1.
Woe to her that is filthy and polluted, to the oppressing city!
2.
She obeyed not the voice; she received not correction; she trusted not in the LORD; she drew not near to her God.
(2) Obeyed not the voice.—Better, hearkened not to the voice—i.e., of Jehovah, when He addresses her, as in Zephaniah 2:1-3. She trusts not in Jehovah, but in her own wealth (Zephaniah 1:12); she draws not nigh to her God, but to Baal and Moloch (Zephaniah 1:4-6).
3.
Her princes within her are roaring lions; her judges are evening wolves; they gnaw not the bones till the morrow.
(3) Till the morrow.—Better, on the morrow. The meaning is just the opposite to that given in the Authorised Version. They are so greedy that they devour their prey instantly, leaving no portion of it for the morrow.
4.
Her prophets are light and treacherous persons: her priests have polluted the sanctuary, they have done violence to the law.
(4) Light and treacherous persons.—Better, braggarts and men of treachery.
5.
The just LORD is in the midst thereof; he will not do iniquity: every morning doth he bring his judgment to light, he faileth not; but the unjust knoweth no shame.
6.
I have cut off the nations: their towers are desolate; I made their streets waste, that none passeth by: their cities are destroyed, so that there is no man, that there is none inhabitant.
(6) The nations.—Those that were destroyed by the agency of Israel on invading the Promised Land; those also which were cut off by the Assyrians and the other great powers whom God used as His instruments (Isaiah 37:26).
7.
I said, Surely thou wilt fear me, thou wilt receive instruction; so their dwelling should not be cut off, howsoever I punished them: but they rose early, and corrupted all their doings.
(7) I said, Surely thou wilt fear me . . .—Better, I said, Wouldest thou only fear me? wouldest thou receive correction? then should her dwelling-place not be destroyed, according to all that I have appointed for them; but they only speeded their infamous doings. Our Saviour’s lamentation over Jerusalem in Matthew 23:37 naturally suggests itself.
All that I have appointed—i.e., in the way of punishment.
8.
Therefore wait ye upon me, saith the LORD, until the day that I rise up to the prey: for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger: for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy.
9.
For then will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the LORD, to serve him with one consent.
(9) To the people.—Better, To the peoples, or nations.
A pure language.—The discord of Babel shall, as it were, give place to unity of language, when the worship of “gods many” shall yield to the pure service of Jehovah, whom men shall “with one mind and one mouth glorify.”
10.
From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia my suppliants, even the daughter of my dispersed, shall bring mine offering.
(10) The daughter of my dispersed.—i.e., dropping the Hebrew idiom, “my dispersed people.” Even from the southern limit of the known world shall the new Church draw adherents. The “dispersed people” are not Jewish exiles, but the Gentile tribes of the dispersion (of Genesis 11:8) which have been hitherto alienated from their Creator by ignorance and vice. Similarly, Caiaphas prophesies that Christ should not only die for the Jewish nation, but that “He should gather together in one” the children of God that “were scattered abroad” (John 11:51-52).
Bring mine offering.—The minchâh or bloodless oblation. The phrase here merely represents homage rendered to Jehovah as paramount. So in Malachi 1:11 it is foretold that “in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure minchâh.” In Isaiah 66:20, on the other hand, the Gentiles are represented as bringing the dispersed Jews back to Jerusalem “as a minchâh to Jehovah.” De Wette and others (wrongly, as we believe), give this passage the same force, rendering, “From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia shall men bring my suppliants, even my dispersed people, as my offering.”
11.
In that day shalt thou not be ashamed for all thy doings, wherein thou hast transgressed against me: for then I will take away out of the midst of thee them that rejoice in thy pride, and thou shalt no more be haughty because of my holy mountain.
(11) No more be haughty . . .—His very privileges—the adoption and the Shechinah, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the Temple service—had hitherto been used by the Jew as a pretext for obduracy. “We have Abraham for our father,” “The temple of the Lord are these:” such was their response to the preaching of repentance. The reinstated nation shall be purged of this spiritual pride.
12.
I will also leave in the midst of thee an afflicted and poor people, and they shall trust in the name of the LORD.
(12) Afflicted.—ânî, a condition which is likely to make them also “meek,” ânâv, instead of “haughty.”
13.
The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity, nor speak lies; neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth: for they shall feed and lie down, and none shall make them afraid.
14.
Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel; be glad and rejoice with all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem.
15.
The LORD hath taken away thy judgments, he hath cast out thine enemy: the king of Israel, even the LORD, is in the midst of thee: thou shalt not see evil any more.
(15) Taken away thy judgments.—i.e., removed what He had “appointed concerning them” (Zephaniah 3:7) in the way of punishments.
The king of Israel.—The recognition of Jehovah as king is elsewhere a prominent feature in the portraiture of the extended dispensation. Thus we have, “Say among the heathen that Jehovah is king” (Psalms 96:10). “Jehovah is king” (Psalms 93:1; Psalms 97:1; Psalms 99:1). “The kingdom shall be Jehovah’s” (Obadiah 1:21).
16.
In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem, Fear thou not: and to Zion, Let not thine hands be slack.
(16) Compare Isaiah 35:3-4; Isaiah 62:11, et seq.
17.
The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.
(17) He will rest . . .—Better, He will keep silence in His love; He will exult over thee with a shout of joy. Unutterable yearnings and outbursts of jubilant affection are both the expressions of sexual love. By a bold anthropomorphism, both are attributed to the Heavenly Bridegroom, as He gazes on “a glorious Church . . . holy, and without blemish.”
18.
I will gather them that are sorrowful for the solemn assembly, who are of thee, to whom the reproach of it was a burden.
(18) The festival of the accomplishment of salvations is represented under the figure of the joyous Feast of Tabernacles, as in Zechariah 14:16. None shall be impeded from attending on this joyous occasion, for the oppressors shall be overthrown (Zephaniah 3:19-20).
To whom the reproach of it was a burden.—Or, on whom reproach was a burden—i.e., on whom their exile, and consequent inability to attend at Jerusalem, had brought derision. On the construction, the Hebrew student may consult Hitzig or Kleinert.
19.
Behold, at that time I will undo all that afflict thee: and I will save her that halteth, and gather her that was driven out; and I will get them praise and fame in every land where they have been put to shame.
(19) I will undo.—Better, I will deal with, as in Ezekiel 23:25. The clauses following are based on Micah 4:6; Deuteronomy 26:19.
20.
At that time will I bring you again, even in the time that I gather you: for I will make you a name and a praise among all people of the earth, when I turn back your captivity before your eyes, saith the LORD.
(20) See Deuteronomy 30:3, et seq.