Be silent at the presence of the Lord Yahweh, for the day of Yahweh is at hand. For Yahweh has prepared a sacrifice. He has consecrated his guests. It will happen in the day of Yahweh’s sacrifice, that I will punish the princes, the king’s sons, and all those who are clothed with foreign clothing. In that day, I will punish all those who leap over the threshold, who fill their master’s house with violence and deceit. In that day, says Yahweh, there will be the noise of a cry from the fish gate, a wailing from the second quarter, and a great crashing from the hills. Wail, you inhabitants of Maktesh, for all the people of Canaan are undone! All those who were loaded with silver are cut off. It will happen at that time, that I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and I will punish the men who are settled on their dregs, who say in their heart, “Yahweh will not do good, neither will he do evil.” Their wealth will become a plunder, and their houses a desolation. Yes, they will build houses, but won’t inhabit them. They will plant vineyards, but won’t drink their wine. The great day of Yahweh is near. It is near, and hurries greatly, the voice of the day of Yahweh. The mighty man cries there bitterly. That day is a day of wrath, a day of distress and anguish, a day of trouble and ruin, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness, a day of the trumpet and alarm, against the fortified cities, and against the high battlements. I will bring distress on men, that they will walk like blind men, because they have sinned against Yahweh, and their blood will be poured out like dust, and their flesh like dung. Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to deliver them in the day of Yahweh’s wrath, but the whole land will be devoured by the fire of his jealousy; for he will make an end, yes, a terrible end, of all those who dwell in the land.
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Zephaniah 1:7-18 sits inside this longer paragraph.
Yahweh’s word which came to Zephaniah, the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah, the son of Amon, king of Judah. I will utterly sweep away everything from the surface of the earth, says Yahweh. I will sweep away man and animal. I will sweep away the birds of the sky, the fish of the sea, and the heaps of rubble with the wicked. I will cut off man from the surface of the earth, says Yahweh. I will stretch out my hand against Judah, and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. I will cut off the remnant of Baal from this place: the name of the idolatrous and pagan priests, those who worship the army of the sky on the housetops, those who worship and swear by Yahweh and also swear by Malcam, those who have turned back from following Yahweh, and those who haven’t sought Yahweh nor inquired after him. Be silent at the presence of the Lord Yahweh, for the day of Yahweh is at hand. For Yahweh has prepared a sacrifice. He has consecrated his guests. It will happen in the day of Yahweh’s sacrifice, that I will punish the princes, the king’s sons, and all those who are clothed with foreign clothing. In that day, I will punish all those who leap over the threshold, who fill their master’s house with violence and deceit. In that day, says Yahweh, there will be the noise of a cry from the fish gate, a wailing from the second quarter, and a great crashing from the hills. Wail, you inhabitants of Maktesh, for all the people of Canaan are undone! All those who were loaded with silver are cut off. It will happen at that time, that I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and I will punish the men who are settled on their dregs, who say in their heart, “Yahweh will not do good, neither will he do evil.” Their wealth will become a plunder, and their houses a desolation. Yes, they will build houses, but won’t inhabit them. They will plant vineyards, but won’t drink their wine. The great day of Yahweh is near. It is near, and hurries greatly, the voice of the day of Yahweh. The mighty man cries there bitterly. That day is a day of wrath, a day of distress and anguish, a day of trouble and ruin, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness, a day of the trumpet and alarm, against the fortified cities, and against the high battlements. I will bring distress on men, that they will walk like blind men, because they have sinned against Yahweh, and their blood will be poured out like dust, and their flesh like dung. Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to deliver them in the day of Yahweh’s wrath, but the whole land will be devoured by the fire of his jealousy; for he will make an end, yes, a terrible end, of all those who dwell in the land.
Parallel Translations
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Be silent at the presence of the Lord Yahweh, for the day of Yahweh is at hand. For Yahweh has prepared a sacrifice. He has consecrated his guests.
It will happen in the day of Yahweh’s sacrifice, that I will punish the princes, the king’s sons, and all those who are clothed with foreign clothing.
In that day, I will punish all those who leap over the threshold, who fill their master’s house with violence and deceit.
In that day, says Yahweh, there will be the noise of a cry from the fish gate, a wailing from the second quarter, and a great crashing from the hills.
Wail, you inhabitants of Maktesh, for all the people of Canaan are undone! All those who were loaded with silver are cut off.
It will happen at that time, that I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and I will punish the men who are settled on their dregs, who say in their heart, “Yahweh will not do good, neither will he do evil.”
Their wealth will become a plunder, and their houses a desolation. Yes, they will build houses, but won’t inhabit them. They will plant vineyards, but won’t drink their wine.
The great day of Yahweh is near. It is near, and hurries greatly, the voice of the day of Yahweh. The mighty man cries there bitterly.
That day is a day of wrath, a day of distress and anguish, a day of trouble and ruin, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness,
a day of the trumpet and alarm, against the fortified cities, and against the high battlements.
I will bring distress on men, that they will walk like blind men, because they have sinned against Yahweh, and their blood will be poured out like dust, and their flesh like dung.
Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to deliver them in the day of Yahweh’s wrath, but the whole land will be devoured by the fire of his jealousy; for he will make an end, yes, a terrible end, of all those who dwell in the land.
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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.
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.
In the same day also will I punish all those that leap on the threshold, which fill their masters’ houses with violence and deceit.
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.
Howl, ye inhabitants of Maktesh, for all the merchant people are cut down; all they that bear silver are cut off.
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.
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.
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.
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,
A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers.
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.
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.
Show all 3 translations
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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 consecrated His guests.
And it shall come to pass in the day of the LORD'S sacrifice, that I will punish the princes, and the king's sons, and all such as are clothed with foreign apparel.
In the same day also will I punish all those that leap over the threshold, that fill their master's house with violence and deceit.
And in that day, saith the LORD, Hark! a cry from the fish gate, and a wailing from the second quarter, and a great crashing from the hills.
Wail, ye inhabitants of Maktesh, for all the merchant people are undone; all they that were laden with silver are cut off.
And it shall come to pass at that time, that I will search Jerusalem with lamps; and I will 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.'
Therefore their wealth shall become a booty, and their houses a desolation; yea, they shall build houses, but shall not inhabit them, and they shall plant vineyards, but shall not drink the wine thereof.
The great day of the LORD is near, it is near and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the LORD, wherein the mighty man crieth bitterly.
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,
A day of the horn and alarm, against the fortified cities, and against the high towers.
And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like the blind, because they have sinned against the LORD; and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as dung.
Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD'S wrath; but the whole earth shall be devoured by the fire of His jealousy; for He will make and end, yea, a terrible end, of all them that dwell in the earth.
Cross-references (209)
- Habakkuk 2:20 (v7) But Yahweh is in his holy temple. Let all the earth be silent before him!”
- Zechariah 2:13 (v7) Be silent, all flesh, before Yahweh; for he has roused himself from his holy habitation!”
- Ezekiel 30:3 (v14) For the day is near, even Yahweh’s day is near. It will be a day of clouds, a time of the nations.
- Amos 6:1 (v12) Woe to those who are at ease in Zion, and to those who are secure on the mountain of Samaria, the notable men of the chief of the nations,…
- Zephaniah 3:8 (v18) “Therefore wait for me”, says Yahweh, “until the day that I rise up to the prey, for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may…
Show all 100 cross-references
- Malachi 4:5 (v14) Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of Yahweh comes.
- Ezekiel 7:19 (vv13, 18) They will cast their silver in the streets, and their gold will be as an unclean thing. Their silver and their gold won’t be able to…
- Zephaniah 1:7 (vv10, 14) Be silent at the presence of the Lord Yahweh, for the day of Yahweh is at hand. For Yahweh has prepared a sacrifice. He has consecrated his…
- Jeremiah 48:11 (v12) “Moab has been at ease from his youth, and he has settled on his lees, and has not been emptied from vessel to vessel, neither has he gone…
- Amos 5:11 (v13) Therefore, because you trample on the poor, and take taxes from him of wheat: You have built houses of cut stone, but you will not dwell in…
- Zephaniah 1:14 (v7) The great day of Yahweh is near. It is near, and hurries greatly, the voice of the day of Yahweh. The mighty man cries there bitterly.
- Proverbs 11:4 (v18) Riches don’t profit in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death.
- Isaiah 34:6 (v7) Yahweh’s sword is filled with blood. It is covered with fat, with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams; for…
- Jeremiah 46:10 (v7) For that day is of the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, a day of vengeance, that he may avenge himself of his adversaries. The sword will devour and…
- 1 Thessalonians 4:16 (v14) For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with God’s trumpet. The dead in Christ will…
- Joel 2:11 (vv7, 14, 15) Yahweh thunders his voice before his army; for his forces are very great; for he is strong who obeys his command; for the day of Yahweh is…
- 2 Chronicles 33:14 (v10) Now after this, he built an outer wall to David’s city, on the west side of Gihon, in the valley, even to the entrance at the fish gate. He…
- Isaiah 15:4 (v14) Heshbon cries out with Elealeh. Their voice is heard even to Jahaz. Therefore the armed men of Moab cry aloud. Their souls tremble within…
- Isaiah 24:21 (v8) It will happen in that day that Yahweh will punish the army of the high ones on high, and the kings of the earth on the earth.
- Isaiah 33:7 (v14) Behold, their valiant ones cry outside; the ambassadors of peace weep bitterly.
- Ezekiel 7:12 (v14) The time has come! The day draws near. Don’t let the buyer rejoice, nor the seller mourn; for wrath is on all its multitude.
- Ezekiel 8:12 (v12) Then he said to me, “Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in his rooms of imagery?…
- Micah 6:15 (v13) You will sow, but won’t reap. You will tread the olives, but won’t anoint yourself with oil; and crush grapes, but won’t drink the wine.
- Zephaniah 1:2-3 (v18) I will utterly sweep away everything from the surface of the earth, says Yahweh. I will sweep away man and animal. I will sweep away the…
- Isaiah 22:4-5 (vv10, 14) Therefore I said, “Look away from me. I will weep bitterly. Don’t labor to comfort me for the destruction of the daughter of my people. For…
- Jeremiah 9:11 (vv13, 18) “I will make Jerusalem heaps, a dwelling place of jackals. I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant.”
- Zephaniah 1:15 (vv10, 18) That day is a day of wrath, a day of distress and anguish, a day of trouble and ruin, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and…
- Deuteronomy 28:30 (v13) You will betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her. You will build a house, and you won’t dwell in it. You will plant a vineyard,…
- 1 Samuel 5:5 (v9) Therefore neither the priests of Dagon nor any who come into Dagon’s house step on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day.
- Isaiah 13:6 (v7) Wail, for Yahweh’s day is at hand! It will come as destruction from the Almighty.
- Ezekiel 7:6-7 (v14) An end has come. The end has come! It awakes against you. Behold, it comes. Your doom has come to you, inhabitant of the land! The time has…
- Joel 1:15 (v14) Alas for the day! For the day of Yahweh is at hand, and it will come as destruction from the Almighty.
- Joel 2:2 (v15) A day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness. As the dawn spreading on the mountains, a great and strong people;…
- Zephaniah 1:11 (v18) Wail, you inhabitants of Maktesh, for all the people of Canaan are undone! All those who were loaded with silver are cut off.
- Matthew 16:26 (v18) For what will it profit a man, if he gains the whole world, and forfeits his life? Or what will a man give in exchange for his life?
- Acts 2:20 (v14) The sun will be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and glorious day of the Lord comes.
- James 5:9 (v14) Don’t grumble, brothers, against one another, so that you won’t be judged. Behold, the judge stands at the door.
- 2 Peter 2:3 (v14) In covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words: whose sentence now from of old doesn’t linger, and their destruction will not…
- Joel 2:31 (vv7, 14) The sun will be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of Yahweh comes.
- Amos 5:18-20 (vv7, 15) “Woe to you who desire the day of Yahweh! Why do you long for the day of Yahweh? It is darkness, and not light. As if a man fled from a…
- 1 Samuel 16:5 (v7) He said, “Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to Yahweh. Sanctify yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice.” He sanctified Jesse and…
- 2 Kings 22:14 (v10) So Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah, went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, the son…
- 2 Kings 25:19-21 (v8) and out of the city he took an officer who was set over the men of war; and five men of those who saw the king’s face, who were found in…
- Psalms 83:10 (v17) who perished at Endor, who became as dung for the earth.
- Psalms 94:7 (v12) They say, “Yah will not see, neither will Jacob’s God consider.”
- Proverbs 18:11 (v18) The rich man’s wealth is his strong city, like an unscalable wall in his own imagination.
- Isaiah 2:12 (v7) For there will be a day of Yahweh of Armies for all that is proud and arrogant, and for all that is lifted up; and it shall be brought low:
- Isaiah 3:18-24 (v8) In that day the Lord will take away the beauty of their anklets, the headbands, the crescent necklaces, the earrings, the bracelets, the…
- Isaiah 39:7 (v8) ‘They will take away your sons who will issue from you, whom you shall father, and they will be eunuchs in the king of Babylon’s palace.’ ”
- Jeremiah 16:16-17 (v12) “Behold, I will send for many fishermen,” says Yahweh, “and they will fish them up. Afterward I will send for many hunters, and they will…
- Jeremiah 22:11-19 (v8) For Yahweh says touching Shallum the son of Josiah, king of Judah, who reigned instead of Josiah his father, and who went out of this…
- Jeremiah 22:24-30 (v8) “As I live,” says Yahweh, “though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were the signet on my right hand, I would still pluck you from…
- Jeremiah 39:6-7 (v8) Then the king of Babylon killed Zedekiah’s sons in Riblah before his eyes. The king of Babylon also killed all the nobles of Judah.…
- Ezekiel 9:9 (v12) Then he said to me, “The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great, and the land is full of blood, and the city full…
- Amos 3:10 (v9) “Indeed they don’t know to do right,” says Yahweh, “Who hoard plunder and loot in their palaces.”
- Amos 8:3 (v10) The songs of the temple will be wailing in that day,” says the Lord Yahweh. “The dead bodies will be many. In every place they will throw…
- Malachi 3:14-15 (v12) You have said, ‘It is vain to serve God;’ and ‘What profit is it that we have followed his instructions, and that we have walked mournfully…
- Matthew 22:4 (v7) Again he sent out other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “Behold, I have prepared my dinner. My cattle and my fatlings are…
- James 5:1 (v11) Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming on you.
- Revelation 3:17 (v17) Because you say, ‘I am rich, and have gotten riches, and have need of nothing;’ and don’t know that you are the wretched one, miserable,…
- Jeremiah 30:7 (vv14–15) Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it. It is even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but he will be saved out of it.
- Genesis 6:7 (v18) Yahweh said, “I will destroy man whom I have created from the surface of the ground—man, along with animals, creeping things, and birds of…
- Deuteronomy 28:39 (v13) You will plant vineyards and dress them, but you will neither drink of the wine, nor harvest, because worms will eat them.
- 1 Samuel 2:15-16 (v9) Yes, before they burned the fat, the priest’s servant came, and said to the man who sacrificed, “Give meat to roast for the priest; for he…
- 2 Kings 5:20-27 (v9) But Gehazi the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, “Behold, my master has spared this Naaman the Syrian, in not receiving at his hands…
- 2 Kings 23:30-34 (v8) His servants carried him in a chariot dead from Megiddo, and brought him to Jerusalem, and buried him in his own tomb. The people of the…
- 2 Kings 25:6-7 (v8) Then they captured the king, and carried him up to the king of Babylon to Riblah; and they passed judgment on him. They killed Zedekiah’s…
- Nehemiah 3:3 (v10) The sons of Hassenaah built the fish gate. They laid its beams, and set up its doors, its bolts, and its bars.
- Nehemiah 5:15 (v9) But the former governors who were before me were supported by the people, and took bread and wine from them, plus forty shekels of silver;…
- Job 21:15 (v12) What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? What profit should we have, if we pray to him?’
- Psalms 76:8-9 (v7) You pronounced judgment from heaven. The earth feared, and was silent, when God arose to judgment, to save all the afflicted ones of the…
- Psalms 78:58 (v18) For they provoked him to anger with their high places, and moved him to jealousy with their engraved images.
- Proverbs 29:12 (v9) If a ruler listens to lies, all of his officials are wicked.
- Isaiah 1:24 (v18) Therefore the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, the Mighty One of Israel, says: “Ah, I will get relief from my adversaries, and avenge myself on my…
- Isaiah 2:12-15 (v16) For there will be a day of Yahweh of Armies for all that is proud and arrogant, and for all that is lifted up; and it shall be brought low:…
- Isaiah 6:5 (v7) Then I said, “Woe is me! For I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell among a people of unclean lips: for my eyes have…
- Isaiah 22:5 (v15) For it is a day of confusion, and of treading down, and of perplexity, from the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, in the valley of vision, a breaking…
- Isaiah 24:1-12 (v18) Behold, Yahweh makes the earth empty, makes it waste, turns it upside down, and scatters its inhabitants. It will be as with the people, so…
- Isaiah 32:14 (v16) For the palace will be forsaken. The populous city will be deserted. The hill and the watchtower will be for dens forever, a delight for…
- Isaiah 66:6 (v14) A voice of tumult from the city, a voice from the temple, a voice of Yahweh that repays his enemies what they deserve.
- Jeremiah 2:17 (v17) “Haven’t you brought this on yourself, in that you have forsaken Yahweh your God, when he led you by the way?
- Jeremiah 4:19-21 (v10) My anguish, my anguish! I am pained at my very heart! My heart trembles within me. I can’t hold my peace, because you have heard, O my…
- Jeremiah 9:19 (v13) For a voice of wailing is heard out of Zion, ‘How we are ruined! We are greatly confounded because we have forsaken the land, because they…
- Jeremiah 9:23-24 (v18) Yahweh says, “Don’t let the wise man glory in his wisdom. Don’t let the mighty man glory in his might. Don’t let the rich man glory in his…
- Jeremiah 10:18 (v17) For Yahweh says, “Behold, I will sling out the inhabitants of the land at this time, and will distress them, that they may feel it.”
- Jeremiah 15:13 (v13) I will give your substance and your treasures for a plunder without price, and that for all your sins, even in all your borders.
- Jeremiah 25:34 (v11) Wail, you shepherds, and cry. Wallow in dust, you leader of the flock; for the days of your slaughter and of your dispersions have fully…
- Jeremiah 25:36 (v14) A voice of the cry of the shepherds, and the wailing of the leader of the flock, for Yahweh destroys their pasture.
- Ezekiel 7:7 (v7) Your doom has come to you, inhabitant of the land! The time has come! The day is near, a day of tumult, and not of joyful shouting, on the…
- Ezekiel 7:10 (v7) “ ‘Behold, the day! Behold, it comes! Your doom has gone out. The rod has blossomed. Pride has budded.
- Ezekiel 7:21 (v13) I will give it into the hands of the strangers for a prey, and to the wicked of the earth for a plunder; and they will profane it.
- Ezekiel 16:38 (v18) I will judge you, as women who break wedlock and shed blood are judged; and I will bring on you the blood of wrath and jealousy.
- Ezekiel 21:12 (v11) Cry and wail, son of man; for it is on my people. It is on all the princes of Israel. They are delivered over to the sword with my people.…
- Ezekiel 39:17-20 (v7) “You, son of man, the Lord Yahweh says: ‘Speak to the birds of every sort, and to every animal of the field, “Assemble yourselves, and…
- Hosea 8:1 (v16) “Put the trumpet to your lips! Something like an eagle is over Yahweh’s house, because they have broken my covenant, and rebelled against…
- Hosea 12:7-8 (v11) A merchant has dishonest scales in his hand. He loves to defraud. Ephraim said, “Surely I have become rich, I have found myself wealth. In…
- Amos 3:6 (v16) Does the trumpet alarm sound in a city, without the people being afraid? Does evil happen to a city, and Yahweh hasn’t done it?
- Amos 6:10 (v7) “When a man’s relative carries him, even he who burns him, to bring bodies out of the house, and asks him who is in the innermost parts of…
- Amos 8:2 (v14) He said, “Amos, what do you see?” I said, “A basket of summer fruit.” Then Yahweh said to me, “The end has come on my people Israel. I will…
- Amos 9:1-3 (v12) I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and he said, “Strike the tops of the pillars, that the thresholds may shake; and break them in…
100 distinct cross-references across this passage (209 total citations).
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv7, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18 The Prophet confirms here what he has previously taught,…
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, 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.
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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.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14 Meaning, the courtiers, which did imitate the strange apparel…
Meaning, the courtiers, which did imitate the strange apparel of other nations to win their favor thereby, and to appear glorious in the eyes of all others, read Ezek. 23:14, 15.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv7–18 Zep 1:7 Hold thy peace at the presence of…
Zep 1:7 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.
Ver. 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 always in his presence, which thou canst not flee from them, Psa 139:7, therefore see Hab 2:20, {See Trapp on "Hab 2:20"} and the rather because God stands over thee with his judgments.
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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 coming the heavier it lands. This was soon after fulfilled in the death of their good King Josiah, with whom died all the peace and prosperity of that people: and Judea often changed her masters, but not her miseries, till at length she 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 glorify 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 graceless burial.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv7–18 Hold thy peace; thou that murmurest in discontent, or…
Hold thy peace; thou that murmurest in discontent, or disputest out of frowardness against God, his worship, and his government, that thinkest of him but little better than of Baal or Malcham, cease all thy quarrels and dispute, stand in awe.
At the presence of the Lord God; who is almighty, omniscient, who ruleth and will avenge.
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The day of the Lord; a day of vengeance from the Lord. The Lord hath prepared a sacrifice; the wicked among the Jews, whom he will sacrifice by the Chaldean’s sword.
He hath bid his guests; summoned in beasts of the field and fowls of the air, to eat the flesh and drink the blood of slain Jews, whom the Babylonians slew.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On vv7, 14 Notice is here given to Judah and Jerusalem that…
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, Zep 1:7. 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 (Zep 1:8): 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 (Eze 16:10), 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 (Zep 1:9): 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 3:32) 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 (Zep 1:12); 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 48:11. They have not been emptied from vessel to vessel. They fill themselves with wine and strong drink, and banish all thought, saying, Tomorrow shall be as this day, Isa 56:12. Their being settled on their lees signifies the same with being enclosed in their own fat, Psa 17:10. (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, Phi 3:19.
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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 (Zep 1:7): 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 (Zep 1:8); he will give them into the hands of their enemies, and glorify himself thereby. 3. He will fill both city and country with lamentation (Zep 1:10): 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 (Ch2 33:14; Neh 3:3); perhaps the same with that which is called the first gate (Zac 14:10), 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 (Zep 1:11), so clamorous shall the grief be. 4. They shall be stripped of all they have; it shall be a prey to the enemy (Zep 1:13): 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, Deu 28:30.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv7–18 Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord…
Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord God When he comes forth, and appears in the way of his judgments, do not dispute the point with him, or pretend to offer reasons against his proceedings, or in order to disprove the justice of them; stand in awe and reverence of him, who is the Lord God omniscient and omnipotent, holy, just, and true; humble yourselves under his mighty hand; be still, and know that he is God; and let not one murmuring and repining word come out of your mouth. The Targum is, ``let all the wicked of the earth perish from before the Lord God:'' for the day of the Lord [is] at hand; the time of his vengeance on the Jewish nation for their sins, which he had fixed in his mind, and had given notice of by his prophets: this began to take place at Josiah's death, after which the Jews enjoyed little peace and prosperity; and his successor reigned but three months, was deposed by the king of Egypt, and carried thither captive, and there died; and Jehoiakim, that succeeded him, in the fourth year of his reign was carried captive into Babylon, or died by the way thither; so that this day might well be said to be at hand: for the Lord hath prepared a sacrifice: his people the Jews, who were to fall a victim to his vengeance, and a sacrifice to his justice, to atone in some measure for the injury done to it by their sins; thus they that had offered sacrifice to idols, and neglected the sacrifices of the Lord, and especially the great sacrifice of Christ typified by them, the only proper atoning one, should themselves become a sacrifice to the just resentment of God; this he had prepared in his mind, determined should be done, and would bring about in his providence; see ( Isaiah 34:6 ) : he hath bid his guests: or "called ones" F15; the Chaldeans, whom he invited and called to this sacrifice and feast: or whom he "prepared", or "sanctified" F16; he prepared them in his purpose and providence; he set them apart for this service, and called them to it; to be the sacrificers of this people, and to feast upon them; to spoil them of their goods and riches, and enjoy them. These guests may also design, as Kimchi observes, the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the field, invited to feast upon the slain; see ( Ezekiel 39:17 ) ( Revelation 19:17 ) . FOOTNOTES: F15 (wyarq) "vocatos suos", Pagninus, Montanus, Cocceius, Burkius; "invitatos suos", Vatablus, Tigurine verson, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Drusius. F16 (vydqh) "praeparavit", Vatablus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; so Ben Melech; "sanctificavit", V. L. Montanus, Cocceius, Burkius.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 17, 18 Hold thy peace - Thou that murmurest against God,…
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.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18 Verse 7. Hold thy peace at the presence of…
Verse 7. 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.
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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.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv7, 8, 10, 12, 14, 17 Zep 1:7. Hold thy peace at the presence of…
Zep 1:7. Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord — Keep silence in token of an awful reverence toward God. For the day of the Lord is at hand — Now he is coming to execute his judgments upon the land. Humble thyself under his mighty hand, without repining or murmuring at his corrections, which thy sins do so justly deserve. For the Lord hath prepared a sacrifice — The slaughter of the wicked is called a sacrifice, because it is, in some sense, an atonement to God’s justice. He hath bid his guests — This is an allusion to the custom of those who offered sacrifices, which was to invite their friends to partake of the feasts which accompanied them. So here God is said to invite his guests, that is, the Babylonians, who were to reap the spoils of the destruction of Judah and Jerusalem, and of the desolation of Judea: or, as some explain it, the guests may mean ravenous birds, wild beasts, and dogs, collected to devour the carcasses of the slain.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv7–18 Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord…
Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord God - (Literally, “Hush,” in awe “from the face of God.”) In the presence of God, even the righteous say from their inmost heart, “I am vile, what shall I answer Thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth” Job 40:4. “Now mine eye seeth Thee, wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes” Job 42:5-6. “Enter not into judgment with Thy servant, O Lord, for in Thy sight shall no man living be justified” Psa 143:2. How much more must the “man without the wedding garment be speechless” Mat 22:11-12, and every false plea, with which he deceived himself, melt away before the Face of God! The voice of God’s Judgment echoes in every heart, “we indeed justly” Luk 23:41.
For the Day of the Lord is at hand - Zephaniah, as is his custom, grounds this summons, which he had renewed from Habakkuk, to hushed silence before God, on Joel’s prophetic warning , to show that it was not yet exhausted. A day of the Lord, of which Joel warned, had come and was gone; but it was only the herald of many such days; judgments in time, heralds and earnests, and, in their degree, pictures of the last which shall end time.
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Dionysius: “All time is God’s, since He Alone is the Lord of time; yet that is specially said to be His time when He doth anything special. Whence He saith, “My time is not yet come” Joh 7:6; whereas all time is His.” The Day of the Lord is, in the first instance, Jerome: “the day of captivity and vengeance on the sinful people,” as a forerunner of the Day of Judgment, or the day of death to each, for this too is near, since, compared to eternity, all the time of this world is brief.
For the Lord hath prepared a sacrifice - God had rejected sacrifices, offered amid unrepented sin; they were “an abomination to Him” Isa 1:11-15. When man will not repent and offer himself as “a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God” Rom 12:1, God, at last, rejects all other outward oblations, and the sinner himself is the sacrifice and victim of his own sins. The image was probably suggested by Isaiah’s words, “The Lord hath a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Idumea” Isa 34:6; and Jeremiah subsequently uses it of the overthrow of Pharaoh at the Euphrates, “This is the day of the Lord of Hosts; that He may avenge Him of His adversaries, for the Lord God hath a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates” Jer 46:10. “The Lord hath made all things for Himself, yea even the wicked for the day of evil” Pro 16:4. All must honor God, either fulfilling the will of God and the end of their own being and of His love for them, by obeying that loving will with their own freewill, or, if they repudiate it to the end, by suffering it.
He hath bid His guests - (Literally, sanctified) God had before, by Isaiah, called the pagan whom He employed to punish Babylon, “My sanctified ones” Isa 13:3. Zephaniah, by giving the title to God’s instruments against Judah, declares that themselves, having become in deeds like the pagan, were as pagan to Him. The instruments of His displeasure, not they, were so far his chosen, His called. Jeremiah repeats the saying, “Thus saith the Lord against the house of the king of Judah;...I have sanctified against thee destroyers, a man and his weapons” Jer 22:6-7. That is, so far, a holy war in the purpose of God, which fulfills His will; from where Nebuchadnezzar was “His servant” Jer 25:9, avenging His wrongs . Cyril: “To be sanctified, here denotes not the laying aside of iniquity, nor the participation of the Holy Spirit, but, as it were, to be foreordained and chosen to the fulfillment of this end.” That is in a manner hallowed, which is employed by God for a holy end, though the instrument, its purposes, its aims, its passions, be in themselves unholy. There is an awe about “the scourges of God.” As with the lightning and the tornado, there is a certain presence of God with them, in that through them His Righteousness is seen; although they themselves have as little of God as the “wind and storm” which “fulfill His word.” Those who were once admitted to make offerings to God make themselves sacrifices to His wrath; these, still pagan and ungodly and in all besides reprobate, are His priests, because in this, although without their will, they do His will.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv7–18 Silent. Hebrew has, (Haydock) an interjection, (St. Jerome) like…
Silent. Hebrew has, (Haydock) an interjection, (St. Jerome) like our hush. (Haydock) --- This denotes the importance of what he is going to say. --- Guests. The blood of the wicked is his victim, Jeremias xlvi. 10., and Ezechiel xxxix. 17. (Calmet) --- The day of punishment is commonly styled the day of the Lord, Isaias ii., and 1 Corinthians iii. (Worthington)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv7–18 Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord--…
Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord-- (Hab 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 (Isa 34:6; Jer 46:10; Eze 39:17).
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bid his guests--literally, "sanctified His called ones" (compare Isa 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 (Sa1 9:13, Sa1 9:22; Sa1 16:5). Nebuchadnezzar was bidden to come to take vengeance on guilty Jerusalem (Jer 25:9).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18 7. The judgment is imminent, Jehovah has made all…
7. The judgment is imminent, Jehovah has made all preparation for its execution, and the people are summoned to wait, in awful silence, the approach of the judge.
Hold thy peace at the presence — Only one word in Hebrew — hush! (see on Hab_2:20; Zec_2:13).
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Day of Jehovah — See on Joe_1:15. For the crisis which Zephaniah considered the harbinger (see p. 161) of the day of Jehovah see Introduction, p. 511.
Hath prepared a sacrifice — The judgment is pictured as a great sacrificial feast (see on Amo_5:23) prepared by Jehovah himself; the sacrificial animals are the sinners condemned in Zep_1:4-6 (compare Isa_25:6; Jer_46:10).
Hath bid his guests — R.V., “hath consecrated,” or sanctified. Only those who were clean could participate in a sacrificial meal. In this case the guests were the Scythians, who were foreigners, and therefore unclean; but Jehovah has purified them so that they can participate in the feast without fear that the wrath of Jehovah will smite them. There is a slight inconsistency in the figure, for the invaders are not content to eat the sacrifice already prepared; they themselves slay and thus help to prepare the feast.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv7–18 7. Hold thy peace … Lord God] lit. the…
7. Hold thy peace … Lord God] lit. the Lord Jehovah. The divine name Jehovah was not pronounced in the synagogue reading, the word Lord (A.V. in that case Lord) being substituted for it; but when the actual word Lord (Adonai) stood beside Jehovah then the reader substituted God (A.V. God) for Jehovah. The prophet vividly realises the presence of Jehovah. He is present in the Day of the Lord which is at hand. And before His presence the prophet exclaims to men, Hush! Hab_2:20, Zec_2:13. The “day of the Lord” is not merely some great calamity or judgment which the prophet feels to be impending, it is always Jehovah’s manifestation of Himself in fulness, and the judgment is the final and universal one. The coming of “the day of the Lord” was an ancient idea of the prophets (Hos_4:3; Isa_2:12 ff.) and even of the people (Amo_5:18); it was a belief older than any written prophecy, as the passage in Amos shews, and later prophets (Isa_13:6 ff.; Zep_1:7 ff.; Joe_1:15; Joe_2:1) only amplify the details of the idea. The presentiment of its nearness, however, was often awakened in the prophet’s mind by severe visitations of providence (Joel), or by great convulsions among the nations (Isaiah 13; Zephaniah 1). Jehovah was so visibly present in these events that the presentiment could not be repressed that they were the tokens and heralds of His final manifestation of Himself, when His glory would be revealed and all flesh should see it together. Of course the prophet’s presentiment was not realised, the impending judgment passed over, and the day of the Lord was delayed. But this fact should not lead us to suppose that the prophets call any great visitation of God by the name of “the day of the Lord.”
prepared a sacrifice] The sacrifice, which is Israel, is slain, and the guests who are to eat of the sacrificial meal are invited. The destruction of Israel is so certain that it is conceived as already accomplished.
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He hath bid his guests] lit. he hath consecrated (sanctified) them that are bidden (1Sa_9:13). Those bidden are the foes who shall devour Israel. In ancient times slaughter of animals even for food was a kind of sacrificial act, as the blood and part of the flesh were offered to God, and only those who were clean could partake of the sacrificial meal (1Sa_20:26); hence some consecration or preparation on the part of the guests was necessary, such as washing the clothes, in order to “sanctify” themselves. The Lord has sanctified His guests who are to eat His sacrifice (Isa_13:3). Comp. the same idea Isa_34:6; Jer_46:10; Eze_39:17, though in Ezek. the guests bidden to the Lord’s sacrifice are the birds of every sort and the beasts of the field. There is a certain inconsistency in the figure: of course the foes are those who slay Israel, the sacrifice, but the figure represents Jehovah as slaying and preparing the sacrifice, which the guests consume. The metaphor shews that some particular assailant of Israel is in the prophet’s view, just as in Isa_13:3. See Introduction, § 1.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv7–18 (7) Hold thy peace. . . .—Literally, Hush at…
(7) Hold thy peace. . . .—Literally, Hush at the presence of the Lord God. This peculiar phrase is repeated in Hab_2:20.
A sacrifice.—The word includes the idea of the feast in which it was customary to consume the remains of the sacrifice. (See Psa_22:26; Psa_22:29.) Hence the clause “He has bid his guests;” or, more literally, He has consecrated [set apart for himself] his invited ones. (Comp. Isa_13:3.) God’s guests are here those foreign nations whom He has selected to be His ministers of chastisement. They are invited, as it were, to banquet upon God’s apostate people. The figure is probably borrowed from Isa_34:6.
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(7-13) The judgment, in reference to its objects.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv7–18 Vers. 7-13. The judgment is described with regard to…
Vers. 7-13. The judgment is described with regard to those whom it will affect, vie. the princes, the traders, the irreligious and profligate.
This judgment, so fearful, is near at hand, and must needs occasion the utmost terror and dismay. Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord God; literally, Hush, from the face of the Lord Jehovah! eulabeisye (Septuagint); silete a facie Domini Dei (Vulgate). The expression is like Hab_2:20. The reason of this silent awe is next given. For the day of the Lord is at hand. The day of judgment is thus called. (Joe_1:15 Isa_13:6 Amo_5:18, 20 Oba_1:15) The Lord hath prepared a sacrifice. The words are from Isa_34:6. (comp. Jer_46:10 Eze_39:17, Eze_39:19) The sacrifice is the guilty Jewish nation. The punishment of the wicked is regarded as a satisfaction offered to the Divine justice. He hath bid his guests; he hath consecrated his called. The "called ones" are the strange nations whom God summons to execute his vengeance. Septuagint, hgiake tou . These are said to be "sanctified," as if engaged in a holy war, when summoned to punish those who had become as heathen. So those who are called to chastise Babylon are termed "my sanctified ones", (Isa_13:3) as being the instruments appointed and set apart to carry out this purpose. (comp. Jer_22:7 Jer_51:27, 28 Mic_3:5) The particular agents intended are not specified by the prophet, whose mission was not directed to any such definition. He has to speak generally of the judgment to come, not of those whom God should employ to inflict it. We know from other sources that the Chaldeans are meant, they or the Assyrians being always announced as the executors of God"s vengeance on his rebellions people. The notion, adopted by Ewald, Hitzig, and others, that the prophet refers to some supposed invasion of Scythians which took place about this time, would never have been started had not such authors desired to eliminate the predictive element from prophetic utterances. The vague account of Herod., 1:105 gives no support to the assertion that the Scythians invaded Palestine in Josiah"s reign; nor is there a trace of any knowledge of such irruption in Zephaniah or Jeremiah (see Introduction,
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Vers. 7-18. "The day of the Lord.
The reader of this brief book of Scripture, forming his conclusions from this opening chapter exclusively, is likely to get a very false impression respecting the spirit and views of the writer. The chapter deals entirely with sin and its punishment, and, taken alone and apart, conveys undoubtedly a very strong conviction as to the terribleness and severity of God. The seer seems to linger in thought upon the coming judgments, and to reiterate these in every possible form, and even to exult in the retributions which should at length fall upon the sinful nation. His "song" appears to be altogether "of judgment." That we may rightly estimate, however, his spirit and teaching, we should remember:
1. That the great and solemn fact of Divine retribution for sin ought not to be ignored. Whatever theory may be held respecting the doom and destiny of the impenitent, the fact remains stamped on every page of the volume of revelation, in Old and New Testament alike, that sin shall result in chastisement, that man shall reap as he sows. The prophet in this respect is in perfect agreement with all the Bible writers.
2. That the prevailing corruption of his times necessitated a strong insistences, on the part of the prophets, upon the approaching judgments on account of national transgression; and this also was in harmony with the character of the dispensation.
3. That whilst sternly declaring the Divine punishment to fall upon the nation because of its sinfulness, Zephaniah also, as he proceeded, dwelt very frequently upon the Divine intention to purify through chastisement, and pointed out the gracious purpose of the Most High by means of coming tribulations to sanctify and save. His "song" was "of mercy" as well as "of judgment." Here, however (vers. 7-18), he dwells specially upon the Divine judgments, and points to "the great and notable day of the Lord," "the day of vengeance of our God." These judgments he sets forth
I IN STRIKING SYMBOL. (Ver. 7) Sacrifice was well understood in Jerusalem. Offerings were offered on Jewish altars to the true God, and, when the people had become corrupt, also to Baal. Jehovah now declared by his holy prophet that the people, having proved faithless, should themselves be sacrificed; they should be the victims, and the heathen who should effect their overthrow would, in so doing, be consecrated to his service. This symbol is used also in the same sense by other prophets. (Isa_34:6 Jer_46:10 Eze_39:17)
II IN VIVID DESCRIPTION. (Vers. 10-18) The prophet witnesses in imagination, and describes with realistic power, the coming siege and destruction of the city by the Chaldeans. He sees "the fish gate" (ver. 10), the weakest part, assaulted, and hears a loud cry (ver. 10), telling that it has fallen, and that the invaders have gained admission; whilst "the sound of wailing" coming from the inhabitants of the lower part of the city ("the second," ver. 10) intimates that, having gained an entrance, the foe is carrying on the work of destruction. "A great crashing from the hills" (ver. 10) indicates that the invaders, with their engines of war, are striking against the walls and forts. And as the work of invasion proceeds, he marks how it becomes concentrated upon the mercantile part of the city, "El-Wad," or "The Valley" (called by Zephaniah "Maktesh," or "The Mortar," ver. 11); the merchants being destroyed, their "silver" and "their goods" becoming "a booty;" their houses rendered a desolation, and their vineyards laid waste (vers. 11, 13).
III IN MOURNFUL SONG. (Vers. 14-18) Concerning this song it has been well said, "There are no grander verses, none more sombre and tragic, none in which terror is more picturesque, in the literature of the world. They call for little comment. They are to be felt rather than critically analyzed and explained" (Cox, in "Bible Educator," vol. 2:257). The expression, "the day of the Lord," so frequently used in this chapter, is employed in the New Testament with reference to the final judgment (Jud_1:6). That day will be a day of wrath to those who persist in working unrighteousness. (Rom_2:8, Rom_2:9) "Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men"; (2Co_5:11) "Be ye reconciled to. (2Co_5:20)
Vers. 7-13. "The day of the Lord"s sacrifice.
I THE INTENDED VICTIMS.
1. Their persons catalogued.
(1) The royal household. Josiah exempted on account of his piety (2Ki_22:19, 20 2Ch_34:27, 2Ch_34:28) a testimony at once to Divine faithfulness and to the superior advantage of godliness. (Psa_17:7 Psa_91:9, 10 2Pe_2:9 Rev_3:10) But included were the princes, or "the heads of the tribes and families who naturally filled the higher offices of state" (Keil); the king"s sons, either Josiah"s children, then quite young, Jehoiakim being six and Jehoahaz four years of age, and Zedekiah not yet born; or Josiah"s brothers and uncles who were also king"s sons; and the superior servants of the palace, who are probably referred to as those who "leap over the threshold and fill their masters" house with violence and deceit" (ver. 9).
(2) The rich merchants of Jerusalem. Described by their residence, their occupation, their prosperity, and their doom. The part of the city in which they were located, named most likely by the prophet himself, Maktesh, or "The Mortar," was "most probably the depression which ran down between Acra on the west, and Bezetha and Moriah on the cast, as far as the fountain of Shiloah" (Keil), "the cheese makers" valley" of Josephus, styled by the present day inhabitants El-Wad, or "The Valley." There they traded, lending money upon usury, and were called by the prophet "people of Canaan," because of their resemblance to Canaanitish or Phoenician merchants. With such success had they carried on their business, that they were "laden with silver." Yet were they doomed to be destroyed, ground to pieces, and bruised to death, by the Babylonian conquerors, like corn in a mortar when the pestle descendeth.
(3) The irreligious debauchees and rioters of the metropolis generally. Characterized as persons who had settled on their lees, and said in their hearts, "The Lord will not do good, neither will he do evil." (For an explanation of the figure, consult Exposition, and see homily on ver. 12.) The language pointed to those whose material. prosperity had been their moral and religious ruin, who, having grown wealthy and luxurious, had also become atheistical at least in practice, saying in their hearts, and acting as if they believed, that either there was no God at all, or if there were, that he was perfectly indifferent to their characters and conduct a form of infidelity that has seldom lacked representatives among foolish and ungodly. (Job_22:12-14 Psa_10:4 Psa_14:1, Psa_94:6, Psa_94:7)
2. Their sins specified.
(1) Of the royal household, two wearing foreign clothes and leaping over the threshold. The former referred to the custom of copying the dress and with that the manners and luxuries of heathen peoples, and in particular, in Josiah"s time, of Egypt and Assyria, or Babylon. Among the Egyptians "the dress of the king was most gorgeous, consisting of robes of the most beautiful stuffs and the richest ornaments" (Budge, "Dwellers on the Nile," p 181). Nahum (Nah_2:3) describes the Assyrian soldiery as arrayed "in scarlet;" while Ezekiel (Eze_23:12, Eze_23:15) depicts the Assyriam warriors as "clothed most gorgeously," and speaks of the Chaldeans as "girded with girdles upon their loins, exceeding in dyed attire upon their heads." Of course, the sin against which the prophet inveighed was not the mere adoption of Egyptian, Assyrian, or Babylonian habiliments, but the inclination to look to and lean upon, to follow after and copy, these nations in their luxuries and idolatries rather than to remain faithful to Jehovah"s Law and worship, which the imitation of their dress revealed. Clothes, according o Carlyle ("Sartor Resartus," 1:1), are "the vestural tissue which man"s soul wears as its outmost wrap-page and overall, wherein his whole other tissues are included and screened, his whole faculties work, his whole self lives, moves, and has its being." Hence a person"s dress is no mean indication of a person"s inner self. "Outward dress," says Pusey, "always betokens the inward mind, and in its turn acts upon it." In Isaiah"s tim, the Jerusalem ladies were distinguished for gay attire and wanton hearts. (Isa_3:23) Peter (1Pe_3:3) exhorts Christian women to adorn themselves," not with that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel, but with the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit." The latter of the two sins charged against the royal household, that of leaping over the threshold, is believed (Calvin, Keil, Ewald, Pusey, Farrar) to allude, not to the custom of leaping over the threshold of the king"s palace (Hitzig) in imitation of Dagoa"s priests, who, when they entered their idol"s temple in Ashdod, trode not upon its threshold; (1Sa_5:5) but to the practice, observed probably by "dishonourable servants of the king," of intruding into other people"s houses in order to deprive them of their property through violence and fraud, and with the spoils so obtained to enrich the king, whose dependants they were, and whose favour they desired to retain. Should this interpretation be correct, it suggests useful thoughts about the distribution of guilt, or the mutual responsibility of masters and servants for each other"s evil deeds. If the king"s servants merely carried out the orders of their royal master, they were no less criminal in Heaven"s sight than he; if they acted on their own motion, the king who profited by their plunder became a partner of their guilt.
(2) Of the merchants, also two avarice and usury. Had they been merely successful traders who, had prospered through honest dealing, they had not been condemned; but they were "laden with silver," acquired through nefarious practices such as deceit and usury. Wealth honourably obtained is no offence against Hearers, and, if righteously employed, may contribute to the happiness and influence of both the individual possessor and the community of which he is a member; riches heaped up by wicked arts are a curse to those who have them, and often go as they have come by violence and fraud. To "provide things honest in the sight of all men" (Rom_12:17) should be the aim of all, but especially of Christians. "On the bells of the horses of trade and commerce should be, Holiness unto the Lord". (Zec_14:20) Happy the nation "whose traffickers are the honourable of the earth". (Isa_23:8)
(3) Of the debauchees and rioters, two self-indulgence and infidelity. "Settled upon their lees," they abandoned themselves to the gratification of their sinful desires and corrupt inclinations, closed their minds and hearts against better things, and proceeded to daring and presumptuous unbelief, denying the Divine providence if not challenging the Divine existence. All sin tends to lead the soul away from God, to cause it first to shut out thoughts of God, and finally to conclude that God has ceased to be.
3. Their punishments proclaimed.
(1) The sinners of the royal house would be called to account for their iniquities. Though God seemed to be at a distance from them, like a man upon a far journey, he would return and visit upon them the evil deeds of which they had been guilty. Nations no more than individuals, and persons in high station no more than persons in low, can escape the just judgment of God. (Rom_2:3)
(2) The merchants would be despoiled of their unjust games, (Isa_33:1) and themselves overwhelmed with ruin. (Jer_17:11) If good men are sometimes deprived of wealth at a stroke, as Job was, and thus seem to have no advantage above their wicked neighbours, they are never, as these are, utterly undone by the loss of material possessions. In the fall of their houses they do not themselves perish, but find in God a Portion larger, more satisfying and secure, than their silver or gold. (Hab_3:17, Hab_3:18)
(3) The debauchees and rioters would be dragged forth from their darkest retreats and requited for their sensuality and unbelief. "The same diligence which Eternal Wisdom used to seek and to save that which was lost, lighting a candle and searching diligently till it find each lost piece of silver, the same shall Almighty God use that no hardened sinner shall escape" (Pusey).
II THE OFFICIATING PRIESTS.
1. Jehovah himself. "I will punish;" "I will punish; "I will search;" and "I will punish," saith the Lord. Whatever subordinate agents or secondary causes may be employed to inflict Divine vengeance upon rebellious nations and wicked men, the hand that directs these agents and wields these causes is God"s. He is "the Judge of all the earth", (Gen_18:25) and "shall judge the people righteously", (Psa_67:4) rendering to every man "according to his work". (Psa_62:11) He "shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil". (Ecc_12:14) "He hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world". (Act_17:31)
2. Jehovahs ministers. Described as his called and sanctified ones; i.e. not personally holy, but specially consecrated for the work to which they were appointed.
(1) In the case under consideration these were to be the Chaldean armies, which in little more than thirty years were to fall upon Jerusalem, and pour out upon it the vials of Jehovah"s wrath. (2Ch_36:16, 2Ch_36:17)
(2) In the world generally the events of his providence are the instruments selected for the execution of his victims. (Psa_111:7)
(3) The last minister of judgment will be his Son, into whose hands he hath committed all judgment, (Joh_5:22) and before whose tribunal all must appear. (2Co_5:10) To him belong the epithets "called" and "sanctified" in their highest sense.
III THE ENCOMPASSING SPECTATORS. The faithful remnant of Israel, those who still adhered to Jehovah and mourned as did Josiah, Jeremiah, and Zephaniah, Huldah the prophetess, Hilkiah the priest, and others, over the degenerate condition of the nation. So in the world still are God"s believing people called to witness, and often actually do witness, the execution of God"s judgments upon the ungodly. So in the last day, when the vials of Divine indignation will be outpoured upon the finally impenitent, the saints who have been counted worthy to attain Christ"s kingdom and glory will behold the appalling scene, as Abraham beheld the burning of the cities of the plain, and will say, "Hallelujah I salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God; for true and righteous are his judgments". (Rev_19:1, Rev_19:2)
IV THE RESULTING IMPRESSIONS. Pointed to in the solemn "Hush! be still" (ver. 7), with which the prophet opened his roll of woe. When he summoned the spectators to be silent before the face of Jehovah, he signified that silence was to be the effect produced upon their spirits by the spectacle they were about to witness. And this silence would be one:
1. Of awe; as they contemplated the overpowering revelation of the majesty of God, of his holiness and justice, of his power and fidelity, which would be afforded by his judgments upon the wicked.
2. Of submission; as they recognized the equity of those judgments by which sin was punished, the Divine Law vindicated, and God"s glory proclaimed.
3. Of amazement; as they marvelled how ever they who had once themselves been sinful, had through grace escaped those calamities which they saw overtaking the wicked.
Learn:
1. That God deals with men and nations upon the principle of moral retribution.
2. That neither national nor individual wickedness, if unrepented of, can evade its just recompense of reward.
3. That God"s judgments upon both will ultimately be approved by all. T.W.
The soul"s silences before the presence of the Lord.
I A SILENCE OF ADORATION. As becomes a creature in the presence of his Creator, (Zec_2:13 Hab_2:20) and a sinner in the presence of the Holy One. (Job_40:4)
II A SILENCE OF CONTEMPLATION. AS befits the soul in those moments in which God reveals himself in nature (Job_37:14) or in grace. (Gen_17:3 Exo_14:13)
III A SILENCE OF EXPECTATION. As a praying soul maintains when looking out for a response to his supplications, (Psa_62:1, Psa_62:5, margin) or a perplexed spirit when waiting for God to clear up the mystery of his providence. (Psa_37:7, margin)
IV A SILENCE OF SUBMISSION. As they preserve who recognize the ills of life to proceed from the hand of God. (Psa_39:2 Lam_3:28, Lam_3:29)
V A SILENCE OF APPROBATION. As God"s judgments will enforce upon all who behold them. T.W. (Psa_46:10)
Vers. 7-18. The day of war the day of horrors.
"Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord." These verses present a graphic and soul-stirring description of the horrid day of war which was about to dawn on the Hebrew land. It is called 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, a day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers." No more awful day than the day of war. It is a day when fiends are released from prison and let loose on earth, The war day is represented here
I AS A DAY OF ENORMOUS SACRIFICE. "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.
1. It is an enormous sacrifice of life. Several classes are referred to here as the victims of this war.
(1) Royalty. "I will punish the princes, and the king"s children, and. all such as and clothed with strangle apparel." The reference is here probably to the princes of the royal house, to the children of the king who would be on the throne at the time of the fulfilment of the prophecy. In 2Ki_25:7 it is said that Nebuchadnezzar slew the sons of King Zedekiah before his eyes. When the savage and bloodthirsty lions of war are let loose, they are regardless of all social distinction; they seize the princes as well as paupers. No class in society, perhaps, as a rule, deserve the destruction more than the rulers of the people. They for the most part create the wars, and often deserve to be struck down. Through all history they have generally been the war makers. War is their own child, and their child sometimes strikes them down.
(2) Another class referred to is the nobility. "In the same day also will I punish all those that leap on the threshold, which fill their masters" houses with violence and deceit." Some suppose that there is a reference here. to the Philistine custom of not treading on the "threshold," which arose from the head and hands of Dagon being cut off on the threshold before the ark. (1Sa_5:5) It scarcely matters; reckless men in power are referred to men that fill their masters" houses with violence and deceit. "The servants of princes," says Calvin, "who have gotten prey like hounds for their masters, leap exultingly on their masters" threshold, or on the threshold of the houses which they break into." War sometimes, and insurrectionary war always, strikes savagely at the higher classes. It plays sad havoc with aristocracies; it sets manors in flames, and treads coronets in the dust. (See another and more probable interpretation in the Exposition.)
(3) Another class referred to is that of the traders. "Howl, ye inhabitants of Maktesh, for all the merchant people are cut down: all they that bear silver are cut off." Some translate Maktesh, "Mortar," a name employed for the valley of Siloam, from its hollow shape. It was a valley at the eastern extremity of Moriah, where the merchants dwelt. The invading army seizes the wealth of the country. Greedy conquerors have always had a keen eye to this.
(4) Another class referred to is the masses. "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." This is not a bad description of the masses of people in all ages. They are:
(a) Unconspicuous. Pretty well all alike, they do not stand out in the country from the generality. War has no particular aim at them, though it strikes them indiscriminately; still, though unconspicuous, war will find them out. "I will search Jerusalem with candles.
(b) Religiously indifferent. "Settled on their lees." This means crusted, hardened, like wines long left at the bottom undisturbed. "That say in their heart, The Lord will not do good, neither will he do evil." Religious indifferentism has always been the leading characteristic of the masses. Note the sacrifice of life in all these classes the rulers and the ruled, the rich and the poor, the ignorant and the learned, the innocent and the guilty, the young and the old, all in war form one huge sacrifice of blood. It is overwhelmingly awful to think of the lives that have been sacrificed in war even since the year 1852. In the Crimean War (1854) it is estimated that 750, 000 fell; in the Italian War (1859), 45, 000; in the war at Schleswig-Holstein, 3000; in the American Civil War, 800, 000; in the war between Prussia, Austria, and Italy (1866), 45, 000; expeditions to Mexico, Cochin China, Morocco, Paraguay, 65, 000; in the Franco-German War, 215, 000; Turkey massacres in Bulgaria, 25, 000; total, 1, 948, 000. This is one of the sacrifices that war has made, not only in civilized lands, but even in Christendom during the last thirty-five years; and the perpetrators of these enormities call themselves Christians, professed disciples of him who said, "I came not to destroy men"s lives, but to save them." "If thine enemy hunger, feed him.
2. It is an enormous sacrifice of property. "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." Who can estimate the amount of property that the wars during the last thirty years have utterly destroyed? The Crimean War cost the Italian, the American Civil War, the Franco-Prussian, and the comparatively smaller wars, an amount altogether of a sufficient stun to supply every inhabitant of the globe, not only with the necessaries, but with the comforts and educational advantages of life. "Give me," says Stebbins, "the amount that has been spent in war, and I will purchase every foot of land of the globe. I will clothe every man, woman, and child in an attire that kings and queens might be proud of. I will build a school house upon every hillside and in every valley over the habitable earth. I will supply that school house with a competent teacher. I will build an academy in every town, and endow it; and a college in every state, and fill it with able professors. I will crown every hill with a church consecrated to the promulgation of the gospel of peace. I will support in its pulpit an able teacher of righteousness, so that on every sabbath morning the chime of one hill shall answer to the chime of another around the earth"s broad circumference; and the voice of prayer and the song of praise shall ascend like the smoke of a universal holocaust to heaven." To talk of the glories of war is to exult in the horrors of hell. I confess that a quivering seizes my nerves, and a chilly sadness comes over my spirits, when I hear men calling themselves Christians, especially ministers, uttering one word in favor of war, whether defensive or aggressive. The man who defends war defends the devil himself.
II AS A DAY OF DIVINE RETRIBUTION. All, these horrors of war are here represented as judgments from the Almighty. It is called the "day of the Lord." He is represented as having "prepared a sacrifice," referring to the awful sacrifice of life and property; as having summoned his guests the warriors, men of blood to battle. Indeed, it is called the "Lord"s sacrifice." He is represented as saying, "I will punish the princes;" "I will search Jerusalem with candles;" "I will bring distress upon men." And again, "The whole land shall be devoured by the fire" of his jealousy; "for he shall make even a speedy riddance." In Bible phraseology, the Almighty is often represented as the Author of that which he merely permits. He does not originate wars. The consciousness of warriors attests this. All the passions of greed, revenge, and ambition, whence all wars spring, are self generated in the breast of the man of blood. His moral constitution will not allow him to ascribe them to his Maker; he charges them on himself. He feels that he is not their Author, and he knows that they stand in awful contrast with the holy and beneficent will of the almighty Maker of the universe. He does not instigate these abominations, but allows, uses, and controls them. In using war as a punishment for sin, three things are to be observed.
1. That all who perish in war righteously deserve their fate. God says here, "I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned." War, in its most savage recklessness, does not strike one man down who has not sinned, and whose sin does not deserve death. The penalty of death that comes to men in war would, by the moral laws of the universe, come to them sooner or later in some other form. "It is appointed to all men once to die;" "The wages of sin is death.
2. That warriors, in executing the Divine justice, demonstrate the enormity of the evil requiring punishment. Where can sin be seen in aspects so complete in all that is morally horrific, outrageous, and infernal, as in the battlefield? No thoughtful man can gaze on it there without feeling that the righteous Governor of the universe, for the happiness of his creation, is bound to visit it with his hot displeasure.
3. War, as an officer of Divine justice, reveals the amazing freedom allowed to the sinner in this world, and Gods controlling power over hostile forces. Who will say that man is a slave when he sees the warrior going forth with a free step on a mission directly hostile to the beneficent laws of the universe, the moral institutions of his own nature, and the revealed will of Heaven? He allowed men even to put to death his own Son upon the cross. Here is liberty. Whilst human freedom is revealed, God"s controlling power is also most strikingly manifest. "He maketh the wrath of man to praise him." He has servants who serve him against their will, as well as servants who serve him with their will. Warriors and devils are of the former class. "Ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good"; (Gen_1:20) "I have raised thee up for to show in thee my power"; (Exo_9:16) "Let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus whom ye have crucified both Lord and Christ." Out of the wars and tumults of his enemies he will bring something glorious, a Lord and Christ. "Patiently received from thee, Evil cannot evil be; Evil is by evil healed, Evil is but good concealed? (Charles Wesley.) D.T.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv7, 8, 12, 14, 17 The day of the Lord is at hand.
Zep_1:7-18
The day of the Lord is at hand.
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The day of war, the day of horrors
The war day is represented here--
I. As a day of enormous sacrifice.
1. Sacrifice of life. Among several classes.
(1) Royalty.
(2) Nobility.
(3) Traders.
(4) The masses.
2. Sacrifice of property.
II. As a day of Divine retribution. All the horrors of war are here represented as judgments from the Almighty. In using war as a punishment for sin it may be observed--
1. That all who perish in war righteously deserve their fate.
2. That warriors, in executing the Divine justice, demonstrate the enormity of the evil requiring punishment.
3. War, as an officer of Divine justice, reveals the amazing freedom allowed to the sinner in this world, and Gods controlling power over hostile forces. (Homilist.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible 1887 · Public Domain On v15 Dies Ira, Dies Illa!- Zep_1:15
ZEPHANIAH
Dies Ira, Dies Illa!- Zep_1:15
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"His book is the first tinging of prophecy with apocalypse: that is the moment which it supplies in the history of Israels religion."
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On vv7, 10 Zep_1:7.] Judgment speedily comes. Hold] A summons to silent…
CRITICAL NOTES.]
Zep_1:7.] Judgment speedily comes. Hold] A summons to silent submission (Hab_2:20); the reason given, the day near. Sacrifice] of victims of justice (Isa_34:6; Jer_46:10); “nations consecrated to war, that they may consume Jacob” (Jer_10:25) [Keil]. Guests] Lit. sanctified those invited (cf. Isa_13:3; 1Sa_9:13-22; 1Sa_16:5).
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Zep_1:8. Princes] should have set an example of virtue, but imitated foreign oppressors. Strange] Peculiar vestments belonging to the worship of each idol (2Ki_10:22); a violation of law (Deu_22:5).
Zep_1:9. Leap] An idol rite practised in the temple of Dagon (1Sa_5:5). Fill] With goods obtained by violence. The servants of the princes were eager to rush out of the palace, seize the property of others to increase their master’s wealth.
HOMILETICS
PRUDENT SILENCE.—Zep_1:7
God’s anger is not easily seen, nor his words laid to heart, by those who are most concerned. Hence warnings are given time after time. Judgments are at hand, and though men will pursue their own folly, yet God has fixed a day of vengeance. Sinners therefore should tremble before the majesty of God, who can destroy the rebellious.
I. Hold thy peace, and do not murmur. Sinners murmur at their lot in life; at the threatening and punishment of God for their sins. They deny his right and his providence over men. The righteous feel condemned in God’s presence (Job_11:4; Psa_143:2), how much more should the wicked! They are warned, devoid of every plea and excuse. The voice of Divine judgment finds an echo in every heart, “we indeed justly” (Luk_23:41).
II. Hold thy peace, for God is present. He sees our ways, and hears our ingratitude. “Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts?” Hush! for if you would not like a friend or a prince to hear your words, why should God be offended with them? If at any time speech is silvern and silence golden, it is in the presence of the Great Judge.
III. Hold thy peace, for the day of decision is at hand. Things which perplex and astonish will soon be cleared up. “The day of the Lord is at hand,” and will speedily come (cf. Hab_2:20; Zec_2:13).
“Thought has not colours half so fair,
That she to paint that hour may dare,
In silence best adored” [Keble].
IV. Hold thy peace, and submit. Submission is the most becoming attitude. The praise of silence has its pre-eminent advocate in Carlyle, who writes: “Nay, in thy own mean perplexities, do thou thyself but hold thy tongue for one day: on the morrow, how much clearer are thy purposes and duties; what wreck and rubbish have those mute workmen within thee swept away, when intrusive noises were shut out.” “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].
THE DAY OF JEHOVAH’S SACRIFICE.—Zep_1:7-9
Judgment is described as a sacrifice. The Jewish people are prepared, and the nations whom God has called to war are invited to punish them. It is not a sacrifice of joy but of sorrow.
I. The feast is prepared. “The Lord hath prepared a sacrifice.” Such as set aside the means of grace and despise the regular offerings, only prepare themselves for sacrifice. When men do not repent of sin and offer themselves “a living sacrifice,” they will become victims of their own folly. Blessings are withdrawn, and judgments prepared for them. “The Lord hath a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Idumea.”
II. The guests are invited. “He hath bid his guests.” The nations whom God has sanctified or set apart are the guests. Nations and individuals, whatever their aims and passions, are called to execute God’s displeasure. There is a kind of awe about “the scourges of God.” They are sanctified sometimes in spite of themselves. The Chaldæans and the Romans, Caiaphas, Herod, and Pilate, are constrained to bear testimony to God. “I have commanded my sanctified ones, I have also called my mighty ones for mine anger.”
III. The sacrifices to be offered. The judgments will fall with equal severity upon all ranks.
1. The royal families. “The princes and the king’s children.” Great men often abuse their power, influence the people by their examples, and become chief in provocation. Royalty is not exempt from responsibility, and will be reckoned with for its pride and wickedness.
“A flatter’d prince soon turns the prince of fools” [Ben Jonson].
2. The noble servants. “All such as are clothed with strange apparel.” Apostate nobles and princes imitated royal families; mimicked the manners of the heathen, and adopted their costumes. “Their apparel indicated their treasonable leanings, their servility to alien monarchs, their addiction to heathen vices and superstitions.”
3. The servile retainers. These were more licentious and cruel than the masters they served, lived by plunder and extortion, and leaped out of their own stronghold to invade that of others. Great men often think that their will should be law, and employ servants to support their prodigality by fraud and violence. But the obligations to God are greater than the claims of any master.
THE LORD’S SACRIFICE.—Zep_1:7
I. The sacrifice which the Lord hath prepared. The sacrifice of Christ a subject at all times interesting. It is the believer’s feast and the sinner’s hope. It demonstrates the love of God. Man has sinned, the curse was upon him. A victim demanded, and must suffer to expiate sin. This sacrifice could not be provided by the wealth of kingdoms and the wisdom of schools. Angels could not prepare it. Must then man suffer? Silence all around, but the Eternal cries, “Deliver him from going down” (Job_33:24). Christ is the sacrifice offered to the world (Heb_9:26).
II. The guests whom God has invited to partake of his sacrifice. We are not left to conjecture who these are. Our Lord’s parable (Mat_22:1-10) and Peter’s vision inform us (Act_10:11-15; Act_10:34).
1. The Jews. God’s chosen people, favoured with his will. They had a variety of sacrifices, which set forth and typified Christ, pointed out their guilt and expiation of it by blood. They had messengers in succession to call them to repentance; but when Christ came they rejected, persecuted, and crucified him. Yet after all this enmity they were invited to the sacrifice (Luk_24:47).
2. The Gentiles. This sacrifice prepared for Jews and Gentiles, nations afar off, perishing for lack of knowledge. All mankind invited to the gospel feast (Isa_25:6-7; Luk_14:21-23). Christ gave himself for all people (Luk_2:10); was a propitiation for the sins of the whole world (1Jn_2:2). The gospel must be preached to the world, that all may be saved (Mar_15:15). Application.
1. All have sinned, need a sacrifice, mediator, and Saviour.
2. Such a Saviour is provided.
3. Pardon, holiness, and happiness may be obtained by all who rightly seek. Are you partakers of this great sacrifice? Come, sit with the guests, and take your place at the sacramental table. Do not waver nor doubt. If strangers, you are perishing. Feel your need, and apply now. Woe be unto you if you make light of it! “If he that despised Moses’ law,” &c. [Rev. Thos. Jackson].
HOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS
Zep_1:8. The strange apparel contrasted with the true garment, “the fine linen, clean and white,” granted unto the Church, which is “the righteousness of the saints” in Christ (Rev_19:8).
The dress may be taken as a witness to—
1. The care for externals.
2. The power of fashion.
3. The state of the mind.
4. The danger of luxury. Seneca complained that many in his time were more careful about attire than the welfare of the state. It is extreme folly to be too anxious about either material or fashion of dress, to sacrifice comfort for appearance, and necessities for luxuries.
“Care no more to clothe and eat” [Shakspears].
Zep_1:9. Those that leap. Those who serve their earthly masters with—
1. eagerness;
2. insolence; and
3. violence. Wealth thus gained is—
1. unlawful;
2. uncertain; and
3. Divinely cursed. “Here again all which remains is the sin. They enriched, as they thought, their masters, by art or by force: they schemed, plotted, robbed; they succeeded to their heart’s wish; but ‘ill-gotten, ill-spent.’ They filled their masters’ houses quite full; but wherewith?—with violence and deceit, which witnessed against them, and brought down the judgments of God upon them” [Pusey].
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 1
Zep_1:7-9. Sacrifice. The image was probably suggested by Isaiah’s words (Isa_34:6). Jeremiah subsequently uses it of the overthrow of Pharaoh at the Euphrates (Jer_46:10). Sanctified ones. By giving this title to God’s instruments against Judah, declares that themselves, having become in deeds like the heathen, were as heathen to him. Jeremiah reports the saying (Jer_22:6-7). That is, so far, a holy war in the purpose of God, who fulfils his will; hence Nebuchadnezzar was his servant (Jer_25:9), avenging his wrongs (cf. Joe_3:9; Mic_3:5) [Pusey].
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On vv7, 11 for the day of the Lord
for the day of the Lord
As in the other Prophets, the approaching invasion of Nebuchadnezzar is treated as an adumbration of the true day of the Lord in which all earth-judgments will culminate, to be followed by the restoration and blessing of Israel and the nations in the kingdom. See "Day of the Lord" Isa 2:10-22; Rev 19:11-21 "Israel"; Gen 12:2; Gen 12:3; Rom 11:26. CF. Joel 1, 2.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v11 The Extent of the Judgment
The Extent of the Judgment
v. 11. Howl, ye inhabitants of Maktesh, meaning the mortar, a small section of Jerusalem, so called because it presented a depression or hollow, for all the merchant people are cut down, entirely destroyed; all they that bear silver, the traders laden with silver, who occupied that part of the lower city, are cut off.
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v. 12. And it shall come to pass at that time that I will search Jerusalem with candles, investigating even the dark and hidden corners, so that not one of the wrong-doers is overlooked, and punish the men that are settled on their lees, like old wine which is not drawn off, a fit picture of moral and religious indifference, Jer 48:11, that say in their heart, The Lord will not do good, neither will He do evil, that is, there is no need of worry, matters will go on as they always have been.
v. 13. Therefore their goods shall become a booty, to be robbed by the enemies, and their houses a desolation, in the overthrow of the city; they shall also build houses, but not Inhabit them, the destruction taking place before they can move into them, and they shall plant vineyards, but not drink the wine thereof. Cf Amo 5:11; Mic 6:15.
v. 14. The great day of the Lord, the day of His mighty judgment, is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, there will be no further delay, even the voice of the day of the Lord, or, "Hark! the day of Jehovah"; the mighty man shall cry there bitterly, the hero crying in bitter lamentation, because he cannot save himself, and must yield to the power of the foe.
v. 15. That day is a day of wrath, Cf Isa 19:18, a day of trouble and distress, of anguish and pressure, Job 15:24, a day of wasteness and desolation, of the greatest devastation, a day of darkness and gloominess, Joe 2:2, a day of clouds and thick darkness, Deu 4:11,
v. 16. a day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, in proclaiming God’s power upon a sinful people, in the war-signal of desolation, and against the high towers, the battlements of the forts.
v. 17. And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, groping about in a futile effort to escape from existing evils, because they have sinned against the Lord; and their blood shall be poured out as dust, in endless quantities, and their flesh as the dung, which is not regarded.
v. 18. Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them In the day of the Lord’s wrath, they would not be able to buy themselves off when His fury is once set in motion; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of His jealousy, His indignation jealous for His honor; for He shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land, consuming them with a suddenness which they had not anticipated. Even so will the Day of Judgment come upon a world which, as a whole, is not prepared for the Lord’s last advent. Cf Mat 24:44
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv7, 10, 12, 14, 17 General Information:
General Information:
Verses Zep 1:2-18 refer to Yahweh's judgment. Verses Zep 1:4-16 describe Yahweh's judgment on the people of Judah.
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General Information:
In verses Zep 1:8-13, Yahweh is speaking. He alternates between using first person and speaking about himself in the third person. (See: First, Second, or Third Person)
Be silent
This is an idiom. Here silence is meant to signal shock and amazement. AT: "Be shocked" (See: Idiom)
Yahweh has prepared the sacrifice and set apart his guests
The people of Judah are spoken of as Yahweh's sacrifice, and the enemy nations are spoken of as his guests who would eat the sacrifice. This can be stated explicitly. AT: "Yahweh has prepared the people of Judah as a sacrifice, and invited the enemy nations as his guests" (See: Metaphor and Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
set apart his guests
Here "set apart" is an idiom that means he has invited them. (See: Idiom)
It will come about
This phrase is used to mark the point at which Yahweh's judgment of Judah will begin.
everyone dressed in foreign clothes
This phrase suggests that the Israelites wore clothes similar to the foreigners to show sympathy to their customs and to the worship of their foreign gods. AT: "everyone who worships foreign gods" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
On that day
"On the day of Yahweh"
all those who leap over the threshold
Possible meanings are 1) this is a reference to people who did not step on thresholds as part of their worship of a god called Dagan or 2) people who leapt up onto platforms to worship pagan idols or 3) royal officials who climbed the steps to the throne.
fill their master's house with violence and deceit
The abstract nouns "violence" and "deceit" can be stated as actions. AT: "those who do violent things and tell lies in the temples of their gods"
translationWords
Lord Yahweh
day of the Lord
sacrifice
set apart
punish
prince
king
lord
deceive
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv7, 8, 9, 10, 13, 14, 15, 17 1:7-18 The entire passage must be seen as one…
1:7-18 The entire passage must be seen as one vast event. Some aspects would be fulfilled at Jerusalem’s fall in 586 BC; others would be repeated in various historical epochs (such as the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70) until the whole prophecy is fulfilled at the end of time when God acts fully and finally to judge the world and renew creation (Rev 19:11–22:5).
1:7 has prepared his people for a great slaughter and has chosen their executioners: Foreigners will slaughter the wicked among the Lord’s people.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.