Bible Commentaries
Zephaniah 1

Verse 1

Zep 1:1. Word of the Lord came unto Zephaniah denotes that the prophet wrote by inspiration of God. Days of Josiah definitely gives us the date of the book which was near the end of the kingdom of Judah.

Verse 2

Zep 1:2. Utterly consume means to remove the things from the land.

Verse 3

Zep 1:3. Consume still means to remove, although it is used somewhat figuratively with reference to dumb creatures, for we know from history that there was no actual disturbance of such things. But by removing the people from the land it removed them from all use of them. The idols were the chief stumblingblocks of God's people so that is what is meant that would be removed. History shows that Israel never committed idolatry after the return from captivity.

Verse 4

Zep 1:4. Jerusalem was the capital of Judah and it was doomed to be taken into captivity out off the remnant of Baal refers directly to the idols and they were to be cut off even before the people were removed. (See 2Ki 23:4-5.)

Verse 5

Zep 1:5. Host of heaven upon the housetops refers to the worship of the stars, and the people went to their housetops for that practice. Swear by the Lord and by Malcham (national idol of the Ammonites) means they tried to mix the idolatrous worship with that at the true God of Israel.

Verse 6

Zep 1:6. Cut off is still the verb that tells what is to happen to certain evil characters. Turned back from the Lord means those who proved unfaithful to Him and directed their attention to idols. These persons did not seek information from the Lord nor even make any inquiry after Him.

Verse 7

Zep 1:7. Hold thy peace has about the same force as the bid for "silence" in Hab 2:20. Day ot the Lord means the day of judgment against Judah when she was to be taken into captivity. Prepared a sacrifice Is figurative and refers to the turning over of Judah to the Babylonians. Bid his Guests. When a man makes a feast he invites a number of guests, and in like manner the Lord bids the whole world to behold the judgments about to be sent upon a disobedient people.

Verse 8

Zep 1:8. The leaders in Jerusalem were chiefly responsible for the corruptions of the nation and they are given special notice here.

Verse 9

Zep 1:9. Leap on the threshold means those who enter the houses or their abominable masters and thus endorse them in their evil way of ltfe.

Verse 10

Zep 1:10. The gates and hills are mentioned which indicates that the tumult to be caused by the Invasion would be general.

Verse 11

Zep 1:11. Maktesh was a spot in Jerusalem that was evidently a commercial center. The traffic had become quite estionable and the merchants were to be punished for it which is the reason they are told to howl.

Verse 12

Zep 1:12. Candles should not convey the thought of a weak light because such articles in ancient times were not made as they are today. The original word means something that would furnish a searchIng light. Lees are the settlings of wine that has become fixed and undisturbed. It is used figuratively to indicate the feeling of satisfaction that the leading men in Jerusalem had in spite of the warning predictions of the prophets that a calamity was soon coming upon the city. Not do good or evil means that they did not believe that the Lord was really going to do anything about the situation. They had lulled the peopIe into a state of indifference as to their conduct by the false prophecies of peace made to them by the corrupt teachers.

Verse 13

Zep 1:13. This verse is a prediction of the invasion from the Babylonian army that was to take possession of the property of the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

Verse 14

Zep 1:14. The great day of the Lord is near. Zephaniah wrote this in the days of Josiah which was less than a quarter of a century before the captivIty.

Verse 15

Zep 1:15. This verse describes the terrible conditions that came upon the land at the siege and capture of Judah by the Babylonian army. The fulfiIlment of the prediction is recorded in 2 Kings 24, 25.

Verse 16

Zep 1:16. The trumpet was sounded in a time of war and this is a prediction of such an occasion. Fenced cities were those that were walled and fortified, but all such means of protection or defence were destined to prove insufficient.

Verse 17

Zep 1:17. This verse is a description of the humiliation to come upon the men of Judah when the Babylonians came against the land. The reason for all this terrible judgment is expressed by the words because they have sinned against the Lord.

Verse 18

Zep 1:18. Sometimes a victorious army can be induced to make peace by the offer of money. But the Babylonians were not wanting that, instead they were bent on the subjugation of the city of Jerusalem and its surrounding territory.