John Trapp on Zephaniah 3:4
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Zephaniah3:4
Verſe 4. Her Prophets are light] Raſh, headlong, futilous, debauched (as the French tranſlateth it) aeriall, fantaſticall, waightleſſe, worthleſſe men, ſuch as in whoſe doctrine there is no authority, in whoſe life no gravity, ſtaiedneſſe, ſeverity, conſtancy: like the planet Mercury, they can be good in conjunction with good, and bad with bad: like that French Apoſtate, of whom Beza ſaith, that he had religionem ephemeram, for every day a new religion, ab his ad illos, ab illis ad hos leviter iens & levius tranſiens, double-minded and unſtable in all his wayes, Jam. 1.
and treacherous perſons] Viri perfidiaerum, moſt perfidious perſons, This is their true title, whom the world counteth, and calleth facile, facetious, fair-conditioned, comporting, condeſcending, people-pleaſing preachers. Can there be a worſe treachery then to betray mens ſouls, as your Aiones and Negones do, that cry peace, peace, and ſo cozen men to hell.
her prieſts have polluted the ſanctuary] Or holy ſervices. Cum coelum terrae commiſcent ſacra profanis. God looks to be ſanctified in all thoſe that draw nigh unto him, Levit. 10.3. that they ſhould be ſingularly holy, handling the word ſanctè magis quàm ſcitè (as One once told the wanton Veſtall) and living ſo, that malice it ſelf may be ſilenced. God of old appointed both the weights and meaſures of the ſanctuarie, to be twice as large as thoſe of the Common-wealth: to ſhew, that hee expects much more of thoſe that ſerve him there, then he doth of others. See 1 King. 7.15. with 2 Chron. 3.15.
they have done violence to the law] ſc. by their crafty and perverſe gloſſes, ſetting it on the rack as it were, and ſo making it ſpeak more then it would: tawing it with their teeth, as ſhoomakers do their upper-leather, forcing it two miles, when it would go but one, yea murthering it, as Tertullian ſaith of ſome, quod caedem ſcripturarum faciant, that they ſlaughter the ſcriptures, to ſerve their own purpoſes: for which cauſe alſo he calleth Marcion the heretike, Murem Ponticum, the Rat of Pontus, for his arroding and gnawing the text.
John Trapp, Commentary or Exposition, Zephaniah 3:4. Public domain.
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