Zephaniah 2:4

Introduction The prophet, having declared the judgments which were ready to fall on his people, earnestly exhorts them to repentance, that these judgments may be averted, Zep 2:1-3 . He then foretells the fate of other neighboring and hostile nations: the Philistines, Zep 2:4-7 ; Moabites and Ammonites, Zep 2:8-11 ; Ethiopians, Zep 2:12 ; and Assyrians, Zep 2:13 . In the close of the chapter we have a prophecy against Nineveh. These predictions were accomplished chiefly by the conquests of Nebuchadnezzar. Verse 1 Gather yourselves - Others, sift yourselves. Separate the chaff from the wheat, before the judgments of God fall upon you. O nation not desired - unlovely, not delighted in; hated because of your sin. The Israelites are addressed. Verse 3 Ye meek of the earth - ענוי anavey, ye oppressed and humbled of the land. It may be ye shall be hid - The sword has not a commission against you. Ask God, and he will be a refuge to you from the storm and from the tempest. Verse 4 Gaza shall be forsaken - This prophecy is against the Philistines. They had been greatly harassed by the kings of Egypt; but were completely ruined by Nebuchadnezzar, who took all Phoenicia from the Egyptians; and about the time of his taking Tyre, devastated all the seignories of the Philistines. This ruin we have seen foretold by the other prophets, and have already remarked its exact fulfillment. Verse 5 The sea-coasts, the nation of the Cherethites - The sea-coasts mean all the country lying on the Mediterranean coast from Egypt to Joppa and Gaza. The Cherethites - the Cretans who were probably a colony of the Phoenicians. See on 1Sam 30:14 (note), and Amo 9:7 (note). Verse 6 And the sea-coasts shall be dwellings - Newcome considers כרת keroth as a proper name, not cottages or folds. The Septuagint have Κρητη, Crete, and so has the Syriac. Abp. Secker notes, Alibi non extat כרת, et forte notat patriam των כרתים. "The word כרת is not found elsewhere, and probably it is the name of the country of the Cherethim." Verse 7 The coast shall be for the remnant - Several devastations fell on the Philistines. Gaza was ruined by the army of Alexander the Great, and the Maccabees finally accomplished all that was predicted by the prophets against this invariably wicked people. They lost their polity, and were at last obliged to receive circumcision. Verse 8 I have heard the reproach of Moab - God punished them for the cruel part they had taken in the persecutions of the Jews; for when they lay under the displeasure of God, these nations insulted them in the most provoking manner. See on Amo 1:13 (note), and Gen 19:25 (note); Deu 29:23 (note); Isa 13:19 (note); Isa 34:13 (note); Jer 49:18 (note); Jer 50:40 (note). Verse 9 The breeding of nettles - That is, their land shall become desolate, and be a place for nettles, thorns, etc., to flourish in, for want of cultivation. Verse 10 Because they have reproached - See on Zep 2:8 (note). Verse 11 He will famish all the gods of the earth - They shall have no more sacrifices; their worship shall be entirely destroyed. Idolaters supposed that their gods actually fed on the fumes and spirituous exhalations that arose from the burnt-offerings which they made unto their idols. It is in reference to this opinion that the Lord says, "He will famish all the gods of the land." Verse 12 Ye Ethiopians also - Nebuchadnezzar subdued these. See Jer 46:2 , Jer 46:9 ; Eze 30:4 , Eze 30:10 . See also on Amo 9:7 (note). Verse 13 He will - destroy Assyria - He will overthrow the empire, and Nineveh, their metropolitan city. See on Jonah and Nahum. 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." 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 34:11-14 (note), 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. "The spider holds the veil in the palace of Caesar: The owl stands sentinel in the watchtower of Afrasiab." Verse 15 This is the rejoicing city - The city in which mirth, jocularity, and pleasure, reigned without interruption. And wag his hand - Will point her out as a mark and monument of Divine displeasure.

For - It is time to seek God; for your neighbours, as well as you, shall be destroyed. Gaza - A chief city of the Philistines. They - The Babylonians. Shall drive - Into captivity. At the noon day - It shall be taken by force at noon.

The Punishment of the Philistines. ( b. c. 612.) 4 For Gaza shall be forsaken, and Ashkelon a desolation: they shall drive out Ashdod at the noon day, and Ekron shall be rooted up. 5 Woe unto the inhabitants of the sea coast, the nation of the Cherethites! the word of the Lord is against you; O Canaan, the land of the Philistines, I will even destroy thee, that there shall be no inhabitant. 6 And the sea coast shall be dwellings and cottages for shepherds, and folds for flocks. 7 And the coast shall be for the remnant of the house of Judah; they shall feed thereupon: in the houses of Ashkelon shall they lie down in the evening: for the Lord their God shall visit them, and turn away their captivity. The prophet here comes to foretel what share the neighbouring nations should have in the destruction made upon those parts of the world by Nebuchadnezzar and his victorious Chaldees, as others of the prophets did at that time, which is designed, 1. To awaken the people of the Jews, by making them sensible how strong, how deep, how large, the inundation of calamities should be, that the day of the Lord, which was near, might appear the more dreadful, and they might thereby be quickened to prepare for it as for a general deluge. 2. To comfort them with this thought, that their case, though sad, should not be singular ( Solamen miseris socios habuisse doloris — The wretched find it consolatory to have companions of their woe ), and much more with this, that though God had seemed to be their enemy, and to fight against them, yet he was still so far their friend, and an enemy to their enemies, that he resented, and would revenge, the indignities done them. In these verses we have the doom of the Philistines, who were near neighbours, and old enemies, to the people of Israel. Five lordships there were in that country; only four are here named— Gaza and Ashkelon, Ashdod and Ekron; Gath, the fifth, is not named, some think because it was now subject to Judah. They were the inhabitants of the sea-coasts ( v. 5 ), for their country lay upon the Great Sea. The nation of the Cherethites is here joined with them, which bordered upon them ( 1 Sam. xxx. 14 ) and fell with them, as is foretold also, Ezek. xxv. 16 . The Philistines' land is here called Canaan, for it belonged to that country which God gave to his people Israel, and was inserted in the grant made to them, Josh. xiii. 3 . This land is yet to be possessed ( five lords of the Philistines ), so that they wrongfully kept Israel out of the possession of it ( Judg. iii. 3 ), which is now remembered against them. For, though the rights of others may be long detained unjustly, the righteous God will at length avenge the wrong. I. It is here foretold that the Philistines, the usurpers, shall be dispossessed and quite extirpated. In general, here is a woe to them ( v. 5 ), which, coming from God, denotes all misery: The word of the Lord is against them —the word of the former prophets, which, though not yet accomplished, will be in its season, Isa. xiv. 31 . This word, now by this prophet, is against them. Note, Those are really in a woeful condition that have the word of the Lord against them, for no word of his shall fall to the ground. Those that rebel against the precepts of God's word shall have the threatenings of the word against them. The effect will be no less than their destruction, 1. God himself will be the author of it: " I will even destroy thee, who can make good what I say and will." 2. It shall be a universal destruction; it shall extend itself to all parts of the land, both city and country: Gaza shall be forsaken, though now a populous city. It was foretold ( Jer. xlvii. 6 ) that baldness should come upon Gaza; Alexander the Great razed that city, and we find ( Acts viii. 26 ) that Gaza was a desert. Ashkelon shall be a desolation, a pattern of desolation. Ashdod shall be driven out at noon-day; in the extremity of the scorching heat they shall have no shade, no shelter to protect them; but then, when most incommoded by the weather, they shall be forced away into captivity, which will be an aggravating circumstance of it. Ekron likewise shall be rooted up, that had been long taking root. The land of the Philistines shall be dispeopled; there shall be no inhabitant, v. 5 . God made the earth to be inhabited ( Isa. xlv. 18 ), otherwise he would have made it in vain; but, if men do not answer the end of their creation in serving God, it is just with God that the earth should not answer the end of its creation in serving them for a habitation; man's sin has sometimes subjected it to this vanity. 3. It shall be an utter destruction. The sea-coast, which used to be a harbour for ships and a habitation for merchants, shall now be deserted, and be only cottages for shepherds and folds for flocks ( v. 6 ), and then perhaps put to better use than when it was possessed by the lords of the Philistines. II. It is here foretold that the house of Judah, the rightful owners, shall recover the possession of it, v. 7 . The remnant of those that shall return out of captivity, when God visits them, shall be made to lie down in safety in the houses of Ashkelon, to lie down in the evening, when they are weary and sleepy. There they shall feed themselves and their flocks. Note, God will at length restore his people to their rights, though they may be long kept out from them.