Zephaniah 2:4 Kommentar

In this chapter we have, I. An earnest exhortation to the nation of the Jews to repent and make their peace with God, and so to prevent the judgments threatened before it was too late (Zep 2:1-3), and this inferred from the revelation of God's wrath against them in the foregoing chapter. II. A denunciation of the judgments of God against several of the neighbouring nations that had assisted, or rejoiced in, the calamity of Israel. 1. The Philistines (Zep 2:4-7). 2. The Moabites and Ammonites (Zep 2:8-11). 3. The Ethiopians and Assyrians (Zep 2:12-15). All these shall drink of the same cup of trembling that is put into the hands of God's people, as was also foretold by other prophets before and after.

The prophet here comes to foretel what share the neighbouring nations should have in the destruction made upon those parts of the world by Nebuchadnezzar and his victorious Chaldees, as others of the prophets did at that time, which is designed, 1. To awaken the people of the Jews, by making them sensible how strong, how deep, how large, the inundation of calamities should be, that the day of the Lord, which was near, might appear the more dreadful, and they might thereby be quickened to prepare for it as for a general deluge. 2. To comfort them with this thought, that their case, though sad, should not be singular (Solamen miseris socios habuisse doloris - The wretched find it consolatory to have companions of their woe), and much more with this, that though God had seemed to be their enemy, and to fight against them, yet he was still so far their friend, and an enemy to their enemies, that he resented, and would revenge, the indignities done them. In these verses we have the doom of the Philistines, who were near neighbours, and old enemies, to the people of Israel. Five lordships there were in that country; only four are here named - Gaza and Ashkelon, Ashdod and Ekron; Gath, the fifth, is not named, some think because it was now subject to Judah. They were the inhabitants of the sea-coasts (Zep 2:5), for their country lay upon the Great Sea. The nation of the Cherethites is here joined with them, which bordered upon them (Sa1 30:14) and fell with them, as is foretold also, Eze 25:16. The Philistines' land is here called Canaan, for it belonged to that country which God gave to his people Israel, and was inserted in the grant made to them, Jos 13:3. This land is yet to be possessed (five lords of the Philistines), so that they wrongfully kept Israel out of the possession of it (Jdg 3:3), which is now remembered against them. For, though the rights of others may be long detained unjustly, the righteous God will at length avenge the wrong. I. It is here foretold that the Philistines, the usurpers, shall be dispossessed and quite extirpated. In general, here is a woe to them (Zep 2:5), which, coming from God, denotes all misery: The word of the Lord is against them - the word of the former prophets, which, though not yet accomplished, will be in its season, Isa 14:31. This word, now by this prophet, is against them. Note, Those are really in a woeful condition that have the word of the Lord against them, for no word of his shall fall to the ground. Those that rebel against the precepts of God's word shall have the threatenings of the word against them. The effect will be no less than their destruction, 1. God himself will be the author of it: "I will even destroy thee, who can make good what I say and will." 2. It shall be a universal destruction; it shall extend itself to all parts of the land, both city and country: Gaza shall be forsaken, though now a populous city. It was foretold (Jer 47:6) that baldness should come upon Gaza; Alexander the Great razed that city, and we find (Act 8:26) that Gaza was a desert. Ashkelon shall be a desolation, a pattern of desolation. Ashdod shall be driven out at noon-day; in the extremity of the scorching heat they shall have no shade, no shelter to protect them; but then, when most incommoded by the weather, they shall be forced away into captivity, which will be an aggravating circumstance of it. Ekron likewise shall be rooted up, that had been long taking root. The land of the Philistines shall be dispeopled; there shall be no inhabitant, Zep 2:5. God made the earth to be inhabited (Isa 45:18), otherwise he would have made it in vain; but, if men do not answer the end of their creation in serving God, it is just with God that the earth should not answer the end of its creation in serving them for a habitation; man's sin has sometimes subjected it to this vanity. 3. It shall be an utter destruction. The sea-coast, which used to be a harbour for ships and a habitation for merchants, shall now be deserted, and be only cottages for shepherds and folds for flocks (Zep 2:6), and then perhaps put to better use than when it was possessed by the lords of the Philistines. II. It is here foretold that the house of Judah, the rightful owners, shall recover the possession of it, Zep 2:7. The remnant of those that shall return out of captivity, when God visits them, shall be made to lie down in safety in the houses of Ashkelon, to lie down in the evening, when they are weary and sleepy. There they shall feed themselves and their flocks. Note, God will at length restore his people to their rights, though they may be long kept out from them.

For Gaza shall be forsaken Therefore seek the Lord; and not to the Philistines, since they would be destroyed, to whom Gaza, and the other cities later mentioned, belonged; so Aben Ezra connects the words, suggesting that it would be in vain to flee thither for shelter, or seek for refuge there; though others think that this and what follows is subjoined, either to assure the Jews of their certain ruin, since this would be the case of the nations about them; or to alleviate their calamity, seeing their enemies would have no occasion to insult them, and triumph over them, they being, or quickly would be, in the like circumstances. Gaza was one of the five lordships of the Philistines; a strong and fortified place, as its name signifies; but should be demolished, stripped of its fortifications, and forsaken by its inhabitants. It was smitten by Pharaoh king of Egypt; and was laid waste by Nebuchadnezzar, ( Jeremiah 47:1 Jeremiah 47:4 Jeremiah 47:5 ) and afterwards taken by Alexander the great; and, having gone through various changes, was in the times of the apostles called Gaza the desert, ( Acts 8:26 ) . There is a beautiful play on words in the words, not to be expressed in an English translation F8. According to Strabo's account F9, the ancient city was about a mile from the haven, for which (he says) it was formerly very illustrious; but was demolished by Alexander, and remained a desert. And so Jerom F11 says, in his time, the place where the ancient city stood scarce afforded any traces of the foundations of it; for that which now is seen (adds he) was built in another place, instead of that which was destroyed: and which, he observes, accounts for the fulfilment of this prophecy: and so Monsieur Thevenot F12 says, the city of Gaza is about two miles from the sea; and was anciently very illustrious, as may be seen by its ruins; and yet, even this must be understood of new Gaza; so a Greek writer F13, of an uncertain age, observes this distinction; and speaks of this and the following places exactly in the order in which they are here, ``after Rhinocorura lies new Gaza, which is the city itself; then "Gaza the desert" (the place here prophesied of); then the city Askelon; after that Azotus (or Ashdod); then the city Accaron'' (or Ekron): and Ashkelon a desolation; this was another lordship belonging to the Philistines, that suffered at the same time as Gaza did by Nebuchadnezzar, ( Jeremiah 47:5 Jeremiah 47:7 ) . This place was ten miles from Gaza, as Mr. Sandys F14 says, and who adds, and now of no note; and Strabo F15 speaks of it in his time as a small city; indeed new Ashkelon is said by Benjamin of Tudela F16 to be a very large and beautiful city; but then he distinguishes it from old Ashkelon, here prophesied of; and which (he says) is four "parsoe", or sixteen miles, from the former, and now lies waste and desolate: they shall drive out Ashdod at the noon day, that is, the Chaldeans shall drive out the inhabitants of Ashdod, another of the principalities of the Philistines; the same with Azotus, ( Acts 8:40 ) "at noon day", openly and publicly, and with great ease; they shall have no occasion to use any secret stratagems, or to make night work of it; and which would be very incommodious and distressing to the inhabitants, to be turned out at noon day, and be obliged to travel in the heat of the sun, which in those eastern countries at noon day beats very strong. This place was distant from old Ashkelon four "parsae", or twenty four miles, as Benjamin Tudelensis F17 affirms; and with which agrees Diodorus Siculus {r}, who says, that from Gaza to Azotus are two hundred and seventy furlongs, which make thirty four miles, ten from Gaza to Ashkelon, and twenty four from thence to Azotus or Ashdod. This place, according to the above Jewish traveller F19, is now called Palmis, which he says is the Ashdod that belonged to the Philistines, now waste and desolate; by which this prophecy is fulfilled. It was once a very large and famous city, strong and well fortified; and held out a siege of twenty nine years against Psamittichus king of Egypt, as Herodotus F20 relates, but now destroyed; see ( Isaiah 20:1 ) : and Ekron shall be rooted up; as a tree is rooted up, and withers away, and perishes, and there is no more hope of it: this denotes the utter destruction of this place. There is here also an elegant allusion to the name of the place F21, not to be imitated in a version of it: this was another of the lordships of the Philistines, famous for the idol Beelzebub, the god of this place. Jerom F23 observes, that some think that Accaron (or Ekron) is the same with Strato's tower, afterwards called Caesarea; and so the Talmudists say F24, Ekron is Caesarea; which is not at all probable: he further observes, that there is a large village of the Jews, which in his days was called Accaron, and lay between Azotus and Jamnia to the east; but Breidenbachius F25 relates, that, in his time, Accaron was only a small cottage or hut, yet retaining its ancient name; so utterly rooted up is this place, which once was a considerable principality. Gath is not mentioned, which is the other of the five principalities, because it was now, as Kimchi says, in the hands of the kings of Judah. FOOTNOTES: F8 (hbwze hze) . F9 Geograph. l. 16. p. 502. F11 De locis Hebraicis, fol. 91. K. F12 Travels, par. 1. B. 2. c. 36. p. 180. F13 Apud Reland. Palestina Illustrata, l. 2. p. 509. F14 Travels, p. 151. F15 Geograph. l. 16. p. 502. F16 Itinorarium, p. 51. F17 Ibid. F18 Bibliothec. l. 19. p. 723. F19 Itinerarium, p. 51. F20 Euterpe, sive l. 2. c. 157. F21 (rqet Nwrqe) . F23 De locis Heb. fol. 88. D. F24 T. Bab. Megilla, fol. 6. 1. F25 Apud Adrichom. Theatrum Terrae Sanctae, p. 20.

(Verse 3, 4) Seek the Lord, all you meek of the earth, who have practiced His judgment; seek justice, seek meekness, perhaps you shall be hidden in the day of the Lord's fury. For Gaza shall be deserted, and Ashkelon shall become a desolation. Ashdod shall be driven out at noon, and Ekron shall be uprooted. LXX: Seek the Lord, all you lowly of the earth; do justice, seek righteousness, and answer it, that you may be protected in the day of the Lord's wrath. For Gaza shall be plundered, and Ashkelon shall become a desolation; and Ashdod shall be cast out at noon, and Ekron shall be uprooted. He is called humble of the earth, who, not by humility, which signifies virtue, but by sins, has been humiliated, and cannot say with Christ: Learn from me, for I am gentle and humble of heart (Matt. XI, 29). For everyone who humbles himself will be exalted. And in another place, a sermon is directed to the saint: the greater you are, the more humble yourself, and you will find favor before God (Eccl. III). But he who is humiliated by sins, and burdened with the consciousness of offenses, and says: Like a heavy burden, burdens are upon me (Psalm XXXVII, 5), must hear: Come to me all you who labor and are burdened, and I will refresh you (Matt. XI, 28). Let this saying be in the beginning according to the 70 interpreters. However, according to the Hebrew, there is another sense. For it is said to the saints: O you, who keep my commandments, who are placed in the land, and knowing that everyone who humbles himself will be exalted, you have imitated my meekness, and you have acted in judgment, seek the Lord in your meekness. And if you want to know who this Lord is, seek the just, seek the meek: For the Father has given all judgment to the Son (John 5:22), who will judge justly. And since you are gentle, seek a gentle one, so that whatever is lacking in your gentleness may be fulfilled by the one who is the source of gentleness. But I say this to you: If you hide on the day of the Lord's fury, that is, if you are able to escape the wrath of the coming day and the captivity that is to be inflicted by either Nebuchadnezzar or the Romans on the people of Judah, because you have sought the Lord and have acted justly. But if they doubt (others say) who have made his judgments, saying (others say). If you wonder how you will hide on the day of the Lord's wrath, what will happen to the sinners? For such a great devastation will come to the land of Judah, and such a high-ranking Babylonian army will ascend here, that even the most powerful cities of the Philistines, which have always resisted you in fair combat, will be captured. Gaza will be destroyed, and Ascalon will be reduced to a wasteland, and Ashdod, not by theft but by war, that is, by open light and victory, will be taken captive; and Ekron, which means uprooting, will endure what it signifies in its name, that is, it will be uprooted. This is according to the literal and Hebrew truth. According to the Septuagint, however, it is commanded to the humble of the earth, of whom it was said above, that they should work for justice and seek righteousness, which I believe is none other than Christ. And because everyone who seeks will find (Mat. VII, 8), what they have found, let them respond to others, that is, let them teach others: for hidden wisdom and a treasure not appearing, what usefulness is there in both (Eccl. XX, 32)? And this, he says, I command you, that on the day of the Lord's wrath you may be protected, either at the end of the world or at the departure of each one from the world, for Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, and Ekron will suffer different punishments: for Gaza means his strength. Therefore, all those who applaud themselves in bodily strength and worldly power, and say with the devil, by my own strength I will do it, will be plundered on the day of the Lord's wrath, and brought to nothing. Ascalon also, which is called weighted or murderous fire, when the day of the Lord's anger comes, will experience the measure of its wickedness, and by the same weight with which it operated, it will be depressed. And because it burned to shed blood, and scandalized many souls, and it was fulfilled in it: The Lord will abhor the bloodthirsty and deceitful man (Psalm 5:7), it will not be plundered like Gaza, but reduced to solitude, it will be consumed by the fires of Gehenna until it turns to dust. And also Azotus, which in Hebrew is called Esdod, and in our language means the fire of generation, will be laid waste by bright light. For it burned with desire, and was consumed by the fire of generation. And because all who commit adultery are like an oven whose hearts are burning (Hosea VII), and are wounded by burning arrows, not in darkness, not in hidden judgment; but at noon, that is, when the saints receive full clarity, they will be cast into darkness, and will not have the fellowship of the saints. But Accaron, which is interpreted as sterility or eradication, because it has produced no fruit and by the perversity of its teaching has eradicated many, it itself will also be eradicated. But all these various things understand in the vices and sins of the souls, and because what each one's work is like will be tested by the fire of judgment on the day (I Cor. III).

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, Zep 2:1-3. He then foretells the fate of other neighboring and hostile nations: the Philistines, Zep 2:4-7; Moabites and Ammonites, Zep 2:8-11; Ethiopians, Zep 2:12; and Assyrians, Zep 2:13. In the close of the chapter we have a prophecy against Nineveh. These predictions were accomplished chiefly by the conquests of Nebuchadnezzar.

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.

EXHORTATION TO REPENT BEFORE THE CHALDEAN INVADERS COME. DOOM OF JUDAH'S FOES, THE PHILISTINES, MOAB, AMMON, WITH THEIR IDOLS, AND ETHIOPIA AND ASSYRIA. (Zep 2:1-15) Gather yourselves--to a religious assembly, to avert the judgment by prayers (Joe 2:16) [GROTIUS]. Or, so as not to be dissipated "as chaff" (Zep 2:2). The Hebrew is akin to a root meaning "chaff." Self-confidence and corrupt desires are the dissipation from which they are exhorted to gather themselves [CALVIN]. The foe otherwise, like the wind, will scatter you "as the chaff." Repentance is the gathering of themselves meant. nation not desired--(Compare Ch2 21:20), that is, not desirable; unworthy of the grace or favor of God; and yet God so magnifies that grace as to be still solicitous for their safety, though they had destroyed themselves and forfeited all claims on His grace [CALVIN]. The Margin from Chaldee Version has, "not desirous," namely of returning to God. MAURER and GESENIUS translate, "Not waxing pale," that is, dead to shame. English Version is best.

For--He makes the punishment awaiting the neighboring states an argument why the ungodly should repent (Zep 2:1) and the godly persevere, namely, that so they may escape from the general calamity. Gaza shall be forsaken--In the Hebrew there is a play of similar sounds, Gaza Gazubah; Gaza shall be forsaken, as its name implies. So the Hebrew of the next clause, Ekron teeakeer. at the noonday--when on account of the heat Orientals usually sleep, and military operations are suspended (Sa2 4:5). Hence an attack at noon implies one sudden and unexpected (Jer 6:4-5; Jer 15:8). Ekron--Four cities of the Philistines are mentioned, whereas five was the normal number of their leading cities. Gath is omitted, being at this time under the Jews' dominion. David had subjugated it (Ch1 18:1). Under Joram the Philistines almost regained it (Ch2 21:16), but Uzziah (Ch2 26:6) and Hezekiah (Kg2 18:8) having conquered them, it remained under the Jews. Amo 1:6; Zac 9:5-6; Jer 25:20, similarly mention only four cities of the Philistines.

Exhortation to Repentance in View of the Judgment - Zephaniah 2:1-3:8 Zephaniah, having in the previous chapter predicted the judgment upon the whole world, and Judah especially, as being close at hand, now summons his people to repent, and more especially exhorts the righteous to seek the Lord and strive after righteousness and humility, that they may be hidden in the day of the Lord (Zep 2:1-3). The reason which he gives for this admonition to repentance is twofold: viz., (1) that the Philistians, Moabites, and Ammonites will be cut off, and Israel will take possession of their inheritances (Zep 2:4-10), that all the gods of the earth will be overthrown, and all the islands brought to worship the Lord, since He will smite the Cushites, and destroy proud Asshur and Nineveh (Zep 2:11-15); and (2) that even blood-stained Jerusalem, with its corrupt princes, judges, and prophets, will endure severe punishment. Accordingly, the call to repentance is not simply strengthened by the renewed threat of judgment upon the heathen and the ungodly in Judah, but is rather accounted for by the introduction of the thought, that by means of the judgment the heathen nations are to be brought to acknowledge the name of the Lord, and the rescued remnant of Israel to be prepared for the reception of the promised salvation.

Destruction of the Philistines. - Zep 2:4. "For Gaza will be forgotten, and Ashkelon become a desert; Ashdod, they drive it out in broad day, and Ekron will be ploughed out. Zep 2:5. Woe upon the inhabitants of the tract by the sea, the nation of the Cretans! The word of Jehovah upon you, O Canaan, land of the Philistines! I destroy thee, so that not an inhabitant remains. Zep 2:6. And the tract by the sea becomes pastures for shepherds' caves, and for folds of sheep. Zep 2:7. And a tract will be for the remnant of the house of Judah; upon them will they feed: in the houses of Ashkelon they encamp in the evening; for Jehovah their God will visit them, and turn their captivity." The fourth verse, which is closely connected by kı̄ (for) with the exhortation to repentance, serves as an introduction to the threat of judgment commencing with hōi in Zep 2:5. As the mentioning of the names of the four Philistian capitals (see at Jos 13:3) is simply an individualizing periphrasis for the Philistian territory and people, so the land and people of Philistia are mentioned primarily for the purpose of individualizing, as being the representatives of the heathen world by which Judah was surrounded; and it is not till afterwards, in the further development of the threat, that the enumeration of certain near and remote heathen nations is appended, to express more clearly the idea of the heathen world as a whole. Of the names of the Philistian cities Zephaniah makes use of two, ‛Azzâh and ‛Eqrōn, as a play upon words, to express by means of paronomasia the fate awaiting them. ‛azzâh, Gaza, will be ‛azûbhâh, forsaken, desolate. ‛Eqrōn, Ekron, will be tē‛âqēr, rooted up, torn out of its soil, destroyed. To the other two he announces their fate in literal terms, the shemâmâh threatened against Ashkelon corresponding to the ‛ăzūbhâh, and the gârēsh predicated of Ashdod preparing the way for Ekron's tē‛âqēr. בּצּהרים at noon, i.e., in broad day, might signify, when used as an antithesis to night, "with open violence" (Jerome, Kimchi); but inasmuch as the expulsion of inhabitants is not effected by thieves in the night, the time of noon is more probably to be understood, as v. Clln and Rosenmller suppose, as denoting the time of day at which men generally rest in hot countries (Sa2 4:5), in the sense of unexpected, unsuspected expulsion; and this is favoured by Jer 15:8, where the devastation at noon is described as a sudden invasion. The omission of Gath may be explained in the same manner as in Amo 1:6-8, from the fact that the parallelism of the clauses only allowed the names of four cities to be given; and this number was amply sufficient to individualize the whole, just as Zephaniah, when enumerating the heathen nations, restricts the number to four, according to the four quarters of the globe: viz., the Philistines in the west (Zep 2:5-7); the Moabites and Ammonites comprised in one in the east (Zep 2:8-10); the Cushites in the south (Zep 2:11, Zep 2:12); and Asshur, with Nineveh, in the north (north-east), (Zep 2:13-15). The woe with which the threat is commenced in Zep 2:5 applies to the whole land and people of the Philistines. Chebhel, the measure, then the tract of land measured out or apportioned (see at Deu 3:4; Deu 32:9, etc.). The tract of the sea is the tract of land by the Mediterranean Sea which was occupied by the Philistines (chebhel hayyâm = 'erets Pelishtı̄m). Zephaniah calls the inhabitants gōi Kerēthı̄m, nation of the Cretans, from the name of one branch of the Philistian people which was settled in the south-west of Philistia, for the purpose of representing them as a people devoted to kârath, or extermination. The origin of this name, which is selected both here and in Eze 25:16 with a play upon the appellative signification, is involved in obscurity; for, as we have already observed at Sa1 30:14, there is no valid authority for the derivation which is now current, viz., from the island of Crete (see Stark, Gaza, pp. 66 and 99ff.). דּבר יי עליכם forms an independent sentence: The word of the Lord cometh over you. The nature of that word is described in the next sentence: I will destroy thee. The name Kena‛an is used in the more limited sense of Philistia, and is chosen to indicate that Philistia is to share the lot of Canaan, and lose its inhabitants by extermination.