Zephaniah 2
Summary for Zeph 2:1-3: 2:1-3 a In light of the horrifying spectacle he has described, Zephaniah calls on his nation to repent and humble themselves before God.2:2 b Farmers threshed grain on windy hilltops. When they tossed the mixed grain and chaff in the air, the wind blew the chaff away while the heavier grain fell back to the ground. The opportunity to repent was a fleeting one.
2:3 c all who are humble: True humility involves submission to and dependence on God (Pss 18:25-27 d; 119:142-144 e; Prov 15:33 f; 18:12 g; 22:4 h).
Summary for Zeph 2:4: 2:4–3:20 i Zephaniah turns his attention to the judgment of the foreign nations (2:4-15 j) before returning to the judgment of Judah and Jerusalem (3:1-8 k). He then outlines God’s plans for his purified and obedient people (3:9-20 l).
Summary for Zeph 2:4-15: 2:4-15 m Zephaniah began his pronouncements with the Philistines, whose kingdom lay on Judah’s west (2:4-7 n). He moved on to Moab and Ammon in the east (2:8-11 o), and finally singled out Cush (Ethiopia) to the south (2:12 p) and Assyria to the north (2:13-15 q). 2:4 r King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon conquered the Philistine cities of Gaza and Ashkelon ... Ashdod and Ekron. Gaza remained deserted, but the others recovered and continued into later times. Zephaniah does not mention Gath, the fifth major Philistine city (see 1 Sam 6:17 s), which had either disappeared or become unimportant by Zephaniah’s time.
2:5 t Old Testament scholars believe the Philistines came from the island of Crete (cp. Ezek 25:16 u).
2:6 v pasture ... shepherd camps and enclosures for sheep: The destruction of cities and their return to a natural state represents a severe form of punishment from God. See also Isa 7:23-25 w; 13:19-21 x; 32:9-15 y; Ezek 35:9 z.
2:7 aa The Baal worshipers (1:4 ab) and the Philistines would never be restored (2:4-6 ac; see also Amos 1:8 ad). By contrast, God promised to return the remnant of his people to their land, care for them, and restore them to prosperity (Zeph 3:18-20 ae; Isa 11:11-16 af; Jer 23:1-8 ag; Ezek 34:11-16 ah, 20-31 ai).
2:8 aj The Moabites and Ammonites were Israel’s traditional foes. The Israelites fought with them frequently (see 2 Kgs 3:1-27 ak; 2 Chr 20:1-30 al), and they remained Israel’s enemies to the end (2 Kgs 25:25 am; Jer 40:11-14 an).
• mocking ... invading: The Israelites not only suffered repeated attacks by the Moabites and Ammonites (see Amos 1:13 ao) but also endured their insults over their successes.
2:9 ap The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah serves as an example of God’s severe judgment of sin, both in the Old Testament (Deut 29:23 aq; Isa 1:9 ar; Jer 23:14 as; Amos 4:11 at) and in the New Testament (Luke 10:12 au; Rom 9:29 av; 2 Pet 2:6 aw).
• salt pits: A ruinous waste (Deut 29:23 ax; Ps 107:34 ay; Jer 17:6 az). Sowing the earth with salt was a mark of permanent judgment (see Judg 9:45 ba) because it made the ground barren.
2:11 bb nations ... will worship the Lord: At the end of history, all people in all places will worship God alone (3:9 bc; Ps 66:4 bd; Mic 4:1-2 be; Zech 14:16 bf).
2:12 bg Ethiopians: Hebrew Cushites. While the Hebrew term can refer to any nation or people along the southern edge of the known world of that time, here it refers specifically to the Ethiopian dynasty that ruled Egypt.
2:13 bh Zephaniah turns from the south (2:12 bi) to the north. Like Nahum before him, he announces the imminent demise of Assyria.
2:14 bj To drive home his point about Nineveh’s fate, Zephaniah invokes powerful imagery: Rubble would fill the doorways through which the wealthy and powerful of Nineveh had once walked. The eerie sounds of owls hooting in empty windows would punctuate the city’s desolation.
2:15 bk utter ruin: The doom was so certain and irreversible (see Nah 1:14 bl; 2:13 bm; 3:19 bn) that Zephaniah saw no future for Assyria or its capital. So complete was Nineveh’s devastation that the Greek historian Xenophon once passed by its ruins unaware that it was there.
• laugh ... shake a defiant fist: Those who suffered under Assyria’s cruel empire would be glad seeing its demise.
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