Zephaniah 3

[3:1]  ¹  tn The present translation assumes מֹרְאָה (mor’ah) is derived from רֹאִי (ro’i,“excrement”; see Jastrow 1436 s.v. רֳאִי). The following participle, “stained,” supports this interpretation (cf. NEB “filthy and foul”; NRSV “soiled, defiled”). Another option is to derive the form from מָרָה (marah, “to rebel”); in this case the term should be translated “rebellious” (cf. NASB, NIV “rebellious and defiled”). This idea is supported by v. 2. For discussion of the two options, see HALOT 630 s.v. I מרא and J. J. M. Roberts, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah (OTL), 206.

[3:1]  ²  tn Heb “Woe, soiled and stained one, oppressive city.” The verb “is finished” is supplied in the second line. On the Hebrew word הוֹי (hoy, “ah, woe”), see the note on the word “dead” in 2:5.

  sn The following verses show that Jerusalem, personified as a woman (“she”), is the referent.

[3:2]  ³  tn Heb “she does not hear a voice” Refusing to listen is equated with disobedience.

[3:2]  ⁴  tn Heb “she does not receive correction.” The Hebrew phrase, when negated, refers elsewhere to rejecting verbal advice (Jer 17:23; 32:33; 35:13) and refusing to learn from experience (Jer 2:30; 5:3).

[3:2]  ⁵  tn Heb “draw near to.” The present translation assumes that the expression “draw near to” refers to seeking God’s will (see 1 Sam 14:36).

[3:3]  ⁶  tn Or “officials.”

[3:3]  ⁷  tn Heb “her princes in her midst are roaring lions.” The metaphor has been translated as a simile (“as fierce as”) for clarity.

[3:3]  ⁸  tn Traditionally “judges.”

[3:3]  ⁹  tn Heb “her judges [are] wolves of the evening,” that is, wolves that prowl at night. The translation assumes an emendation to עֲרָבָה (’aravah, “desert”). For a discussion of this and other options, see Adele Berlin, Zephaniah (AB 25A), 128. The metaphor has been translated as a simile (“as hungry as”) for clarity.

[3:3]  ¹⁰  tn Heb “they do not gnaw [a bone] at morning.” The precise meaning of the line is unclear. The statement may mean these wolves devour their prey so completely that not even a bone is left to gnaw by the time morning arrives. For a discussion of this and other options, see Adele Berlin, Zephaniah (AB 25A), 129.

[3:4]  ¹¹  sn Applied to prophets, the word פֹּחֲזִים (pokhazim, “proud”) probably refers to their audacity in passing off their own words as genuine prophecies from the Lord (see Jer 23:32).

[3:4]  ¹²  tn Or “defile the temple.”

  sn These priests defile what is holy by not observing the proper distinctions between what is ritually clean and unclean (see Ezek 22:26).

[3:4]  ¹³  tn Heb “they treat violently [the] law.”

[3:5]  ¹⁴  tn The word “resides” is supplied for clarification.

[3:5]  ¹⁵  tn Or “he does no injustice.”

[3:5]  ¹⁶  tn Heb “gives”; or “dispenses.”

[3:5]  ¹⁷  tn Heb “at the light he is not missing.” Note that NASB (which capitalizes pronouns referring to Deity) has divided the lines differently: “Every morning He brings His justice to light; // He does not fail.”

[3:6]  ¹⁸  tn Heb “cut off.”

[3:6]  ¹⁹  tn Heb “corner towers”; NEB, NRSV “battlements.”

[3:6]  ²⁰  tn This Hebrew verb (צָדָה, tsadah) occurs only here in the OT, but its meaning is established from the context and from an Aramaic cognate.

[3:6]  ²¹  tn Heb “so that there is no man, without inhabitant.”

[3:7]  ²²  tn Heb “said.”

[3:7]  ²³  tn Or “fear.” The second person verb form (“you will respect”) is feminine singular, indicating that personified Jerusalem is addressed.

  sn God’s judgment of the nations (v. 6) was an object lesson for Israel’s benefit.

[3:7]  ²⁴  tn Or “dwelling place.”

[3:7]  ²⁵  tn Heb “cut off.”

[3:7]  ²⁶  tn Heb “all which I have punished her.” The precise meaning of this statement and its relationship to what precedes are unclear.

[3:7]  ²⁷  tn Heb “But they got up early, they made corrupt all their actions.” The phrase “they got up early” probably refers to their eagerness to engage in sinful activities.

[3:8]  ²⁸  tn The second person verb form (“you must wait patiently”) is masculine plural, indicating that a group is being addressed. Perhaps the humble individuals addressed earlier (see 2:3) are in view. Because of Jerusalem’s sin, they must patiently wait for judgment to pass before their vindication arrives.

[3:8]  ²⁹  tn Heb “when I arise for plunder.” The present translation takes עַד (’ad) as “plunder.” Some, following the LXX, repoint the term עֵד (’ed) and translate, “as a witness” (cf. NASB, NIV, NRSV). In this case the Lord uses a legal metaphor to picture himself as testifying against his enemies. Adele Berlin takes לְעַד (lÿ’ad) in a temporal sense (“forever”) and translates “once and for all” (Zephaniah [AB 25A], 133).

[3:8]  ³⁰  tn Heb “for my decision is.”

[3:8]  ³¹  tn Or “certainly.”

[3:9]  ³²  tn Heb “Certainly [or perhaps, “For”] then I will restore to the nations a pure lip.”

  sn I will then enable the nations to give me acceptable praise. This apparently refers to a time when the nations will reject their false idol-gods and offer genuine praise to the one true God.

[3:9]  ³³  tn Heb “so that all of them will call on the name of the Lord.”

[3:9]  ³⁴  tn Heb “so that [they] will serve him [with] one shoulder.”

[3:10]  ³⁵  tn Or “Nubia”; Heb “Cush.” “Cush” is traditionally assumed to refer to the region south of Egypt, i.e. Nubia or northern Sudan, referred to as “Ethiopia” by classical authors (not the more recent Abyssinia).

[3:10]  ³⁶  tn Heb “those who pray to me, the daughter of my dispersed ones.” The meaning of the phrase is unclear. Perhaps the text is corrupt at this point or a proper name should be understood. For a discussion of various options see Adele Berlin, Zephaniah (AB 25A), 134-35.

  sn It is not certain if those who pray to me refers to the converted nations or to God’s exiled covenant people.

[3:11]  ³⁷  sn The second person verbs and pronouns are feminine singular, indicating that personified Jerusalem is addressed here.

[3:11]  ³⁸  tn Heb “In that day you not be ashamed because of all your actions, [in] which you rebelled against me.”

[3:11]  ³⁹  tn Heb “the arrogant ones of your pride.”

[3:12]  ⁴⁰  tn Heb “needy and poor people.” The terms often refer to a socioeconomic group, but here they may refer to those who are humble in a spiritual sense.

[3:12]  ⁴¹  tn Heb “and they will take refuge in the name of the Lord.”

  sn Safety in the Lord’s presence. From the time the Lord introduced his special covenant name (Yahweh) to Moses, it served as a reminder of his protective presence as Israel’s faithful deliverer.

[3:13]  ⁴²  tn Or “the remnant of Israel.”

[3:13]  ⁴³  tn The words “peacefully like sheep” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[3:14]  ⁴⁴  sn This phrase is used as an epithet for the city and the nation. “Daughter” may seem extraneous in English but consciously joins the various epithets and metaphors of Israel and Jerusalem as a woman, a device used to evoke sympathy from the reader.

[3:15]  ⁴⁵  tn Heb “your judgments,” that is, “the judgments directed against you.” The translation reflects the implications of the parallelism.

[3:16]  ⁴⁶  tn Heb “it will be said.” The passive construction has been translated as active for stylistic reasons.

[3:16]  ⁴⁷  tn Heb “your hands must not go limp.”

[3:17]  ⁴⁸  tn Heb “he rejoices over you with joy.”

[3:17]  ⁴⁹  tc The MT reads, “he is silent in his love,” but this makes no sense in light of the immediately preceding and following lines. Some take the Hiphil verb form as causative (see Job 11:3) rather than intransitive and translate, “he causes [you] to be silent by his love,” that is, “he soothes [you] by his love.” The present translation follows the LXX and assumes an original reading יְחַדֵּשׁ (yÿkhaddesh, “he renews”) with ellipsis of the object (“you”).

[3:17]  ⁵⁰  tn Heb “he rejoices over you with a shout of joy.”

[3:18]  ⁵¹  tn Heb “The ones grieving from an assembly I gathered from you they were, tribute upon her, a reproach.” Any translation of this difficult verse must be provisional at best. The present translation assumes three things: (1) The preposition מִן (min) prefixed to “assembly” is causal (the individuals are sorrowing because of the assemblies or festivals they are no longer able to hold). (2) מַשְׂאֵת (mas’et) means “tribute” and refers to the exiled people being treated as the spoils of warfare (see R. D. Patterson, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah [WEC], 385-86). (3) The third feminine singular suffix refers to personified Jerusalem, which is addressed earlier in the verse (the pronominal suffix in “from you” is second feminine singular). For other interpretive options see Adele Berlin, Zephaniah (AB 25A), 146.

[3:19]  ⁵²  tn The word “sheep” is supplied for clarification. As in Mic 4:6-7, the exiles are here pictured as injured and scattered sheep whom the divine shepherd rescues from danger.

[3:19]  ⁵³  tn Heb “I will make them into praise and a name, in all the earth, their shame.” The present translation assumes that “their shame” specifies “them” and that “name” stands here for a good reputation.

[3:20]  ⁵⁴  tn In this line the second person pronoun is masculine plural, indicating that the exiles are addressed.

[3:20]  ⁵⁵  tn Or “for.”

[3:20]  ⁵⁶  tn Heb “I will make you into a name and praise among all the peoples of the earth.” Here the word “name” carries the nuance of “good reputation.”

[3:20]  ⁵⁷  tn Heb “when I restore your fortunes to your eyes.” See the note on the phrase “restore them” in 2:7.