Herds will lie down in the middle of her, all the animals of the nations. Both the pelican and the porcupine will lodge in its capitals. Their calls will echo through the windows. Desolation will be in the thresholds, for he has laid bare the cedar beams.
Parallel Translations
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Herds will lie down in the middle of her, all the animals of the nations. Both the pelican and the porcupine will lodge in its capitals. Their calls will echo through the windows. Desolation will be in the thresholds, for he has laid bare the cedar beams.
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And flocks shall lie down in the midst of her, all the beasts of the nations: both the cormorant and the bittern shall lodge in the upper lintels of it; their voice shall sing in the windows; desolation shall be in the thresholds: for he shall uncover the cedar work.
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And all beasts of every kind shall lie down in the midst of her in herds; both the pelican and the bittern shall lodge in the capitals thereof; voices shall sing in the windows; desolation shall be in the posts; for the cedar-work thereof shall be uncovered.
Cross-references (7)
Passages linked to Zephaniah 2:14 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Isaiah 13:19-22 Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldeans’ pride, will be like when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. It will never be inhabited, neither will it be lived in from generation to generation. The Arabian will not pitch a tent there, neither will shepherds make their flocks lie down there. But wild animals of the desert will lie there, and their houses will be full of jackals. Ostriches will dwell there, and wild goats will frolic there. Wolves will cry in their fortresses, and jackals in the pleasant palaces. Her time is near to come, and her days will not be prolonged.
- Isaiah 34:11-17 But the pelican and the porcupine will possess it. The owl and the raven will dwell in it. He will stretch the line of confusion over it, and the plumb line of emptiness. They shall call its nobles to the kingdom, but none shall be there; and all its princes shall be nothing. Thorns will come up in its palaces, nettles and thistles in its fortresses; and it will be a habitation of jackals, a court for ostriches. The wild animals of the desert will meet with the wolves, and the wild goat will cry to his fellow. Yes, the night creature shall settle there, and shall find herself a place of rest. The arrow snake will make her nest there, and lay, hatch, and gather under her shade. Yes, the kites will be gathered there, every one with her mate. Search in the book of Yahweh, and read: not one of these will be missing. None will lack her mate. For my mouth has commanded, and his Spirit has gathered them. He has cast the lot for them, and his hand has divided it to them with a measuring line. They shall possess it forever. From generation to generation they will dwell in it.
- Jeremiah 22:14 who says, ‘I will build myself a wide house and spacious rooms,’ and cuts out windows for himself; with a cedar ceiling, and painted with red.
- Amos 9:1 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 pieces on the head of all of them; and I will kill the last of them with the sword: there shall not one of them flee away, and there shall not one of them escape.
- Isaiah 14:23 “I will also make it a possession for the porcupine, and pools of water. I will sweep it with the broom of destruction,” says Yahweh of Armies.
- Revelation 18:2 He cried with a mighty voice, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, and she has become a habitation of demons, a prison of every unclean spirit, and a prison of every unclean and hateful bird!
- Zephaniah 2:6 The sea coast will be pastures, with cottages for shepherds and folds for flocks.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (15 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain The Prophet describes here the state of the city…
The Prophet describes here the state of the city and the desolation of the country. He says, that the habitations of flocks would be in the midst of the city Nineveh. The city, we know, was populous; but while men were so many, there was no place for flocks, especially in the middle of a city so celebrated. Hence no common change is here described by the Prophet, when he says, that flocks would lie down in the middle of Nineveh; and he adds, all wild beasts. For beasts, which seek seclusion and shun the sight of men, are wont to come forth, when they find a country desolate and deserted; and they range then at large, as it is the case after a slaughter in war; and when any region is emptied of its inhabitants, the wolves, the lions, and other wild beasts, roam here and there at full liberty. So the Prophet says, that wild beasts would come from other parts and remote places, and find a place where Nineveh once stood. He adds that the bitterns, or the storks or the cuckoos, and similar wild birds would be there. As to their various kinds, I make no laborious research; for it is enough to know the Prophet’s design: besides, the Jews themselves, who boldly affirm that either the bittern or the stork is meant, yet adduce nothing that is certain. What, in short, this description means, is—that the place, which before a vast multitude of men inhabited, would become so forsaken, that wild beasts and nocturnal birds would be its only inhabitants.
But we must bear in mind what I have stated, that all these things were set before the Jews, that they might patiently bear their miseries, understanding that God would become their defender. For this is the only support that remains for us under very grievous evils, as Paul reminds us in the first chapter of the Second Epistle to the Thessalonians; for he says, that the time will come when the Lord shall give to us relief and refreshment, and that he will visit our adversaries with punishment 2 Thessalonians 1:6.
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The Prophet mentions especially Nineveh, that the Jews might know that there is nothing so great and splendid in the world which God does not esteem of less consequence than the salvation of his Church, as it is said in Isaiah, I will give Egypt as thy ransom. So God threatens the wealthiest city, that he might show how much he loved his chosen people. And the Jews could not have attributed this to their own worthiness; but the cause of so great a love depended on their gratuitous adoption. It afterwards follows—
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 Or, hedgehog.
Or, hedgehog.
Read Isa. 34:11.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Zep 2:14 And flocks shall lie down in the…
Zep 2:14 And flocks shall lie down in the midst of her, all the beasts of the nations: both the cormorant and the bittern shall lodge in the upper lintels of it; [their] voice shall sing in the windows; desolation [shall be] in the thresholds: for he shall uncover the cedar work.
Ver. 14. And flocks shall lie down in the midst of her, &c.] Here are various and vehement expressions of the dreadful face of her desolations. Omnia congerit quae vastitatem horribilem denotare solent, saith Gualther, because it was held a thing almost impossible that Nineveh should be destroyed. Hence that admiration of bystanders and beholders, Zep 2:15. But what can be impossible to the Almighty? and what will not he do for his Church’s cause and comfort? See Zep 2:6.
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All the beasts of the nations] Which shall come from far to haunt this new desert, beaudesert. See Isa 13:21-22, and observe that parallel texts, like glasses set one against another, do cast a mutual light. The lapidary brighteneth his hard diamond with the dust shaved from itself; so must we clear hard Scriptures.
Both the cormorant (or pelican) and the bittern] Those inauspicious birds of prey that are signs both of God’s curse and man’s misery, Isa 34:11. The former hath its name in Hebrew from vomiting, and seemeth, saith one, to be the same that we call the shovelard, which swallows shell fishes, and after vomiteth them to get the fish. The latter liveth about lakes, saith Pliny, and with her beak beateth the fish out of the shell with great vehemence.
Shall lodge in the upper lintels of it] Beautified with pomegranates, flowers, and other curious garnishes, as are wont to be seen at the porches of palaces.
Their voice shall sing in the windows] The black saints, as they say; where was wont to be heard all manner of music and melodious noises. Luxus cadet in luctum, their merry dances shall end in a miserable downfall.
Desolation shall be in the thresholds] Which were wont to be worn out with the abundance of clients and parasites tracing over them.
For he shall uncover the cedar work] i.e. God, or the enemy by God’s appointment, shall uncover the roof made of cedar, for better continuance. Cedar is strong and durable; and by reason of the dryness of it the timber chawneth not, rotteth not; yea, it hath a property to preserve other things from putrefication, saith Scribonius. The Ninevites raftered their houses with it, as they say the Africans do with whale bones. But now that God shall bare them and expose them to the injury of wind and weather, how can they stand? and what can be in the thresholds but desolation?
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 Nineveh shall be so razed that flocks of cattle…
Nineveh shall be so razed that flocks of cattle shall lie down in the midst of it, as before of the Philistines, Zep 2:6.
All the beasts of the nations; all sorts of beasts which are found in those countries, the tame under the girard of watching shepherds, and wild ones seeking their prey, will attend about those places.
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The cormorant and the bittern; birds that are solitary, and delight in desolate places, in reedy fens, where they seek their food, and are looked on as unlucky birds.
Shall lodge in the upper lintels; shall either make their nests there, or seek and choose their lodging there; they shall roost there in the night upon the pillars, or turrets, or pinnacles.
Their voice shall sing in the windows; these doleful creatures shall make a more doleful noise, that shall be all the music to be heard in their desolate windows.
Desolation shall be in the thresholds, the lowest part of their houses; from top to bottom nothing but wastes and ruin; instead of beautiful ladies looking out at windows and doors and singing, now cormorants and bitterns, and their doleful notes.
For he shall uncover the cedar work; or, when the Babylonian hath burnt the houses, or beat down the curious roofs and coverings of cedar, the beauty and the defence of their houses.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And flocks shall lie down in the midst of…
And flocks shall lie down in the midst of her In the midst of the city of Nineveh; in the streets of it, where houses stood, and people in great numbers walked; but now only should be seen the cottages of shepherds, and flocks of sheep feeding or lying down, as is before observed of the sea coast of the Philistines, ( Zephaniah 2:6 ) : all the beasts of the nations; that is, all sorts of beasts, especially wild beasts, in the several parts of the world, should come and dwell here; instead of kings and princes, nobles, merchants, and the great men thereof, who once here inhabited, now there should be beasts of prey, terrible to come nigh unto; for these are to be understood properly and literally, and not figuratively, of men, for their savageness and cruelty, comparable to beasts: both the cormorant and the bittern shall lodge in the upper lintels of it; of the doors of the houses in Nineveh: or, "on its pomegranates" {k}; the figures of these being often put on chapiters, turrets, pinnacles, pillars, and posts in buildings, and over porches of doors; and on these those melancholy and doleful creatures here mentioned, which delight in solitary places, should take up their abode. The "cormorant" is the same with the "corvus aquaticus", or "sea raven", about the size of a goose; it builds not only among rocks, but often on trees: what is called the "shagge" is a species of it, or the lesser cormorant, a water fowl common on our northern coasts; is somewhat larger than a common duck, and builds on trees as the common cormorant {l}. Bochart F13 takes it to be the "pelican" which is here meant; and indeed, whatever bird it is, it seems to have its name from vomiting; and this is what naturalists F14 observe of the pelican, that it swallows down shell fish, which, being kept awhile in its stomach, are heated, and then it casts them up, which then open easily, and it picks out the flesh of them: and it seems to delight in desolate places, since it is called the pelican of the wilderness, ( Psalms 102:6 ) . Isidore says F15 it is an Egyptian bird, dwelling in the desert by the river Nile, from whence it has its name; for it is called "canopus Aegyptus"; and the Vulgate Latin version renders the word here "onocrotalus", the same with the pelican; and Montanus translates it the "pelican"; and so do others. The "bittern" is a bird of the heron kind; it is much the size of a common heron; it is usually found in sedgy and reedy places near water, and sometimes in hedges; it makes a very remarkable noise, and, from the singularity of it, the common people imagine it sticks its beak in a reed or in the mud, in order to make it; hence it is sometimes called the "mire drum" F16. It is said it will sometimes make a noise like a bull, or the blowing of a horn, so as to be heard half a German mile, or one hour's journey; hence it is by some called "botaurus", as if "bootaurus", because it imitates the bellowing of a bull F17. The Tigurine version renders it the "castor" or "beaver" F18; but Bochart FOOTNOTES: F19 takes it to be the "hedgehog"; and so the word is rendered in the Vulgate Latin, Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic versions, and by others: which is a solitary creature, and drives away all other animals from society with it by its prickles: [their] voice shall sing in the windows: of desolate houses, the inhabitants being gone who used to be seen looking out of them; but now these creatures before named should dwell here, and utter their doleful sounds, who otherwise would not have come near them: desolation [shall be] in the thresholds; there being none to go in and out over them. The Septuagint version, and which is followed by the Vulgate Latin and Arabic versions, render it, "the ravens shall be in its gates": mistaking (bdh) , "desolation", for (bre) , "a raven": for he shall uncover the cedar work; the enemy Nebuchadnezzar, or Nabopolassar, when he should take the city, would unroof the houses panelled with cedar, and expose all the fine cedar work within to the inclemencies of the air, which would soon come to ruin. All these expressions are designed to set forth the utter ruin and destruction of this vast and populous city; and which was so utterly destroyed, as Lucian says, that there is no trace of it to be found; and, according to modern travellers, there are only heaps of rubbish to be seen, which are conjectured to be the ruins of this city; (See Gill on Nahum 1:8). F11 (hyrwtpkb) "in malogranatis ejus", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Tarnovius. F12 Vid Supplement to Chambers's Dictionary, in the words "Cormorant, Cornus Aquaticus", and "Shagge". F13 Hierozoic. par. 2. l. 1. c. 24. col. 294. F14 Aristot. Hist. Animal. l. 9. c. 10. Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 10. c. 40. Aelian de Animal. l. 3. c. 20. F15 Originum, l. 12. c. 7. F16 Supplement, ut supra (Chambers's Dictionary), in the word "Bittern". F17 Schotti Physica Curiosa, par. 2. l. 9. c. 24. p. 1160. F18 Vid. Fuller. Miscel. Saer. l. 1. c. 18. F19 Hierozoic. par. 1. l. 3. c. 36. col. 1036.
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 All the beasts - All sorts of beasts which…
All the beasts - All sorts of beasts which are found in those countries. The bittern - A bird that delights in desolate places.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 14. And flocks shall lie down in the…
Verse 14. And flocks shall lie down in the midst of her] Nineveh was so completely destroyed, that its situation is not at present even known. The present city of Mossoul is supposed to be in the vicinity of the place where this ancient city stood.
The cormorant קאת kaath; and the bittern, קפד kippod. These Newcome translates, "The pelican and the porcupine."
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Their voice shall sing in the windows] The windows shall be all demolished; wild fowl shall build their nests in them, and shall be seen coming from their sills, and the fine cedar ceilings shall be exposed to the weather, and by and by crumble to dust. See the note on Isa 34:11; Isa 34:14, where nearly the same terms are used.
I have in another place introduced a remarkable couplet quoted by Sir W. Jones from a Persian poet, which speaks of desolation in nearly the same terms.
[Persian]
[Persian]
"The spider holds the veil in the palace of Caesar:
The owl stands sentinel in the watchtower of Afrasiab."
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain And flocks shall lie down in the midst of…
And flocks shall lie down in the midst of her - No desolation is like that of decayed luxury. It preaches the nothingness of man, the fruitlessness of his toils, the fleetingness of his hopes and enjoyments, and their baffling when at their height. Grass in a court or on a once beaten road, much more, in a town, speaks of the passing away of what has been, that man was accustomed to be there, and is not, or is there less than he was. It leaves the feeling of void and forsakenness. But in Nineveh not a few tufts of grass here and there shall betoken desolation, it shall be one wild rank pasture, where “flocks” shall not feed only, but “lie down” as in their fold and continual resting place, not in the outskirts only or suburbs, but in the very center of her life and throng and busy activity, “in the midst of her,” and none shall fray them away. So Isaiah had said of the cities of Aroer, “they shall be for flocks, which shall lie down and none shall make them afraid” Isa 17:2, and of Judah until its restoration by Christ, that it should be “a joy of wild asses, a pasture of flocks” (Isa 32:14, compare Jer 6:2). And not only those which are wont to be found in some connection with man, but “all the beasts of a nation” , the troops of wild and savage and unclean beasts which shun the dwellings of man or are his enemies, these in troops have their lair there.
Both the cormorant and the bittern - They may be the same. The pelican retires inland to consume its food. Tristram, Houghton, in Smith’s Bible Dictionary, “Pelican” note. It could be a hedgehog.
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Shall lodge in the upper lintels of it. - The “chapiters” (English margin) or capitals of the pillars of the temples and palaces shall lie broken and strewn upon the ground, and among those desolate fragments of her pride shall unclean animals haunt. The pelican has its Hebrew name from vomiting. It vomits up the shells which it had swallowed whole, after they had been opened by the heat of the stomach, and so picks out the animal contained in them , the very image of greediness and uncleanness. It dwells also not in deserts only but near marshes, so that Nineveh is doubly waste.
A voice shall sing in the windows - In the midst of the desolation, the muteness of the hedgehog and the pensive loneliness of the solitary pelican, the musing spectator is even startled by the gladness of a bird, joyous in the existence which God has given it. Instead of the harmony of music and men-singers and women-singers in their palaces shall be the sweet music of some lonely bird, unconscious that it is sitting “in the windows” of those, at whose name the world grew pale, portions of the outer walls being all which remain of her palaces. “Desolation” shall be “in the thresholds,” sitting, as it were, in them; everywhere to be seen in them; the more, because unseen. Desolation is something oppressive; we “feel” its presence. There, as the warder watch and ward at the empty portals, where once was the fullest throng, shall “desolation sit,” that no one enter. “For He shall uncover (hath uncovered, English margin) the cedar-work:” in the roofless palaces, the carved “cedar-work” shall be laid open to wind and rain. Any one must have noticed, how piteous and dreary the decay of any house in a town looks, with the torn paper hanging uselessly on its walls. A poet of our own said niche beautiful ruins of a wasted monastery:
“For the gay beams of lightsome day
Gild, but to flout the ruins gray.”
But at Nineveh it is one of the mightiest cities of the world which thus lies waste, and the bared “cedar-work” had, in the days of its greatness, been carried off from the despoiled Lebanon or Hermon .
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 Bittern and the urchin. Hebrew kaath and kippod, are…
Bittern and the urchin. Hebrew kaath and kippod, are terms to us (Haydock) unknown. --- Threshold. Hebrew, "the pomegranates," supposed to be an ornament of the doors. --- Raven. Septuagint also read arb better than choreb, "the desolation or the sword." See Isaias xxxiv. 11. (Calmet) --- Chereb has both meanings, "a raven, or sword." (St. Jerome) --- I will. Hebrew, "he has uncovered her cedar," (Calmet) her fine palaces and apartments. Septuagint, "for the cedar is its height, (or pride) this is the city given to evils, that," &c. (Haydock)
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 flocks--of sheep; answering to "beasts" in the parallel clause.…
flocks--of sheep; answering to "beasts" in the parallel clause. Wide pastures for sheep and haunts for wild beasts shall be where once there was a teeming population (compare Zep 2:6). MAURER, needlessly for the parallelism, makes it "flocks of savage animals."
beasts of the nations--that is, beasts of the earth (Gen 1:24). Not as ROSENMULLER, "all kinds of beasts that form a nation," that is, gregarious beasts (Pro 30:25-26).
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cormorant--rather, the "pelican" (so Psa 102:6; Isa 34:11, Margin).
bittern-- (Isa 14:23). MAURER translates, "the hedgehog"; HENDERSON, "the porcupine."
upper lintels--rather, "the capitals of her columns," namely, in her temples and palaces [MAURER]. Or, "on the pomegranate-like knops at the tops of the houses" [GROTIUS].
their voice shall sing in the windows--The desert-frequenting birds' "voice in the windows" implies desolation reigning in the upper parts of the palaces, answering to "desolation . . . in the thresholds," that is, in the lower.
he shall uncover the cedar work--laying the cedar wainscoting on the walls, and beams of the ceiling, bare to wind and rain, the roof being torn off, and the windows and doors broken through. All this is designed as a consolation to the Jews that they may bear their calamities patiently, knowing that God will avenge them.
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 14. In the ruins desert animals will take up…
14. In the ruins desert animals will take up their abode.
Flocks — R.V., “herds.” A word used elsewhere only of animals tended by herdsmen, but since the rest of Zep_2:14 seems to be an expansion of the term, it must be used here of wild beasts and creatures of the desert. Wellhausen changes one letter and transposes two, which gives the name “Arabians.”
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All the beasts of the nations — Margin R.V., “all beasts of every kind”; LXX., “all the beasts of the field.” The common English translation is the most literal reproduction of the Hebrew text, but the meaning of the phrase is not clear. Some have understood “beasts” figuratively of wild and ferocious men, perhaps the shepherds of the flocks (but see preceding comment), as if the prophet wanted to say that wild men coming from different nations would lodge in the ruins of Nineveh. This figurative use of “beasts” is not very probable. The LXX. reading gives better sense, and we may be justified in altering the present Hebrew text to make it agree with it. The marginal translation also gives good sense, but to get it from the present Hebrew text is a difficult task. The present text may be retained, if we give to the word translated “nations” a meaning which it does not have ordinarily, “mass” or “swarms” (compare Joe_1:6; Pro_30:25), and render the whole phrase “all kinds of beasts in mass.” This, in apposition to the preceding “flocks,” would express the idea that great masses of desert animals of every kind will settle in the ruins of the destroyed city.
Cormorant — R.V., “pelican.” There is much uncertainty about the animals or birds mentioned in this verse. Undoubtedly all are such as are accustomed to inhabit ruins and desolate places. The translation of R.V. is generally accepted as correct (compare “pelican of the wilderness,” Psa_102:6). H. Duhm (Die bosen Geister im Alten Testament) sees here a reference to demons that were thought to dwell in ruins.
Bittern — R.V., “porcupine.” The latter is the meaning which LXX. gives to the word and is accepted by most commentators. The two words occur together in a similar description in Isa_34:11 (compare Isa_14:23).
The upper lintels — R.V., “capitals.” See on Amo_9:1. These capitals are thought of as lying on the ground, so that even porcupines can make their homes in them. “The seer has such a mass of ruins in view as Baalbek presents to-day; the giant capitals which encircled the buildings lie like broken cornstalks; on the other hand, the walls still stand in ruin, with desolate threshold and window, through which the wind whistles.”
Their voice will sing in the windows — Literally, a voice shall sing; or, better, since it is an exclamation, Hark! they sing! (See on Zep_1:14.) The prophet imagines himself standing in the midst of the ruins, and, hearing a voice, he exclaims, “Hark! they sing!” The subject of “sing” must be the creatures inhabiting the ruins; hence “sing” must be understood in the general sense of making a noise or uttering a sound, a meaning which the verb does not have ordinarily. Instead of “voice” (= hark) many read “owls”; the whole clause, “owls shall sing in the windows.” If the emendation suggested for the next clause is correct, a comparison with Isa_34:11, suggests that “owl” was read here originally. It is even possible that the two words translated “a voice shall sing” should be read as one, and that this one word is the corrupt form of a noun meaning “owls,” so that the whole clause would read, “owls shall be in the windows.”
Desolation shall be in the thresholds — LXX, reads, with a change of one letter, “ravens” for “desolation,” and this fits admirably in the context, “ravens shall be in the thresholds.”
For he shall uncover the cedar work — A much-discussed clause whose meaning is uncertain. It seems to state the reason why the city will become the habitation of desert birds and animals. “He shall uncover” might be understood in the indefinite sense “one shall uncover” — they shall uncover, that is, the enemies who will execute the divine judgment. The same verb is translated in Psa_137:7, “rase” (to the foundation), and implies destruction. The word translated “cedar work” occurs in this form only here; if original it must refer to the costly woodwork in the palaces and temples of Nineveh. In order to remove the peculiar form some change the vocalization so as to read “her cedar”=her cedar work, that is, the cedar work of the city. Others see in the word a corrupt form of a verb similar in meaning to the other verb, so that the whole clause would read, “they shall destroy, they shall ruse.” All these suggestions are more or less unsatisfactory, and much uncertainty remains; perhaps the text is in disorder.
Zep_2:15 contains a taunt-song over the fallen city.
This — The ruin inhabited by desert animals and birds.
The rejoicing city — R.V., “joyous.” Good fortune seemed to smile on Nineveh, hence all was joy and exultation.
Dwelt carelessly — Added to the natural strength of its site were extensive fortifications, so that the city seemed impregnable; in consequence her inhabitants were careless and boastful.
I am, and there is none beside me — Literally, I am, and none else (compare Isa_47:8). Her armies had conquered almost the whole known world, from all directions tribute and countless treasures were being brought to the city, hence there was some ground for the boast. But pride always comes before the fall. The glory of Nineveh will be turned into shame.
Desolation — See on Zep_2:13.
A place for beasts — See on Zep_2:14.
Shall hiss — An expression of derision and scorn (Mic_6:16; Jer_18:16).
Wag his hand — Also a gesture of scorn, equivalent to wag his head (Jer_18:16; compare Nah_3:19).
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 14. all the beasts of the nations] Sept. all…
14. all the beasts of the nations] Sept. all the beasts of the earth, as the phrase usually runs (Gen_1:24; Psa_79:2), or beasts of the field. The phrase seems to stand in apposition to flocks, the idea of which it expands. The word “flocks” seems nowhere to be used of wild creatures, but always of those tended by the shepherd. The term “beasts” is generally used of wild creatures, but in Isa_46:1 it is used of tame animals, and elsewhere of creatures in general. The term nation (here sing.) is used of locusts (Joe_1:6), just as “people” is used of the ants and conies (Pro_30:25-26), and many assume that it is so used here, rendering, all kinds of animals in crowds (Keil, R.V. marg.). The construction is against such a sense, and there seems no reason for departing from the ordinary meaning of nation. Nineveh shall be a common pasture for every tribe of people. On the other hand, Wellhausen appears to take “beasts” in a figurative sense, rendering a motley medley of people, the reference being to the tribes who own the flocks. But though “beasts” be sometimes used figuratively of peoples, when the idea is to be expressed that they shall attack and devour another people (Isa_56:9), in a passage like the present such a sense is entirely unnatural.
cormorant and the bittern] R.V. pelican and porcupine. The first word is usually supposed to denote the pelican (Deu_14:17; Isa_34:11; Psa_102:6). Sept. renders the second “hedgehog”; by others it is supposed to mean the bittern (Tristram). For upper lintels, marg. more literally: chapiters (so R.V.), that is, the carved tops of the pillars now flung to the ground, or of those still standing amidst the ruins.
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Their voice shall sing] lit. a voice that singeth = hark! they sing! The idea of “singing” is strange; Sept. takes the word in a more general sense of the cry of birds or wild creatures.
desolation shall be in the thresholds] Instead of “desolation,” Sept. (with difference of one letter) reads ravens, a reading which many follow. Cf. Isa_34:11.
uncover the cedar work] The text is probably in disorder. The term “uncover” is that rendered rase to the foundation, Psa_137:7 (see on Hab_3:13). The supposed form rendered “cedar work” does not occur elsewhere. The slightest possible change in pointing would give her cedar, which might mean, her cedar work. The word, however, might possibly be some form of the verb to make lean (Zep_2:11), either 1 pers. impf., I will make her void and rase her, or with Aramaic spelling (as Isa_63:3), 3 pers. perf., they shall make (lit. have made) her void and rase her, which is equivalent to the passive she shall be made void, &c. But all this is little satisfactory.
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 (14) Both the cormorant. . . .—Better, Both the…
(14) Both the cormorant. . . .—Better, Both the pelican and the hedgehog shall lodge on her pillar capitals, these lying strewn upon the ground.
Their voice.—Better, The voice [of the bird] shall sing in the windows. “In the midst of the desolation, the muteness of the hedgehog, and the pensive loneliness of the solitary pelican, the musing spectator is startled by the glad strain of some song bird, unconscious that it is sitting in the windows of those at whose name the world grew pale” (Pusey). This description of desolation extends even to the cedar panelling of the roofless walls, which is to be laid open to wind and rain.
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 Flocks; herds. The prophet describes graphically the desolation mentioned…
Flocks; herds. The prophet describes graphically the desolation mentioned in the preceding verse. The "herds" are not sheep and cattle, as in parallel cases, (Isa_17:2 Isa_27:10 Isa_32:14) but all the beasts of the nations all the wild beasts that infest the country. Septuagint, panta ta yhria thv ghv . The Hebrew will hardly hear Keil"s rendering, "all kinds of beasts in crowds." (Compare similar predictions, Isa_13:21 Isa_34:11, Isa_34:14) The cormorant (kaath); probably the pelican; Vulgate, onocrotalus; the Septuagint gives, camaileontev , which word Schleusner thinks to have been interchanged with korakev that follows soon afterwards. Bat in the latter place Jerome has corvus. The pelican is found in the Assyrian monuments tinder more than one appellation (see "Transact. of See. of Bibl. Archaeol.," 8:93, etc., and 141). The bittern (kippod). Most recent critics translate this by "hedgehog" or "porcupine." The Septuagint has, ecinoi : the Vulgate, ericius. But neither hedgehog nor porcupine utters cries or frequents pools of water, and it may well be doubted whether some marsh-loving bird is not meant. Certainly the following clause suits the habits of a bird better than those of a hedgehog (see "Bible Educator," 3:312, where Dr. Tristram is quoted saying, "As a matter of fact, the bittern is very abundant in these swamps of the Tigris, and in all the marshy grounds of Syria; and its strange booming note, disturbing the stillness of the night, gives an idea of desolation which nothing but the wail of the hyena can equal"). No notice of the bittern seems to be found in the Assyrian monuments, though the mention of the heron is not uncommon. The kaath and kippod are commonly mentioned together, e.g. Isaiah 34. II The upper lintels; " the capitals" of the columns. (see note on Amo_9:1, where the same word kaphtor is used) Their voice shall sing in the windows; literally, the voice of the songster in the window. Birds shall perch and sing in the apertures of the ruined palaces. Vulgate, Vox cantantis in fenestra; the LXX has, Yhria fwnhsei en, toiv diorugmasin authv , "Wild beasts shall cry in the breaches thereof." Others translate, "Hark! it singeth in the windows." There are no traces of windows in any of the Assyrian palaces, even in the ease of chambers next the outer walls. If daylight were admitted, it must have entered through openings in the ceilings (Layard, "Nineveh." 2:260). Desolation shall be in the thresholds. The word rendered "desolation" (chorebh) Jerome notes may be read as meaning "sword," "drought" and "raven;" he adopts the last signification, and translates, in agreement with the LXX, corvus. But it seems best to take the term as signifying "desolation;" no human creature shall be found there, only ruin and rubbish. Ewald renders, "Owls shall sing in the windows, crows on the threshold, "shivered. crushed. For he shall uncover (he hath laid bare) the cedar work. God, or the enemy, has so destroyed the palaces that the cedar panelling is exposed to the weather. Jerome has, "Attenuabo robur ejus." We see by Sennacherib"s boast (Isa_37:24) that the Assyrians imported cedars for building purposes. And we have monumental evidence of the employment of cedar in palaces at least since the time of Assurnazirpal, B.C. 860. Esar-haddon reports that he received cypress and cedar from Lebanon as tribute; and Assurbanipal states that in erecting his palace he used cedar pillars from Sirjon and Lebanon (Schrader, "Die Keilinschrift. und Alt. Test.," pp. 183, 453). Neriglissar, King of Babylon, B.C. 559, in rebuilding his palace, records that he "arranged tall cedars forits roof" ("Records of the Past," 5:142).
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 2:14 To drive home his point about Nineveh’s fate,…
2:14 To drive home his point about Nineveh’s fate, Zephaniah invokes powerful imagery: Rubble would fill the doorways through which the wealthy and powerful of Nineveh had once walked. The eerie sounds of owls hooting in empty windows would punctuate the city’s desolation.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.