Zephaniah
Zephaniah 1
Chapter I · Vol. III, pp. 1473–1474
God's severe judgment against Judah for divers sins.
1 The worda of the LORD which came unto Zephaniah the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hizkiah,1 inb the days of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah.
A.M. cir. 3392. B.C. cir. 612.
a Is.1.1. Je.1.2, &c. Eze.1.1. Ho.1.1. 2 Pe.1.21. 2 Ti.3.16.
1 Hizkiah, or Hezekiah, probably the king of that name. There must have been some good reason for tracing his genealogy so far back, and the only reason seems to be that Hezekiah was a man of high rank. It is no decisive argument against this that Hezekiah is not called 'king of Judah.'—P.
2 cI2 will utterly consume all things from off the land,3 saith the LORD.
c 2 Ki.22.16,17; xxiv.xxv. Je.9.11,16,22.
A.M. cir. 3392. B.C. cir. 612.
2 Heb. By taking away I will make an end.
3 Heb. the face of the land.
3 Id will consume man and beast; I will consume the fowls of the heaven, and the fishes of the sea, and the stumbling-blocks4 with the wicked; and I will cut off man from off the land, saith the LORD.
d Ho.4.3. Je.4.23-27,29; 12.4; 9.10.
4 Or, idols, Mat.13.41. Eze.14.3,4,7,19.
4 Ie will also stretch out mine hand upon Judah, and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and I will cut off gthe remnant of Baal from this place, and the name of the 5Chemarims with the priests;
e Je.4.5,7,16; 13.13,14,19; 15.1-9; 10.16.
g 2 Ki.23.4,5. Je.3.6. Ho.10.5. Eze.44.10.
5 Chemarims—translated 'idolatrous priests,' 2 Ki.23.5. They are so called from wearing black garments, the customary dress of the idolatrous priests of many nations.—C.
5 And hthem that worship the host of heaven upon the house-tops; and them that worship and ithat swear by the LORD,6 and that swear by jMalcham;7
h 2 Ki.23.12. Je.19.13; 32.29.
A.M. cir. 3392. B.C. cir. 612.
i Ho.4.15. Je.7.31; 19.5; 32.35. 1 Ki.18.21. 2 Ki.17.33,41. Ne.13.24. Re.3.16. Is.48.1.
6 Or, to the LORD.
j Jos.23.7. 1 Ki.11.33.
7 See note * below.
* Two classes of idolaters are here mentioned:—1. Those who worshipped the heavenly bodies on the house-tops, going up there that they might have full view of the objects of their adoration. 2. Those who endeavoured to combine the worship of the true God with idolatry.—P.
6 And them that are kturned back from the LORD; and those that lhave not sought the LORD, nor inquired for him.
7 Holdn thy peace at the presence of the Lord GOD; for the oday of the LORD is at hand: for pthe LORD hath prepared a sacrifice, qhe hath bid8 his guests.9
8 And it shall come to pass in the day of the LORD's sacrifice, that rI will punish1 the princes, and the king's children, and all such as are clothed with sstrange apparel.
r Is.39.7. 2 Ki.23.32-37; 24.1,12; 25.7. Je.22.18,19,28; 39.6.
1 Heb. visit upon
s De.22.5. 2 Ki.10.22. Is.3.18, &c.
9 In the same day also will I punish all those that leap on2 the threshold, which tfill their masters' houses with violence and deceit.
10 And it shall come to pass uin that day, saith the LORD, that there shall be vthe noise of a cry from the xfish-gate, and an howling from the second,3 and a great crashing from ythe hills.
u ver.7-9,12,14. Je.39.2.
v Is.22.4. Je.4.19,20,31. Is.59.11. Am.8.3.
x 2 Ch.33.14. Ne.3.3.
3 From the second. From the new town, 2 Ki.22.14. 2 Ch.34.22.—The hills: Zion and Moriah.—C.
y 2 Sa.5.7,9. 2 Ch.3.1. Am.8.3.
11 Howl,z ye inhabitants of 4Maktesh,5 for all the merchant people are cut down; all they that bear silver are cut off.
z Ja.5.1-5. Re.18.11,12.
4 The merchant-street or exchange
5 Maktesh. The lower town, situated in the valley or basin that separated old and new Jerusalem.—C.
12 And it shall come to pass at that time, that I will asearch Jerusalem with candles, and punish the men that are settled6 on their lees;7 that say in their heart, bThe LORD will not do good, neither will he do evil.
13 Thereforec their goods shall become a booty, and their houses a desolation: they shall also build houses, but dnot inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, but not drink the wine thereof.
c ver.9. De.28.29-33,49-52. Le.26.32. Is.6.11; 24.1-3. Je.4.7,20; 5.6,17; 9.11,19; 12.10-13.
d De.28.30,39. Am.5.11.
14 Thee great day of the LORD gis near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even hthe voice of the day of the LORD: ithe mighty man shall cry there bitterly.
e Je.30.7. Joel 2.1,11,30. Mal.4.5. Re.6.17.
g Am.8.2. Eze.7.2-13; 12.23,25. 2 Pe.2.3.
i Re.6.15-17. Is.15.4. Je.25.34; 48.41.
15 That day is ja day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness,
j Is.22.5. Je.30.7. Joel 2.2,11. Am.5.18. Is.2.12-21. ver.7; ch.2.2. Re.6.17.
16 A kday of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers.
k Je.4.19,20; 6.22-25; 8.16. Hab.1.6-10.
17 And I will bring distress upon men,8 thatl they shall walk like blind men, nbecause they have sinned against the LORD: and otheir blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung.
8 Not knowing how to escape danger—where to seek for safety.—C.
l De.28.28,29. Is.59.10; 10.3; 8.22; 22.5.
n Is.3.11; 59.1-15; 24.5,6. Je.2.17,19; 4.18; 6.19. ch.3.1-7.
A.M. cir. 3392. B.C. cir. 612.
o Ps.79.2,3. Je.9.21,22; 15.3; 21.9; 16.6.
p ver.11-13. Pr.11.4. Eze.7.19.
q ch.3.8. Le.26.30-33. De.28.52; 20.23-28; 31.17; 32.22-24. Is.xxiv. Je.4.26,29; 6.11,21; 7.20,29,34; 9.9-11,21.
Notes
Ver. 3-6. Idols, and other occasions of sinful courses, are here called stumbling-blocks. Notwithstanding Josiah's care to reform Judea, some continued to worship Baal; and the Chemarim, or black ones, were the idolatrous priests. Some mingled the worship of Jehovah and Malcham or Molech together: and some, who had been zealous in Josiah's reformation, had apostatized to idolatry. 7. The slaughtered Jews were the sacrifice to righteous judgment; and the Chaldeans took it upon themselves not only to slay them, but to feed upon and devour their wealth and substance. 9. They who leap on the threshold are either idolatrous priests, who jumped over the thresholds of their temples; or rather servants, who insolently entered the houses of pretended malefactors to plunder them for their masters. 12. God will manifest and punish the most secret abominations, particularly of those who, from atheistical principles, are become hardened and secure in wickedness. 14-18. These expressions denote the terrible, confounding, ruinous, and desolating nature of the Chaldean and Roman invasions.
Ver. 5. Malcham. The same as Molech, the god of the Ammonites. The persons threatened are those who combine the worship of the true God with idolatry. C.
Ver. 8. Strange apparel. The forbidden interchange of male and female apparel, as customary in the worship of several idols, De. 22. 5. C.
Ver. 9. Leap on, &c. 'Leap over the threshold.' Those who do not tread on the threshold, in remembrance of Dagon, 1 Sa. 5. 5, or those marauding servants who ride into houses for purposes of plunder—a custom still prevalent among the Arabs, Persians, &c.; on account of which, in many places, the people, and especially the Jews, make the entrance of their houses so low, that a man must enter on his hands and knees, and sometimes so intricate, that it is difficult for a stranger to obtain an entrance at all. C.
Reflections.—The wrath of God makes fearful havoc in a nation or kingdom, and burns hottest against apostate professors and hypocrites. These refusers of Christ's atoning sacrifice must themselves fall a sacrifice to the provoked judgment of God: nor can any rank or station save them from his stroke. Yea, every sin, secret or open, is taken into his account, as a ground of their punishment. Gaudy apparel and ill-gotten gains speedily help on their destruction. Alas! how terrible is it to fall into the hands of an angry God! How awakening to infidels themselves, who had racked their wits to silence their consciences that they might enjoy their guilty pleasures undisturbed! But if periods of judgment be so dreadful, what must be the great day of the Lord! How will it strike sinners dumb with horror, and consume them as with fire! And all earthly enjoyments will be then altogether ineffectual for their relief.