Remonstrances are now useless. You had time to acquaint yourselves with God; you would not: you cry now in vain; destruction is at the door.
The Lord hath prepared a sacrifice - A slaughter of the people.
He hath bid his guests - The Babylonians, to whom he has given a commission to destroy you. In all festivals sacrifices,
1. The victims were offered to God, and their blood poured out before the altar.
2. The people who were invited feasted upon the sacrifice. See on ^[12] (note).

Verse 8

I will punish the princes, and the king's children - After the death of Josiah the kingdom of Judah saw no prosperity, and every reign terminated miserably; until at last King Zedekiah and the king's children were cruelly massacred at Riblah, when Nebuchadnezzar had taken Jerusalem.
Strange apparel - I really think this refers more to their embracing idolatrous customs and heathen usages, than to their changing their dress. They acquired new habits, as we would say; customs, that they used as they did their clothing - at all times, and in every thing.

Verse 9

That leap on the threshold - Or, that leap over the threshold. It is most probable that the Philistines are here meant. After the time that Dagon fell before the ark, and his hands were broken off on the threshold of his temple, his worshippers would no more set a foot upon the threshold, but stepped or leaped over it, when they entered into his temple. The Chaldee understands this of the Philistines, without giving this reason for it. Some understand it of haughtiness and pride: others think that leaping on the threshold refers to the customs of the Arabs, who used to ride into people's houses and take away whatever they could carry; and that this is the reason why, in several parts of the East, they have their doors made very low, to prevent those depredators from entering. In this manner, we learn the Persians have frequently oppressed the poor Armenians, going on horseback into their houses, and taking whatever they thought proper. Mr. Harmer understands it in this way.

Verse 10

A cry from the fish-gate - This gate, which is mentioned ^[13], was opposite to Joppa; and perhaps the way in which the news came of the irruption of the Chaldean army, the great crashing from the hills.
The second - Or second city, may here mean a part of Jerusalem, mentioned ^[14]; ^[15].

Verse 11

Maktesh - Calmet says this signifies a mortar, or a rock in form of a mortar, and was the name of a quarter of Jerusalem where they hulled rice, corn, etc., according to St. Jerome. Some think the city of Jerusalem is meant, where the inhabitants should be beat and pounded to death as grain is pounded in a mortar.
Newcome translates it, the lower city, and considers it the valley in Jerusalem, which divided the upper from the lower city.
They that bear silver - The merchants, moneychangers, usurers, rich men.

Verse 12

I will search Jerusalem with candles - I will make a universal and thorough search.
That are settled on their lees - Those who are careless, satisfied with the goods of this life; who trust in their riches, and are completely irreligious; who, while they acknowledge that there is a God, think, like the Aristotelians, that he is so supremely happy in the contemplation of his own excellences, that he feels it beneath his dignity to concern himself with the affairs of mortals.

Verse 13

Their goods (in which they trust) shall become a booty - To the Chaldeans. They shall have no profit of all their labors. The houses they have built they shall not inhabit; of the wine of the vineyards they have planted, they shall not drink. See ^[16], where we find the same evils threatened.

Verse 14

The great day of the Lord is near - It commenced with the death of the good king Josiah, who was slain by Pharaoh-necho at Megiddo, and continued to the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar.

Verse 15

That day is a day of wrath - See ^[17] (note); ^[18] (note); ^[19] (note), ^[20] (note); ^[21] (note); ^[22] (note), and the notes there. From the fourteenth to the sixteenth verse inclusive there is a most beautiful amplification of the disasters that were coming on Jerusalem; the invasion, incursion, attack, carnage, confusion, horrible din occasioned by the sound of the trumpet, the cries of the people, and the shrieks and groans of the dying, are pointed out with great force and mighty effect.

Verse 17

They shall walk like blind men - Be in the most perplexing doubt and uncertainty; and while in this state, have their blood poured out by the sword of their enemies, and their flesh trodden under foot.

Verse 18

Their silver nor their gold - In which they trusted, and from which they expected happiness; these shall not profit them in this awful day. And God will bring this about speedily; and a speedy riddance - a universal desolation, shall in a short time take place in every part of the land.

Chapter 2

Introduction

The prophet, having declared the judgments which were ready to fall on his people, earnestly exhorts them to repentance, that these judgments may be averted, ^[23]. He then foretells the fate of other neighboring and hostile nations: the Philistines, ^[24]; Moabites and Ammonites, ^[25]; Ethiopians, ^[26]; and Assyrians, ^[27]. In the close of the chapter we have a prophecy against Nineveh. These predictions were accomplished chiefly by the conquests of Nebuchadnezzar.

Verse 1

Gather yourselves - Others, sift yourselves. Separate the chaff from the wheat, before the judgments of God fall upon you. O nation not desired - unlovely, not delighted in; hated because of your sin. The Israelites are addressed.

Verse 3

Ye meek of the earth - ענוי anavey, ye oppressed and humbled of the land.
It may be ye shall be hid - The sword has not a commission against you. Ask God, and he will be a refuge to you from the storm and from the tempest.

Verse 4

Gaza shall be forsaken - This prophecy is against the Philistines. They had been greatly harassed by the kings of Egypt; but were completely ruined by Nebuchadnezzar, who took all Phoenicia from the Egyptians; and about the time of his taking Tyre, devastated all the seignories of the Philistines. This ruin we have seen foretold by the other prophets, and have already remarked its exact fulfillment.

Verse 5

The sea-coasts, the nation of the Cherethites - The sea-coasts mean all the country lying on the Mediterranean coast from Egypt to Joppa and Gaza. The Cherethites - the Cretans who were probably a colony of the Phoenicians. See on ^[28] (note), and ^[29] (note).

Verse 6

And the sea-coasts shall be dwellings - Newcome considers כרת keroth as a proper name, not cottages or folds. The Septuagint have Κρητη, Crete, and so has the Syriac. Abp. Secker notes, Alibi non extat כרת, et forte notat patriam των כרתים. "The word כרת is not found elsewhere, and probably it is the name of the country of the Cherethim."

Verse 7

The coast shall be for the remnant - Several devastations fell on the Philistines. Gaza was ruined by the army of Alexander the Great, and the Maccabees finally accomplished all that was predicted by the prophets against this invariably wicked people. They lost their polity, and were at last obliged to receive circumcision.

Verse 8

I have heard the reproach of Moab - God punished them for the cruel part they had taken in the persecutions of the Jews; for when they lay under the displeasure of God, these nations insulted them in the most provoking manner. See on ^[30] (note), and ^[31] (note); ^[32] (note); ^[33] (note); ^[34] (note); ^[35] (note); ^[36] (note).

Verse 9

The breeding of nettles - That is, their land shall become desolate, and be a place for nettles, thorns, etc., to flourish in, for want of cultivation.

Verse 10

Because they have reproached - See on ^[37] (note).

Verse 11

He will famish all the gods of the earth - They shall have no more sacrifices; their worship shall be entirely destroyed. Idolaters supposed that their gods actually fed on the fumes and spirituous exhalations that arose from the burnt-offerings which they made unto their idols. It is in reference to this opinion that the Lord says, "He will famish all the gods of the land."

Verse 12

Ye Ethiopians also - Nebuchadnezzar subdued these. See ^[38], ^[39]; ^[40], ^[41]. See also on ^[42] (note).

Verse 13

He will - destroy Assyria - He will overthrow the empire, and Nineveh, their metropolitan city. See on Jonah and Nahum.

Verse 14

And flocks shall lie down in the midst of her - Nineveh was so completely destroyed, that its situation is not at present even known. The present city of Mossoul is supposed to be in the vicinity of the place where this ancient city stood.
The cormorant קאת kaath; and the bittern, קפד kippod. These Newcome translates, "The pelican and the porcupine."
Their voice shall sing in the windows - The windows shall be all demolished; wild fowl shall build their nests in them, and shall be seen coming from their sills, and the fine cedar ceilings shall be exposed to the weather, and by and by crumble to dust. See the note on ^[43] (note), where nearly the same terms are used.
I have in another place introduced a remarkable couplet quoted by Sir W. Jones from a Persian poet, which speaks of desolation in nearly the same terms. "The spider holds the veil in the palace of Caesar:
The owl stands sentinel in the watchtower of Afrasiab."

Verse 15

This is the rejoicing city - The city in which mirth, jocularity, and pleasure, reigned without interruption.
And wag his hand - Will point her out as a mark and monument of Divine displeasure.

Chapter 3

Introduction

The prophet reproves Jerusalem, and all her guides and rulers, for their obstinate perseverance in impiety, notwithstanding all the warnings and corrections which they had received from God, ^[44]. They are encouraged, however, after they shall have been chastised for their idolatry, and cured of it, to look for mercy and restoration, ^[45]; and exited to hymns of joy at the glorious prospect, ^[46]. After which the prophet concludes with large promises of favor and prosperity in the days of the Messiah, ^[47]. We take this extensive view of the concluding verses of this chapter, because an apostle has expressly assured us that in Every prophetical book of the Old Testament Scriptures are confined predictions relative to the Gospel dispensation. See ^[48].

Verse 1

Wo to her that is filthy - This is a denunciation of Divine judgment against Jerusalem.

Verse 2

She obeyed not the voice - Of conscience, of God, and of his prophets.
She received not correction - Did not profit by his chastisements; was uneasy and ill-tempered under her afflictions, and derived no manner of good from these chastisements.
She trusted not in the Lord - Did not consider him as the Fountain whence all help and salvation should come; and rather sought for support from man and herself, than from God.
She drew not near to her God - Did not worship him; did not walk in his ways; did not make prayer and supplication to him.

Verse 3

Her princes - are roaring lions - Tearing all to pieces without shadow of law, except their own despotic power.
Her judges are evening wolves - Being a little afraid of the lion-like princes, they practice their unjust dealings from evening to morning, and take the day to find their rest.
They gnaw not the bones till the morrow - They devour the flesh in the night, and gnaw the bones and extract the marrow afterwards. They use all violence and predatory oppression, like wild beasts; they shun the light, and turn day into night by their revellings.

Verse 4

Her prophets are light and treacherous persons - They have no seriousness, no deep conviction of the awful nature of their office, no concern for the immortal souls of the people. Treacherous persons - they betray the souls of the people for the sake of worldly honor, pleasure, and profit. Even in our own enlightened country we find prophets who prefer hunting the hare or the fox, and pursuing the partridge and pheasant, to visiting the sick, and going after the strayed, lost sheep of the house of Israel. Poor souls! They know neither God nor themselves; and if they did visit the sick, they could not speak to them to exhortation, edification, or comfort. God never called them to his work; therefore they know nothing of it. But O, what an account have these pleasure-taking false prophets to render to the Shepherd of souls!
They have done violence to the law - They have forced wrong constructions on it in order to excuse themselves, and lull the people into spiritual slumber. So we find that it was an ancient practice for men to wrest the Scriptures to their own destruction.

Verse 5

The just Lord is in the midst thereof - He sees, marks down, and will punish all these wickednesses.
Every morning doth he bring his judgment to light - The sense is, says Bp. Newcome, "Not a day passes but we see instances of his goodness to righteous men, and of his vengeance on the wicked."

Verse 6

I have cut off the nations - Syria, Israel, and those referred to, ^[49], ^[50]. - Newcome.

Verse 7

Surely thou wilt fear me - After so many displays of my sovereign power and judgments.
But they rose early - And instead of returning to God, they practiced every abomination. They were diligent to find out times and places for their iniquity. This is the worst state of man.

Verse 8

Wait ye upon me - Expect the fulfilment of all my promises and threatenings: I am God, and change not.
For all the earth - All the land of Judah.

Verse 9

Will I turn to the people - This promise must refer to the conversion of the Jews under the Gospel.
That they may all call - That the whole nation may invoke God by Christ, and serve him with one consent; not one unbeliever being found among them.
The pure language, שפה ברורה saphah berurah, may here mean the form of religious worship. They had been before idolaters: now God promises to restore his pure worship among them. The word has certainly this meaning in ^[51]; where, as God is the speaker, the words should not be rendered, "I heard a language which I understood not," but, "I heard a religious confession, which I approved not." See ^[52]; ^[53]; and see ^[54], where a similar promise is found.

Verse 10

From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia - This may denote both Africa and the southern Arabia. Bochart thinks that Arabia Chusaer is meant; and that the rivers are Besor, which flows into the Mediterranean; Rhinocorura, which flows into the Lake Sirbonis; Trajanus Amnis, which flows into the Red Sea; and the river Corys. Calmet thinks that these rivers mean the Nile, which by seven mouths falls into the Mediterranean. The Nile comes from Ethiopia, properly so called; and runs through all Egypt, and falls into the sea at that part of Arabia which the Scripture calls Cush or Ethiopia.
My dispersed - The Jews, scattered through different parts of the world. Shall bring mine offering. Shall acknowledge my mercy in sending them the Messiah to bless them, by turning every one of them away from their iniquities.

Verse 11

Shalt thou not be ashamed - Thy punishment shall cease, for God shall pardon thy sin.
For then I will take away out of the midst of thee - The wicked Jewish priests and scribes who blasphemed Christ, and would not come under his yoke.
Because of my holy mountain - Thou wilt no more boast in my temple, but become meek and lowly in following him who is meek and lowly in heart, that ye may obtain rest to your souls.

Verse 12

An afflicted and poor people - In such a state will the Jews be found when they shall hear the universal call, and believe in Christ Jesus. Indeed, this is the general state of the Jews in the present day; except a Jew that are called Jews, who are very rich; and who believe just as much in the God of Jacob, as they do in Jesus Christ.

Verse 13

The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity - O what a change! And then, how different shall they be from their present selves! Iniquity, lying, and deceit shall not be found among them! A Jew once said to me "Tere are shome of you Christians who are making wonderful efforts to convert the Tshews (Jews.) Ah, dere ish none but Gott Almighty dat can convert a Tshew." Truly I believe him. Only God can convert any man; and if there be a peculiar difficulty to convert any soul, that difficulty must lie in the conversion of the Jew.

Verse 14

Sing, O daughter of Zion - Here is not only a gracious prophetic promise of their restoration from captivity, but of their conversion to God through Christ.

Verse 15

The King of Israel, even the Lord, is in the midst of thee - They have never had a king since the death of Zedekiah, and never shall have one till they have the King Messiah to reign among them; and this promise refers to that event.

Verse 16

Fear thou not - Thou shalt have no more captivities nor national afflictions.
Let not thine hands be slack - This may refer, first, to the rebuilding of the temple of God, after the return from Babylon; and, secondly, to their diligence and zeal in the Christian Church.

Verse 17

The Lord thy God - יהוה אלהיך Yehovah Eloheycha, "The self-existent and eternal Being, who is in covenant with you;" the character of God in reference to the Jews when standing in the nearest relation to them.
Is mighty - גבור gibbor, is the prevailing One, the all-conquering Hero. The character which is given to Christ, ^[55] : "His name shall be called אל גבור El gibbor, the prevailing Almighty God."
He will save - Deliver thee from all the power from all the guilt, and from all the pollution of thy sins; and when thus saved "he will rejoice over thee with joy," with peculiar gladness. "He will rest in his love," - he will renew his love. He will show the same love to you that he did of old to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
He will joy over thee with singing - The conversion of the Jews will be a subject of peculiar delight and exultation to God himself! There will be a more than ordinary joy in heaven, when the Jews return to God through Christ. This event cannot be at a great distance; they are as wretched and as ungodly as they can well be. The arms of Christians are open to receive them; and all things are now ready!

Verse 18

I will gather - sorrowful - This may refer to those who, during the captivity, mourned for their former religious assemblies; and who were reproached by their enemies, because they could not enjoy their religious solemnities. See ^[56] : "By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song," etc. This very circumstance may be the reference here.

Verse 19

I wilt unto all that afflict thee - They who have persecuted you shall be punished for it. It shows much malignity and baseness of mind, to afflict or reproach those who are lying under the chastising hand of God. This was the conduct of the Edomites, Moabites, and Ammonites, when the Jews were in adversity; and how severely did the Lord punish them for it! And he gave this as the reason for the severity of the punishment.
The first clause here is translated thus by Abp. Newcome: "Behold I will work with thee for thy sake at that time." The original is obscure; and it may bear the above sense.
I wilt save her that halteth - See ^[57] (note), where there is a parallel place.
And gather her that was driven out - By captivity. The reference may be to renewing the covenant with the Jews, who were considered as an unfaithful spouse divorced by her husband. I will bring her back to my house.
I will get them praise and fame in every land - They shall become a great, a good, and a useful people. And as they are now a proverb of reproach, full of base wiles and degrading selfishness, they shall lose this character, and be totally changed; and they shall be as eminent for excellence, as they were before for baseness in those countries where they had sojourned.

Verse 20

At that time - First, when the seventy years of the Babylonish captivity shall terminate. "I will bring you again" to your own land; and this restoration shall be a type of their redemption from sin and iniquity; and at this time, and at this only, will they have a name and praise among all the people of the earth, not only among the Jews, but the Gentiles.
Before your eyes - Some read before Their eyes; that is, the eyes of all people. On their conversion to Christianity, they shall become as eminent as they ever were in the most illustrious days of their history, Lord, hasten the conversion of Israel! Amen.

1. Zep 1:1-3
2. Zep 1:4-18
3. Zep 2:13
4. 2Kgs 23:5
5. 2Kgs 23:6
6. 2Kgs 23:6
7. 2Kgs 23:12
8. Jer 19:13
9. Jer 32:29
10. Hos 4:15
11. Amo 5:26
12. Isa 34:6
13. Neh 3:3
14. 2Kgs 22:14
15. 2Chr 34:22
16. Amo 5:11
17. Isa 22:5
18. Jer 30:7
19. Joe 2:2
20. Joe 2:11
21. Amo 5:18
22. Zep 1:18
23. Zep 2:1-3
24. Zep 2:4-7
25. Zep 2:8-11
26. Zep 2:12
27. Zep 2:13
28. 1Sam 30:14
29. Amo 9:7
30. Amo 1:13
31. Gen 19:25
32. Deu 29:23
33. Isa 13:19
34. Isa 34:13
35. Jer 49:18
36. Jer 50:40
37. Zep 2:8
38. Jer 46:2
39. Jer 46:9
40. Eze 30:4
41. Eze 30:10
42. Amo 9:7
43. Isa 34:11-14
44. Zep 3:1-7
45. Zep 3:8-13
46. Zep 3:14-17
47. Zep 3:18-20
48. Act 3:24
49. Isa 36:18
50. Isa 36:20
51. Psa 81:6
52. Isa 19:18
53. Hos 14:3
54. Joe 2:28
55. Isa 9:6
56. Psa 137:1-9
57. Mic 4:6