Zephaniah 1 commentary

Ruin is coming, utter ruin; destruction from the Almighty. The servants of God all proclaim, There is no peace for the wicked. The expressions are figurative, speaking every where desolation; the land shall be left without inhabitants. The sinners to be consumed are, the professed idolaters, and those that worship Jehovah and idols, or swear to the Lord, and to Malcham. Those that think to divide their affections and worship between God and idols, will come short of acceptance with God; for what communion can there be between light and darkness? If Satan have half, he will have all; if the Lord have but half, he will have none. Neglect of God shows impiety and contempt. May none of us be among those who draw back unto perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul.

God's day is at hand; the punishment of presumptuous sinners is a sacrifice to the justice of God. The Jewish royal family shall be reckoned with for their pride and vanity; and those that leap on the threshold, invading their neighbours' rights, and seizing their possessions. The trading people and the rich merchants are called to account. Secure and careless people are reckoned with. They are secure and easy; they say in their heart, the Lord will not do good, neither will he do evil; that is, they deny his dispensing rewards and punishments. But in the day of the Lord's judgment, it will clearly appear that those who perish, fall a sacrifice to Divine justice for breaking God's law, and because they have no interest by faith in the Redeemer's atoning sacrifice.

This warning of approaching destruction, is enough to make the sinners in Zion tremble; it refers to the great day of the Lord, the day in which he will show himself by taking vengeance on them. This day of the Lord is very near; it is a day of God's wrath, wrath to the utmost. It will be a day of trouble and distress to sinners. Let them not be laid asleep by the patience of God. What is a man profited if he gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? And what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? Let us flee from the wrath to come, and choose the good part that shall never be taken from us; then we shall be prepared for every event; nothing shall separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Zephaniah first mentions the time in which he prophesied; it was under the king Josiah. The reason why he puts down the name of his father Amon does not appear to me. The Prophet would not, as a mark of honor, have made public a descent that was disgraceful and infamous. Amon was the son of Manasseh, an impious and wicked king; and he was nothing better than his father. We hence see that his name is recorded, not for the sake of honor, but rather of reproach; and it may have been that the Prophet meant to intimate, what was then well known to all, that the people had become so obdurate in their superstitions, that it was no easy matter to restore them to a sound mind. But we cannot bring forward anything but conjecture; I therefore leave the matter without pretending to decide it.

With regard to the pedigree of the Prophet, I have mentioned elsewhere what the Jews affirm — that when the Prophets put down the names of their fathers, they themselves had descended from Prophets. But Zephaniah mentions not only his father and grandfather, but also his great-grandfather and his great-great-grandfather; and it is hardly credible that they were all Prophets, and there is not a word respecting them in Scripture. I do not think, as I have said elsewhere, that such a rule is well-founded; but the Jews in this case, according to their manner, deal in trifles; for in things unknown they hesitate not to assert what comes to their minds, though it may not have the least appearance of truth. It is possible that the father, grandfather, the great-grandfather, and the great-great-grandfather of the Prophet, were persons who excelled in piety; but this also is uncertain. What is especially worthy of being noticed is — that he begins by saying that he brought nothing of his own, but faithfully, and, as it were, by the hand, delivered what he had received from God.

With regard, then, to his pedigree, it is a matter of no great moment; but it is of great importance to know that God was the author of his doctrine, and that Zephaniah was his faithful minister, who introduced not his own devices, but was only the announcer of celestial truth. Let us now proceed to the contents -

Zephaniah 1:2, 3

2. I will utterly consume all things from off the land, saith the Lord

2. Perdendo perdam (vel, colligendo colligam) omnia ex superficie terrae, dicit Jehova.

3. I will consume man and beast; I will consume the fowls of the heaven, and the fishes of the sea, and the stumblingblocks with the wicked; and I will cut off man from off the land, saith the Lord.

3. Perdam (vel, colligam) hominem et bestiam; perdam autem avem coelorum, et pisces maris; et offendicula erunt impiis; et excidam hominem e superficie terrae, dicit Jehova.

It might seem at the first view that the Prophet dealt too severely in thus fulminating against his own nation; for he ought to have begun with doctrine, as this appears to be the just order of things. But the Prophet denounces ruin, and shows at the same time why God was so grievously displeased with the people. We must however remember, that the Prophet, living at the same period with Jeremiah, had regard to the stubbornness of the people, who had been already with more than sufficient evidence proved to have been guilty. Hence he darts forth as of a sudden and denounces the wickedness of the people, which had been already exposed; so there was to be no more contention on the subject, for their iniquity had become quite ripe. And no doubt it was ever the object of the Prophets to unite their endeavors so as to assist one another: and this united effort ought ever to be among all the servants of God, that no one may do anything apart, but with joined efforts they may promote the same object, and at the same time strive mutually to confirm the common truth. This is what our Prophet is now doing.

He knew that God would have used various means to restore them, had not the corruption of the people become now past recovery. Having observed that all others had spent their labor in vain, he directly attacks the wicked men who had, as it were designedly, cast aside every fear of God, and shook off every shame. Since, then, it was openly evident that with determined rebellion they resisted God, it was no wonder that the Prophet began with so much severity.

But here a difficulty meets us. He said in the first verse, that he thus spoke under Josiah; but we know that the land was then cleansed from its superstitions. For we learn, that when that pious king attained manhood, he labored most strenuously to restore the pure worship of God; and when all places were full of wicked superstitions, he not only constrained the tribe of Judah to adopt the true worship of God, but he also stimulated his neighbors who had remained and were dispersed through the land of Israel. Since, then, the pious king had strenuously and courageously promoted the interest of true religion, it seems a wonder that God was still so much displeased. But we must remember, that though Josiah sincerely worshipped God, yet the people were not really changed; for it has often happened, that God roused the chief men and leaders, while few, or hardly any, followed them, but only yielded a feigned obedience. This was no doubt the case in the time of Josiah; the hearts of the people were alienated from God and true religion, so that they chose rather to rot in their filth than to return to the true worship of God. And that this was the case soon appeared by the event; for Josiah did not reign long after he had cleansed the land from its defilements, and Jehoahaz succeeded him; and then the people immediately relapsed into their idolatry; and though for three months only his successor reigned, yet true religion was in that short time abolished. It is hence an obvious conclusion, that the people had ever been wedded to impiety, and that its roots were hidden in their hearts; though they apparently pretended to worship God, and, in order to please the king, embraced the worship divinely prescribed in their law; yet the event proved that it was a mere act of dissimulation, yea, of perfidy. Then after Jehoahaz followed Jehoiakim, and no better was their condition down to the time of Zedekiah; in short, no remedy could be found for their unhealable wound.

It hence plainly appears, that though Josiah made use of all means to revive the true and unadulterated worship of God in Judea, he did not yet gain his object. And we hence clearly learn how hard were the trials he sustained, seeing that he effected nothing, though at great hazard he attempted to restore the worship of God. When he found that he labored in vain, he no doubt had to contend with great difficulties; and this we know by our own experience. When hope of success shines on us, we easily overcome all troubles, however arduous our work may be; but when we see that we strive in vain, we become dejected: and when we see that our labor succeeds only for a few years, our spirit grows faint. Josiah surmounted these two difficulties; for the perverseness of the people was sufficiently evident, and he was also reminded by two Prophets, Jeremiah and Zephaniah, that the people would still cherish their impious perverseness. When, therefore, he plainly saw that his labor was almost in vain, he might have fainted in the middle of his course, or, as they say, at the starting-place. And since the benefit was so small during his reign, what could he have hoped after his death?

This example ought at this day to be carefully observed: for though God now appears to the world in full light, yet very few there are who submit themselves to his word; and of this small number fewer still there are who sincerely and without any dissimulation embrace sound doctrine. We indeed see how great is their inconstancy and indifference. For they who pretend great zeal for a time very soon vanish and fall away. Since then the perversity of the world is so great, sufficient to deject the minds of God’s servants a hundred times, let us learn to look to Josiah, who in his own time left undone nothing, which might serve to establish the true worship of God; and when he saw that he effected but little and next to nothing, he still persevered, and with firm and invincible greatness of mind proceeded in his course.

We may also derive hence an admonition no less useful not to regard ours as the golden age, because some portion of men profess the pure worship of God: for many, by no means wicked men, think, that almost all mortals are like angels, as soon as they testify in words their approbation of the gospel: and the sacred name of Reformation is at this day profaned, when any one who shows as it were by a nod only that he is not wholly an enemy to the gospel, is immediately lauded as a person of extraordinary piety. Though then many show some regard for religion, let us yet know that among so large a number there are many hypocrites, and that there is much chaff mixed with the wheat: and that our senses may not deceive us, we may see here, as in a mirror, how difficult it is to restore the world to the obedience of God, and utterly to root up all corruptions, though idols may be taken away and superstitions be abolished. No doubt Josiah had regard to everything calculated to cleanse the Church, and had recourse to the advice of Jeremiah and also of Zephaniah; we yet see that he did not attain the object he wished, for God now became more grievously displeased with his people than under Manasseh, or under Amon. These wicked kings had attempted to extinguish all true religion; they had cruelly raged against all God’s servants, so that Jerusalem became almost drenched with innocent blood: and yet God seems here to have manifested greater displeasure under Josiah than during the previous cruelty and so many impieties. But as I have already said, there is no reason why we should despond, though the world by its ingratitude may close up the way against us; and however much may Satan also by this artifice strive to discourage us, let us still perseveringly go on according to the duties of our calling.

But it may be now asked, why God denounces his vengeance on the beasts of the field, the birds of heaven, and the fishes of the sea; for how much soever the Jews may have provoked him by their sins, innocent animals ought to have been spared. If a son is not to be punished for the fault of his father, Ezekiel 18:4, but that the soul that has sinned is to die, why did God turn his wrath against fishes and other animals? This seems to have been a hasty and unreasonable infliction. But let this rule be first borne in mind — that it is preposterous in us to estimate God’s doings according to our judgment, as froward and proud men do in our day; for they are disposed to judge of God’s works with such presumption, that whatever they do not approve, they think it right wholly to condemn. But it behaves us to judge modestly and soberly, and to confess that God’s judgments are a deep abyss: and when a reason for them does not appear, we ought reverently and with due humility to hook for the day of their full revelation. This is one thing. Then it is meet at the same time to remember, that as animals were created for man’s use, they must undergo a lot in common with him: for God made subservient to man both the birds of heaven, and the fishes of the sea, and all other animals. It is then no matter of wonder, that the condemnation of him, who enjoys a sovereignty over the whole earth, should reach to animals. And we know that the world was not made subject to corruption willingly — that is, naturally; but because the contagion from Adam’s fall diffused itself through heaven and earth. Hence the sun and the moon, and all the stars, and also all the animals, the earth itself, and the whole world, bear marks of God’s wrath, not because they have provoked it through their own fault, but because the whole world is involved in man’s curse. The reason then is, because all things were created for the sake of man. Hence there is no ground to conclude, that God acts with too much severity when he executes his vengeance on innocent animals, for he can justly involve in the same ruin with man whatever he has created for his use.

But the reason also is sufficiently plain, why the Prophet speaks here of the beasts of the earth, the fishes of the sea, and the birds of heaven: for we find that men grow torpid, or rather stupid in their own indifference, except they are forcibly roused. It was, therefore, necessary for the Prophet, when he saw the people so hardened in their wickedness, and that he had to do with men past recovery, to set clearly before them these judgments of God, as though he had said — "Ye lie down securely, and indulge yourselves, when God is coming forth prepared for vengeance: but his wrath shall not only proceed against you, but will also lay hold on the harmless animals; for ye shall see a horrible judgment executed on your oxen and asses, on the birds and the fishes. What will become of you when God’s wrath shall be thus kindled against the unhappy creatures who have committed no sins? Shall ye indeed escape unpunished?” We now understand why the Prophet does not speak here of men only, but collects with them the beasts of the earth, the fishes of the sea, and the birds of the air.

He says first, By removing I will remove all things from the face of the land; he afterwards enumerates particulars: but immediately after he clearly shows, that God would not act rashly and inconsiderately while executing his vengeance, for his sole purpose was to punish the wicked, There shall be, he says, stumblingblocks to the ungodly; This clause stands connected with the preceding words; “the stumblingblocks” were the idols, and they were to be taken away “along with the wicked,” according to Henderson, and according to the version of Symmachus, συν ἀσεβέσι, though Newcome, with less accuracy, renders the words thus, —

And the stumblingblocks of the wicked.

The whole verse is poetical in its language; the collective singular, and not the plural, is used; and the first verb, [אםף], in its most common meaning, is very expressive, and denotes the manner of the ruin that awaited the Jews. They were “gathered” and led into captivity. The two verses may be thus literally rendered, —

2. Gatherings I will gather everything From off the face of the land, saith Jehovah;

3. I will gather man and best; I will gather the bird of heaven and the fish of the sea, And the stumblingblocks together with the wicked; And I will cut them off, together with man, From the face of the land, saith Jehovah.

— Ed. it is the same as though he said — “When I cite to God’s tribunal both the fishes of the sea and the birds of heaven, think not that God’s controversy is with these creatures which are void of reason, but they are to sustain a part of God’s vengeance, which ye have through your sins deserved.” The Prophet then does here briefly show, that what he had before threatened brute creatures with, would come upon them on men’s account; for God’s design was to execute vengeance on the wicked; and as he saw that they were extremely torpid, he tried to awaken them by manifest tokens, so that they might see God the avenger as it were in a striking picture. And at the same time he also adds, I will remove man from the face of the land. He does not speak now of fishes or of other animals, but refers to men only. Hence appears more clearly what I have said — that the Prophet was under the necessity of speaking as he did, owing to the insensibility of the people. He now adds —

Zephaniah 1:4

4. I will also stretch out mine hand upon Judah, and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and I will cut off the remnant of Baal from this place, and the name of the Chemarims with the priests;

4. Et extendam manum meam super Jehudah, et super omnes incolas Jerusalem; et excidam ex loco hoc reliquias Baal, et nomen cultorum cum sacerdotibus.

The Prophet explains still more clearly why he directed his discourse in the last verse against the beasts of the earth and the birds of heaven, even for this end — that the Jews might understand that God was angry with them. I will stretch forth, he says, my hand on Judah and on Jerusalem. God, then, by executing his vengeance on animals, intended to exhibit to the Jews, as in a picture, the dreadfulness of his wrath, which yet they despised and regarded as nothing. The stretching forth of God’s hand I have elsewhere explained; and it means even this — that he stretches forth his hand when he acts in an unusual manner, and employs means beyond what is common. We indeed know that God has no hands, and we also know that he performs all things by his command alone: but as everything seen in the world is called the work of his hands, so he is said to stretch forth his hand when he mentions a work that is remarkable and worthy of being remembered. In a like manner, when I intend to do some slight work, I only move my hand; but when I have some difficult work to do, I prepare myself more carefully, and also stretch forth my arms. This metaphor, then, is intended only for this purpose, to render men more attentive to God’s works, when he is set forth as stretching forth his hand.

But he says, on Judah and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem. The kingdom of Israel had now been abolished, and the ten tribes had been led into exile; and a few only of the lowest and the poorest remained. The Jews thought themselves safe for ever, because they had escaped that calamity. This is the reason why the Prophet declares that God’s judgment was impending not only over the kingdom of Judah, but also over the holy city, which thought itself exempt from all such evil, because there were the sacrifices performed, and there was the royal city, and, in short, because God had testified that his habitation was to be there for ever. Since, then, by this vain confidence the inhabitants of Jerusalem deceived themselves and others, Zephaniah specifically addresses them. And as he had before spoken of the wicked, he intended here, no doubt, sharply to reprove the Jews, as though he said by way of anticipation, There is no reason for you to enquire who are the wicked; for ye yourselves are they, even ye who are the holy people of God and God’s chosen inheritance, ye who are the race of Abraham, who flatter yourselves so much on account of your excellency; ye are the wicked, who have not hitherto ceased to provoke the vengeance of God. And at the same time he shows, as it were by the finger, some of their sins, though he mentions others afterwards: but he speaks now of their superstitions.

I will cut off, he says, the remnants of Baal and the name of Chamerim. The severity of the Prophet may seem here again to be excessive, for being so incensed against superstitions which had been abolished by the great zeal and singular diligence of the king; but, as we have already intimated, he regarded not so much the king as the people. For though they dared not openly to adulterate God’s worship, they yet cherished those corruptions at home to which they had before been accustomed, as we see to be done at this day. For when it is not allowed to worship idols, many mutter their prayers in secret and invoke their idols: and, in short, they are restrained only by the fear of men from manifesting their own impiety; and in the meantime, they retain before God the same abominations. So it was in the time of Josiah; the people were wedded to their corruptions, and this we may easily conclude from the words of Zephaniah: for the remnants of Baal were not seen in the temple, nor in the streets, nor in their chapels, nor in the high places; but their hidden impiety is here discovered by the Spirit of God; and no doubt their sin was the more heinous and less excusable, because the people refused to follow their pious leader. It was indeed the most abominable ingratitude; for when they saw that the right worship was restored to them, they preferred to remain fixed in their own filth, rather than to return to God, even when they had liberty to do so, and also when that pious king extended his hand to them.

As to the word כמרים, camerim, it designated either the worshipers of Baal or some such men as our monks at this day: and they are supposed by some to have been thus called, because they were clothed in black vestments; while others think that they derived this name from their fervor, because they were madly devoted to their superstitions, or because they had marks on their foreheads, or because they imposed, as is commonly the case, on the simple by the ardor of their zeal. The name is also found in 2 Kings 23:1 in the account given of Josiah: for it is said there, that the כמרים, camerim, were taken away, together with other abominations of superstition. But as Zephaniah connects priests with them, it is probable that they were a kind of people like the monks, who did not themselves offer sacrifices, but were a sort of attendants, who undertook vows and offered prayers in the name of the whole people. For what some think, that they were thus called because they burnt incense, appears not to me probable; for then they must have been priests. They were then inferior to the sacrificers, and occupying a station between them and the people, like the monks and hermits of this day, who deceive foolish men by their sanctity. Such, then, were the Camerim. The word is found in two other places, 2 Kings 23:5, and Hosea 10:5. In the latter text the priests of the calf of Bethaven are thus called; in the former, they are said to be those who “burnt incense in the high places.” From this fact, Parkhurst concludes, that they were called scorched, as the word means, by their fumigating fires.

The “priests” mentioned here were the sacrifices, while the “Camerim” were the incense-burners. There were “altars” (not an altar) reared for Baal in the temple; one, as it seems, for sacrifices, and the other for incense. See 2 Kings 21:3. In 2 Chronicles 34:4, 5, the priests and sacrificers are alone mentioned; but in 2 Kings 23:5, where the same things are recorded, the Camerim and incense are alone named. The Prophet in this passage mentions both.

Some, as Cocceius and Henderson, have been disposed to think that the unfaithful priests of the true God are here meant. But the other view is more consistent with the whole passage. If we retain not the original word, we may thus render the line, —

The name of the incense-burners with the priests;

That is, those who burnt incense and those who offered sacrifices to Baal. — Ed.

But as Josiah could not attain his object, so as immediately to cleanse the land from these pollutions, we need not wonder that at this day we are not able immediately to remove superstitions from the world: but let us in the meantime ever proceed in our course. Let those endued with authority, who bear the sword, that is, all magistrates, perform their office with greater diligence, inasmuch as they see how difficult and protracted is the contest with the ministers of idolatry. Let also the ministers of the gospel earnestly cry against idolatry, and all ungodly ceremonies, and not desist. Though they may not effect as much as they wish, yet let them follow the example of Josiah. If God should in the meantime thunder from heaven, let them not be discouraged, but, on the contrary, know that their labor is approved by him, and never doubt of their own safety; for though all were destroyed, their godly efforts would not be in vain, nor fail of a reward before God. Thus, then, ought all God’s servants to animate themselves, each in his particular sphere and vocation, whenever they have to contend with superstitions, and with such corruptions as vitiate and adulterate the pure worship of God.

Prayer

Grant, Almighty God, that as we are so prone to corruptions, and so easily turn from the right course after having commenced it, and so easily degenerate from the truth once known, — O grant, that, being strengthened by thy Spirit, we may persevere to the end in the right way which thou showest to us in thy word, and that we may also labor to restore the many who abandon themselves to various errors; and though we may effect nothing, let us not yet be led away after them, but remain firm in the obedience of faith, until having at length finished all these contests, we shall be gathered into that blessed rest which is prepared for us in heaven, through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Lecture One Hundred and Nineteenth

Zephaniah 1:5

5. And them that worship the host of heaven upon the housetops; and them that worship and that swear by the LORD, and that swear by Malcham;

5. Et super eos qui adorant super tecta militiam coelorum, et eos qui adorant et jurant per Jehovam, et jurant per regem suum.

Zephaniah pursues the subject contained in the verse I explained yesterday. For as the majority of the people still adhered to their superstitions, though the pure worship of the law had been restored by Josiah, the Prophet threatens here, that God would punish such ingratitude. As then he had spoken in the last verse of the worshipers of Baal and their sacrifices, so now he proceeds farther — that the Lord would execute vengeance on the whole people, who prayed to the host of heaven, or bowed themselves down before the host of heaven. It is well known that those stars are thus called in Scripture to which the gentiles ascribed, on account of their superior lustre, some sort of divinity. Hence it was, that they worshipped the sun as God, called the moon the queen of heaven, and also paid adoration to the stars. The people, then, did not only sin in worshipping Baal, but were also addicted to many superstitions, as we see to be the case whenever men degenerate from the genuine doctrine of true religion; they then seek out various inventions on all sides, so that they observe no limits and keep within no boundaries.

But he says, that they worshipped the stars on their roofs. It is probable that they chose this higher place, as interpreters remind us, because they thought that they were more seen by the stars the nearer they were to them. For as men are gross in their ideas they never think God propitious to them except he exhibits some proof or sign of a bodily presence; in short, they always seek God according to their own earthly notions. Since, then, the Jews thought that there were so many Gods as there are stars in heaven, it is no wonder that they ascended to the roofs of their houses, that they might be, as it were, in the sight of their gods, and thus not lose their labor; for the superstitious never think that their devotion is observed by God, unless they have before their eyes, as we have just said, some sign of his presence.

We now then see how this verse stands connected with the last. God declares that he would punish all idolaters; but as the Jews worshipped Baal, the Prophet first condemned that strange religion; and now he adds other devices, to which the Jews perversely devoted themselves; for they worshipped also all the stars, ascribing to them some sort of divinity. Then he mentions all those who worshipped and swore by their own king, and swore by Jehovah

By these last words the Prophet intimates, that the Jews had not so repudiated the law of God but that they boasted that they still worshipped the God who had adopted them, and by whom they had been redeemed, who had commanded the temple to be built for him, and an altar on mount Sion. They then did not openly reject the worship of the true God, but formed such a mixture for themselves, that they joined to the true God their own idols, as we see to be the state of things at this day under the Papacy. It seems a sufficient excuse to foolish men that they retain the name of God; and they confidently boast that the true God is worshipped by them; and yet we see that they mix together with this worship many of the delusions of Satan; for under the Papacy there is no end to their inventions. When any devise some peculiar mode of worship, it is then connected with the rest; and thus they form such a mixture, that from one God, divided into many parts, they bring forth a vast troop of deities. As then at this day the Papists worship God and idols too, so Zephaniah had to condemn the same wickedness among the Jews.

We here learn that God’s name was not then wholly obliterated, as though the world had openly fallen away from God; for though they worshipped Jupiter, Mercury, Apollo, and other fictitious gods, they yet professed to worship the only true and eternal God, the Creator of heaven and earth. What then was it that the Prophet condemned that they were not content with what the law simply and plainly prescribed, but that they devised for themselves various and strange modes of worship; for when men take to themselves such a liberty as this, they no longer worship the true God, how much soever they may pretend to do so, inasmuch as God repudiates all spurious modes of worship, as he testifies especially in Ezekiel 20 — Go ye, he says, worship your idols. He shows that all kinds of worship are abominable to him whenever men depart in any measure from his pure word. For we must hold this as the main principle — that obedience is more valued by God than all sacrifices. Whenever men run after their own inventions they depart from the true God; for they refuse to render to him what he principally requires, even obedience.

But our Prophet speaks according to the common notions of men; for they pretended to be the true worshipers of God, while they still adhered to their own inventions. They did not, indeed, properly speaking, worship the true God; but as they thought, and openly professed to do this, Zephaniah, making this concession, says — God will not suffer his own worship to be thus profaned: ye seek to blend it with that of your idols; this he will not endure. Ye worship the true God, and ye worship your idols; but he would have himself to be worshipped alone; and this he deserves. But the partition which ye make is nothing else than the mangling of true worship; and God will not have himself to be thus in part worshipped. We now understand what the Prophet means here; for the Jews covered their abominations with the pretext that their purpose was to worship the God of Abraham: the Prophet does not simply deny this to be done by them, but declares that this worship was useless and disapproved by God; nay, he proceeds farther, and says that this worship, made up of various inventions, was an abominable corruption which God would punish; for he can by no means bear that there should be such an alliance — that idols should be substituted in his place, and that a part of his glory should be transferred to the inventions of men. This is the true meaning.

We hence learn how greatly deceived the Papists are, who think it enough, provided they depart not wholly from the worship of the only true God; for God allows and approves of no worship except when we attend to his voice, and turn not aside either to the left hand or to the right, but acquiesce only in what he has prescribed.

It is nothing strange that he connects swearing with worship, for it is a kind of divine worship. Hence the Scripture, stating a part for the whole, often mentions swearing in this sense, as including the service due to God. But the Prophet pronounces here generally a curse on all the superstitious, who worshipped fictitious gods; and then he adds one kind of worship, and that is swearing. I shall not here speak at large, nor is it — necessary, on the subject of swearing. We know that the use of an oath is lawful when God is appealed to as a witness and a judge, on important occasions; for God’s name may be interposed when a matter requires proof, and when it is important; but God’s name is not to be introduced thoughtlessly. Hence two things are especially required in an oath — that all who swear by his name should present themselves with reverence before his tribunal, and acknowledge him to be the avenger if they take his name falsely or inconsiderately This is one thing. Then the matter itself, on account of which we swear, must be considered; for if men allow themselves to swear by God’s name respecting things which are trifling and frivolous, it is a shameful profanation, and by no means to be borne. For it is a singular favor on the part of God, that he allows us to take his name when there is any controversy among us, and when a confirmation is necessary. As then we thus receive through kindness the name of God, it is surely a great favor; for how great is the sanctity of that name, though it serves even earthly concerns? God then does so far accommodate himself to us, that it is lawful for us to swear by his name. Hence a greater seriousness ought to be observed by us in oaths, so that no one should dare to interpose an oath except when necessity requires; and we should also especially take heed lest God be called a witness to what is false. For how great a sacrilege it is to cover a falsehood with his name, who is the eternal and immutable truth! They then who swear falsely by his name change God, as far as they can, into what he is not. We now sufficiently understand how swearing is a kind of divine worship, because his honor is thereby given to God; for his majesty is, as it were, brought before us, and as it is his peculiar office to know and to discover hidden things, and also to maintain the truth, this his own work is ascribed to him. Now when any one swears by a mortal, or by the sun, or by the moon, or by creatures, he deprives God in part of his own honor.

We hence see that in superstitious oaths there was a clear proof of idolatry. This is the reason why the Prophet here condemns those who did swear by Jehovah and by Malkom; that is, who joined their idols with the true and eternal God when they swore. For it is a clear precept of God’s law, ‘By the name of thy God shalt thou swear.’ Deuteronomy 6:13. And when the Prophets speak of the renovation of the Church, they use this form — ‘Ye shall swear by the name of God;’ ‘To me shall bend every knee;’ ‘Every tongue shall swear to me.’ What does all this mean? The whole world shall acknowledge me as the true God; and as every knee shall bow to me, so every one will submit himself to my judgment. We may hence doubtlessly conclude, that God is deprived of his right, whenever we swear by the sun, or by the moon, or by the dead, or by any creatures.

This evil has been common in all ages; and it prevails still at this day under the Papacy. They swear by the Virgin, by angels, and by the dead. They do not think that they thus take away anything from the sovereignty of the only true God; but we see what he declares respecting them. The Papists therefore foolishly excuse themselves, when they swear by their saints: for they cannot elude the charge of sacrilege, which the Holy Spirit has stamped with perpetual infamy, since he has said, that all those are abominable in the sight of God who swear by any other name than his own: and the reason is evident, for the sun, moon, and stars, and also dead or living men, are honored with the name of God, when they are set up as judges. For they who swear by the sun, do the same as though they said — The sun is my witness and judge; that is, The sun is my God. They who swear by the name of a king, or as profane men swore formerly, By the genius of their king, ascribe to a mortal what is peculiar to the true God alone. But when any one swears by heaven or the temple, and does not think that there is any divinity in the heavens or in the temple, it is the same as though he swore by God himself, as it appears from Matthew 23:20-22; and Christ, when he forbade us to swear by heaven or by the earth, did not condemn such modes of swearing as inconsistent with his word, but as only useless and vain. At the same time he showed that God’s name is profaned by such expressions: ‘They who swear by heaven, swear also by him who inhabits heaven; they who swear by the temple, swear also by him who is worshipped in the temple, and to whom sacrifices are offered.’ When one swears by his head or by his life, it is a protestation, as though he said — As my life is dear to me. But they who swear by the saints, either living or dead, ascribe to mortals what is due to God. They who swear by the sun, place a dead created thing on the throne of God himself.

As to the term מלכם, melkom, it may be properly rendered, their king; for מלך, melak, as it is well known, means a king; but it is here put in construction, מלכם, melkom, their king; they swear by their own, king It appears that this idol had two names, Moloc and Milcom, or Molcam. It is called Moloc, or Molec, in Leviticus 20:5, and in seven other places; but Milcom in 1 Kings 11:5,33; 2 Kings 23:14; as well as here, and also in Jeremiah 49:1,3, though improperly rendered in our version, "their king.” The Ammonites are the people spoken of.

The swearing is here differently expressed: it is to [(ל)] Jehovah; and by [(ב)] Milcam. To swear to, is to make a promise to another by an oath, or, in this instance, to swear allegiance to God: but to swear by, is to appeal to another as witness to an engagement. We have the two forms together in Joshua 9:19. The Jews made a solemn profession of obedience to God, and yet they acknowledged Melcam as God, by appealing to him as a witness to the truth. It is called the abomination of the Ammonites, 1 Kings 11:33

The image of this god, according to the Rabbins, was hollow, made of brass, and had seven compartments. In the first, they put flour — in the second, turtles — in the third, an ewe — in the fourth, a ram — in the fifth, a calf — in the sixth, an ox — and in the seventh, a child! All these were burnt together by heating the image in the inside! To drown the cries and noises that might be made, they used drums and other instruments. See [מלך] in Parkhurst. How cruel is superstition! and yet how wedded to it is man by nature! Though the Jews had knowledge of the religion of him who is the God of love and mercy; yet they preferred the religion of savages and barbarians. How strongly does this fact prove man’s natural antipathy to God! — Ed. The Prophet, I doubt not, alludes to the word מולך, Molok, which is derived from the verb, to reign: for though that word was commonly used by all as a proper name, it is yet certain that that false god was so called, as though he was a king: and the Prophet increases the indignity by saying — They swear by Malkom. He might have simply said, They swear by Moloch; but he says, They swear by Malkom; that is, They forget that I am their king, and transfer my sovereignty to a dead and empty image. God then does here, by an implied contrast, exaggerate the sin of the Jews, as they sought another king for themselves, when they knew that under his protection they always enjoyed a sure and real safety. Let us now proceed —

Zephaniah 1:6

6. And them that are turned back from the LORD; and those that have not sought the LORD, nor enquired for him.

6. Et qui retro aguntur, ne sequantur Jehovam, (ad verbum est, de-post Jehovam.) et qui non quaerunt Jehovam, neque investigant eum.

The Prophet seems here to include, as it were, in one bundle, the proud despisers of God, as well as those idolaters of whom he had spoken. It may yet be, that he describes the same persons in different words, and that he means that they were addicted to their own superstitions, because they were unwilling to serve God sincerely and from the heart, and even shunned everything that might lead their attention to true religion. And this view I mostly approve; for what some imagine, that their gross contempt of God is here pointed out, is not sufficiently supported. I therefore rather think that the idolaters are here reproved, that they might not suppose that they could by subterfuges wash away their guilt; for they were wont to cover themselves with the shield of ignorance, when they were overcome, and their impiety was fully proved: I did not think so; but, on the contrary, my purpose was to worship God. Since, then, the superstitious are wont to hide themselves under the covering of ignorance, the Prophet here defines the idolatry of the people, and briefly shows that it was connected with obstinacy and wickedness.

They did not seek Jehovah; but, on the contrary, they turned willfully away from him, and sought, as it were designedly, to extinguish true religion. Nor was it to be wondered at, that so grievous and severe a sentence was pronounced on them; for they had been taught by the law how God was to be served. How was it, then, that errors so gross had crept in? Doubtless, God had kindled the light of celestial truth, which clearly showed the way of true religion; but as men ever seek to perform some frivolous trifles, the Israelites and the Jews, when they felt ashamed openly and manifestly to reject the true God, labored at the same time to add many ceremonies, that their impiety might be thus concealed. This is the reason why the Prophet says that they turned back; that is, that they could not be excused on the ground of ignorance, but that they were perfidious and apostates, who had preferred their own idols to the true God; though they knew that he could not be rightly worshipped, but according to the rule prescribed in the law, they yet neglected this, and heaped together many superstitions.

And, doubtless, we shall find that the fountain of all false worship is this — that men are unwilling truly and from the heart to serve God; and, at the same time, they wish to retain some appearance of religion. For there is nothing omitted in the law that is needful for the perfect worship of God: but as God requires in the law a spiritual worship, hence it is that men seek hiding-places, and devise for themselves many ceremonies, that they may turn back from God, and yet pretend that they come to him. While they sedulously labor in their own ceremonies, it is indeed true that the worship of God and religion are continually on their lips: but, as I have said, it is all hypocrisy and deception; for they accumulate ceremonies, that there might be something intervening between God and them. It is not, therefore, without reason that the Prophet here accuses the Jews that they turned back from Jehovah, and that they sought him not. How so? For there was no need of a long, or of a difficult, or of a perplexed enquiry; for the Lord had freely offered himself to them. How, then, was it that they were blind in the midst of light, except that they knowingly and willfully followed their own inventions? Calvin has omitted to notice the last words in the verse, “Nor enquire of him;” which Henderson, adopting a modern phraseology, has rendered, “nor apply to him.” The reading ought to be, as many MSS. have it, [דרשוהו]. The verb means to enquire of, to consult, and also to regard or to care for. They did not enquire of God as to his will, or they did not show any regard for him. See Genesis 25: 22; Ezekiel 20:1; and also Deuteronomy 11:12; Job 3:4. To seek the Lord is to seek his favor and communion with him; to enquire of the Lord is to seek the knowledge of his will in any difficulty. — Ed.

The same is the case at this day with the Papists: for though they may glamour a hundred times that they seek to worship God, it is quite evident that they willfully go astray; inasmuch as they so delight themselves with their own inventions, that they do not purely and from the heart devote and consecrate themselves to God.

We now, then, see that this verse was added, as an explanation, by the Prophet, that he might deprive the Jews of their false plea of ignorance, and show that they sinned willfully; for they would have been sufficiently taught by the law, had they not adopted their own inventions, which dazzled their eyes and all their senses. It follows —

Zephaniah 1:7-9

7. Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord God: for the day of the Lord is at hand: for the Lord hath prepared a sacrifice, he hath bid his guests.

7. Tace a facie Domini Jehovae, quia propinquus dies Jehova, quia paravit Jehova sacrificium, (vel, ordinavit, [זיכה],) sanctificavit invitatos suos.

8. And it shall come to pass in the day of the Lord’s sacrifice, that I will punish the princes, and the king’s children, and all such as are clothed with strange apparel.

8. Et erit, in die sacrificii Jehovae tunc visitabo super Principes, et super filios Regis, et super omnes qui induti sunt vestitu extraneo.

9. In the same day also will I punish all those that leap on the threshold, which fill their masters’ houses with violence and deceit.

9. Et visitabo super omnem qui tripudiat super limen in die illo, qui replent domum dominorum suorum violentia et fraude.

The Prophet confirms here what he has previously taught, when he bids all to be silent before God; for this mode of speaking is the same as though he had said, that he did not terrify the Jews in vain, but seriously set before them God’s judgment, which they would find by experience to be even more than terrible. He also records some of their sins, that the Jews might know that he did not threaten them for nothing, but that there were just causes why God declared that he would punish them. This is the substance of the whole.

Let us first see what the Prophet means by the word, silence. Something has been said of this on the second chapter of Habakkuk. We said then that by silence is meant submission; and to make the thing more clear, we said that we were to notice the contrast between the silence to which men calmly submit, and the contumacy, which is ever clamorous: for when men seek to be wise of themselves, and acquiesce not in God’s word, it is then said, that they are not silent, for they refuse to give a hearing to his word; and when men give loose reins to their own will, they observe no bounds. Until God then obtains authority in the world, all places are full of clamor, and the whole life of men is in a state of confusion, for they run to and fro in their wanderings; and there is no restraint where God is not heard. It is for the same reason that the Prophet now demands silence: but the expression is accommodated to the subject which he handles. To be silent at the presence of God, it is true, is to submit to God’s authority; but the connection is to be considered; for Zephaniah saw then that God’s judgment was despised and regarded as nothing; and he intimates here that God had so spoken, that the execution was nigh at hand. Hence he says, Be silent, The word is [הט], and is evidently an interjection enjoining silence, Hush! or, Silence!

7. Silence at the presence of the Lord Jehovah! For nigh is the day of Jehovah, For prepared hath Jehovah a sacrifice, Selected hath he his guests!

The passage is remarkably forcible and striking. Jehovah was coming, and everything was prepared, and all were to be silent. And then follows what is no less striking and expressive, —

8. And it shall be in the day of Jehovah’s sacrifice, That I will visit the princes and the king’s sons, And all who wear foreign apparel. 9. I will also visit, in that day, Every one who leaps on the threshold, Who fill the house of their master By plunder and by fraud.

There is in the last line a metonymy; the act is put for what was acquired by it: they filled the house of their master by spoils gained by plunder or violence, and by fraud or cheating. — Ed. that is, Know ye, that I have not spoken merely for the purpose of terrifying you; but as God is prepared to execute vengeance, of this he now reminds you, that if there be any hope of repentance, ye may in time seek to return into favor with him; if not, that ye may be without excuse.

We now then understand why the Prophet bids them to be silent before the Lord Jehovah: and the context is a confirmation of the same view; for the reason is added, Because the day of Jehovah is nigh. For profane men ever promise to themselves some respite, and think that they gain much by delay: the Prophet, on the contrary, does now expose to scorn this self-security, and says, that the day of Jehovah was nigh at hand. It is then the same thing as though he had said, that his judgment ought to have been quickly anticipated, and even with fear and trembling.

He afterwards employs a metaphor to set forth what he taught, — that God had prepared a sacrifice, yea, that he had already appointed and set apart his guests. By the word, sacrifice, the Prophet reminded them, that the punishment of which he had spoken would be just, and that the glory of God would thereby shine forth. We indeed know how ready the world is to make complaints; when it is pressed by God’s hand, it expostulates on account of too much rigor; and many in an open manner give utterance to their blasphemies. As then they own not God’s justice in his punishment, the Prophet calls it a sacrifice; and sacrifices, we know, are evidences of divine worship, and he who offers a sacrifice to God, owns him to be just. So also by this kind of speaking Zephaniah intimates that God would not act a cruel part in cutting off the city Jerusalem and its inhabitants; for this would be a sacrifice, according to the language often employed by the Prophets, and especially by Isaiah, who says of Bozrah, ‘A sacrifice is prepared in Bozrah,’ Isaiah 34:6;) and who says also of Jerusalem itself, ‘Oh! Ariel! Ariel!’ Isaiah 29:1, where Jerusalem itself is represented as the altar; as though he had said, In all the streets, in the open places, there shall be altars to me; for I will collect together great masses of men, whom I shall slay as a sacrifice to me. For all who were not willing to render worship to God, and who did not freely offer themselves as spiritual victims to him, were to be drawn to the slaughter, and were at the same time called sacrifices. So the executions on the gallows, when the wicked suffer, may be said to be sacrifices to God: for the Lord arms the magistrate with the sword to restrain wickedness, that the wicked may not have such liberty as to banish all equity from the world. The cities also, which, being forcibly taken, are subject to a slaughter, and the fields, where armies are slain, become altars, for God makes the rebellious a sacrifice, because they refuse willingly to offer themselves.

So also in this place the Prophet says, Jehovah has prepared for himself a sacrifice, — Where? At Jerusalem, through the whole city, as it has appeared from the quotation from Isaiah; for as they had not rightly sacrificed to God on Mount Sion, but vitiated his whole worship, God himself declares, that he would become a priest, that he might slay, as he thought right, those beasts, who had obstinately refused his yoke: And he has prepared his guests. But I cannot finish today.

Prayer

Grant, Almighty God, that as we continue in so many ways to provoke against us thy wrath, we may patiently bear the punishment, by which thou wouldest correct our faults, and also anticipate thy judgment: and since thou art pleased to recall us in due time to thyself, let us not turn deaf ears to thy counsels, but so obey and submit ourselves to thee, that we may become partakers of that mercy, which thou offerest to us, provided we seek to be reconciled to thee, and so proceed in thy service, that under the government of Christ thy Son, whom thou hast appointed to be our supreme and only king, we may so strive to be wholly devoted to thee that thou mayest be glorified through our whole life, until we become at length partakers of that celestial glory, which has been procured for us by the blood of thy only-begotten Son. Amen

Lecture One Hundred and Twentieth

We stated yesterday why God compares the slaughter of the wicked to a sacrifice, — because in punishing the ungodly, he shows himself to be the judge of the world: and this slaying is a sacrifice of sweet odour, because it makes known this glory. And he immediately adds, that he had prepared his guests. The word he uses is קדש, kodash, which means to sanctify, but is often to be taken in a different sense. It may be explained as meaning, that God had prepared his guests: but as there is an express mention made of sacrifice, Zephaniah, I have no doubt, continues the same metaphor. The meaning then is, that the Chaldeans, who were ministers of God’s vengeance, were already not only chosen for the purpose of executing it, but were divinely consecrated for that end: and this unwelcome saying was uttered by the Prophet, that he might more sharply touch the feelings of his own nation. The Jews ought indeed to have acknowledged God’s judgment even when executed by heathens; but this they would not have done, had they not understood, that these were, in exercising their cruelty, as it were, the priests of God; for the royal priesthood at Jerusalem had been profaned. We now then see why the Prophet says, that those were sanctified by the Lord who had been invited to feed on the flesh of the chosen people, as they were wont to eat of the remainder of their sacrifices on festal days. The first idea of the verb [קדש], is evidently to set apart, to separate either men or things for a certain purpose. For this meaning Parkhurst refers to Leviticus 20:24, compared with version 26, and to Deuteronomy 19:2,7, compared with Joshua 20:7. This idea seems the most suitable here, "I have set apart (or selected) my guests.” Newcome renders it “appointed,” and Henderson, “consecrated,” as Calvin does. “Segregavit — set apart,” is the version of Drusius, and Junius has “preparavit — prepared.” When the verb is followed by “war,” it is rendered “prepare” in our version. See Jeremiah 6:4; Joel 3:9; Micah 3:5. The explanation given by Theodosius is ἀφωρισε — he separated or selected. — Ed. Let us now proceed.

I yesterday repeated this verse, And it shall be, on the day of the sacrifice of Jehovah, that I will then visit the princes, and the sons of the king, and those who are clothed with strange apparel. The Prophet shows, that he not only threatened the common people, but also the chief leaders, so that he spared not even the king’s sons. He attacks then here the principal men among the people; for they were justly led to punishment in the first place, as they had been to others the cause of their errors. We indeed know, that they who excel in dignity give a much greater offense when they abuse their power in promoting what is sinful. Hence it was, that God seemed often to have sent his Prophets to them only. For though the low and the humble in the community were not exempt from punishment, yet it was but reasonable that God should more severely punish their leaders. Hence the Prophet now says, that God would visit the princes and the king’s sons This was a prophecy: though the king Josiah had no children at this time, yet he had some afterwards; and they proved themselves deserving of the judgment here announced, and it was inflicted on them. Henderson’s objection, that as Josiah had then no children, the prophecy could not apply to them personally, seems wholly inadmissable: it was a prophecy. — Ed. He did not indeed intend here to flatter obscure men, as though God meant to overlook them: but as the king and his counselors had more grievously sinned, the more angry was God with them. We also know, that kings and others, who exercise power, are not easily moved, for the splendor of their fortune blinds them; and they think that they are in a manner exempt from laws, because they occupy a higher station. We now then see why the Prophet speaks especially of the princes and the king’s sons.

He also adds, And those who wear foreign apparel Or, literally, “the garment of a foreigner or stranger,” [נכרי]. The singular is used poetically for the plural, instead of “the garments of foreigners.” — Ed. Some refer this to the worshipers of Baal, or his priests; but the context does not allow us to apply it to any but to courtiers, whose great delight was in apparel: for what Christ says is proved by the experience of all ages to be too true, — that they who wear soft clothing are in king’s courts. Matthew 11:8. And it is probable, that courtiers, through a foolish affectation, often changed their clothes; as it is the case with men who seek to appear great, they devise daily some new way for spending money; and though they may be more splendidly clothed than needful, yet they think it almost too sordid to wear the same apparel for a whole month; and that their prodigality may be more evident, they change also the forms of their dress. This affectation prevails far too much at this day in the world. But even then in the age of the Prophet, as it appears, the courtiers and those who had power among the people, often changed their dress, that they might the more display their pomp and attract the admiration of the simple and poor people. And it was not simple ambition, but it brought with it a contempt for others; for the rich in this way upbraided the poor, that they themselves were alone worthy of this superfluity and opulence. It was not enough for them, that they were clothed for their own comfort, and also that ornament and splendor were added; but they would have willingly made bare all others: and as it was a shame to do this, they yet showed, as far as they could, by their superfluous abundance, that they were alone worthy of such display. It was then no wonder that the Lord threatened them with so much severity.

As this vice in course of time had greatly increased, this passage of the Prophet deserves particular notice. And the more luxurious men become and the more they indulge in such varieties, and thus manifest their pride, the more carefully we ought to learn to restrain the desires of our flesh, that they may not leap over the bounds of moderation; and let those who abound in wealth be contented with what is modest and becoming; and let them especially abstain from that absurd affectation, which the Prophet evidently condemns here. It may however have been, that the Jews then sought new and unusual fashions as to their clothes from remote countries, like the French at this day, who delight in the Turkish habit; for they have too much intercourse with Turkey. So also at that time a foolish desire had possessed the hearts of the people, so as to wish to ingratiate themselves with the Chaldeans, and to make friends of them by a likeness in dress. And we may learn this from a passage in Ezekiel, where he compares them to harlots or to foolish lovers Ezekiel 23:2, etc.:) for as lovers paint harlots on walls, and whoremongers and adulterers do the same; so Ezekiel accuses the Jews, that they were so inflamed with a mad desire of making a covenant with the Chaldean nation, that they had their images painted in their chambers. They also no doubt imitated their dress, in order to show that they regarded it a great happiness, if they became their friends and confederates.

Now follows what I repeated also yesterday, I will visit every one who danceth on the threshold. Some explain this of the worshipers of Baal, but improperly; for as I have already said, the context will not allow us to understand this except of the servants of princes, who cruelly harassed the people and deprived helpless men of their property, who were not able to resist them. The Prophet then, after having spoken of the chief governors of the kingdom and of the king’s sons, now comes to their servants, who, like hunting dogs, were ready to seize everywhere on the prey. They who understand this to be said of the sacrifices of Baal, adduce a passage from sacred history, — that since the image of Dagon had been found on the threshold of the temple, they dared not to tread on the threshold, but leaped over it: but this is too far-fetched. Others also bring expositions of a different kind; but the Prophet, I have no doubt, refers here to the liberty they took in plundering, when he says, that they danced on the threshold, as persons triumphing; for he afterwards adds, that they filled, by rapine and fraud, the houses of the princes. To leap or dance then on the threshold is no other thing than to take possession of the houses of other people, and insolently to triumph over them, as it is usually done by conquerors. For he who takes possession of what belongs to another, does not quietly rest there as in his own habitation, but boasts and exults. So also here, the Prophet paints to the life that wantonness, which the servants of princes showed, when they entered into the houses of others. He therefore says, that they danced, and said, This is my house; and who will dare to say a word to the contrary? Since then the servants of princes took so much liberty, the Prophet here denounces on them the vengeance of God. Marckius, following the Septuagint, and some of the fathers, Cyril, Theodoret, Jerome, etc., think that the thoughless intruders into the temple are here meant, and such as brought there as sacrifices and gifts the fruits of plunder and fraud. But the passage cannot possibly bear this meaning according to the Hebrew text: nor is such a meaning consistent with the context. The view given here is that of Kimki, Drusius, Newcome, and Henderson. — Ed.

He then adds, that they filled their masters’ houses by rapine and fraud. By rapine and fraud he means the prey gathered, partly by armed force, and partly by deceit and craft; for courtiers have their nets by which they lay in wait for helpless men. But if they cannot obtain by fraud what they hope for, they leave recourse to armed force. However this may be, they enrich themselves, sometimes by plundering, and sometimes by fraud. Hence the Prophet mentions both here. It follows —

Zephaniah 1:10

10. And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD, that there shall be the noise of a cry from the fish gate, and an howling from the second, and a great crashing from the hills.

10. Et erit in die illa, dicit Iehova, vox clamoris a porta piscium, et ululatus a secundda (ad verbum; sed multi intelligunt scholam,) et contritio magna a collibus.

He confirms here the same truth, and amplifies and illustrates it by a striking description; for we know how much a lively representation avails to touch the feelings, when the event itself is not only narrated, but placed as it were before our eyes. So the Prophet is not content with plain words, but presents a scene, that the future destruction of Jerusalem might appear in a clearer light. But as I have elsewhere explained this mode of speaking, I shall not dwell on the subject now.

He says, that there would be the voice of crying from the gate of the fishes. He names here three places in Jerusalem, and afterwards he adds a fourth. But as we do not understand the situation of the city, sufficient for us is this probable conjecture, — that he refers to parts opposite to one another; as though he had said, that no corner of the city would be in a quiet state, when the Lord roused up war. Let us then suppose it to be triangular, and let the gate of the fishes be one side, and let the second gate or the school be on the other; and let the part nigh the hills form the third side. What some say, that the hills mean palaces, I do not approve of; nor is it consistent with the context: but we ought to bear in mind what I have already stated, that the Prophet here denounces ruin on every part of the city, so that the Jews would in vain seek refuges for themselves; for by running here and there, they would find all places full of crying and howling. There shall be then the voice of crying from the gate of the fishes. Why the Prophet calls it the gate of the fishes we cannot for certainty say, except that it is a probable conjecture, that either some fish-pond was near it, or that the fish-market was nigh.

As to the word משנה, meshene, the majority of interpreters think that it means the place where the priests explained the law and devoted themselves to the study of it; and they adduce a passage from 2 Kings 22:14, where it seems, as there is mention made of priests, the word is taken in this sense. But as gates are spoken of here, and as the Hebrews often call whatever is second in order by this word, as the second part in buildings and also in towns and in other places, is thus called, we may take it here in this sense, that is, as meaning that gate which was next to the first in general esteem. But as the subject has little to do with the main point, I dismiss it. Junius, Piscator, Newcome, and Henderson think that it means the second city, a part of Jerusalem, being so called, as they supposed, in Nehemiah 11:9: where our version is considered to be wrong, and the clause ought to be, “and Judah, the son of Jeruiah, was over the second city” — [משנה על-העיר]. So it is deemed improperly rendered “college” in 2 Kings 22:14 and 2 Chronicles 34:22; where it ought to be “in the second city.” But the passage in Nehemiah is not decisive on the subject; and our version is countenanced by the former part of the verse, where “Joel” is said to be the “overseer,” and “Judah” is mentioned as being next to him, the second in office: and it is so rendered in the Septuagint. As to the other text, the word is by itself as here. What Calvin, after Cyril and Theodoret, suggests, is the most probable solution.

The word rendered by Calvin “contritio — breach,” and by Henderson, “destruction,” is [שבר]. As “crying” and “howling” are said to proceed from the other parts, so something similar must have proceeded from “the hills.” The word means breaking, and it is often applied to the heart — “a broken heart,” Psalm 34:18; 51:19, etc. It seems to mean here the breaking out into weeping and wailing. The parallelism of the verse would thus be complete —

And there shall be in that day, saith Jehovah, The voice of crying from the fish-gate, And howling from the second gate, And great wailing from the hills.

Wailing is the breaking out of anguish and pangs. The word is used in Ezekiel 21:6, for acute pain in the loins, and may be considered as used here metonymically. — Ed.

He says in the last place, that there would be a great breach in the hills. He refers, I have no doubt, to that part of the city which was contiguous to the mountains. However this may be, it was the Prophet’s object to include here the whole city, that he might shake off from the Jews all vain confidence, and show that there would be no escape, when the Lord stretched forth his hand to punish their sins. It now follows —

Zephaniah 1:11

11. Howl, ye inhabitants of Maktesh, for all the merchant people are cut down; all they that bear silver are cut off.

11. Ululate habitatores loci concavi; quia exterminatus est populos mercatorum, excisi sunt omnes onusti pecunia.

The Prophet addresses the merchants here who inhabited the middle part of the city, and hence thought themselves farther off from all danger and trouble. As then they were concealed as it were in their hiding-places, they thought that no danger was nigh them; and thus security blinded them the more. After having spoken of the king’s palace and of the princes and their servants, Zephaniah now turns his discourse to the merchants.

And he calls them the inhabitants of the hollow place, מכתש, mecatesh. The verb כתש, catash, means to be hollow; hence the Hebrews call a hollow place מכתש, mecatesh. So Solomon calls a mortar by this name, because it is hollow: This original meaning of the word is much more probable than what lexicographers generally give. The braying or pounding is evidently derived from the noun, and the noun from the form of the mortar. Most agree that the word here means the lower part of the city — the hollow, from the circumstance of being surrounded by hills. The “hills” were those on which a part of the city was built, such as Zion, Moriah and Ophal. — Ed. and we learn also from other parts of scripture that the word means sometimes either a cavern or some low place. But we know that merchants have for the most part their streets on level ground, and it is for their advantage, as they have goods to carry. It may then have been, that at Jerusalem there was a large company of merchants in that part of the city, which was in its situation low. But they who regard it as a proper name, bring nothing either of reason or probability to confirm their opinion: and it is also evident from the context that merchants are here addressed, for cut off, he says, is the mercantile people. The word כנען, canon, means a merchant. Some think that the Jews are here, as often elsewhere, called Canaan, because they were become degenerate, and more like the Canaanites than the holy fathers, from whom they descended. This opinion has been entertained, because the Jews are so called in Hosea 12:8. That the word means a trader or merchant is evident from Job 41:6, (in the Hebrew Bibles, 40:30;) Isaiah 23:8; Ezekiel 17:4. In the last passage it is rendered “traffic” in our version; and it may be so rendered here — “all the people of traffic,” or of trade. The version of Newcome is, “all the trafficking people.” The verse may be thus literally rendered, —

Howl ye, the inhabitants of the lower part, For reduced to silence have been all the people of trade, Cut off have been all the laden with silver.

They are called to howl, as though their calamity had already taken place, a mode of speaking often used by the Prophets. That the event was future is clear from the context, especially from the next verse. “Reduced to silence” — [נדמה], is literally the meaning, not “destroyed;” and appropriate is the term, as people of trade create much bustle and noise. “The laden with silver,” may be rendered, as Newcome does, “the bearers of silver:” and silver is here for money. — Ed. But the Prophet speaks here no doubt of merchants, for an explanation immediately follows, all who are laden with money. And he says that merchants were laden with money, because they would not transact business without making payments and counting money, and also, because merchants for the most part engrossed by their gainful arts a great portion of the wealth of the world.

We now then understand what the Prophet means: He threatens howling to the merchants, who were concealed in their hidden places, for they occupied that part of the city, as I have already said, which was below the hills; and he then makes use of the word כנען, canon, a trafficker; and lastly he speaks of their wealth, as it is probable that they became rich through frauds and most dishonest means, and shows that their money would be useless to them, for they would find in it no defense, when the Lord extended his hand to punish them. It now follows —

Zephaniah 1:12

12. And it shall come to pass at that time, that I will search Jerusalem with candles, and punish the men that are settled on their lees: that say in their heart, The LORD will not do good, neither will he do evil.

12. Et erit in tempore illo, serutabor Ierusalem in lucernis, et visitabo super homines, qui congelati sunt in faecibus suis, et dicunt in cordibus suis, Neque benefaciet Iehova, neque malefaciet.

The Prophet addresses here generally the despisers of God, who were become hardened in their wickedness. But before he openly names them, he says that the visitation would be such, that God would search every corner, so that no place would remain unexplored. For to visit with candles, or to search with candles, is so to examine all hidden places or coverts, that nothing may escape. When one intends to plunder a city, he first enters into the houses, and takes away whatever he finds; but when he thinks that there are some hidden treasures, he descends into the secret cells; and then if there be no light there, he lights a candle, and carefully looks here and there, that he may not overlook anything. By this comparison then God intimates, that Jerusalem would be so plundered, that nothing whatever would remain. Hence he says, I will search it with candles. We indeed know that nothing is hid from God; but it is evident, that he is constrained to borrow comparisons from the common practice of men, because he could not otherwise express what is necessary for us to know. The world indeed deal with God as men do with one another; for they think that he can be deceived by their craftiness. He therefore laughs to scorn this folly, and says, that he would have candles to search out whatever was concealed.

Now, as impiety had possessed the minds of almost all the people, he says, I will visit the men, who on their lees are congealed. This may indeed be only understood of the rich, who flattered themselves in their prosperity, and feared nothing, and were thus congealed on their lees: but Zephaniah shows in the words which follow, that he had in view something more atrocious, that is, that they said that neither good nor evil proceeded from God. At the same time, these two things may be suitably joined together — that he reproves here their self-security, produced by wealth — and that he also accuses the careless Jews of that gross contempt of God which is afterwards mentioned. And I am disposed to take this view, that is, that the Jews, inebriated with prosperity, became hardened, as men contract hardness often by labor — and that they so collected lees through too much quietness and abundance of things, that they became wholly stupid, and could be touched by no truth made known to them. Hence in the first place the Prophet says, that God would visit with punishment a carelessness so extreme, when men not only slumbered in their prosperity, but also became congealed in their own stupidity, so as to be almost void of sense and understanding. When one addresses a dead mass, he can effect nothing: and so the Prophet compares careless men to a dead and congealed mass; for stupidity had so bound up all their senses, that they could not be either allured by the goodness of God, or terrified by his threatenings. Congealing then is nothing else but that hardness or contumacy, which is contracted by self-indulgences, and particularly when the minds of men become almost stupefied. There is a similar meaning in Jeremiah 48:11; but the verb is different, [שקט], which means to be still, to rest, to settle, while the verb here is [קפא], which signifies to be condensed, or to be congealed, Exodus 15:8. But as things congelaed become fixed, the verb seems to have the meaning of fixedness here; as wines on the lees, to which allusion is made, do not become congealed, the comparison seems to be, that as wine kept still on the lees increases in strength and flavor so the Jews, settling on their dregs — their sins — became strengthened and confirmed in their wickedness and atheistic notions. But Newcome and Henderson take another view of the metaphor, and consider that “the thoughtless tranquillity of the rich is compared to the fixed unbroken surface of fermented liquors.” Our version favors the former idea, as the verb is rendered “settled.” — Ed. And by lees he means sinful indulgences, which so infatuate all the senses of men, that no light nor sincerity remains.

He then mentions what they said in their hearts. He expresses here what that carelessness which he condemned brings with it — even that wicked men fearlessly mock God. What it is to speak in the heart, is evident from many parts of Scripture; it means to determine anything within: for though the ungodly do not openly proclaim what they determine in their minds, they yet reason within themselves, and settle this point — that either there is no God, or that he rests idly in heaven. ‘Said has the ungodly in his heart, No God is.’ Why in the heart? Because shame or fear prevents men from openly avowing their impiety; yet they cherish such thoughts in the heart and assent to them. Now here is described by the Prophet the height of impiety, when he says, that men drunk with pleasures robbed God of his office as a judge, saying, that he does neither good nor evil. And it is probable that there were then many at Jerusalem and throughout Judea who thus insolently despised God as a judge. But Zephaniah especially speaks of the chief men; for such above all others deride God, as the giants did, and look down as from on high on his judgments. There is indeed much insensibility among the common people; but there is more madness in the pride of great men, who, trusting in their power, think themselves exempt from the authority of God.

But what I have just said must be borne in mind, that an unhealable impiety is described by the Prophet, when he accuses the Jews, that they did not think God to be the author either of good or of evil; because God is thus deprived of his dignity; for except he is owned as the judge of the world, what becomes of his dignity? The majesty, or the authority, or the glory of God does not consist in some imaginary brightness, but in those works which so necessarily belong to him, that they cannot be separated from his very essence. It is what peculiarly belongs to God, to govern the world, and to exercise care over mankind, and also to make a difference between good and evil, to help the miserable, to punish all wickedness, to check injustice and violence. When any one takes away these things from God, he leaves him an idol only. Since, then, the glory of God consists in his justice, wisdom, judgment, power, and other attributes, all who deny God to be the governor of the world entirely extinguish, as much as they can, his glory. Even so do heathen writers accuse Epicures; for as he dared not to deny the existence of some god, like Diagoras and some others, he confessed that there are some gods, but shut them up in heaven, that they might enjoy there their leisure and delights. But this is to imagine a god, who is not a god. It is then no wonder that the Prophet condemns with so much sharpness the stupidity of the Jews, as they thought that neither good nor evil proceeded from God. But there was also a greater reason why God should be so indignant at such senselessness: for whence was it that men entertained such an opinion or such a delirious thought, as to deny that God did either good or evil, except that they attempted to drive God far away from them, that they might not be subject to his judgment. They therefore who seek to extinguish the distinction between right and wrong in their consciences, invent for themselves the delirious notion, that God concerns not himself with human affairs, that he is contented with his own celestial felicity, and descends not to us, and that adversity as well as prosperity happens to men by chance.

We hence see how men seek willfully and designedly to indulge the notion, that neither good nor evil comes from God: they do this, that they may stupefy their own consciences, and thus precipitate themselves with greater liberty into sin, as though they were free to do anything with impunity, and as though there was no judge to whom an account is to be rendered.

And hence I have said, that it is the very summit of impiety when men strengthen themselves in this error, that God rests in heaven, and that whatever miseries they endure in this world happen through fortunes and that whatever good things they have are to be ascribed either to their own industry or to chance. And so the Prophet briefly shows in this passage that the Jews were past recovery, that no one might feel surprised, that God should punish with so much severity a people who had been his friends, and whom he had adopted in preference to the whole world: for he had set apart the race of Abraham, as it is well known, as his chosen and holy people. God’s vengeance on the children of Abraham might have appeared cruel or extremely rigid, had it not been expressly declared that they had advanced so far in impiety as to seek to exclude God from the government of the world, and to deprive him of his own peculiar office, even that of punishing sin, of defending his own people, of delivering them from all evils, of relieving all their miseries. Since, then, they thus shut up God in heaven, and gave the governing power on earth to fortune, it was an intolerable stupidity, nay, wholly diabolical. It was therefore no wonder that God was so severely indignant, and stretched forth his hand to punish their sin, as their disease had become now incurable.

Prayer

Grant, Almighty God, that as almost the whole world breaks out into such excesses, that there is no moderation, no reason, — O grant, that we may learn not only to confine ourselves within those limits which thou dost approve and command, but also to delight and glory in the smallness of our portion, inasmuch as the wealth, and honors, and pleasures of the world so fascinate the hearts and minds of all, that they elevate themselves into heaven, and carry on war, as it were, avowedly with thee. Grant also to us, that in our limited portion we may be in such a way humbled under thy powerful hand, as never to doubt but that thou wilt be our deliverer even in our greatest miseries; and that ascribing to thee the power over life and death, we may feel fully assured, that whatever afflictions happen to us, proceed from thy just judgment, so that we may be led to repentance, and daily exercise ourselves in it, until we shall at length come to that blessed rest which is laid up for us in heaven, through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Lecture One Hundred and Twenty-First

Zephaniah 1:13

13. Therefore their goods shall become a booty, and their houses a desolation: they shall also build houses, but not inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, but not drink the wine thereof.

13. Et erit substantia eorum in direptionem, et domus eorum in vastitatem; et aedificabunt domos, neque habitabunt; et plantabunt vineas, neque bibent vinum earum.

Zephaniah pursues the same subject — that God, after long forbearance, would punish his rebellious and obstinate people. Hence he says, that they were now delivered, even by God himself, into the hands of their enemies. They indeed knew that many were inimical to them; but they did not consider God’s judgment, as God himself elsewhere complains — that they did not regard the hand of him who smote them. Isaiah 9:13. Our Prophet, therefore, declares now that they were given up to destruction, and that their enemies would find no trouble nor difficulty in invading the land, since all places would be open to plunder. And he recites what is found in Leviticus 26:20; for the Prophets were interpreters of the law, and the only difference between Moses and them is, that they apply his general truth to their own time. The Prophet now pursues this course, as though he had said, that God had not in vain or to no purpose threatened this evil in his law; for the Jews would find by experience that this would really be the case, and that it had been truly said, that the fruit of the land, their habitations, and other comforts of life, would be transferred to others. It now follows —

Zephaniah 1:14

14. The great day of the Lord is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the Lord: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly.

14. Propinquus dies Jehovae magnus, propinquus et festinans valde; vox diei Jehovae amara (ut alii vertunt,) vociferabitur illic fortis (vel, amarum, aut, amare illic vociferabitur fortis; alii secus ditinguunt, Vox diei Jehovae amara vociferabitur, aut, amare; postea, illic fortis.)

The Prophet in this verse expresses more clearly what I have already stated — That God would be the author of all the evils which would happen to the Jews; for as they grew more insensible in their sins, they more and more provoked God’s wrath against themselves. It is therefore no common wisdom to consider God’s hand when he strikes or chastens us. This is the reason why the Prophet now calls the attention of the Jews to God, that they might not fix their minds, as it is commonly done, on men only. At the same time, he tries to shake off their torpor by declaring that the day would be terrible, and that it was also now near at hand. We indeed know that hypocrites trifle with God, except they feel the weight of his wrath, and that they protract time, and promise themselves so long a respite, that they never awake to repentance. Hence the Prophet in the first place shows, that whatever evils then impended over the Jews were not only from men, but especially from God. This is one thing; and then, in order thoroughly to touch stupid hearts, he says, that the day would be terrible; and lastly, that they might not deceive themselves by vain flatteries, he declares that the day was at hand. These three things must be noticed in order that we understand the Prophet’s object.

But he says at the beginning of the verse, that the great day of Jehovah was nigh. In these words he includes the three things to which I have already referred. By calling it the day of Jehovah, he means, that whatever evils the Jews suffered, ought to have been ascribed to his judgment; and by calling it the great day, his object was to strike terror; as well as by saying, in the third place, that it was nigh. We hence see that three things are included in these words. But the Prophet more fully explains what might, on account of the brevity of his words, have seemed not quite clear.

Near, he says, is the day, and quickly hastens. Men, we know, are wont to extend time, that they may cherish their sins; for though they cannot divest themselves of every feeling as to religion, or shake it off, they yet imagine for themselves a long distance between them and God; and by such an imagination they find ease for themselves. Hence the Prophet declares the day to be nigh; and as it was hardly credible that the destruction of which he spake was near, he adds, that the day was quickly hastening; as though he had said, that they ought not to judge by the present state of things what God would do, for in a moment his wrath would pass through from east to west like lightning. Men need long preparation when they determine to execute their vengeance; but God has no need of much preparation, for his own power is sufficient for him when he resolves to destroy the wicked. We now, then, see why it was added by the Prophet, that the day would quickly hasten.

He now repeats that the day of Jehovah and his voice would cry out bitterly. I have stated three renderings as given by interpreters. Some read thus — The day of Jehovah shall be bitter; there the strong shall cry aloud. This meaning is admissible, and a useful instruction may from it be elicited; as though the Prophet had said, that no courage could bring help to men, or be an aid to them, against God’s vengeance. Others give this rendering, that the day would bitterly cry out, for there would be the strong, that is, the strength of enemies would break down whatever courage the Jews might have. But this second meaning seems forced; and I am disposed to adopt the third — that the voice of the day of Jehovah would bitterly cry out. And he means the voice of those who would have really to know God as a judge, whom they had previously despised; for God would then put forth his power, which had been an object of contempt, until the Jews had by experience felt it. The Rabbinical punctuation has destroyed the simplicity of this passage by connecting "bitter” with the latter clause. Jerome, Pagninus, Newcome, as well as the Septuagint, connect it with the former clause. The literal rendering of the two lines is as follows —

The voice of the day of Jehovah shall be grievous; Roar out there (or then) shall the brave.

“The voice of the day,” etc., means the voice uttered on that day, as Drusius explains it. [מר] is no doubt “bitter;” but it is often applied in scripture to express what is grievous, afflictive, or sorrowful. If we render [שט], “there,” it refers to Jerusalem, verse 12; but it is sometimes used as an adverb of time, “then,” see Psalm 14:5; Nehemiah 3:15. “The meaning is,” says Drusius, “that the voice of that day, which they who excel in strength of mind and body shall utter, shall be bitter.” The whole verse is remarkably concise and emphatical, —

14. Nigh is the great day of Jehovah, Nigh and hastening quickly: The voice of the day of Jehovah shall be grievous; Roar out then shall the brave.

Then the following verse is not to begin, as in our version, which as been followed by Newcome and Henderson, “That day is a day of wrath,” but thus —

A day of wrath shall be that day.

This is the order of the original, and as there is no verb, it must be supplied and regulated as to its tense by the context. — Ed.

As to the Prophet’s design, there is no ambiguity: for he seeks here to rouse the Jews from their insensibility, who had so hardened themselves against all threatening, that the Prophets were not able to convince them. Since, then, they had thus hardened themselves against every instruction and all warnings, the Prophet here says, that the voice of God’s day would be different: for God’s voice had sounded through the mouth of the Prophets, but it availed not with the deaf. An awful change is here announced; for the Jews shall then cry aloud, as the roaring of the divine voice shall then terrify them, when God shall really show that he is the avenger of wickedness — When therefore he shall ascend his tribunal, then ye shall cry. His messengers now cry to you in vain, for ye close up your ears; ye shall cry in your turn, but it will be in vain.

But if one prefers to take it as one sentence, The voice of the day of Jehovah, there strong, shall bitterly cry out, the meaning will be the same as to the main point. I would not, therefore, contend about words, provided we bear in mind what I have already said — that Zephaniah sets here the cry of the distressed people in opposition to the voices of the Prophets, which they had despised, yea, and for the most part, as it appears from other places, treated with ridicule. However this may have been, he indirectly condemns their false confidence, when he speaks of the strong; as though he had said, that they were strong only for their own ruin, while they opposed God and his servants; for this strength falls at length, nay, it breaks itself by its own weight, when God rises to judgment. It follows —

Zephaniah 1:15, 16

15. That day is a 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,

15. Dies excandescentiae, dies ille, dies angustiae et afflictionis, dies tumultus, et vastationis, dies tumultus et vastationis, dies tenebrarum et caliginis, dies nubis et nebulae;

16. A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers.

16. Dies tubae et clangoris super urbes munitas, et super arces excelsas.

The Prophet shows here how foolish they were who extenuated God’s vengeance, as hypocrites and all wicked men are wont to do. Hence he accuses the Jews of madness, that they thought that the way of reconciliation would be easy to them, when they had by their perverseness provoked God to come against them as an armed enemy. For though the ungodly do not promise to themselves anything of God’s favor, yet they entertain vain imaginations, as though he might with no trouble be pacified: they do not think that he will be propitious to them, and yet in the meantime they deride his vengeance. Against this kind of senselessness the Prophet now inveighs. We have stated in other places, that these kinds of figurative expressions were intended solely for this end — to constrain men to entertain some fear, for they willfully deluded themselves: for the Prophets had to do, partly with open despisers of God, and partly with his masked worshipers, whose holiness was hypocrisy.

This, then, was the reason why he said, that that day would be a day of wrath, and also a day of distress and of affliction, The original words are similar in sound and meaning; the first, [צרה], comes from a verb which means to inclose, to confine, to straiten, and it may be rendered, narrowness, confinement, straitness, distress. The other, [מצוקה], is oppression, as the verb means to press down, to press close. of tumult and desolation, Waste or confusion is, [משואה ,שאה], derived from the same root, may be rendered desolation. The two next words, “darkness” and “thick darkness,” occur in Joel 2:2. In the same passage we have also “the day of cloudiness and of entire darkness,” literally, bare or naked darkness; for the word is, [ערפל], derived, as I conceive, from [ער], bare, and [אפל], thick darkness. There is a gradation in the words used in each line; the second word is stronger than the first. — Ed. of darkness and of thick darkness, of clouds and of mist. In short, he intended to remove from the Jews that confidence with which they flattered themselves, yea, the confidence which they derived from their contempt of God: for the flesh is secure, while it has coverts, where it may withdraw itself from the presence of God. True confidence cannot exceed moderation, that is, the confidence that is founded on God’s word, for thus men come nigh to God: but the flesh wishes for no other rest but in the forgetfulness of God. And we have already seen in the Prophet Amos, (Amos 5:18,) why the day of Jehovah is painted as being so dreadful; he had, as I have said, to contend with hypocrites, who made an improper use of God’s name, and at the same time slumbered in gross insensibility. Hence Amos said, It will be a day, not of light, but of darkness; not of joy, but of sorrow. Why then do ye anxiously expect the day of the Lord? For the Jews, glorying in being the chosen people of God, and trusting only in their false title of adoption, thought that everything was lawful for them, as though God had renounced his own authority. And thus hypocrites ever flatter themselves, as though they held God bound to them. Our Prophet does not, as Amos, distinctly express these sentiments, yet the meaning of the words is the same, and that is, that when God ascends his tribunal, there is no hope for pardon. He at the same time cuts off from them all their vain confidences; for though God excludes all escapes, yet hypocrites look here and there, before and behind, to the right hand and to the left.

The Prophet therefore intimates, that there would be everywhere darkness and thick darkness, clouds and mists, affliction and distress, — Why? because it would be the day of wrath; for God, after having borne patiently a long time with the Jews, and seen that they perversely abused his patience, would at length put forth his power. And that they might not set up their own strongholds against God, he says, that war was proclaimed against the fortified cities and high citadels. We hence see that he deprives the Jews of all help, in order that they might understand that they were to perish, except they repented, and thus return into favor with God. It shall then be a day of the trumpet and of shouting, Rather “acclamation,” the triumphant voice of conquerors. As an attempt to preserve the distinctive character of each word in this singular passage, I offer the following version —

15. A day of extreme wrath shall be that day, A day of distress and oppression, A day of waste and of desolation, A day of darkness and of thick darkness, A day of cloudiness and of entire darkness;

16. A day of the trumpet and of acclamation Over the cities that are inclosed, And over the towers which are lofty.

The word [עברה], “extreme wrath,” means such wrath as passes over all bounds — overflowing wrath. We are obliged to use the word darkness three times for lack of suitable terms. The first is the common darkness of the night, the second is a grosser darkness, and the third is complete darkness. The words “gloominess” and “obscurity,” used by Newcome and Henderson, are not sufficiently strong, and convey not the meaning. — Ed. — How? on all fortified cities. For the Jews, as it is usually done, compared the strength of their enemies with their own. It was not their purpose to go forth beyond their own borders: and they thought that they would be able to resist, and be sufficiently fortified, if any foreign enemy invaded them. The Prophet laughs to scorn this notion, for God had declared war against their fortified cities. It follows —

Zephaniah 1:17

17. And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the LORD: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung.

17. Et coarctabo hominem (vel, homines,) et ambulabunt tanquam caeci, quia contra Iehovam impie egerunt; et fundetur sanguis quasi pulvis; et caro eorum erit tanquam stercora.

He confirms what I have already stated — that though other enemies, the Assyrians or Chaldeans, attacked the Jews, yet God would be the principal leader of the war. God then claims here for himself what the Jews transferred to their earthly enemies: and the Prophet has already often called it the day of Jehovah; for God would then make known his power, which had been a sport to them. He therefore declares in this place, that he would reduce man to distress, so that the whole nation would walk like the blind — that, being void of counsel, they would stumble and fall, and not be able to proceed in their course: for they are said to go astray like the blind, who see no end to their evils, who find no means to escape ruin, but are held as it were fast bound. And we must ever bear in mind what I have already said — that the Jews were inflated with such pride, that they heedlessly despised all the Prophets. Since then they were thus wise in themselves, God denounces blindness on them.

He subjoins the reason, Because they had acted impiously towards Jehovah The Hebrew words are literally,

For against Jehovah have they sinned.

— Ed. By these words he confirms what I have already explained — that the intermediate causes are not to be considered, though the Chaldeans took vengeance on the Jews; for there is a higher principle, and another cause of this evil, even the contempt of God and of his celestial truth; for they had acted impiously towards God. And by these words the Prophet reminds the Jews, that no alleviation was to be expected, as they had not only men hostile to them, but God himself, whom they had extremely provoked.

Hence he adds, Poured forth shall be your blood as dust “Copiously and in contempt,” says Marckius; “as a thing of no value,” says Grotius; “as worthless as dust,” says Drusius. The comparison is evidently intended to show that their blood, or their life, would be treated with contempt, and no more regarded than dust. — Ed. They whom God delivered up to extreme reproach were deserving of this, because he had been despised by them. Their flesh, The word is [לחט], usually rendered food; here it means what is fed, the carcass, the body. It is rendered “flesh” by the Septuagint. — Ed. he says, shall be as dung. Now, we know how much the Jews boasted of their preeminence; and God had certainly given them occasion to boast, had they made a right and legitimate use of his benefits; but as they had despised him, they deserved in their turn to be exposed to every ignominy and reproach. Hence the Prophet here lays prostrate all their false boastings by which they were inflated; for they wished to be honorable, while God was despised by them. At last he adds —

Zephaniah 1:18

18. Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord’s wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.

18. Etiam argentum eorum, etiam aurum eorum, nihil proficiet ad liberandos ipsos in die excandescentiae Jehovae, et in igne indignationis ejus evorabitur omnis terra; quia consumptionem et quidem definitam (vel, horribilem, vel, celerem) facet cum omnibus incolis terrae.

He repeats what he has already said — that the helps which the Jews hoped would be in readiness to prevent God’s vengeance would be vain. For though men dare not openly to resist God, yet they hope by some winding courses to find out some way by which they may avert his judgment. As then the Jews, trusting in their wealth, and in their fortified cities, became insolent towards God, the Prophet here declares, that neither gold nor silver should be a help to them. Let them, he says, accumulate wealth; though by the mass of their gold and silver they form high mountains for themselves, yet they shall not be able to turn aside the hand of God, nor be able to deliver themselves, — and why? He repeats again the same thing, that it would be the day of wrath. We indeed know, that the most savage enemies are sometimes pacified by money, for avarice mitigates their cruelty; but the Prophet declares here, that as God would be the ruler in that war, there would be no redemption, and therefore money would be useless: for God could by no means receive them into favor, except they repented and truly humbled themselves before him.

He therefore adds, that the land would be devoured by the fire of God’s jealousy, or indignation. He compares God’s wrath to fire; for no agreement can be made when fire rages, but the more materials there are the more will there be to increase the fire. So then the Prophet excludes the Jews from any hope of deliverance, except they reconciled themselves to God by true and sincere repentance; for a consummation, he says, he will make as to all the inhabitants of the land, and one indeed very quick or speedy. Quickness rather than terror is what is evidently meant. See version 14. Most agree in this respect. Newcome renders it “speedy,” and Henderson “sudden.” The word “riddance,” for [כלה], in our version, is improper. It is rendered “full end” by Newcome, and “consummation” by Henderson, and “συντέλειαν — end” by the Septuagint. The particle [אך] does not mean “altogether,” as rendered by Henderson, but it is an asseveration — surely, indeed, certainly, doubtless. The [אח] before “inhabitants” has evidently here the meaning of κατα, with regard to. It is rendered επι, upon, in the Septuagint, and “with” by Marckius and Newcome. The whole verse is as follows, —

18. Neither their silver nor their gold Shall be able to deliver them In the day of the extreme-wrath of Jehovah; By the fire of his jealousy Shall be consumed the whole land; For an end, doubtless sudden, will he make, As to all the inhabitants of the land. In short, he means, that as the Jews had hardened themselves against every instruction, they would find God’s vengeance to be such as would wholly consume them, as they would not anticipate it, but on the contrary enhance it by their pride and stupidity, and even deride it. Now follows —

CHAPTER 2

Zephaniah 2:1, 2

1. Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together, O nation not desired;

1. Colligite vos, et colligite gens non amabilis;

2. Before the decree bring forth, before the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of the Lord come upon you, before the day of the Lord’s anger come upon you.

2. Antequam pariat decretum, sicut stipula transibit die, antequam veniat super eos furor irae Iehovae, antequam veniat super eos dies irae Iehovae.

INTRODUCTION

Zephaniah, ninth in order of the minor prophets, prophesied "in the days of Josiah" (Zep 1:1), that is, between 642 and 611 B.C. The name means "Jehovah hath guarded," literally, "hidden" (Psa 27:5; 83:3). The specification in the introductory heading, of not only his father, but also his grandfather, and great-grandfather, and great-great-grandfather, implies that the latter were persons of note, or else the design was to distinguish him from another Zephaniah of note at the time of the captivity. The Jews' supposition, that persons recorded as a prophet's ancestors were themselves endowed with the prophetic spirit, seems groundless. There is no impossibility of the Hezekiah, who was Zephaniah's great-great-grandfather, being King Hezekiah as to the number of generations; for Hezekiah's reign of twenty-nine years, and his successor's reign of fifty-five years, admit of four generations interposing between. Yet the omission of the designation, "king of Judah," is fatal to the theory (compare Pr 25:1; Is 38:9).

He must have flourished in the earlier part of Josiah's reign. In Zep 2:13-15 he foretells the doom of Nineveh, which happened in 625 B.C.; and in Zep 1:4 he denounces various forms of idolatry, and specially that of Baal. Now Josiah's reformation began in the twelfth and was completed in the eighteenth year of his reign. Zephaniah, therefore, in denouncing Baal worship, co-operated with that good king in his efforts, and so must have prophesied somewhere between the twelfth and eighteenth years of his reign. The silence of the historical books is no argument against this, as it would equally apply against Jeremiah's prophetical existence at the same time. Jewish tradition says that Zephaniah had for his colleagues Jeremiah, whose sphere of labor was the thoroughfares and market places, and Huldah the prophetess, who exercised her vocation in the college in Jerusalem.

The prophecy begins with the nation's sin and the fearful retribution coming at the hands of the Chaldeans. These are not mentioned by name, as in Jeremiah; for the prophecies of the latter, being nearer the fulfilment, become more explicit than those of an earlier date. The second chapter dooms the persecuting states in the neighborhood as well as Judea itself. The third chapter denounces Jerusalem, but concludes with the promise of her joyful re-establishment in the theocracy.

The style, though not generally sublime, is graphic and vivid in details (compare Zep 1:4-12). The language is pure, and free from Aramaisms. There are occasional coincidences with former prophets (compare Zep 2:14, with Is 34:11; Zep 2:15, with Is 47:8; Zep 3:10, with Is 18:1; Zep 2:8, with Is 16:6; also Zep 1:5, with Jr 8:2; Zep 1:12, with Jr 48:11). Such coincidences in part arise from the phraseology of Hebrew prophetic poetry being the common language of the inspired brotherhood. The New Testament, at Ro 15:6, seems to refer to Zep 3:9.

CHAPTER 1

Zep 1:1-18. God's Severe Judgment on Judah for Its Idolatry and Neglect of Him: The Rapid Approach of the Judgment, and the Impossibility of Escape.

1. days of Josiah--Had their idolatries been under former kings, they might have said, Our kings have forced us to this and that. But under Josiah, who did all in his power to reform them, they have no such excuse.

son of Amon--the idolater, whose bad practices the Jews clung to, rather than the good example of Josiah, his son; so incorrigible were they in sin.

Judah--Israel's ten tribes had gone into captivity before this.

2. utterly consume--from a root to "sweep away," or "scrape off utterly." See Jr 8:13, Margin, and here.

from off the land--of Judah.

3. Enumeration in detail of the "all things" (Zep 1:2; compare Jr 9:10; Ho 4:3).

the stumbling-blocks--idols which cause Judah to offend or stumble (Eze 14:3, 4, 7).

with the wicked--The idols and their worshippers shall be involved in a common destruction.

4. stretch out mine hand--indicating some remarkable and unusual work of vengeance (Is 5:25; 9:12, 17, 21).

Judah--including Benjamin. These two tribes are to suffer, which thought themselves perpetually secure, because they escaped the captivity in which the ten tribes were involved.

Jerusalem--the fountainhead of the evil. God begins with His sanctuary (Eze 9:6), and those who are nigh Him (Le 10:3).

the remnant of Baal--the remains of Baal worship, which as yet Josiah was unable utterly to eradicate in remote places. Baal was the Phoenician tutelary god. From the time of the Judges (Jud 2:13), Israel had fallen into this idolatry; and Manasseh lately had set up this idol within Jehovah's temple itself (2Ki 21:3, 5, 7). Josiah began his reformation in the twelfth year of his reign (2Ch 34:4, 8), and in the eighteenth had as far as possible completed it.

Chemarims--idol priests, who had not reached the age of puberty; meaning "ministers of the gods" [Servius on Æneid, 11], the same name as the Tyrian Camilli, r and l being interchangeable (compare Ho 10:5, Margin). Josiah is expressly said (2Ki 23:5, Margin) to have "put down the Chemarim." The Hebrew root means "black" (from the black garments which they wore or the marks which they branded on their foreheads); or "zealous," from their idolatrous fanaticism. The very "name," as well as themselves, shall be forgotten.

the priests--of Jehovah, of Aaronic descent, who ought to have used all their power to eradicate, but who secretly abetted, idolatry (compare Zep 3:4; Eze 8:1-18; 22:26; 44:10). From the priests Zephaniah passes to the people.

5. worship the host of heaven--Saba: whence, in contrast to Sabeanism, Jehovah is called Lord of Sabaoth.

upon the housetops--which were flat (2Ki 23:5, 6, 12; Jr 19:13; 32:29).

swear by the Lord--rather, "swear to Jehovah" (2Ch 15:14); solemnly dedicating themselves to Him (compare Is 48:1; Ho 4:15).

and--"and yet (with strange inconsistency, 1Ki 18:21; Eze 20:39; Mt 6:24) swear by Malcham," that is, "their king" [Maurer]: the same as Molech (see on Am 5:25), and "Milcom the god of ... Ammon" (1Ki 11:33). If Satan have half the heart, he will have all; if the Lord have but half offered to Him, He will have none.

6. This verse describes more comprehensively those guilty of defection from Jehovah in any way (Jr 2:13, 17).

7. Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord--(Ha 2:20). Let the earth be silent at His approach [Maurer]. Or, "Thou whosoever hast been wont to speak against God, as if He had no care about earthly affairs, cease thy murmurs and self-justifications; submit thyself to God, and repent in time" [Calvin].

Lord ... prepared a sacrifice--namely, a slaughter of the guilty Jews, the victims due to His justice (Is 34:6; Jr 46:10; Eze 39:17).

bid his guests--literally, "sanctified His called ones" (compare Is 13:3). It enhances the bitterness of the judgment that the heathen Chaldeans should be sanctified, or consecrated as it were, by God as His priests, and be called to eat the flesh of the elect people; as on feast days the priests used to feast among themselves on the remains of the sacrifices [Calvin]. English Version takes it not of the priests, but the guests bidden, who also had to "sanctify" or purify themselves before coming to the sacrificial feast (1Sa 9:13, 22; 16:5). Nebuchadnezzar was bidden to come to take vengeance on guilty Jerusalem (Jr 25:9).

8. the princes--who ought to have been an example of good to others, but were ringleaders in all evil.

the king's children--fulfilled on Zedekiah's children (Jr 39:6); and previously, on Jehoahaz and Eliakim, the sons of Josiah (2Ki 23:31, 36; 2Ch 36:6; compare also 2Ki 20:18; 21:13). Huldah the prophetess (2Ki 22:20) intimated that which Zephaniah now more expressly foretells.

all such as are clothed with strange apparel--the princes or courtiers who attired themselves in costly garments, imported from abroad; partly for the sake of luxury, and partly to ingratiate themselves with foreign great nations whose costume as well as their idolatries they imitated, [Calvin]; whereas in costume, as in other respects, God would have them to be separate from the nations. Grotius refers the "strange apparel" to garments forbidden by the law, for example, men's garments worn by women, and vice versa, a heathen usage in the worship of Mars and Venus (De 22:5).

9. those that leap on the threshold--the servants of the princes, who, after having gotten prey (like hounds) for their masters, leap exultingly on their masters' thresholds; or, on the thresholds of the houses which they break into [Calvin]. Jerome explains it of those who walk up the steps into the sanctuary with haughtiness. Rosenmuller translates, "Leap over the threshold"; namely, in imitation of the Philistine custom of not treading on the threshold, which arose from the head and hands of Dragon being broken off on the threshold before the ark (1Sa 5:5). Compare Is 2:6, "thy people ... are soothsayers like the Philistines." Calvin's view agrees best with the latter clause of the verse.

fill ... masters' houses with violence, &c.--that is, with goods obtained with violence, &c.

10. fish gate--(2Ch 33:14; Ne 3:3; 12:39). Situated on the east of the lower city, north of the sheep gate [Maurer]: near the stronghold of David in Milo, between Zion and the lower city, towards the west [Jerome]. This verse describes the state of the city when it was besieged by Nebuchadnezzar. It was through the fish gate that he entered the city. It received its name from the fish market which was near it. Through it passed those who used to bring fish from the lake of Tiberias and Jordan. It answers to what is now called the Damascus gate [Henderson].

the second--namely, the gate which was second in dignity [Calvin]. Or, the second or lower part of the city. Appropriately, the fish gate, or extreme end of the lower part of the city, first resounds with the cries of the citizens as the foe approaches; then, as he advances further, that part of the city itself, namely, its inner part; lastly, when the foe is actually come and has burst in, the hills, the higher ones, especially Zion and Moriah, on which the upper city and temple were founded [Maurer]. The second, or lower city, answers to Akra, north of Zion, and separated from it by the valley of Tyropoeon running down to the pool of Siloam [Henderson]. The Hebrew is translated "college," 2Ki 22:14; so Vatablus would translate here.

hills--not here those outside, but those within the walls: Zion, Moriah, and Ophel.

11. Maktesh--rather, "the mortar," a name applied to the valley of Siloam from its hollow shape [Jerome]. The valley between Zion and Mount Olivet, at the eastern extremity of Mount Moriah, where the merchants dwelt. Zec 14:21, "The Canaanite," namely, merchant [Chaldee Version]. The Tyropoeon (that is, cheese-makers') valley below Mount Akra [Rosenmuller]. Better Jerusalem itself, so called as lying in the midst of hills (Is 22:1; Jr 21:13) and as doomed to be the scene of its people being destroyed as corn or drugs are pounded in a mortar (Pr 27:22) [Maurer]. Compare the similar image of a "pot" (Eze 24:3, 6). The reason for the destruction is subjoined, namely, its merchant people's greediness of gain.

all the merchant people--literally, the "Canaanite people": irony: all the merchant people of Jerusalem are very Canaanites in greed for gain and in idolatries (see on Ho 12:7).

all ... that bear silver--loading themselves with that which will prove but a burden (Ha 2:6).

12. search ... with candles--or lamps; so as to leave no dark corner in it wherein sin can escape the punishment, of which the Chaldeans are My instruments (compare Zep 1:13; Lu 15:8).

settled on their lees--"hardened" or crusted; image from the crust formed at the bottom of wines long left undisturbed (Jr 48:11). The effect of wealthy undisturbed ease ("lees") on the ungodly is hardening: they become stupidly secure (compare Psa 55:19; Am 6:1).

Lord will not do good ... evil--They deny that God regards human affairs, or renders good to the good; or evil to the evil, but that all things go haphazard (Psa 10:4; Mal 2:17).

13. Therefore their goods shall become a booty, &c.--Fulfilling the prophecy in De 28:30, 39 (compare Am 5:11).

14. voice of ... day of ... Lord--that is, Jehovah ushering in that day with a roar of vengeance against the guilty (Jr 25:30; Am 1:2). They who will not now heed (Zep 1:12) His voice by His prophets, must heed it when uttered by the avenging foe.

mighty ... shall cry ... bitterly--in hopeless despair; the might on which Jerusalem now prides itself, shall then fail utterly.

15. wasteness ... desolation--The Hebrew terms by their similarity of sounds, Shoah, Umeshoah, express the dreary monotony of desolation (see on Na 2:10).

16. the trumpet--namely, of the besieging enemy (Am 2:2).

alarm--the war shout [Maurer].

towers--literally, "angles"; for city walls used not to be built in a direct line, but with sinuous curves and angles, so that besiegers advancing might be assailed not only in front, but on both sides, caught as it were in a cul-de-sac; towers were built especially at the angles. So Tacitus describes the walls of Jerusalem [Histories, 5.11.7].

17. like blind men--unable to see whither to turn themselves so as to find an escape from existing evils.

flesh--Hebrew, "bread"; so the Arabic term for "bread" is used for "flesh" (Mt 26:26).

18. Neither ... silver nor ... gold shall ... deliver them, &c.--(Pr 11:4).

fire of his jealousy--(Eze 38:19); His wrath jealous for His honor consuming the guilty like fire.

make even a speedy riddance of all--rather, a "consummation" (complete destruction: "full end," Jr 46:28; Eze 11:13) "altogether sudden" [Maurer]. "A consumption, and that a sudden one" [Calvin].

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, Zep 2:13, 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.

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.

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.

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, 2Kgs 23:5 (note).

The Chemarims - The black-robed priests of different idols. See the note on 2Kgs 23:6. These were put down by Josiah.

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 2Kgs 23:6, 2Kgs 23:12; Jer 19:13; Jer 32:29.

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 Hos 4:15 (note), and Amo 5:26 (note).

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.

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 Isa 34:6 (note).

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.

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.

A cry from the fish-gate - This gate, which is mentioned Neh 3:3, 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 2Kgs 22:14; 2Chr 34:22.

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.

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.

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 Amo 5:11, where we find the same evils threatened.

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.

That day is a day of wrath - See Isa 22:5 (note); Jer 30:7 (note); Joe 2:2 (note), Joe 2:11 (note); Amo 5:18 (note); Zep 1:18 (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.

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.

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.

Zephaniah - He is thought to have been the great - grandson of king Hezekiah. In the days of Josiah - So he was cotemporary with Jeremiah and Ezekiel, and foretells what Jeremiah and Ezekiel did.

The remnant - Whatsoever remains of the idolatry of Baal. This place - Jerusalem. The name - Both the persons, and the memory of them. The Chemarims - Either called so from their black garments they went in, or, from their swarthy colour occasioned by the black smoak of incense: they were door - keepers, and sextons of Baal. The priests - The priests of Baal.

House - tops - On the flat roofs of their houses. And that swear - That mixt idol - worship, and the worship of the true God; that devote themselves to God, and Baal, or Malchim, that is, Moloch.

Hold thy peace - Thou that murmurest against God, stand in awe. The day - A day of vengeance from the Lord. A sacrifice - The wicked Jews, whom he will sacrifice by the sword. His guests - summoned the beasts of the field, and the fowls of the air, to eat the flesh, and drink the blood.

The princes - The great ones, who dreamed of shifting better than others, but fell with the first, 2Kings 25:19 - 21. Children - Sons and grand - children, Josiah: Jehoahaz died a captive in Egypt, 2Kings 23:34, Jehoakim died in Babylon, and was buried with the burial of an ass, Jer 22:18,19, Jeconiah died a captive: and Zedekiah and his children, fared still worse. Strange apparel - The garb of foreigners, imitated by the wanton Jews.

In the same day - At the same time. Their masters houses - Either the oppressing kings, whose officers these were, or publick officers and judges, whose servants thus spoiled the poor. Violence - Goods taken by force, by false accusations, or by suborned evidence.

The noise - The great out - cry and lamentation. The fish gate - At which gate the Babylonians first entered into the city. The second - This gate was in the second wall of Jerusalem, which on that side was fortified with three walls. Crashing - Of things broken into shivers; possibly the noise of doors, windows, closets, and chests broken up. The hills - On which the city stood.

Howl - Cry aloud, and bitterly. Maktesh - The lower town. Merchant people - Who were wont to lodge in this place. That bear silver - That brought it with them to pay for what they bought.

I will search - God speaks after the manner of men, who searches dark places with candles. He will fully discover and punish. Their lees - In allusion to liquors, which not being poured out from vessel to vessel to refine them, grow thick and foul.

The voice if the day - The day which will come with a great noise.

A day - Of unparalleled calamities.

Like blind men - Not knowing where to go. As dust - As abundantly, and as carelessly as dust in the highway.

In the land - Therefore let not sinners be laid asleep by the patience of God; for when the measure of their iniquity is full, his justice will both overtake and overcome them, will make quick and thorough work.

1 THE word of the LORD which came to Zephaniah the son of Cushi , the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hizkiah, in the dayes of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah▪

The Declaration of the purpose of God, either spoken audibly, or clearly manifested by signs.

God of Israel, here is the Divine Authority of this Prophesie with which the Prophets word is seconded.

The precise manner how it came, we need not enquire into; Zephaniah did not hammer out of his owe brain any such news, he received from God what he communicated to them.

By derivation of the Name, it is one hidden of the Lord, whom God doth hide, or God's Secretary, or else one that is Gods Watch-man, whom God hath set over the house of Iudah, as Ezek. 3. is said to be.

His Ped[illegible: 1 letter]gree here gives us no certainty what his Progenitors were, whether as some think him the great Grandson of Hez[illegible: 1 letter]kiah, the Name being the same, or whether Prophets, or only eminent known men.

Before the Captivity he was then contemporary with Ieremiah and Ezekiel, prophesied before the Captivity, and foretels much like, what Ieremiah or Ezekiel did.

Whose Reign was very full of Impiety and Idolatry, and hastned the Captivity upon Iudah. This Amon sacrificed to all the carved Images which Manasseh had made, 2 Chron. 33.22.

2 I will utterly consume all things from off the land , saith the LORD .

Heb. Gathering up, I will gather up, or take up, intimating particularly the manner how all should be consumed, i. e. swept away as a prey to the Babylonians.

Of Iudah ▪ the two Tribes.

This is added to confirm, and assure the truth hereof.

Marginal references: Heb. by taking away. I will make an end.; Heb. the face of the land.

3 I will consume man and beast : I will consume the fowls of the heaven, and the fishes of the sea, and the stumbling blocks with the wicked , and I will cut off man from off the land saith the LORD.

The former verse denounced the [illegible: 1 letter]uture desolation in general terms. This verse specifieth what desolation in particular God would bring upon the Land. Man shall be consumed for his own sin, and the beasts consumed for mans sake; Men by the Pestilence and Famine, the Beasts by Murrain, and devoured by multitudes of hungry Souldiers that shall make greater havock than any Murrain ordinarily doth

Either by some unknown Disease among them, or else by a distast at the stench of putrifying Carcases they fled away, so that none, or very few appeared, insomuch that it lookt as if it were all consumed.

By Sea, some understand Ponds, Lakes, or smaller Seas, such as that of Genezareth and Tiberias, the Waters whereof might be made noisom to the fish by the streams of blood, and Carcasses which might possibly be cast into them, or God might destroy the Fishes by some consuming Disease too. He hath ways to do it, who hath once said he will do it.

The Idols.

The Idolatrous Priests, and others who worshipt them.

All shall disappear.

Of Iudah.

Marginal references: Hos. 4.3.; Or, Idols.

4 I will also stretch out mine hand upon Judah , and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem , and I will cut off the remnant of Baal z from this place , and the names of the Chemarims with the priests .

And I will, or, And I have, Hebr. so Prophets speak of what shall most certainly be, as if already done.

This seems to intimate some immediate stroke from God, He speaks so in Ier. 51.25. Ezek. 6.14. and 14.13. and 25.13.

Benjamin is included, though Iudah only is named.

It will be universal destruction of them either by Sword, Famine, Pestilence, or Captivity; both Citizens and Sojourners, all shall perish, or suffer by some or other of these wayes

Though '[illegible: 1 letter]was the Holy City beautified with the Temple of God, yet all should not secure it, Ier. 7.4. and Ezek. 9.6.

This Idolatry had filled Ierusalem it self,

both the persons, and the memory of them also, for names includeth both.

Either call'd so from their black Garments they went in, or, from their swarthy colour occasioned by the black smoke of Incense, which they were almost continually in, or Door-keepers, Sextons of Baal, or voluntary Servants; or such as the Popish Monks; some Ministers of Baal distinct from the Priests.

Either the Priests of Baal, or the Apostates of Aaron's house, who (though Priests by birth and Office) should have been stedfast to, but had fallen from the True God and his Worship to Baal and his Worship.

Whatsoever remains of the Idolatry of Baal, both the Idols, their Temples, Sacrifices, Priests, Ornaments, and Worshippers, whether this refer to times after the Reformation by Isaiah, or to times before it, needs not scrupulously be enquired into.

Marginal references: 2 Kin. 23.5.

5 And them that worship the host of heaven upon the house tops , and them that worship, and that swear by the LORD , and that swear by Malcham .

Those among the people that adhered to this Idolatry▪

The Sun, Moon, and Stars frequently in the Scripture called the host of Heaven.

Openly, as the manner of those Idolaters was, either because they thought those Deities they imagined to dwell in the body of those Stars better saw them, or were better pleased thus, or because these places were nearer Heaven. On the flat roofs of their houses they were used to have their Altars and Worship.

Or, to the Lord, (as the Heb bears) persons that mix Idol Worship, and the Worship of the true God; that devote themselves to God, and Baal, or Malcham

called Milcom, and Molech, and Moloch, Amos 5.26. probably 'twas their chief Idol, fancied to be King of Gods and Men.

Marginal references: 2 Kin. 23.12. Jer. 19.13.; Or, to the LORD.

6 And them that are turned back from the LORD, and those that have not sought the LORD, nor enquired for him.

Apostates, who have forsaken the Lord and his Worship▪ or that are turned Athei[illegible: 2 letters]s, or that in matter of Religion have taken up not what is purest and truest, but what is nearest and most in fashion.

Sluggishly neglected to examine pretended Religions, according to the Law which they might, and ought to have done, and who have embraced a false Religion instead of the true.

Though the Prophets have preacht against this Apostacy, and called the Priests and People to forsake the Idols, and enquire after God, yet they would not enquire, these also are here doomed to destruction.

Marginal references: Isa. 1.4. Jer. 15.6.

7 Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord GOD : for the day of the LORD is at hand: for the LORD hath prepared a sacrifice , he hath bid his guests .

Thou that murmurest in discontent, or disputest out of frowardness against God, his Worship, and his Government, that thinkest of him but little better then of Baal or Malcham, cease all thy quarrels and disputes, stand in awe.

Who is Almighty, Omniscient, who ruleth and will avenge.

A day of vengeance from the Lord,

The wicked among the Iewes, whom he will sacrifice by the Chaldean's sword.

Summoned in Beasts of the Field, and Fowls of the Air, to eat the Flesh, and drink the Blood of slain Iewes, whom the Babylonians slew.

Marginal references: Hab. 2.20. Zech. 2.13.; Isa. 34.6. Jer. 46.10. Ezek. 39.17.; Heb. sanctified, or prepared.

8 And it shall come to pass in the day of the LORDS sacrifice , that I will punish the princes , and the kings children , and all such as are clothed with strange apparel.

It shall most certainly be fulfilled, what I threaten I will most surely execute.

Of slaughter to be made by the Baby[illegible: 1 letter]onians, called here a day of Sacrifice, that we might see clearly the just and exemplary proceedings of God; these people sinned in Sacrificing to strange Gods, and God will punish them, making them a strange Sacrifice to h[illegible: 1 letter]s Anger.

The punishment shall appear to be from my hand, as he threatens often by Ezekiel.

Nobles about the Court, the great ones, who dreamt of shif[illegible: 1 letter]ing better then others, but fell with the first, 2 Kings 25.19, 20, 21.

Sons and Grandchildren too of good Iosiah, Iehoabaz dyed a Captive in Egypt, 2 Kings 23.34. Ieboiakim dyed on the way, or in Babylon, buried with the burial of an Asse, Ier. 22.18. Ieconiah carried to Babylon sped somewhat, yet but little better; there he dyed a Captive: As for Zedekiah and his Children, these were slain before his face, then his Eyes put out, and he led into miserable captivity.

Some say the strange Apparel of Idolatrous Priests, others say, and more likely, the garb of Forreigners, imitated by the wanton Iewes.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 span]; Jer. [illegible: 2 letters]

9 In the same day also will I punish all those that leap on the threshold which fill their Masters houses with violence and deceit .

Not to be taken for a single day, but more largely for that time wherein God would visit and punish.

Insolently, and with rage break open the doors of such whose goods they seise, upon pretence of forfeitures or fines, a sin that Ezekiel both taxed and threatned, chap. 8.17. and 12.19. and 45.9.

Either the oppressing Kings, whose Officers these were, or publick Officers and Judges, whose Servants thus did (to enrich their Masters) spoil the poor, and the oppressed

goods taken away by force, and kept as much against right, as at first taken away without right

by false accusations, and by suborned evidence for proof, and by perjuries.

And it shall come to pass in that day saith the LORD , that there shall be the noise of a cry from the fish gate , and an howling from the second , and a great crashing from the hills .

See ver. 9. let. a.

To assure us of the certainty of the thing.

The voice Heb. of a cry, i. e. a very great outcry and lamentation.

Which was on the west side of Ierusalem, through which Gate they brought in fish from [illegible: 1 word], and other Sea Towns on the West Sea, or great Sea, now the Mediterranean, at which Gate the Babylonians are said first to enter into the City, when they took it thus, it will be a prediction at what Gate [illegible: 1 letter]he Enemy should enter.

The great, horrid, and confus'd lamentations of desperate and undone multitudes crying out, and bitterly bemoaning themselves.

Gate which was in the second Wall of Ierusalem, which on that side was fortified with three Walls, or second part of the City, or the middle City, for 'twas divided into three parts. Others read Second as a Proper Name, and make it the School, Colledge, or University, and so render the howling of the University, i. e. of Students either slaughter'd, or captivated by Chaldeans.

Breaking in pieces, or the noise of what is broken into shivers; possibly the noise of Doors, Windows, Closers, and Chests broken up, or burning

in the houses of Nobles, likned here to hills, or more literally in Gareb and Goath, on which the flying Iews pursued by the Chaldees, lost what they carryed with them, and their life too; so all places were full of miserable slaughter, and out-cryes.

11 Howl ye inhabitants of Maktesh , for all the merchant people are cut down; all they that bear silver are cut off.

Cry aloud, and bitterly.

Some read it appellatively: The Mortar in which of old, before the Corn-Mill was known and used, they did pound and beat their Corn for Bread. They also pounded Spices: Others say 'tis the lower Town, or Valley of Cedron in Ierusalem, a deep Valley that surrounded the Mountain of the Temple, which fancied like a deep Mortar, they gave the name Maktesh to it.

Who were wont either to lodge in this place when they came to Trade, or, if Iewish Merchants, dwelt there, which was much to the advantage of the place, but now by the invasion of the Land, and by the siege, all trade is cut off, and many Merchants either slain or made slaves.

That brought it with them to pay for what they bought up, and so enricht the Inhabitants of this Makte[illegible: 1 letter]h, all that traded and payd ready money, are cut off, as let. q. Others say, the Money-changers, or Bankers are here meant by them that bear silver, persons that furnisht all sorts o[illegible: 1 letter] people with silver, for Goods laid to pledge, or buttered.

i. e. shall be as surely, as if 'twere already done.

12 And it shall come to pass at that time , that I will search Jerusalem with candles , and punish the men that are setled on their lees : that say in their heart , the LORD will not do good, neither will he do evil .

'Twas day, ver. 10. which see let. a.

God speaks after the manner of man who searcheth dark places with Candles in hand; God's Omniscience seeth all things, and needs no help for discovery, but by this expression foretels how fully he would both discover, and punish.

It is like enough this was literally fulfilled when the Chaldeans did search the Vaults, and Sellars, and sewers of Ierusalem for Men, or Goods hidden in them.

In allusion to Liquors which not being poured out from Vessel to Vessel to refine them, grow thick and setled; so men that have known none or little changes settle in security, and fear no menaces.

Entertain an opinion, or begin to flatter themselves into thoughts.

No providence to countenance the good, or to punish the bad: No God, or none that regardeth what is done on Earth, or as they, Ezek. 8. 12. think God hath forsaken the Earth. These Atheists God will punish severely, as the sin well deserveth; they shall see, it shall be well with the righteous, and ill with the wicked.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 paragraph]

13 Therefore their goods shall become a booty , and their houses a desolation : they shall also build houses, but not inhabit them , and they shall plant vineyards, but not drink the wine thereof.

As a punishment for other sins, so for this secure Atheistical denyal of Providence, though they have denyed, they shall feel, and confess, that the evil they suffer is both just, and from my hand too.

Stores in their Shops and Warehouses, Furniture in their Cambers, and Ward-robes.

A Prey divided among the Babyloni h Souldiers, invading, prevailing, wasting Villages and Cities.

That they may remember the curse threatned in the Law, executed on them, and acknowledge that who gave the Law Rules by it.

According to that Deut. 28.30, 39.

Marginal references: Amos 5.11.

14 The great day of the LORD is near, it is near , and hasteth greatly : even the voice of the day of the LORD: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly n.

Not the day of general Judgment, but the day in which the great God will bring his great Armies against Iudah and Ierusalem, and do great things by those Armies

Appointed, [illegible: 1 letter]oretold, and now actually brought on them by the Lord.

Very near, it is doubled to shew the nearness of it, and to assure us it is so.

Your Enemies eagerness for the prey, your sins and security, and the Lord's justly provoked anger hasten this day.

'Tis within hearing, the sound of it is in mine ears, methinks you might hear it also.

The valiant, and stout hearted among the Iews, they who should support others, shall be ready to sink themselves, and as much need a Cordial themselves.

Their courage broken, they shall cry out most vehemently, or like hopeless Women.

15 That day is a day of wrath , a day of trouble and distress , a day of wastness and desolation , a day of darkness and gloominess , a day of clouds, and thick darkness .

Great day, ver. 14.

From the Chaldeans, and from the Lord, actively, upon the Iews passively.

Here the Prophet heapeth up words of much the same sense to express the grievousness of the troubles of those times which shall suddenly come upon them, most distressing trouble, none knowing how to bear it, or where to hide from it.

Most desolate wastness in City, Villages, and Fields; every where the spoiling Souldier shall lay waste, carrying all he can, and destroying what he cannot carry away.

Possibly it might be so as to the temper of the air dark, and gloomy, but figuratively I am sure it was so.

Either literally from the Heavens clouded over them, or (i[illegible: 1 letter] it refer, as it may to the day of sacking Ierusalem, and effects of it) darkness, gloominess, Clouds, and thick darkness arising from the smoak and fire of the City every where fired by the Enemy, but Metaphorically these speak the most unparallel'd calamities.

Marginal references: Jer. 30.7. [illegible: 1 word] 2.2, 11. [illegible: 1 word] 5.18.

16 A day of the trumpet , and alarm against the senced cities , and against the high towers .

Gods Trumpet calling the Chaldeans, the Chaldeans trumpet also gathering together their Troops.

Threatening and affrighting

of Iudah.

Stately Palaces, and strong Munitions fortified with high Towers, built at the Angles of Walls, and therefore Heb. calls them high Corners, it may mean also the great men which (as corners well built) are the strength and beauty of a Wall; so they of a State, Iudg. 20.2. Zech. 10.4.

17 And I will bring distress upon men , that they shall walk like blind men , because they have sinned against e the LORD: and their blood shall be poured out as dust , and their flesh as the dung .

Gast them into, and surround or besiege them with distress; Calamities which shall greatly trouble, and perplex.

The chiefest among them, the richest, and who think themselves safest; the mighty men, as ver. 10. let, m. like blind men▪ shall neither know what to do, or where to fly, neither be [illegible: 1 letter]it for Counsel or Action.

All this for their great sins against the Lord, these men of note have been as much greater in sin as in state above others, and shall be as much deep in distress.

As freely, abundantly, and as contemptibly, as dust in the High-way.

Shall be spread as dung on the face of the Earth to fatten and improve it, their life shall be of no more value than dust, their honour no more regarded than dung, and they shall be so used after death.

18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORDs wrath , but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousie ; for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell o in the land p.

Sometimes these have purchas'd friends, and redeem'd a life at the hand of greedy Souldiers, who have spared on promise of money, but now it shall not be so, neither silver or gold shall help.

To pacifie the enraged Sultan of Babylon who had been formerly appeased which Presents, and Tribute Money, but will no more. Nor shall his Souldiers dare to spare or save any when they are charged to slay man, woman, and child as in the taking of Ierusalem 'tis probable they were charged, Psal. 137.7, 8, 9.

Were it the wrath of man onely, gifts might appease it, but 'tis the wrath of God who is a Righteous Judge, and receives not gifts.

Utterly ruin'd, its wealth carried away, its provisions eat up, its stores exhausted, and its stock (which should continue their Provision) utterly destroy'd as ver. 1.

To which their sins provoked the Lord, which their sins inkindled, and now it burns that none can quench it, Vid. Deut. 28. from 15. ver. to the end of the Chapter; all which God will now make good against them.

Though he had with wonderful patience waited and forborn, now he would wait no longer, but with speedy executions fulfill his threats and accomplish his wrath which he did within less than twenty years after this Prophesie, as is most like, on the accuratest computation we can make of the time[illegible: 1 letter] of Zephaniah's prophesying and Nebuchadnezzar's taking the City.

Marginal references: Prov. 1[illegible: 1 letter].4▪ Ezek. [illegible: 1 letter].[illegible: 2 letters].; chap. [illegible: 1 letter].[illegible: 1 letter].

Zephaniah

Introduction

Person of the Prophet. - Zephaniah's family is traced back in the heading to his book through four members, namely, to his great-great-grandfather Hezekiah; from which it has been justly inferred, that inasmuch as the father only is mentioned as a general rule, Hezekiah must have been a celebrated man, and that in all probability the king of that name is intended. For the only other person of such a name mentioned in the earlier history is an Ephraimite called Yehizkiyâh in 2Ch 28:12, and he can hardly be the person intended. The circumstance that Hezekiah is not described as the king of that name by the predicate hammelekh or melekh Yehūdâh, furnishes no decided argument against this assumption, but may probably be explained on the ground that the predicate “king of Judah” follows immediately afterwards in connection with Josiah’s name. There is still less force in the objection, that in the genealogy of the kings only two generations occur between Hezekiah and Josiah, inasmuch as Manasseh reigned for fifty-five years, that is to say, for nearly two generations. The name Zephaniah (Tsephanyâh), i.e., he whom Jehovah hides or shelters, not “speculator et arcanorum Dei cognitor,” as Jerome explains it according to an erroneous derivation from tsâphâh instead of tsâphân, occurs again as the name of a priest (Jer 21:1; Jer 29:25, etc.), as well as of other persons (cf. Zec 6:10, Zec 6:14; 1Ch 6:21). The lxx write it Σοφονίας, Sophonias, according to their usual custom of expressing צ by σ, and the Sheva by a short vowel which is regulated by the full vowel that follows; they have also changed the a into o, as in the case of Γοδολίου for Gedalyâh in Zep 1:1. Nothing further is known concerning the prophet’s life. The statement in Ps. Doroth. and Ps. Epiph., that he sprang “from the tribe of Simeon, from the mountain of Sarabathá” (al. Baratha or Sabartharam), is quite worthless. The date at which he lived is determined by the statement in the heading to his book, to the effect that he prophesied under king Josiah the son of Amos, who reigned from 641 to 610 b.c. This agrees both with the place assigned to his book in the series of the minor prophets, namely, between Habakkuk and Haggai, and also by the contents of his prophecies. According to Zep 2:13., where he predicts the destruction of the kingdom of Asshur and the city of Nineveh, the Assyrian empire was still in existence in his time, and Nineveh was not yet conquered, which took place, according to our discussions on Nahum (pp. 380ff.), at the earliest, in the closing years of Josiah’s reign, and possibly not till after his death. Moreover, his description of the moral depravity which prevailed in Jerusalem coincided in many respects with that of Jeremiah, whose labours as a prophet commenced in the thirteenth year of Josiah. Along with the worship of Jehovah (Zep 1:5; cf. Jer 6:20), he speaks of idolatry (Zep 1:4-5; cf. Jer 7:17-18), of false swearing by Jehovah, and swearing by the idols (Zep 1:5; Jer 5:2; Jer 7:9, and Jer 5:7; Jer 12:16), of the wicked treatment of the thorâh (Zep 3:4; Jer 8:8-9), of the fruitlessness of all the admonitions that have hitherto been addressed to Judah (Zep 3:2; Jer 2:30; Jer 7:28), and of the deep moral corruption that has pervaded all ranks - the royal family, the princes, the prophets, and the priests (Zep 1:4, Zep 1:8-9; Zep 3:3-4; cf. Jer 2:8, Jer 2:26). He describes the nation as a shameless one (Zep 2:1; Zep 3:5; cf. Jer 3:3; Jer 6:15; Jer 8:12), and Jerusalem as a rebellious city (מוראה, Zep 3:1; cf. Jer 6:17; Jer 5:23), as stained with blood and the abominations of idolatry (Zep 3:1; cf. Jer 2:22-23, Jer 2:34), and as oppressive towards widows and orphans, and with its houses full of unrighteous possessions (Zep 3:1 and Zep 1:9; cf. Jer 5:27-28; Jer 6:6).

The only point open to dispute is whether Zephaniah’s prophecy belonged to the first or the second half of the thirty-first year of Josiah’s reign. Whilst Ewald supposes that Zephaniah wrote at a time when “not even any preparation had yet been made in Jerusalem for that important and thorough reformation of religion which king Josiah attempted with such energetic decision and such good results in the second half of his reign” (2 Kings 22-23), most of the other commentators infer from Zep 1:4, where the extermination of the remnant of Baal is predicted, and with greater propriety, that Josiah’s reformation of religion had already commenced, and that the outward predominance of idolatry was already broken down when Zephaniah uttered his prophecies. For the prophet could not well speak of a remnant of Baal before the abolition of the idolatry introduced into the kingdom by Manasseh and Amon had really commenced. But Ewald and Hävernick reply to this, that the prophet announces that even the remnant and the name of idolatry are to disappear, so that nothing at all will remain, and that this presupposes that in the time of the prophet not only the remnant of the worship of Baal was in existence, but the Baal-worship itself. But however correct the former remark may be, there is no ground for the conclusion drawn from it. The destruction of Baal, even to the very remnant and name, does not warrant the assumption that the worship of Baal still existed in undiminished power and extent at the time when the threat was uttered, but could be fully explained if there were only remnants of it left to which the expression “remnant of Baal” primarily refers. If nothing had been hitherto done for the abolition of idolatry, Zephaniah would certainly have spoken differently and more strongly than he does in Zep 1:4-5, concerning the abomination of it. If, for example, according to Zep 1:5, sacrifices were still offered upon the roofs to the army of heaven, the existence of the Jehovah-worship is also presupposed in the reproof in Zep 3:4, “the priests pollute the sanctuary;” and in the words “them that swear by Jehovah, and swear by their king” (Zep 1:5), Jehovah-worship and idolatry are mentioned as existing side by side. We cannot therefore regard the opinion, that “throughout the whole of the prophecy there is no trace of any allusion to Josiah’s reformation,” as a well-founded one. According to the more precise account given in the Chronicles, Josiah commenced the reformation of worship in the twelfth year of his reign (2Ch 34:3-7), and in the eighteenth year he had the temple repaired. It was then that the book of he law was discovered, the reading of which affected the king so much, that he not only appointed a solemn passover, but after the feast was over had all the remaining traces of idolatry in Jerusalem and Judah completely obliterated (2Ki 23:24). Now, as Zephaniah’s prophecy presupposes the maintenance of the temple-worship, it can only have been uttered after the purification of the temple from the abominations of idolatry that were practised in its courts, and in all probability was not uttered till after the completion of the repairs of the temple, and the celebration of the solemn passover in the eighteenth year of Josiah’s reign. The time cannot be determined more exactly.

The threat in Zep 1:8, that the judgment shall fall upon the princes, and even upon the king’s sons, does not warrant us in concluding that the sons of Josiah had reached a sufficient age to have occasioned the announcement of punishment, by sinful acts for which they themselves were accountable, which would not apply to the twelfth year of the king’s reign, when Jehoiakim was six years old, Jehoahaz four years, and when Zedekiah was not yet born, but only to the eighteenth year, when Jehoiakim had reached his twelfth year and Jehoahaz his tenth. For “the king’s sons” are not necessarily the sons of the reigning sovereign only, but may also include the sons of the deceased kings, Manasseh and Amon; and this general threat of judgment announced against all ranks may be understood without hesitation as relating to all princes or persons of royal blood. The character of the prophecy as a whole also furnishes no decisive points bearing upon the question, whether it was uttered or composed before or after the eighteenth year of Josiah’s reign. For the tendency to promote the work of religious reformation which had already commenced, by means of strong prophetic encouragements, in order that it might lead to a division, and therefore to decision for the Lord (Zep 2:1-3, which Hävernick and several other commentators claim for our prophecy, can no more be proved to exist in the writing before us, than the conjecture expressed by Delitzsch in Herzog’s Cyclopaedia, that the prophet did not come forward with his threat till the efforts of the pious king to exterminate utterly the worship of Baal had reached their highest point, without securing their end; inasmuch as it is in accordance with the position of things and the character of prophecy, that when human efforts have done their utmost without securing the desired result, Jehovah interposes and threatens what still remains of Baal with His outstretched arm of punishment. For however correct the remark (of Delitzsch) may be, that in the form in which the prophecy lies before us it contains no trace of any intention to promote the work taken in hand by the king, and that the state of the nation as reflected therein is not a progressive one in process of reformation, but appears rather to be a finished one and ripe for judgment; the latter only applies to the mass of the nation, who were incorrigible, and therefore ripe for judgment, and does not preclude the existence of a better kernel, to which the prophet could still preach repentance, and cry, “Seek ye the Lord, seek humility; perhaps ye may be hidden in the day of Jehovah” (Zep 2:3). But the nation was in this state not only after the eighteenth year of Josiah’s reign, but also before it; and the efforts of the pious king to exterminate idolatry, and to raise and revive the worship of Jehovah, could effect no further alteration in this, than that individuals out of the corrupt mass were converted, and were saved from destruction. The measure of the sin, which was inevitable followed by the destruction of the kingdom of Judah, had been already filled by Manasseh, and Josiah’s reformation could only effect a postponement, and not avert the threatened judgment (compare 2Ki 12:10-16 with 2Ki 23:26-27). 2. The Book of Zephaniah does not contain two or three prophetic addresses, but the quintessence of the oral proclamations of the prophet condensed into one lengthened prophecy, commencing with the threat of judgment (ch. 1), proceeding to an exhortation to repentance (ch. 2-3:8), and concluding with a promise of the salvation which would flourish for the remnant of Israel after the termination of the judgment (Zep 3:9-20). This is arranged in three sections. The first section consists of the first chapter; the second reaches from Zep 2:1 to Zep 3:8; and the third comprises Zep 3:9-20. This division is indicated by both the contents and the form of the announcement: by the contents, since the first two parts threaten the judgment and assign the reason, whilst the third follows with the promise; by the form, inasmuch as the thought in Zep 1:18, “All the earth shall be devoured by the fire of His jealousy,” is repeated as a refrain in Zep 3:8, and the hōi in Zep 2:5 answers to the hōi in Zep 3:1, the former announcing the judgment upon the nations, the latter the judgment upon Jerusalem, which assigns the motive for the summons to repentance in Zep 2:1-4. Zephaniah proclaims the judgment upon the whole earth, upon all the heathen nations, and upon Judah and Jerusalem, in the following order: In the first part of his prophecy he threatens the near approach of the judgment upon the whole earth (Zep 1:2-7) and upon Judah (Zep 1:8-13), and depicts its terrible character (Zep 1:14-18); and in the second part (ch. 2-3:8) he exhorts the people to repent, and the righteous to persevere (Zep 2:1-3), and assigns a reason for this exhortation, by announcing that the Lord will judge the heathen nations both near and at hand and far off for the reproach which they have cast upon His people, and by destroying their power lead them to reverence His name (Zep 2:4-15), and will also bring His righteousness to light in Jerusalem and Judah by the destruction of the ungodly (Zep 3:1-8). Then (the announcement of salvation commences thus in Zep 3:9-10) will the nations serve Jehovah with one accord, and lead His scattered people to Him. The remnant of Israel will be made into a humble nation of God by the destruction of the wicked one out of the midst of it; and being sheltered by its God, it will rejoice in undisturbed happiness, and be exalted to “a name and praise” among all the nations of the earth (Zep 3:11-20).

Zephaniah’s prophecy has a more general character, embracing both judgment and salvation in their totality, so as to form one complete picture. It not only commences with the announcement of a universal judgment upon the whole world, out of which the judgment rises that will fall upon Judah on account of its sins, and upon the world of nations on account of its hostility to the people of Jehovah; but it treats throughout of the great and terrible day of Jehovah, on which the fire of the wrath of God consumes the whole earth (Zep 1:14-18; Zep 2:2; Zep 3:8). But the judgment, as a revelation of the wrath of God on account of the general corruption of the world, does not form the centre of gravity or the sole object of the whole of the predictions of our prophet. The end and goal at which they aim are rather the establishment of divine righteousness in the earth, and the judgment is simply the means and the way by which this the aim of all the development of the world’s history is to be realized. This comes clearly out in the second and third sections. Jehovah will manifest Himself terribly to the nations, to destroy all the gods of the earth, that all the islands of the nations may worship Him (Zep 2:11). By pouring out His wrath upon nations and kingdoms, He will turn to the peoples a pure lip, so that they will call upon His name and serve Him with one shoulder (Zep 3:8-9). The idolaters, the wicked, and the despisers of God will be destroyed out of Judah and Jerusalem, that the righteousness of Jehovah may come to the day (Zep 3:1-7). The humble, who do God’s righteousness, are to seek Jehovah, to strive after righteousness and humility, and to wait for the Lord, for the day when He will arise, to procure for Himself worshippers of His name among the nations through the medium of the judgment, and to gather together His dispersed people, and make the remnant of Israel into a sanctified and blessed people of God (Zep 3:11-20).

It is in this comprehensive character of his prophecy that we find the reason why Zephaniah neither names, nor minutely describes, the executors of the judgment upon Judah, and even in the description of the judgment to be inflicted upon the heathen nations (Zep 2:4-15) simply individualizes the idea of “all the nations of the earth,” by naming the nearer and more remote nations to the west and east, the south and north of Judah. He does not predict either this or that particular judgment, but extends and completes in comprehensive generality the judgment, by which God maintains His kingdom on the earth. This peculiarity in Zephaniah’s prophecy has been correctly pointed out by Bucer (in his commentary, 1528), when he says of the book before us: “If any one wishes all the secret oracles of the prophets to be given in a brief compendium, let him read through this brief Zephaniah.” There are many respects in which Zephaniah links his prophecy to those of the earlier prophets, both in subject-matter and expression; not, however, by resuming those prophecies of theirs which had not been fulfilled, or were not exhausted, during the period of the Assyrian judgment upon the nations, and announcing a fresh and more perfect fulfilment of them by the Chaldaeans, but by reproducing in a compendious form the fundamental thoughts of judgment and salvation which are common to all the prophets, that his contemporaries may lay them to heart; in doing which he frequently appropriates striking words and pregnant expression taken from his predecessors, and applies them to his own purpose. Thus, for example, the expression in Zep 1:7 is compiled from earlier prophetic words: “Be silent before the Lord Jehovah (from Hab 2:20), for the day of Jehovah is at hand (Joe 1:15 and others); for Jehovah has prepared a sacrificial slaughter (Isa 34:6), has consecrated His invited ones (Isa 13:3).” (For further remarks on this point, see my Lehrbuch der Einleitung, p. 307). In this respect Zephaniah opens the series of the less original prophets of the Chaldaean age of judgment, who rest more upon the earlier types; whilst in more material respects his predecessor Habakkuk acted as pioneer to the prophets of this period.

Ewald’s view bears evidence of a strong misapprehension of the nature of the prophecy generally, and of the special peculiarities of the prophecy before us. “The book of Zephaniah,” he says, “must have originated in a great commotion among the nations, which threw all the kingdoms round about Judah far and wide into a state of alarm, and also threatened to be very dangerous to Jerusalem,” - namely, on account of the invasion of Upper and Hither Asia by the Scythians, which is mentioned by Herodotus in i. 15, 103-6, iv. 10ff. For there is not a trace discoverable in the whole book of any great commotion among the nations. The few allusions to the fact that a hostile army will execute the judgment upon Jerusalem and Judah (in Zep 1:12-13, Zep 1:16, and Zep 3:15) do not presuppose anything of the kind; and in the threatening of the judgment upon Philistia, Moab and Ammon, Cush, and Asshur with Nineveh, Jehovah only is named as executing it (Zep 2:4-15). Moreover, neither Herodotus nor the historical books of the Old Testament mention any conquest of Jerusalem by the Scythians; whilst, even according to the account given by Herodotus, the Scythian hordes neither destroyed Nineveh nor made war upon the Cushites (Aethiopians), as would be predicted by Zephaniah (Zep 2:12-15), if he had the Scythians in his eye; and lastly, Jeremiah, upon whose prophecies Ewald, Hitzig, and Bertheau have principally based their Scythian hypothesis, knows nothing of the Scythians, but simply expects and announces that the judgment upon Judah and Jerusalem will come from the Chaldaeans. Zephaniah found the historical occasion for his prophecy in the moral depravity of Judah and Jerusalem, in the depth to which his people had fallen in idolatry, and in their obstinate resistance to all the efforts made by the prophets and the pious king Josiah to stem the corruption, and thus avert from Judah the judgment threatened even by Moses and the earlier prophets, of the dispersion of the whole nation among the heathen. On the ground of the condition of his people, and the prophetic testimonies of his predecessors, Zephaniah, under the impulse of the Spirit of God, predicted the near approach of the great and terrible day of Jehovah, which came upon Judah and the heathen nations far and wide through the instrumentality of the Chaldaeans. For Nebuchadnezzar laid the foundation of the empire which devastated Judah, destroyed Jerusalem with its temple, and led the degenerate covenant nation into exile. This empire was perpetuated in the empires of the Persians, the Macedonians, and the Romans, which arose after it and took its place, and in whose power Judah continued, even after the return of one portion of the exiles to the land of their fathers, and after the restoration of the temple and the city of Jerusalem during the Persian rule; so that the city of God was trodden down by the heathen even to the time of the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, whereby the desolation of the holy land, which continues to the present day, was produced, and the dispersion of the Jews to all quarters of the globe accomplished, and both land and people were laid under the ban, from which Israel can only be liberated by its conversion to Jesus Christ, the Saviour of all nations, and from which it will assuredly be redeemed by virtue of the promise of the faithful covenant God. For the exegetical literature, see my Lehrbuch der Einleitung, pp. 305-6.

Judgment upon All the World, and upon Judah in Particular - Zephaniah 1

The judgment will come upon all the world (Zep 1:2, Zep 1:3), and will destroy all the idolaters and despisers of God in Judah and Jerusalem (Zep 1:4-7), and fall heavily upon sinners of every rank (Zep 1:8-13). The terrible day of the Lord will burst irresistibly upon all the inhabitants of the earth (Zep 1:14-18).

Zep 1:1-3

Zep 1:1 contains the heading, which has been explained in the introduction. Zep 1:2 and Zep 1:3 form the preface. - Zep 1:2. “I will sweep, sweep away everything from the face of the earth, is the saying of Jehovah. Zep 1:3. I will sweep away man and cattle, sweep away the fowls of heaven, and the fishes of the sea, and the offences with the sinners, and I cut off men from the face of the earth, is the saying of Jehovah.” The announcement of the judgment upon the whole earth not only serves to sharpen the following threat of judgment upon Judah and Jerusalem in this sense, “Because Jehovah judges the whole world, He will punish the apostasy of Judah all the more;” but the judgment upon the whole world forms an integral part of his prophecy, which treats more fully of the execution of the judgment in and upon Judah, simply because Judah forms the kingdom of God, which is to be purified from its dross by judgment, and led on towards the end of its divine calling. As Zephaniah here opens the judgment awaiting Judah with an announcement of a judgment upon the whole world, so does he assign the reason for his exhortation to repentance in Zep 2:1-15, by showing that all nations will succumb to the judgment; and then announces in Zep 3:9., as the fruit of the judgment, the conversion of the nations to Jehovah, and the glorification of the kingdom of God. The way to salvation leads through judgment, not only for the world with its enmity against God, but for the degenerate theocracy also. It is only through judgment that the sinful world can be renewed and glorified. The verb אסף, the hiphil of sūph, is strengthened by the inf. abs. אסף, which is formed from the verb אסף, a verb of kindred meaning. Sūph and 'âsaph signify to take away, to sweep away, hiph. to put an end, to destroy. Kōl, everything, is specified in Zep 1:3 : men and cattle, the birds of heaven, and the fishes of the sea; the verb 'âsēph being repeated before the two principal members. This specification stands in unmistakeable relation to the threatening of God: to destroy all creatures for the wickedness of men, from man to cattle, and to creeping things, and even to the fowls of the heaven (Gen 6:7). By playing upon this threat, Zephaniah intimates that the approaching judgment will be as general over the earth, and as terrible, as the judgment of the flood. Through this judgment God will remove or destroy the offences (stumbling-blocks) together with the sinners. את before הרשׁעים cannot be the sign of the accusative, but can only be a preposition, with, together with, since the objects to אסף are all introduced without the sign of the accusative; and, moreover, if את־הרשׁ were intended for an accusative, the copula Vâv would not be omitted. Hammakhshēlôth does not mean houses about to fall (Hitzig), which neither suits the context nor can be grammatically sustained, since even in Isa 3:6 hammakhshēlâh is not the fallen house, but the state brought to ruin by the sin of the people; and makhshēlâh is that against which or through which a person meets with a fall. Makhshēlōth are all the objects of coarser and more refined idolatry, not merely the idolatrous images, but all the works of wickedness, like τὰ σκάνδαλα in Mat 13:41. The judgment, however, applies chiefly to men, i.e., to sinners, and hence in the last clause the destruction of men from off the earth is especially mentioned. The irrational creation is only subject to φθορά, on account of and through the sin of men (Rom 8:20.).

Zep 1:4-6

The judgment coming upon the whole earth with all its inhabitants will fall especially upon Judah and Jerusalem. Zep 1:4. “And I stretch my hand over Judah, and over all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and cut off from this place the remnant of Baal, the name of the consecrated servants, together with the priests. Zep 1:5. And those who worship the army of heaven upon the roofs, and the worshippers who swear to Jehovah, and who swear by their king. Zep 1:6. And those who draw back from Jehovah, and who did not seek Jehovah, and did not inquire for Him.” God stretches out His hand (יד) or His arm (זרוע) to smite the ungodly with judgments (compare Zephaniah 6:6, Deu 4:34; Deu 5:15, with Isa 5:25; Isa 9:11, Isa 9:16, Isa 9:20; Isa 10:4; Isa 14:26.). Through the judgment upon Judah and Jerusalem He will cut off שׁאר הבּעל, the remnant of Baal, i.e., all that remains of Baal and of idolatry; for Baal or the Baal-worship stands per synecdochen for idolatry of every kind (see at Hos 2:10). The emphasis lies upon “the remnant,” all that still exists of the Baal-worship or idolatry, even to the very last remnant; so that the emphasis presupposes that the extermination has already begun, that the worship of Baal no longer exists in undiminished force and extent. It must not be limited, however, to the complete abolition of the outward or grosser idolatry, but includes the utter extermination of the grosser as well as the more refined Baal-worship. That the words should be so understood is required by the parallel clause: the name of the consecrated servants together with the priests. Kemârı̄m are not prophets of Baal, but, as in 2Ki 23:5 and Hos 10:5, the priests appointed by the kings of Judah for the worship of the high places and the idolatrous worship of Jehovah (for the etymology of the word, see at 2Ki 23:5). The kōhănı̄m, as distinguished from these, are idolatrous priests in the stricter sense of the word (i.e., those who conducted the literal idolatry). The names of both the idolatrous priests of Jehovah and the literal priests of the idols are to be cut off, so that not only the persons referred to will disappear, but even their names will be heard no more. Along with the idols and their priests, the worshippers of idols are also to be destroyed. Just as in Zep 1:4 two classes of priests are distinguished, so in Zep 1:5 are two classes of worshippers, viz., (1) the star-worshippers, and (2) those who tried to combine the worship of Jehovah and the worship of idols; and to these a third class is added in Zep 1:6. The worship of the stars was partly Baal-worship, the sun, moon, and stars being worshipped as the bearers of the powers of nature worshipped in Baal and Asherah (see at 2Ki 23:5); and partly Sabaeism or pure star-worship, the stars being worshipped as the originators of all growth and decay in nature, and the leaders and regulators of all sublunary things (see at 2Ki 21:3). The worship took place upon the roofs, i.e., on altars erected upon the flat roofs of the houses, chiefly by the burning of incense (Jer 19:13), but also by the offering of sacrifices (2Ki 23:12; see the comm. in loc.). “They offered the sacrifices upon the roofs, that they might be the better able to see the stars in the heavens” (Theodoret). Along with the star-worshippers as the representatives of literal idolatry, Zephaniah mentions as a second class the worshippers who swear partly to Jehovah, and partly by their king, i.e., who go limping on two sides (1Ki 18:21), or try to combine the worship of Jehovah with that of Baal. Malkâm, their king, is Baal, who is distinctly called king in the inscriptions (see Movers, Phönizier, i. pp. 171-2), and not the “earthly king of the nation,” as Hitzig has erroneously interpreted the Masoretic text, in consequence of which he proposes to read milkōm, i.e., Moloch. נשׁבּע with ל signifies to take an oath to Jehovah, i.e., to bind one’s self on oath to His service; whereas נשׁבּע with ב (to swear by a person) means to call upon Him as God when taking an oath. The difference between the two expressions answers exactly to the religious attitude of the men in question, who pretended to be worshippers of Jehovah, and yet with every asseveration took the name of Baal into their mouth. In Zep 1:6 we have not two further classes mentioned, viz., “the vicious and the irreligious,” as Hitzig supposes; but the persons here described form only one single class. Retiring behind Jehovah, drawing back from Him, turning the back upon God, is just the same as not seeking Jehovah, or not inquiring after Him. The persons referred to are the religiously indifferent, those who do not trouble themselves about God, the despisers of God.

Zep 1:7

This judgment will speedily come. Zep 1:7. “Be silent before the Lord Jehovah! For the day of Jehovah is near, for Jehovah has prepared a slaying of sacrifice, He has consecrated His called.” The command, “Be silent before the Lord,” which is formed after Hab 2:20, and with which the prophet summons to humble, silent submission to the judgment of God, serves to confirm the divine threat in Zep 1:2-6. The reason for the commanding Hush! (keep silence) is given in the statement that the day of Jehovah is close at hand (compare Joe 1:15), and that God has already appointed the executors of the judgment. The last two clauses of the verse are formed from reminiscences taken from Isaiah. The description of the judgment as zebhach, a sacrifice, is taken from Isa 34:6 (cf. Jer 46:10 and Eze 39:17). The sacrifice which God has prepared is the Jewish nation; those who are invited to this sacrificial meal (“called,” 1Sa 9:13) are not beasts and birds of prey, as in Eze 39:17, but the nations which He has consecrated to war that they may consume Jacob (Jer 10:25). The extraordinary use of the verb hiqdiish (consecrated) in this connection may be explained from Isa 13:3, where the nations appointed to make war against Babel are called mequddâshı̄m, the sanctified of Jehovah (cf. Jer 22:7).

Zep 1:8-9

The judgment will fall with equal severity upon the idolatrous and sinners of every rank (Zep 1:8-11), and no one in Jerusalem will be able to save himself from it (Zep 1:12, Zep 1:13). In three double verses Zephaniah brings out three classes of men who differ in their civil position, and also in their attitude towards God, as those who will be smitten by the judgment: viz., (1) the princes, i.e., the royal family and superior servants of the king, who imitate the customs of foreigners, and oppress the people (Zep 1:8, Zep 1:9); (2) the merchants, who have grown rich through trade and usury (Zep 1:10, Zep 1:11); (3) the irreligious debauchees (Zep 1:12, Zep 1:13). The first of these he threatens with visitation. Zep 1:8. “And it will come to pass in the day of Jehovah’s sacrifice, that I visit the princes and the king’s sons, and all who clothe themselves in foreign dress. Zep 1:9. And I visit every one who leaps over the threshold on that day, those who fill the Lord’s house with violence and deceit.” The enumeration of those who are exposed to the judgment commences with the princes, i.e., the heads of the tribes and families, who naturally filled the higher offices of state; and the king’s sons, not only the sons of Josiah, who were still very young (see the Introduction), but also the sons of the deceased kings, the royal princes generally. The king himself is not named, because Josiah walked in the ways of the Lord, and on account of his piety and fear of God was not to lie to see the outburst of the judgment (2Ki 22:19-20; 2Ch 34:27-28). The princes and king’s sons are threatened with punishment, not on account of the high position which they occupied in the state, but on account of the ungodly disposition which they manifested. For since the clauses which follow not only mention different classes of men, but also point out the sins of the different classes, we must also expect this in the case of the princes and the king’s sons, and consequently must refer the dressing in foreign clothes, which is condemned in the second half of the verse, to the princes and king’s sons also, and understand the word “all” as relating to those who imitated their manners without being actually princes or king’s sons. Malbūsh nokhrı̄ (foreign dress) does not refer to the clothes worn by the idolaters in their idolatrous worship (Chald., Rashi, Jer.), nor to the dress prohibited in the law, viz., “women dressing in men’s clothes, or men dressing in women’s clothes” (Deu 22:5, Deu 22:11), as Grotius maintains, nor to clothes stolen from the poor, or taken from them as pledges; but, as nokhrı̄ signifies a foreigner, to foreign dress. Drusius has already pointed this out, and explains the passage as follows: “I think that the reference is to all those who betrayed the levity of their minds by wearing foreign dress. For I have no doubt that in that age some copied the Egyptians in their style of dress, and others the Babylonians, according as they favoured the one nation or the other. The prophet therefore says, that even those who adopted foreign habits, and conformed themselves to the customs of the victorious nation, would not be exempt.” The last allusion is certainly untenable, and it would be more correct to say with Strauss: “The prophets did not care for externals of this kind, but it was evident to them that 'as the dress, so the heart;' that is to say, the clothes were witnesses in their esteem of the foreign inclinations of the heart.” In Zep 1:9 many commentators find a condemnation of an idolatrous use of foreign customs; regarding the leaping over the threshold as an imitation of the priests of Dagon, who adopted the custom, according to 1Sa 5:5, of leaping over the threshold when they entered the temple of that idol. But an imitation of that custom could only take place in temples of Dagon, and it appears perfectly inconceivable that it should have been transferred to the threshold of the king’s palace, unless the king was regarded as an incarnation of Dagon, - a thought which could never enter the minds of Israelitish idolaters, since even the Philistian kings did not hold themselves to be incarnations of their idols. If we turn to the second hemistich, the thing condemned is the filling of their masters’ houses with violence; and this certainly does not stand in any conceivable relation to that custom of the priests of Dagon; and yet the words “who fill,” etc., are proved to be explanatory of the first half of the verse, by the fact that the second clause is appended without the copula Vav, and without the repetition of the preposition על. Now, if a fresh sin were referred to there, the copula Vav, at all events, could not have been omitted. We must therefore understand by the leaping over the threshold a violent and sudden rushing into houses to steal the property of strangers (Calvin, Ros., Ewald, Strauss, and others), so that the allusion is to “dishonourable servants of the king, who thought that they could best serve their master by extorting treasures from their dependants by violence and fraud” (Ewald). אדניהם, of their lord, i.e., of the king, not “of their lords:” the plural is in the pluralis majestatis, as in 1Sa 26:16; 2Sa 2:5, etc.

Zep 1:10-11

Even the usurers will not escape the judgment. Zep 1:10. “And it will come to pass in that day, is the saying of Jehovah, voice of the cry from the fish-gate, and howling from the lower city, and great destruction from the hills. Zep 1:11. Howl, inhabitants of the mortar, for all the people of Canaan are destroyed; cut off are all that are laden with silver.” In order to express the thought that the judgment will not spare any one class of the population, Zephaniah depicts the lamentation which will arise from all parts of the city. קול צעקה, voice of the cry, i.e., a loud cry of anguish will arise or resound. The fish-gate (according to Neh 3:3; Neh 12:39; cf. 2Ch 33:14) was in the eastern portion of the wall which bounded the lower city on the north side (for further details on this point, see at Neh 3:3). המּשׁנה (= העיר משׁנה, Neh 11:9), the second part or district of the city, is the lower city upon the hill Acra (see at 2Ki 22:14). Shebher, fragor, does not mean a cry of murder, but the breaking to pieces of what now exists, not merely the crashing fall of the buildings, like za‛ăqath shebher in Isa 15:5, the cry uttered at the threatening danger of utter destruction. In order to heighten the terrors of the judgment, there is added to the crying and howling of the men the tumult caused by the conquest of the city. “From the hills,” i.e., “not from Zion and Moriah,” but from the ills surrounding the lower city, viz., Bezetha, Gareb (Jer 31:39), and others. For Zion, the citadel of Jerusalem, is evidently thought of as the place where the howling of the men and the noise of the devastation, caused by the enemy pressing in from the north and north-west, are heard. Hammakhtēsh, the mortar (Pro 27:22), which is the name given in Jdg 15:19 to a hollow place in a rock, is used here to denote a locality in Jerusalem, most probably the depression which ran down between Acra on the west and Bezetha and Moriah on the east, as far as the fountain of Siloah, and is called by Josephus “the cheese-maker’s valley,” and by the present inhabitants el-Wâd, i.e., the valley, and also the mill-valley. The name “mortar” was probably coined by Zephaniah, to point to the fate of the merchants and men of money who lived there. They who dwell there shall howl, because “all the people of Canaan” are destroyed. These are not Canaanitish or Phoenician merchants, but Judaean merchants, who resembled the Canaanites or Phoenicians in their general business (see at Hos 12:8), and had grown rich through trade and usury. Netı̄l keseph, laden with silver.

Zep 1:12-13

The debauchees and rioters generally will also not remain free from punishment. Zep 1:12. “And at that time it will come to pass, that I will search Jerusalem with candles, and visit the men who lie upon their lees, who say in their heart, Jehovah does no good, and no evil. Zep 1:13. Their goods will become plunder, and their houses desolation: they will build houses, and not dwell (therein), and plant vineyards, and not drink their wine.” God will search Jerusalem with candles, to bring out the irreligious debauchees out of their hiding-places in their houses, and punish them. The visitation is effected by the enemies who conquer Jerusalem. Jerome observes on this passage: “Nothing will be allowed to escape unpunished. If we read the history of Josephus, we shall find it written there, that princes and priests, and mighty men, were dragged even out of the sewers, and caves, and pits, and tombs, in which they had hidden themselves from fear of death.” Now, although what is stated here refers to the conquest of Jerusalem by Titus, there can be no doubt that similar things occurred at the Chaldaean conquest. The expression to search with candles (cf. Luk 15:8) is a figure denoting the most minute search of the dwellings and hiding-places of the despisers of God. These are described as men who sit drawn together upon their lees (קפא, lit., to draw one’s self together, to coagulate). The figure is borrowed from old wine, which has been left upon its lees and not drawn off, and which, when poured into other vessels, retains its flavour, and does not alter its odour (Jer 48:11), and denotes perseverance or confirmation in moral and religious indifference, “both external quiet, and carelessness, idleness, and spiritual insensibility in the enjoyment not only of the power and possessions bestowed upon them, but also of the pleasures of sin and the worst kinds of lust” (Marck). Good wine, when it remains for a long time upon its lees, becomes stronger; but bad wine becomes harsher and thicker. Shemârı̄m, lees, do not denote “sins in which the ungodly are almost stupefied” (Jerome), or “splendour which so deprives a man of his senses that there is nothing left either pure or sincere” (Calvin), but “the impurity of sins, which were associated in the case of these men with external good” (Marck). In the carnal repose of their earthly prosperity, they said in their heart, i.e., they thought within themselves, there is no God who rules and judges the world; everything takes place by chance, or according to dead natural laws. They did not deny the existence of God, but in their character and conduct they denied the working of the living God in the world, placing Jehovah on the level of the dead idols, who did neither good nor harm (Isa 41:23; Jer 10:5), whereby they really denied the being of God.“For neither the majesty of God, nor His government or glory, consists in any imaginary splendour, but in those attributes which so meet together in Him that they cannot be severed from His essense. It is the property of God to govern the world, to take care of the human race, to distinguish between good and evil, to relieve the wretched, to punish all crimes, to restrain unjust violence. And if any one would deprive God of these, he would leave nothing but an idol.” - Calvin.

To these God will show Himself as the ruler and judge of the world, by giving up their goods (chēlâm, opes eorum) to plunder, so that they will experience the truth of the punishments denounced in His word against the despisers of His name (compare Lev 26:32-33; Deu 28:30, Deu 28:39, and the similar threats in Amo 5:11; Mic 6:15).

Zep 1:14-16

This judgment will not be delayed. To terrify the self-secure sinners out of their careless rest, Zephaniah now carries out still further the thought only hinted at in Zep 1:7 of the near approach and terrible character of the judgment. Zep 1:14. “The great day of Jehovah is near, near and hasting greatly. Hark! the day of Jehovah, bitterly crieth the hero there. Zep 1:15. A day of fury is this day, a day of anguish and pressure, a day of devastation and desert, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of cloud and cloudy night. Zep 1:16. A day of the trumpet and battering, over the fortified cities and high battlements.” The day of Jehovah is called “the great day” with reference to its effects, as in Joe 2:11. The emphasis lies primarily, however, upon the qârōbh (is near), which is therefore repeated and strengthened by מהר מאד. מהר is not a piel participle with the Mem dropped, but an adjective form, which has sprung out of the adverbial use of the inf. abs. (cf. Ewald, §240, e). In the second hemistich the terrible character of this day is described. קול before yōm Yehōvâh (the day of Jehovah), at the head of an interjectional clause, has almost grown into an interjection (see at Isa 13:4). The hero cries bitterly, because he cannot save himself, and must succumb to the power of the foe. Shâm, adv. loci, has not a temporal signification even here, but may be explained from the fact that in connection with the day the prophet is thinking of the field of battle, on which the hero perishes while fighting. In order to depict more fully the terrible character of this day, Zephaniah crowds together in Zep 1:15 and Zep 1:16 all the words supplied by the language to describe the terrors of the judgment. He first of all designates it as yōm ‛ebhrâh, the day of the overflowing wrath of God (cf. Zep 1:18); then, according to the effect which the pouring out of the wrath of God produces upon men, as a day of distress and pressure (cf. Job 15:24), of devastation (שׁאה and משׁואה combined, as in Job 38:27; Job 30:3), and of the darkest cloudy night, after Joe 2:2; and lastly, in Zep 1:16, indicating still more closely the nature of the judgment, as a day of the trumpet and the trumpet-blast, i.e., on which the clangour of the war-trumpets will be heard over all the fortifications and castles, and the enemy will attack, take, and destroy the fortified places amidst the blast of trumpets (cf. Amo 2:2). Pinnōth are the corners and battlements of the walls of the fortifications (2Ch 26:15).

Zep 1:17-18

In the midst of this tribulation the sinners will perish without counsel or help. Zep 1:17. “And I make it strait for men, and they will walk like blind men, because they have sinned against Jehovah; and their blood will be poured out like dust, and their flesh like dung. Zep 1:18. Even their silver, even their gold, will not be able to save them on the day of Jehovah’s fury, and in the fire of His wrath will the whole earth be devoured; for He will make an end, yea a sudden one, to all the inhabitants of the earth.” והצרתי reminds of the threat of Moses in Deu 28:52, to which Zephaniah alluded in Zep 1:16. And in הלכוּ כּעורים the allusion to Deu 28:29 is also unmistakeable. To walk like the blind, i.e., to seek a way out of the trouble without finding one. This distress God sends, because they have sinned against Him, by falling away from Him through idolatry and the transgression of His commandments, as already shown in Zep 1:4-12. But the punishment will be terrible. Their blood will be poured out like dust. The point of comparison is not the quantity, as in Gen 13:16 and others, but the worthlessness of dust, as in 2Ki 13:7 and Isa 49:23. The blood is thought as little of as the dust which is trodden under foot. Lechūm, which occurs again in Job 20:23, means flesh (as in the Arabic), not food. The verb shâphakh, to pour out, is also to be taken per zeugma in connection with this clause, though without there being any necessity to associate it with 2Sa 20:10, and regard lechūm as referring to the bowels. For the fact itself, compare 1Ki 14:10 and Jer 9:21. In order to cut off all hope on deliverance from the rich and distinguished sinners, the prophet adds in Zep 1:18 : Even with silver and gold will they not be able to save their lives. The enemy will give no heed to this (cf. Isa 13:17; Jer 4:30; Eze 7:19) in the day that the Lord will pour out His fury upon the ungodly, to destroy the whole earth with the fire of His wrathful jealousy (cf. Deu 4:24). By kol-hâ'ârets we might understand the whole of the land of Judah, if we looked at what immediately precedes it. But if we bear in mind that the threat commenced with judgment upon the whole earth (Zep 1:2, Zep 1:3), and that it here returns to its starting-point, to round off the picture, there can be no doubt that the whole earth is intended. The reason assigned for this threat in Zep 1:18 is formed after Isa 10:23; but the expression is strengthened by the use of אך־נבהלה instead of ונחרצה, the word round in Isaiah. Kâlâh: the finishing stroke, as in Isaiah l.c. (see at Nah 1:8). אך, only, equivalent to “not otherwise than,” i.e., assuredly. נבהלה is used as a substantive, and is synonymous with behâlâh, sudden destruction, in Isa 65:23. The construction with 'ēth accus. as in Nah 1:8. 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.

Zephaniah

This prophet is placed last, as he was last in time, of all the minor prophets before the captivity, and not long before Jeremiah, who lived at the time of the captivity. He foretels the general destruction of Judah and Jerusalem by the Chaldeans, and sets their sins in order before them, which had provoked God to bring their ruin upon them, calls them to repentance, threatens the neighbouring nations with the like destructions, and gives encouraging promises of their joyful return out of captivity in due time, which have a reference to the grace of the gospel. We have, in the first verse, an account of the prophet and the date of his prophecy, which supersedes our enquiry concerning them here.

After the title of the book (ver. 1) here is, I. A threatening of the destruction of Judah and Jerusalem, an utter destruction, by the Chaldeans, ver. 2-4. II. A charge against them for their gross sin, which provoked God to bring that destruction upon them (ver. 5, 6); and so he goes on in the rest of the chapter, setting both the judgments before them, that they might prevent them or prepare for them, and the sins that destroy them, that they might judge themselves, and justify God in what was brought upon them. 1. They must hold their peace because they had greatly sinned, ver. 7-9. But, 2, They shall howl because the trouble will be great. The day of the Lord is near, and it will be a terrible day, ver. 10-18. Such fair and timely warning as this did God give to the Jews of the approaching captivity; but they hardened their neck, which made their destruction remediless.

Judgment Predicted. (b. c. 612.)

1 The word of the Lord which came unto Zephaniah the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hizkiah, in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah. 2 I will utterly consume all things from off the land, saith the Lord . 3 I will consume man and beast; I will consume the fowls of the heaven, and the fishes of the sea, and the stumbling-blocks with the wicked; and I will cut off man from off the land, saith the Lord . 4 I will also stretch out mine hand upon Judah, and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and I will cut off the remnant of Baal from this place, and the name of the Chemarims with the priests; 5 And them that worship the host of heaven upon the housetops; and them that worship and that swear by the Lord , and that swear by Malcham; 6 And them that are turned back from the Lord ; and those that have not sought the Lord , nor enquired for him.

Here is, I. The title-page of this book (v. 1), in which we observe, 1. What authority it has, and who gave it that authority; it is from heaven, and not of men: It is the word of the Lord. 2. Who was the instrument of conveying it to the church. His name was Zephaniah, which signifies the servant of the Lord, for God revealed his secrets to his servants the prophets. The pedigree of other prophets, whose extraction we have an account of, goes no further back than their father, except Zecharias, whose grandfather also is named. But this of Zephaniah goes back four generations, and the highest mentioned is Hizkiah; it is the very same name in the original with that of Hezekiah king of Judah (2 Kings xviii. 1), and refers probably to him; if so, our prophet, being lineally descended from that pious prince, and being of the royal family, could with the better grace reprove the folly of the king's children as he does, v. 8. 3. When this prophet prophesied—in the days of Josiah king of Judah, who reigned well, and in the twelfth year of his reign began vigorously, and carried on a work of reformation, in which he destroyed idols and idolatry. Now it does not appear whether Zephaniah prophesied in the beginning of his reign; if so, we may suppose his prophesying had a great and good influence on that reformation. When he, as God's messenger, reproved the idolatries of Jerusalem, Josiah, as God's vice-gerent, removed them; and reformation is likely to go on and prosper when both magistrates and ministers do their part towards it. If it were towards the latter end of his reign that he prophesied, we sadly see how a corrupt people relapse into their former distempers. The idolatries Josiah had abolished, it should seem, returned in his own time, when the heat of the reformation began a little to abate and wear off. What good can the best reformers do with a people that hate to be reformed, as if they longed to be ruined?

II. The summary, or contents, of this book. The general proposition contained in it is, That utter destruction is coming apace upon Judah and Jerusalem for sin. Without preamble, or apology, he begins abruptly (v. 2): By taking away I will make an end of all things from off the face of the land, Saith the Lord. Ruin is coming, utter ruin, destruction from the Almighty. He has said it who can, and will, make good what he has said: "I will utterly consume all things. I will gather all things" (so some); "I will recall all the blessings I have bestowed, because they have abused them and so forfeited them." The consumption determined shall take away, 1. The inferior creatures: I will consume the beasts, the fowls of the heaven, and the fishes of the sea (v. 3), as, in the deluge, every living substance was destroyed that was upon the face of the ground, Gen. vii. 23. The creatures were made for man's use, and therefore when he has perverted the use of them, and made them subject to vanity, God, to show the greatness of his displeasure against the sin of man, involves them in his punishment. The expressions are figurative, denoting universal desolation. Those that fly ever so high, as the fowls of heaven, and think themselves out of the reach of the enemies' hand—those that hide ever so close, as the fishes of the sea, and think themselves out of the reach of the enemies' eye—shall yet become a prey to them, and be utterly consumed. 2. The children of men: "I will consume man; I will cut off man from the land. The land shall be dispeopled and left uninhabited; I will destroy, not only Israel, but man. The land shall enjoy her sabbaths. I will cut off, not only the wicked men, but all men; even the few among them that are good shall be involved in this common calamity. Though they shall not be cut off from the Lord, yet they shall be cut off from the land." It is with Judah and Jerusalem that God has this quarrel, both city and country, and upon them he will stretch out his hand, the hand of his power, the hand of his wrath; and who knows the power of his anger? v. 4. Those that will not humble themselves under God's mighty hand shall be humbled and brought down by it. Note, Even Judah, where God is known, and Jerusalem, where his dwelling-place is, if they revolt from him and rebel against him, shall have his hand stretched out against them. 3. All wicked people, and all those things that are the matter of their wickedness (v. 3): "I will consume the stumbling-blocks with the wicked, the idols with the idolaters, the offences with the offenders." Josiah had taken away the stumbling-blocks, and, as far as he could, had purged the land of the monuments of idolatry, hoping that there would be no more idolatry; but the wicked will do wickedly, the dog will return to his vomit, and therefore, since the sin will not otherwise be cured, the sinners must themselves be consumed, even the wicked with the stumbling-blocks of their iniquity, Ezek. xiv. 3. Since it was not done by the sword of justice, it shall be done by the sword of war. See who the sinners are that shall be consumed. (1.) The professed idolaters, who avowed idolatry, and were wedded to it. The remnant of Baal shall be cut off, the images of Baal, and the worshippers of those images. Josiah cut off a great deal of Baal; but that which was so close as to escape the eye, or so bold as to escape the hand, of his justice, God will cut off, even all the remains of it. The Chaldeans would spare none of the images of Baal, or the worshippers of those images. The Chemarim shall be cut off; we read of them in the history of Josiah's reformation. 2 Kings xxiii. 5, He put down the idolatrous priests: the word is the Chemarim. The word signifies black men, some think because they wore black clothes, affecting to appear grave, others because their faces were black with attending the altars, or the fires in which they burnt their children to Moloch. They seem to have been immediate attendants upon the service of Baal. They shall be cut off with the priests, the regulars with the seculars. The very name of them shall be cut off; the order shall be quite abolished, so as to be forgotten, or remembered with detestation. And, among other idolaters, the worshippers of the host of heaven upon the house-tops shall be cut off (v. 5), who justified themselves in their idolatry with those that did not worship images, the work of their own hands, but offered their sacrifices and burnt their incense to the sun, moon, and stars, immediately upon the tops of their houses. But God will let them know that he is a jealous God, and will not endure any rival; and, though some have thought that the most specious and plausible idolatry, yet it will appear as great an offence to God to give divine honours to a star as to give them to a stone or a stock. Even the worshippers of the host of heaven shall be consumed as well as the worshippers of the beasts of the earth or the fiends of hell. The sin of the adulteress is not the less sinful for the gaiety of the adulterer. (2.) Those also shall be consumed that think to compound the matter between God and idols, and keep an even hand between them, that halt between God and Baal, and worship between Jehovah and Moloch, and swear by both; or, as it might better be read, swear to the Lord and to Malcham. They bind themselves by oath and covenant to the service both of God and idols. They have a good opinion of the worship of the God of Israel; it is the religion of their country, and has been long so, and therefore they will by no means quit it; but they think it will be very much improved and beautified if they join with it the worship of Moloch, for that also is much used in other countries, and travellers admire it; there is a great deal of good fancy and strong flame in it. They cannot keep always to the worship of a God whom they have no visible representation of, and therefore they must have an image; and what better than the image of Moloch—a king? They think they shall effectually atone for their sin if they swear to Moloch, and, pursuant to that oath, burn their children in sacrifice to that idol; and yet, if they do amiss in that, they hope to atone for it in worshipping the God of Israel too. Note, Those that think to divide their affections and adorations between God and idols will not only come short of acceptance with God, but will have their doom with the worst of idolaters; for what communion can there be between light and darkness, Christ and Belial, God and mammon? She whose own the child is not pleads for the dividing of it, for, if Satan have half, he will have all; but the true mother says, Divide it not, for, if God have but half, he will have none. Such waters will not be long sweet, if they come from a fountain that sends forth bitter water too; what have those to do to swear by the Lord that swear by Malcham? (3.) Those also shall be consumed that have apostatized from God, together with those that never gave up their names to him, v. 6. I will cut off, [1.] Those that are turned back from the Lord, that were well taught, and began well, that had given up their names to him, and set out at first in the worship of him, but have flown off, and turned aside, and fallen in with idolaters, and deserted those good ways of God which they were brought up in, and despised them. Those God will be sure to reckon with who are renegadoes from his service, who began in the Spirit and ended in the flesh; they shall be treated as deserters, to whom no mercy is shown. [2.] Those that have not sought the Lord, nor ever enquired for him, never made any profession of religion, and think to excuse themselves with that, shall find that this will not excuse them; nay, this is the thing laid to their charge; they are atheistical careless people, that live without God in the world; and those that do so are certainly unworthy to live upon God in the world.

Judgment Predicted. (b. c. 612.)

7 Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord God : for the day of the Lord is at hand: for the Lord hath prepared a sacrifice, he hath bid his guests. 8 And it shall come to pass in the day of the Lord 's sacrifice, that I will punish the princes, and the king's children, and all such as are clothed with strange apparel. 9 In the same day also will I punish all those that leap on the threshold, which fill their masters' houses with violence and deceit. 10 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord , that there shall be the noise of a cry from the fish gate, and an howling from the second, and a great crashing from the hills. 11 Howl, ye inhabitants of Maktesh, for all the merchant people are cut down; all they that bear silver are cut off. 12 And it shall come to pass at that time, that I will search Jerusalem with candles, and punish the men that are settled on their lees: that say in their heart, The Lord will not do good, neither will he do evil. 13 Therefore their goods shall become a booty, and their houses a desolation: they shall also build houses, but not inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, but not drink the wine thereof.

Notice is here given to Judah and Jerusalem that God is coming forth against them, and will be with them shortly; his presence, as a just avenger, his day, the day of his judgment and his wrath, are not far off, v. 7. Those that improve not the presence of God with them as a Father, but sin away that presence, may expect his presence with them as a Judge, to call them to an account for the contempt put upon his grace. The day of the Lord will come. Men have their day now, when they take a liberty to do what they please; but God's day is at hand; it is here called his sacrifice, a sacrifice of his preparing, for the punishing of presumptuous sinners is a sacrifice to the justice of God, some reparation to his injured honour. Those that brought their offerings to other gods were themselves justly made victims to the true God. On a day of sacrifice great slaughter was made; so shall there be in Jerusalem; men shall be killed up as fast as lambs for the altar, with as little regret, with as much pleasure: The slain of the Lord shall be many. On a day of sacrifice great feasts were made upon the sacrifices; so the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem shall be feasted upon by their enemies the Chaldeans; these are the guests God has prepared and invited to come and glut themselves—their revenge with slaughter and their covetousness with plunder. Now observe,

I. Who those are that are marked to be sacrificed, that shall be visited and punished in this day of reckoning, and what it is they shall be called to an account for. 1. The royal family, because of the dignity of their place, shall be first reckoned with for their pride, and vanity, and affectation (v. 8): I will punish the princes, and the king's children, who think themselves accountable to God, and that, high as they are, he is above them. They shall be punished, and all such as, like them, are clothed with strange apparel, such as, in contempt of their own country (where, probably, it was the custom to go in a very plain dress, as became the seed of Jacob that plain man), affected to appear in the fashion of other nations and introduced their modes in apparel, studying to resemble those from whom God had appointed them, even in their clothes, industriously to distinguish themselves. The princes and the king's children scorned to wear any home-made stuffs, though God had provided them fine linen and silks (Ezek. xvi. 10), but they must send abroad to strange countries for their clothes, which would not please unless they were far-fetched and dear-bought; and even those of inferior rank affected to imitate the princes and the king's children. Pride in apparel is displeasing to God, and a symptom of the degeneracy of a people. 2. The noblemen, and their stewards and servants, come next to be reckoned with (v. 9): In the same day will I punish those that leap on the threshold, a phrase, no doubt, well understood then, and which probably signified the invading of their neighbour's rights. Entering their houses by force and violence, and seizing their possessions, they leap on the threshold, as much as to say that the house is their own and they will keep their hold of it; and, accordingly, they make all in it their own that they can lay their hands on, and so fill their masters' houses with goods gotten by violence and deceit and with all the guilt thereby contracted. Nor shall it suffice them to say that the ill-gotten gains were not for themselves but for their masters, and that what they did was by their order; for the obligations we lie under to keep God's commandments are prior and superior to the obligations we lie under to serve the interests of any master on earth. 3. The trading people, and the rich merchants, are next called to account. Iniquity is found in their end of the town, among the inhabitants of Maktesh, a low part of Jerusalem, deep like a mortar (for so the word signifies); the goldsmiths lived there (Neh. iii. 32) and the merchants; and they are now cut down (they are broken, and have shut up their shops, and become bankrupts); nay, All those that bear silver are cut off, in the first place, by the invaders, for the sake of the silver they carry, which is so far from being a protection to them that it will expose and betray them. The conquerors aimed at the wealthy men, and carried them off first, while the poor of the land escaped. Or it may be meant of a general decay of trade, which was a preface and introduction to the general destruction of the land. It is the token of a declining state when great dealers are cut down, and great bankers are cut off and become bankrupts, who cannot fall alone, but with themselves ruin many. 4. All the secure and careless people, the sons of pleasure, that live a loose idle life, are next reckoned with (v. 12); they come from all parts of the country, to take up their quarters in the head-quarters of the kingdom, where they take private lodgings, and indulge themselves in ease and luxury; but God will find them out, and punish them: At that time I will search Jerusalem with candles, to discover them, that they may be brought out to condign punishment. This intimates that they conceal themselves, as being either ashamed of the sin or afraid of the punishment of it; when the judgments of God are abroad they hope to escape by absconding and getting out of the way, but God will search Jerusalem, as search is made for a malefactor in disguise, that is harboured by his accomplices. God's hand will find out all his enemies, wherever they lie hid, and will punish not only the secret idolaters, but the secret epicures and profane; and those are the persons that are here described, and marks are given by which they will be discovered when strict search is made for them. (1.) Their dispositions are sensual: They are settled on their lees, intoxicated with their pleasures, strengthening themselves in their wealth and wickedness; they are secure and easy, and, because they have had no changes, they fear none, as Moab, Jer. xlviii. 11. They have not been emptied from vessel to vessel. They fill themselves with wine and strong drink, and banish all thought, saying, To-morrow shall be as this day, Isa. lvi. 12. Their being settled on their lees signifies the same with being enclosed in their own fat, Ps. xvii. 10. (2.) Their notions are atheistical. They could not live such loose lives but that they say in their heart, The Lord will not do good, neither will he do evil; that is, He will do nothing. They deny his providential government of the world: "What good and evil there is in the world comes by the wheel of fortune, and not by the disposal of a wise and supreme director." They deny his moral government, and his dispensing rewards and punishments: "The Lord will not do good to those that serve him, nor do evil to those that rebel against him; and therefore there is nothing got by religion, nor lost by sin." This was the effect of their sensuality; if they were not drowned in sense, they could not be thus senseless, nor could they be so stupid if they had not stupefied themselves with the love of pleasure. It was also the cause of their sensuality; men would not make a god of their belly if they had not at first become so vain, so vile, in their imaginations, as to think the God that made them altogether such a one as themselves. But God will punish them; their end is destruction, Phil. iii. 19.

II. What the destruction will be with which God will punish these sinners, and what course he will take with them. 1. He will silence them (v. 7): Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord. He will force them to hold their peace, will strike them dumb with horror and amazement. They shall be speechless. All the excuses of their sin, and exceptions against the sentence, will be overruled, and they shall not have a word to say for themselves. 2. He will sacrifice them, for it is the day of the Lord's sacrifice (v. 8); he will give them into the hands of their enemies, and glorify himself thereby. 3. He will fill both city and country with lamentation (v. 10): In that day there shall be a noise of a cry from the fish-gate, so called because near either to the fish-ponds or to the fish-market. It belonged to the city of David (2 Chron. xxxiii. 14; Neh. iii. 3); perhaps the same with that which is called the first gate (Zech. xiv. 10), and, if so, it will explain what follows here, And a howling from the second, that is, the second gate, which was next to that fish-gate. The alarm shall go round the walls of Jerusalem from gate to gate; and there shall be a great crashing from the hills, a mighty noise from the mountains round about Jerusalem, from the acclamations of the victorious invaders, or from the lamentations of the timorous invaded, or from both. The inhabitants of the city, even of the closest safest part of the city, shall howl (v. 11), so clamorous shall the grief be. 4. They shall be stripped of all they have; it shall be a prey to the enemy (v. 13): Their household goods, and shop-goods, shall become a booty, and a rich booty they shall be; their houses shall be levelled with the ground and be a desolation; those of them that have built new houses shall not inherit them, but the invaders shall get and keep possession of them. And the vineyards they have planted they shall not drink the wine of, but, instead of having it for the relief of their friends that faint among them, they shall part with it for the animating of their foes that fight against them, Deut. xxviii. 30.

Judgment Predicted. (b. c. 612.)

14 The great day of the Lord is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the Lord : the mighty man shall cry there bitterly. 15 That day is a 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, 16 A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers. 17 And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the Lord : and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung. 18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord 's wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.

Nothing could be expressed with more spirit and life, nor in words more proper to startle and awaken a secure and careless people, than the warning here given to Judah and Jerusalem of the approaching destruction by the Chaldeans. That is enough to make the sinners in Zion tremble—that it is the day of the Lord, the day in which he will manifest himself by taking vengeance on them. It is the great day of the Lord, a specimen of the day of judgment, a kind of doom's-day, as the last destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans is represented to be in our Saviour's prediction concerning it, Matt. xxiv. 27.

I. This day of the Lord is here spoken of as very near. The vision is not for a great while to come, as those imagine who put the evil day far from them. Those deceive themselves who look upon it as a thing at a distance, for it is near—it is near—it hastens greatly. The prophet gives the alarm like one that is in earnest, like one that awakens a family with the cry of Fire! fire! when it is at the next door that the danger is: "It is near! it is near! and therefore it is high time to bestir yourselves, and do what you can for your own safety before it be too late." It is madness for those to slumber whose damnation slumbers not, and to linger when it hastens.

II. It is spoken of as a very dreadful day. The very voice of this day of the Lord, the noise of it, when it is coming, shall be so terrible as to make the mighty men cry there bitterly, cry for fear as children do. It shall be a vexation to hear the report of it. In the last great day of the Lord the mighty men shall cry bitterly to rocks and mountains to shelter them; but in vain. Observe how emphatically the prophet speaks of this day approaching (v. 15): It is a day of wrath, God's wrath, wrath in perfection, wrath to the utmost. It will be a day of trouble and distress to the sinners; they shall be in pain, and shall see no ways of easing or helping themselves. The miseries of the damned are summed up (perhaps with reference to this) in the indignation and wrath of God, which are the cause, and the tribulation and anguish of the sinner's soul, which are the effect, Rom. ii. 8, 9. It will be a day of trouble and distress to the inhabitants, and a day of wasteness and desolation to the whole land; that fruitful land shall be turned into a wilderness. It shall be a day of darkness and gloominess; every thing shall look dismal, and there shall not be the least gleam of comfort, or glimpse of hope; look round, and it is all black. It is a day of clouds and thick darkness; there is not only nothing encouraging, but every thing threatening; the thick clouds are big with storms and tempests.

III. It is spoken of as a destroying day, v. 16, 17. It shall be destroying, 1. To places, even the strongest and best fortified: A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, to break into them, and against the high towers, to bring them down; for what forts, what fences, can hold out against the wrath of God? 2. To persons (v. 17): "I will bring distress upon men, the strongest and stoutest of men; their hearts and hands shall fail them; they shall walk like blind men, wandering endlessly, because they have sinned against the Lord." Note, Those that walk as bad men will justly be left to walk as blind men, always in the dark, in doubt and danger, without any guide or comfort, and falling at length into the ditch. Because they have sinned against the Lord he will deliver them into the hands of cruel enemies, that shall pour out their blood as dust, so profusely, and with as little regret, and their flesh shall be thrown as dung upon the dunghill.

IV. The destruction of that day will be unavoidable and universal, v. 18. 1. There shall be no escaping it by ransom: Neither their silver nor their gold, which they have hoarded up so covetously against the evil day, or which they have spent so prodigally to make friends for such a time, shall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord's wrath. Another prophet borrowed these words from this, with reference to the same event, Ezek. vii. 19. Note, Riches profit not in the day of wrath, Prov. xi. 4. Nay, riches expose to the wrath of men (Eccl. v. 13.), and riches abused to the wrath of God. 2. There shall be no escaping it by flight or concealment; for the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy, and where then can a hiding-place be found? See what the fire of God's jealousy is, and what the force of it; it will devour whole lands; how then can particular persons stand before it? He shall make riddance, a speedy riddance, of all those that dwell in the land, as the husbandman, when he rids his ground, cuts up all the briers and thorns for the fire. Note, Sometimes the judgments of God make riddance, even utter riddance, with sinful nations, a speedy riddance; their destruction is effected, is completed, in a little time. Let not sinners be laid asleep by the patience of God, for when the measure of their iniquity is full his justice will both overtake and overcome, will make quick work and thorough work.

CHAP. I.

Verſe 1. THE word of the Lord which came unto Zephaniah] which is (by interpretation) Gods Secretary, or Hidden-one, Pſal. 27.5. and 83.3. Or, as Hierome and ſome others will have it, Gods watchman Ezek. Hebraei Prophetarum patres, quot quot nominatim receſentur, ipſos quo que prophetas fuiſſe dicunt. 3.2. and 33.7. A fit name for a Prophet.

the ſon of Cuſhi, the ſon of Gedaliah &c.] Theſe were, if not Prophets, (as the Jew-Doctours make them) yet men famous in the Church: as were Alexander and Rufus, though they be but mentioned and no more, Mark 15.21.

in the dayes of Joſiah] who rained one and thirty years, but being in his minority, began not to reform religion, much corrupted in the dayes of his idolatrous father Amon, till the eighteenth yeer of his raigne, 2 King. 22.1. and 23.22. whether before or after the Reformation, the word of the Lord came unto Zephaniah, Interpreters agree not. Jeremiah (his contemporary) began not to prophecy till the thirteenth yeer of Joſiah's raigne Ier. 1.1, 2. at what time, (viz. in his twelfth yeer) he had begun to reform with a great deale of zeale, 2 Chron. 34.3. but with all he met with a great deale of oppoſition from the Princes and people who had been wofully hardened and habituated in their idolatry under Manaſſeh and Amon, and therefore with much difficulty drawn off. Zephany and Ieremy were ſingular helps no doubt, to that peereleſſe king in his zealous undertakings for God. But why he ſhould ſend to Huldah the Propheteſſe, rather then to either of them 2 King. 22.13. what other reaſon can be given but that ſhe dwelt in the Colledge at Ieruſalem, and ſo was next at hand? And why He went up againſt Pharaoh Necho, and ſent not firſt to any Prophet to ask their adviſe, what can we ſay but this, that ſometimes both grace and wit are aſleep in the holieſt and warieſt breaſts? and that the beſt of Gods Saints may be ſometimes miſcarried by their paſſion, to their coſt?

Verſe 2. I will utterly conſume all things from off the land] Exordium planè tragicum A tragical beginning of a terrible ſermon. Hard knots muſt have hard wedges; hard hearts, heavy menaces: yea handfuls of hell-fire muſt be caſt into the faces of ſuch, that they may awake out of the ſnare of the devill, by whom they are held captive at his pleaſure. 2 Tim. 2.26. It is in the Hebrew, gathering I will gither all things &c. q. d. g. I will pack up, I will take mine owne, and begone. Converram & convaſabo omnia, I will ſweep away all by the beeſome of my wrath, and leave a clean land behind me, for the ſinnes of thoſe that dwell therein. The doubling of this denunciation Colligendo Colligam importeth the certainty, verity and vehemency thereof.

Saith the Lord] Dictumm Jehovae. You may beleeve it therefore: for every word of his is ſure, and cannot be broken Iohn 10.35. may not be ſlighted or ſhifted off Heb. 12.25.

Verſe 3. I will conſume man and beaſt] Heb. I will gather (as verſe 2.) them, and caſt them away as they do the ſweepings of the houſe. See the word uſed in this ſenſe, Pſal. 26.9. Gather not my ſoul with ſinners &c. God gathereth his people for a better purpoſe: both while they are alive, Pſal. 27.10. and when they dye, Eſay 57.1 The righteous is taken away (Heb. gathered) from the evil to come: as a Shepheard gathereth his ſheep when a ſtorm is coming: or as a maſter of a family doth his jewels, when his houſe is on fire. But as for the wicked, they are gathered too, but it is for ſlaughter, as beaſts in a pound, malefactours in a priſon: and at the laſt day the tares ſhall be gathered and bundled up together for hels Furnace, Mat. 13, 41.42.

I will conſume the fouls of the heaven] Made for mans uſe, to be to him for food, Gen. 9.2. for phyſick and for delight, as companions of his life: hence it is threatned as a judgement to him to looſe them Ier. 4.25. and 10. and here.

An the fiſhes of the Sea] Made likewiſe for mans uſe to feed him, Num. 11.5.22. Luke 24.42. hence the latine piſcis of paſco to feed, and the Hebrew Berechah for a fiſhpoole: the word ſignifieth a bleſſing Gen. 12.2. with Neh. 2.14. Now the Lord here threateneth deſtruction to beaſts, birds, and fiſhes, not by way of Hyperbole, as the Rabbines dreams: but becauſe in common calamities, in warlike tumults, and when God will deſtroy a people indeed, the beaſts alſo are killed up, the foules hunted away, the fiſh-pooles waſted, &c. Let thoſe that will not beleeve this, look into Illyricum, Thracia, Macedonia, Greece, and divers parts of Turky, laid utterly deſolate and empty both of men and other creatures. Hierome upon this text, and likewiſe upon Hoſ. 4. affirmeth the ſame of his native countrey, waſted ſo with Warre, ut, praeter coelum & coenum, & creſcentes vipres & condenſa ſylvarum, cuncta perierint, that beſides ayre and earth, and briars, and forreſts, all was deſtroyed. And that we may not wonder at this ſeveritie of God, hear what the ſame Father ſaith elſwhere of his ungracious countrymen: In mea patria de us Ven er eſt, & in d[illegible: 1 letter]em vivitur, & ſanctior eſt ille qui ditior; In my countrey their belly is their god,Epiſ.ad Chremat. their glory is in their ſhame, they minde earthly things: and ſo their end hath been deſtruction, and utter deſolation, as Phil. 3.19. Gualthers Note here is very good: herein we may obſerve, ſaith he, the judgement of God and his wonderfull providence: that whereas we ſee in populous places, rivers and pooles to abound with fiſh, woods and fields, with birds and beaſts, though they bee continually caught, and carried away: yet where there want men to make uſe of them, there are few or none to be found. For as they were all made for man, ſo when men are conſumed, they alſo are conſumed, as is here threatned. Non ita temerè fieri putemus, &c. Let Gods hand herein be acknowledged, and his anger appeaſed by faith in Chriſt Jeſus and repentance from dead works, that our land may be ſowed with the ſeed of men and of beaſts.

And the ſtumbling-blocks with the wicked] Thoſe Balaams blocks, In lib. Reg. thoſe moments and monuments of idolatry, that ſo much offend God, and cauſe offence and ruine to thoſe that worſhip them, (as Eucherius interpreteth it) who are here called wicked, with an accent, and by a ſpecialty.

And I will cut off man from off the land] Even the better ſort of men too, who ſhall be wrapt up together with the wicked in the common calamity. The good figges as well as the bad are packt to Babylon; but with this difference that God will there ſet his eyes upon the good for good. Ier. 24.6. as the corne is cut down as well as the weeds; but for better purpoſe.

Saith the Lord] who hath ſpoke it twice that you may once well obſerve it, and lay it to heart.

Verſe 4. I will alſo ſtretch out mine hand upon Judah] To whom I have ſo long ſtretcht out my hand in vain to reclaime them. Eſay 65.2. Prov. 1.25. If God do but put forth his hand to afflict, as Satan ſollicited him to doe againſt Job, chap. 1.11. and 2.5. who can abide it? but if he ſtretch it out as here, woe be to thoſe that muſt feele the waight of it. His hand is a mighty hand. 1. Pet. 1.6. the ſame that ſpannes the heavens, and holds the earth as a very little thing Eſay. 40. Lord, ſaith David (who had felt it in part) who knoweth the power of thine anger? Even according to thy fear, ſo is thy wrath. q. d. Let a man fear thee never ſo much, he is ſure to feele thee much more who falleth under the ſtroke of thine heavy hand. Oh keep out of his fingers, who can cruſh us to death before the moth, Job. 4.19.

And upon all the inhabitants of Jeruſalem] who are therefore worſe then others becauſe they ſhould be better: and ſhall fare the worſe for their external priviledges wherein they glory.

And I will cut off the remnant of Baal from this place] That which remained ſince Joſia's reformation 2 King. 23.3.4.5. ſaith Diodate ſhall a Nation be born at once Eſay 66.8.?

And the name of the Chemarims) Baals chimney-chaplaines, They are tranſlated idolatrous prieſts, 1 Chron. 23.5. But becauſe we find them here mentioned as diſtinct from the Prieſts, therefore many Expoſitores hold that they were certain Miniſters of their idolatry different from the prieſts; ſuch as the Monks are among the Papiſts. The vulgar rendereth it Aedituos Underlings to the other Prieſts: Elias in Tijby ſaith they were ſuch as were ſhut up in cloiſters, Chemarim Atrati thy are called, either from their black garments, or becauſe they were ſmutched with burning incenſe, or from the brand-markes they had ſuperſtitiouſly ſet upon their bodies, or becauſe of their pretended fiery zeal and fervency in their religion, ſuch as are the Saoriſici Seraphici among the Papiſts, who falſly and fooliſhly call them, the Lights of the World; ſc. to light them into utter darkneſſe.

Verſe 5. And them that worſhip the hoſt of heaven upon the houſe tops] Called elſewhere the Queen of heaven, the conſtellations and heavenly bodies: whom they thought to worſhip ſo much the more acceptably, if in an open place, and on high, in the very ſight of the ſtarres. Obſervent iſta qui hodie Aſtrologiam judiciariam proſitentur, ſaith Gualther, Let thoſe amongſt us obſerve this, who profeſſe judiciary Aſtrologie: for theſe worſhip the ſtarres no leſſe then did the heathens of old, and doe openly bring in Heatheniſme again; whiles (firſt) they call the ſtarres by the names of thoſe heatheniſh deities, that ought to be aboliſhed: and next, they ſubject to thoſe ſtarres all events of things, yea man himſelfe as touching all his manners and fortunes, which the Scripture affirmeth to depend upon the eternal providence of God alone. This is intolerable impiety and they that fall into it, ſhall not eſcape the juſt judgement of God.

And them that worſhip, and that ſwear by the Lord (or to the Lord conſecrating themſelves as by oath to his ſervice) and that ſwear by Malcham] that is, by their King, Epec. Eur. as the Egyptians did of old, Gen. 42.15. The Spaniards at this day, in the pride of their Monarchy are grown alſo to ſwear by the life of their King. There are a ſort of mongrell Chriſtians in the Eaſt called Melchites, Niceph. as one would ſay Of the Kings Religion, becauſe they reſolved to doe as Melech the King commanded them, though it were to make a mixture of religions, as theſe in the text would, and as our late Modelatours Sancta Clara, and others, of whom one ſaid well, that they had made a pretty ſhew, had there been no Bible, to tell us, that the jealous and juſt God hateth and plagueth halting betwixt two, lukewarmneſſe and neutrality in religion, all dow-baked duties, ſpeckled birds, plowing with an Oxe and an Aſſe, mingled ſeeds linſey-wolſey garments Lev. 19.19. Upon which text the Doway Doctours note is, Here all participation with heretiks and ſchiſmatiks is forbidden. But by Malch[illegible: 2 letters] moſt underſtaud here an Idoll of the Ammonites, otherwiſe called Moſec[illegible: 1 letter] ſerved in Tophet near to Ieruſalem, and in the mount of Olives, called therefore the mount of corruption 2 King. 23.13. Which God could not but ſee, as [illegible: 1 word] he looked out of the Sanctuary. Theſe worſhippers of Malcham would not utterly renounce the true God, but they would ſet up others with him as partners: this would not be endured. Such were of old the Samaritanes among the Jewes, the Ebionites among the Chriſtians, the Papiſts at this day, who ſwear by God and Saints, and pray to God and his Saints, and commit themſelves to them (together with God) as their Tutelars and Patrons.

Verſe 6. And them that are turned back from the Lord] Not groſſe idolaters, but yet treacherous backſliders, that fall off from their former forwardneſſe, that turn from the holy Commandement, 2 Pet. 2.21. that depart à poſt Dominum, from after the Lord, as the Hebrew here hath it, Apoſtates, thoſe worſt of men, that do not onely not fulfill after the Lord, as Calch, but utterly forſake him. An heavie judgement awaiteth ſuch.Pſal. 125.5. God ſhall lead them forth with the workers of iniquity, &c.

and thoſe that have not ſought the Lord, nor enquired after him] diligently ſought him, Heb. 11.6. zealouſly enquired after him, as after a loſt jewel, Jer. 29.13. God will viſit for unzealouſneſſe; and curſe thoſe that do his work careleſly, curſorily, in a perfunctory, formall, bedulling way.

Verſe 7. Hold thy peace at the preſence of the Lord God] When his hand is upon thy back, let thy hand be on thy mouth. Chat not againſt him, murmur not at his menaces, but ſtand mute before him. He is the Lord God, Three in One, and One in Three: thou art alſo alwayes in his preſence, which thou canſt not flee from them, Pſal. 139. therefore ſee Hab. 2.20. with the Note and the rather becauſe God ſtands over thee with his judgements.

for the day of the Lord is at hand] wherein he will powerfully declare himſelf to be a God that cannot lie, and that his wrath is quo diuturnior eo minacior, the longer in comming the heavier it lights. This was ſoon after fulfilled in the death of their good king Ioſiah, with whom died all the peace and proſperity of that people: and Judea often changed her maſters, but not her miſeries, till at length ſhee was carried captive to Babylon.

For the Lord hath prepared a ſacrifice] That is, a bloody ſlaughter of you, by the cruel Chaldees, who ſhall ſacrifice you, that have ſo much gloried in the multitude of your ſacrifices: and God ſhall glorifie himſelf as much now in your juſt deſtruction, as ever he did in your forefathers commendable devotion.

he hath bid his gueſts] The Babylonians, and (after they have filled themſelves) the birds, and beaſts, as Rev. 19.17, 18. ſo that ye ſhall have ſepulturam inſepultam, a graveleſſe buriall.

Verſe 8. And it ſhall come to paſſe in the day of the Lords ſacrifice] Or, good chear: for at their ſacrifices they uſed to feaſt their friends: and here the Lord is providing dainties for his gueſts; viz. the fleſh of Princes, gallants, courtiers, verſ. 9. merchants, 11. who uſe to eat the fat, and drink the ſweet,Jam. 5.5. nouriſhing their hearts as in a day of ſlaughter: and now alſo for a day of ſlaughter: when the beaſts ſhall tear their fleſh, and the birds bare their bones.

that I will puniſh the Princes and the Kings children] Who might ſeem to bee ſafeſt of any, and fartheſt off from danger: but Gods hand can eaſily reach them, and ſhall do with the firſt, becauſe their faults flie faſt abroad upon thoſe two wings of Example and Scandal. See this threatening fulfilled in Joſiah's ſonnes (thoſe degenerate plants, Heroum filii noxae.) Jehoahaz ambitiouſly ſtep into his fathers throne before his elder brother, and was ſoon after carried down to Egypt, and there ſlain. Jehoiakim the elder brother ſucceeded him: but rebelling againſt the king of Babylon, he was carried captive, and dying by the way, was buried with the buriall of an aſſe, being caſt out to be torn by birds and beaſts,Jer. 22. according to this propheſie. Jechoniah came after, and was likewiſe carried into captivity: but becauſe he hearkened to Jeremiah, perſwading him to yeeld, and to go into voluntary baniſhment, he had ſome good dayes toward his latter end, Jer. 52.31, 32. Laſtly Zedekiah, another ſonne of Joſiah, was made king; who as hee was worſe then the former, ſo he ſped worſe. See Ier. 39.6, 7. potentes potenter torquebantur.

and all ſuch as are clothed with ſtrange apparell] Thoſe gallants, that imitated in their raiment thoſe whom they moſt inclined to; ſome the Egyptians, others the Babylonians. A vanity not known in England, they ſay, till the warres in Holland. And (as ex malis moribus bonae leges) then firſt were great ruffes, with huge wide ſets,Camd. Eliſ. 215. and cloaks reaching almoſt to the ancles, no leſſe uncomely then coſtly, reſtrained by Proclamation. Now, what ſo common with our faſhionmongers (againſt whom this is a ſtinging and a flaming text) then to bee cloathed with ſtrange apparell, Oh what enemy of thine hath taught thee ſo much vanity? ſaid Mr. John Fox to his ſon, returning from his travels, and attired in a looſe Outlandiſh faſhion. Hiſt. of Modern Divi. pag. 279. a la mode de France eſpecially, and other Popiſh countries. But what ſaith One, Borrow not (faſhions) of the Egyptians: if you do, you may get their biles and botches: of the Polonians, leſt you get the plica Polonica in your hairy ſcalps: of the French, leſt the lues Gallica befall you. Thoſe that affected the Babylonian habit, were ſent captives to Babylon, Ezek. 23.15. and thoſe proud Dames (whoſe wardrobe is inventoried, Eſay 3.16. &c.) were a cauſe that the mighty men fell in battle, ver. 25.26. Seneca complaineth, that many in his time were more ſolicitous of their attire, then of their good behaviour; and that they had rather the Common-wealth ſhould be troubled, then their locks, and ſet looks. And doth not our age abound with ſuch fantaſticall Cincinnatuli.

Verſe 9. In the ſame day alſo will I puniſh all thoſe that leap on the threſhold] i. e. Great mens officers, who by an abſolute power went into other mens houſes, and to whom no doors were ſhut, ſaith Mr. Diodate. Theſe leap upon the threſhold, that is, with great impudency, and inſolency, they invade and ſpoil other mens houſes, and do what they liſt,, like ſo many Lurdaines, or Lord-danes: neither dare any queſtion, or controul them. Loe ſuch things were done in good Joſiah's dayes, without his conſent, or ſo much as knowledge: for none might be ſuffered to come to him with a complaint; all wayes being ſhut up by thoſe great Ones about him, whoſe houſes were by that means filled with violence and deceit] that is, with thoſe ill-gotten goods, got by wrench and wile from the right, but unrelieved poſſeſſours, through the might and ſlight of thoſe unconſcionable under-Officers.

Verſe 10. There ſhall be the noiſe of a cry from the fiſh-gate] called alſo the firſtgate, Zach. 14.10. whereat the Caldeans entred, and cauſed a great hubbub, as in ſuch a caſe is uſuall.

and an howling from the ſecond] Called by the Chaldee Paraphraſt, the bird-gate: there was alſo one called the horſe-gate, Jer. 31.40. Some underſtand the text, not of any gate,Jeruſhalaijm. but of the ſecond part of the city: for there was the upper town, and the lower town, (whence Jeruſalem is of the duall number) and the tower of David, on the hill of Zion. Others, of the Colledge where Huldad dwelt, 2 King. 22.14. a ſchool of learning, as the Chaldee interpreteth it, and called Miſhneh. as you would ſay, a place of repetition, or of catechiſing the younger ſort; with whom nothing ſticks but what is repeated to them over and over, as the knife goeth over the whetſtone. Shanan & Shanah repetire, ſicut in acuendo. See Deut. 6.7.

and a great craſhing (or ſhivering, Heb. ſhebher) from the hills] Gareb and Goath, Jer. 31.39. and the reſt that were round about Jeruſalem, Pſal. 125.2. The Prophets ſcope is to ſhew that all places ſhall be full of tumult and out-cry, upon the approach of the enemy. They that would not liſten to the ſweet voice of God inciting and inticing them to repentance, have now their ears filled with hideous and horrid notes, and noiſes.

Verſe 11. Howl ye inhabitants of Makteſh] Or, of the mortar, or of the low and hollow place, of the baſe-town, where corn was brayed in mortars, before Mills were in uſe. Theſe are here called upon to turn their laughter to mourning, and their joy into heavineſſe, to weep and howl for the evils that ſhall come upon them, Jam. 4.9. and 5.1. but eſpecially for their ſinnes, the cauſe of thoſe miſeries: for Gods judgements upon ſinners are feathered from themſelves: as a fowl ſhot with an arrow feathered from her own body.

for all the merchant-people are cut down] The merchant-men were wont to furniſh the mortar-men, ſuch as dealt in corn, ſpicery, and the like. Theſe ſhall be cut down, as being more like Canaanites (a people devoted to deſtruction) then Iſraelites, a people ſaved by the Lord, the ſhield of their help, and the ſword of their excellency. Deut. 33.29.Vide Garol. Paſchalij legat. cap. 7. p. 24. See Hoſ. 12.8. with the Note. He is a merchant, the ballances of deceit are in his hand, he loveth to oppreſſe. See Amos 8, 5, 6. Mic. 6.10, 11, 12. Merchandiſe well managed, is of great uſe to Kingdoms and States, for many reaſons. 1. For deſcrying the counſels and ſtrength of other Nations. 2. For procuring the love and friendſhip of forreine Princes and people. 3. for exchanging of commodities: for non omnis fert omnia tellus. 4. for gaining experience of many and great matters: this cauſed Thales, Hippocrates, and Solon to exerciſe merchandiſe. 5. It occaſioned the building of many famous cities. Maſſilia for one, as Plutarch writeth. Nevertheleſſe this honourable profeſſion is much abuſed by thoſe whom Nahum calleth cankerworms chap. 3.16. for their covetouſnes luxury, oppreſſion, bringing in unneceſſary wares (that emaſculate and diſſolve mens ſpirits) and hereticall books that undoe their ſoules; and laſtly for their carrying out the wealth of their country to ſtrangers, yea to enemies ſometimes. Hence they are juſtly cut down by God, and are to be ordered by the Magiſtrate according to Lev. 19.35, 36. Deut. 25. Ezek. 45.9, 10, 11, 12.

all they that bear ſilver are cut off] The rich traders that had marſupia plena, and carried money in great burthens, theſe ſhall be alſo cut off or ſilenced, have nothing to ſay for themſelves why they ſhould not be deſtroyed with the reſt, as thoſe that have been involuti argento as the vulgar tranſlation hath it here, ſo wrapped up in their money, and affected to it, as that it hath rather poſſeſſed them, then they it. Cor habent in aere non in athere, their heart goeth after their covetouſneſſe Ezek. 33.31. Here they are called Portatores argenti ſilver-carriers, ſumpter-horſes, laden with thick clay. Silver is that which the baſeſt element yeeldeth, the moſt ſavage Indians get, ſervile apprentiſes work, Midianitiſh Camels carry, miſerable muck-worms admire, covetous Jewes ſwallow, unthriſty Ruffians ſpend &c. It is to be wondred (ſaith One) that treading upon theſe minerals, we cannot contemn them. They lye furtheſt from heaven: and the beſt of them are in India furtheſt from the Church: and yet how many doth mony make to run quick to the devill on an errand, and payes them home for their paines?

Verſe 12. I will ſearch Jeruſalem with candles] which yet he needs not do, ſith the darkneſſe hideth not from him, but the night ſhineth as the day: the darkneſſe and the light are to him alike, Pſal, 139.12. Confer Iob 34.22. Ier. 23.24. Deo obſcura lucent, muta reſpondent, ſilentium confitetur, Night will convert it ſelf into noon before God, and ſilence become a ſpeaking evidence. His eyes alſo are a flaming fire, that needs no outward light, but ſees by ſending out a ray &c. but when Jeruſalem is threatened to be ſearched with lig[illegible: 1 letter]ts, the meaning is, that it ſhall be ſet all upon a light fire, and the inhabitants ferretted out of their lurking-holes, their Princes and potentates pulled out of privies and ſepulchers by the purſuing enemy, as Hierome out of Joſephus here affirmeth they once were. Beſides that, they ſhall be brought to a particular and punctuall account for their ſins: God will be very exact and accurate with them that way; ſetting all their evill deeds in order before their eyes Pſal. 50.21. and bringing wrath upon them to the utmoſt 1 Theſ. 2.16. This is fearefull Pſal. 130.3. and ſhall be fulfilled eſpecially at the laſt day, when wicked men ſhall give an account minutatim of all their Atheiſticall thoughts Pſal. 14.1. ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard ſpeeches which ungodly ſinners have ſpoken againſt him Iude 15. with the whole world flaming about their eares 2 Pet. 3.7, 10, 12. 1 Cor 4.5. 2 Theſ. 1.8.

and puniſh the men that are ſettled on their lees] Coagulati curded or thickened, congealed and condenſed: that are habituated and hardned in their evill practiſes, that have got a ſward, nay a hoof upon their hearts; that have brawny breaſts, and horny heart-ſtrings; that ſtick ſtifly in the mire of their ſins as Moab Ier. 48.11. and, being deeply drowned in the world, are deſperately divorced from God, whom they baſely fancy to be a God of clouts, one that howere he ſpeak big words, yet will do neither good nor hurt.

—mibi haec mortalia curat.

that ſay in their hearts] As that ſapleſſe fellow doth Pſal. 14.1. Some ſet their mouths againſt heaven, and ſhame not to utter their reaſonings and reſolutions of this kind. Theſe are Epicuri de gregiporci: ſuch as was Lucretius, Diageras, [non-Latin text not transcribed] Herace with his —credat Iudaeus apella.Herat. ſerm. Nonego, nam que deos didici ſecuum agere aevum &c. Let the Jews beleeve a Providence: not I &c. ſaith that profane Poet. But behold here were Jews yea and that in good Ioſiah's dayes, that ſaid in their hearts (thoſe feculent hearts of theirs, full of dregs and droſſe.)

the Lord will not do good, neither will he do evill] Nec benè pro meritis capitur, nec tangitur ira. Of ſuch practicall Athieſts that ſay in their hearts there is no God, and live thereafter, there are great ſtore even amongſt us: of ſuch duſt-heaps we may find in every corner. And when men are once arrived at this Terra del Fuogo this deſperate degree of Atheiſme, what wonder though they run riot in all ſinfull licentiouſneſſe.

Verſe 13. Therefore their goods ſhall become a booty] Their evill-gotten goods ver. 9.11.Ecc. 4.1, 2, 3. (for a proof of my providence which they bluſhed not to deny) ſhall be carried away by the Chaldees, to their unmedicinable ſorrow and heartbreake.

and their houſes a deſolation] becauſe built in blood. See Nah. 2.11, 12.

they ſhall alſo build houſes but not inhabite them &c.] Ex lege mutuatur minas. That they might the more regard his words, The Pophet makes uſe of the menaces of the Law Deut. 28.30.39. whereof the Prophets were Interpreters: applying, as here, the generall doctrine thereof to the people of their times. To rebuke or exhort men in good words, in Gods own words, is the readieſt way to prevaile with them: unleſſe they be Lucifugae ſcripturarum (as Tertullian ſaith of the Marcionites and Valentinians) which yet will take hold of them howſoever Zech. 1.6.

Verſe 14.De Reſur. carn. The great day of the Lord is neer, it is neer] It is the day of the Lord, that fatall day appointed by him to ruine the nation: for with him it is all one whether it be done againſt a nation, or againſt a man only Iob 34.29. Next, it is his great day; becauſe therein the great God will ſet himſelf to do great matters: How much more at the day of judgment called alſo a great day Rev. 6.17. and 16.14.

This great day is neer, yea very neer, it haſteth greatly] it hath wings and wind under thoſe wings, as Zech. 5.9. it will be upon men ere they are aware: neither will any thing more haſten it then their ſecurity, and feareleſneſſe. Think the ſame of the laſt day which cannot but be at hand, and then the tranſgreſſours ſhall be deſtroyed together: the end of the wicked ſhall be cut off Pſal. 37.38.

even the voice of the day of the Lord] Methinks I heare it. Fallor?Ovid. 5. Faſt. an armaſonat? non fallimur, arma ſonabant. Mars venit, & veniens bellica ſigna dedit. Hierome ſpeaketh thus of himſelf, whether I eat, or drink, or ſleep, methinks I heare that laſt trump ſounding theſe words in mine eares, Ariſe ye dead and come to judgment. Surgite mortui venite in judicium. A very neceſſary meditation.

the mighty man ſhall cry there bitterly] How much more the turba imbellis, the weak and cowardly? they ſhall take up a loud lamentation, and cry with the breaking of their loines.

Verſe 15. That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble, and diſtreſſe &c.] By this Synathroiſmos or heape of words, the Prophet would affray and arrouſe theſe dead and dedolent ſinners, ſettled upon their lees, ſo wedded and wedg'd to their wicked practiſes, that nothing can ſunder them, but an extraordinary touch from the hand of heaven. See Ioel 2.1, 2, 3. and Amos 5.18, 19.20. with the Notes, and confider what the terrour of the Lords laſt day will be.

Verſe 16. A day of the trumpet] with its horrid Taratantara and alarme] not of thoſe that ſhout and praiſe God, neither with a noiſe of joy and trumph as Num. 23.21. Pſal. 47.5. Ezra 3.11.12. but of thoſe that ſhout with broken ſounds in the day of battel, as Amos 1.14. in claſſico with a vocifciation,Turk Hiſt. and horrible howling, ſuch as the Turks at this day make, when they ſtorm a city.

againſt the fenced cities and againſt the high-towers] wherein ye truſt, but in vaine. Theſe high-towers were built at the corners of the walls. Hence the Hebrew text here hath it, Againſt the high-corners. Great men and ſuch as beare up the weight of the common-wealth are ſometimes called by this name 1 Sam. 14.38. Draw ye neer hither all ye chief of the people: Heb. All ye corners. See the like Zach. 10.4. Judg. 20.2. Neither men nor meanes were ever true to thoſe that truſted them. Our help is in the Name of the Lord, that ſtrong tower whereto the righteous run and are ſafe Prov. 18.10.

Verſe 17. And I will bring diſtreſſe upon men that they ſhall walk like blind men] The Dutch have a Proverb, God puts out the eyes of him whom he intendeth to deſtroy: i. e. he beſotts and infatuates them they ſhall be conſilij & auxilij inopes: in rebus liquidis aqua baerebit, they grope for the wall like the blind, they grope as if they had none eyes, they ſtumble at noon-day as in the night, they are in deſolate places as dead men, Eſay. 59.10. This was long before threatened Deut. 28.28, 29.

becauſe they have ſinned againſt the Lord] Sin is the mother of miſery. See my Love-tokens pag. 111, 112. &c.

and their blood ſhall be powred out as duſt] Then which nothing is more vile and abject, the enemy ſhall make no more of ſpilling their blood, then of ſprinkling a little duſt.Copiſſimè & adjectiſſimè. Tarnou.

and their fleſh as dung] ſpread upon the land to manure it. The Hebrew word for fleſh here may ſeem to ſignifie wormes-meat. Our bodyes are no better,Lechum. Druſ. why then do we pamper and prink them up?

Verſe 18. Neither their ſilver nor their gold ſhall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lords wrath] We were not redeemed with corruptible things as ſilver and gold 1 Pet. 1.18. Money hath drowned many a ſoule 1 Tim. 6. delivered none. See Prov. 11.4. with the Note, Eſay 13, 17. Ezek. 17.19. It is righteouſneſſe and not riches that delivereth from death Prov. 10.2. Money can neither pacifie God, nor ſill the conſcience, nor ſtop the enemies mouth, but inflame them rather with an unſatisfiable deſire of enjoying all, as Rome did the Gaules, and Cyprus the Romanes: and as the pearles, uſually caſt out with the flood,Sextus Rufus. and gathered at the ebbe, drew Caeſars affection for the conqueſt of Brittaine.Sueton.

but the whole land ſhall be devoured by the fire of his jealouſie] The ſins of Gods people are not onely diſobediences but treacheries, becauſe of the covenant. God is thereby provoked to jealouſie which is cruel as the grave, or hard as hell; the coales thereof are coales of fire which hath a moſt vehement flame. Cant. 8.6. the wore ſignifies the conſuming flame of God.

for he ſhall make even a ſpeedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land] Swept clean by God with the beeſom of deſtruction: ſo that the land was deſolate after them Zech. 7.14. Affliction roſe not up the ſecond time, Nah. 1.9. See the Notes there, and learn to give God the glory of his ſeverity againſt ſin.