Zephaniah 3:3-4

3:3 Her princes are as fierce as roaring lions;

her rulers are as hungry as wolves in the desert,

who completely devour their prey by morning.

3:4 Her prophets are proud;

they are deceitful men.

Her priests defile what is holy;

they break God’s laws.


tn Or “officials.”

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

tn Traditionally “judges.”

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.

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.

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).

tn Or “defile the temple.”

tn Heb “they treat violently [the] law.”