Exodus 25:15-17

25:15 The poles must remain in the rings of the ark; they must not be removed from it. 25:16 You are to put into the ark the testimony ¹  that I will give to you.

25:17 “You are to make an atonement lid ²  of pure gold; ³  its length is to be three feet nine inches, and its width is to be two feet three inches.

Amos 1:6-8

1:6 This is what the Lord says:

“Because Gaza ⁴  has committed three crimes ⁵  –

make that four! ⁶  – I will not revoke my decree of judgment. ⁷ 

They deported a whole community ⁸  and sold them ⁹  to Edom.

1:7 So I will set Gaza’s city wall ¹⁰  on fire;

fire ¹¹  will consume her fortresses.

1:8 I will remove ¹²  the ruler ¹³  from Ashdod, ¹⁴ 

the one who holds the royal scepter from Ashkelon. ¹⁵ 

I will strike Ekron ¹⁶  with my hand; ¹⁷ 

the rest of the Philistines will also die.” ¹⁸ 

The sovereign Lord has spoken!

Zephaniah 2:4-7

Judgment on Surrounding Nations

2:4 Indeed, ¹⁹  Gaza will be deserted ²⁰ 

and Ashkelon will become a heap of ruins. ²¹ 

Invaders will drive away the people of Ashdod by noon, ²² 

and Ekron will be overthrown. ²³ 

2:5 Those who live by the sea, the people who came from Crete, ²⁴  are as good as dead. ²⁵ 

The Lord has decreed your downfall, ²⁶  Canaan, land of the Philistines:

“I will destroy everyone who lives there!” ²⁷ 

2:6 The seacoast ²⁸  will be used as pasture lands ²⁹  by the shepherds

and as pens for their flocks.

2:7 Those who are left from the kingdom of Judah ³⁰  will take possession of it. ³¹ 

By the sea ³²  they ³³  will graze,

in the houses of Ashkelon they will lie down in the evening,

for the Lord their God will intervene for them ³⁴  and restore their prosperity. ³⁵ 

Zechariah 9:5-7

9:5 Ashkelon will see and be afraid; Gaza will be in great anguish, as will Ekron, for her hope will have been dried up. ³⁶  Gaza will lose her king, and Ashkelon will no longer be inhabited. 9:6 A mongrel people will live in Ashdod, for I will greatly humiliate the Philistines. 9:7 I will take away their abominable religious practices; ³⁷  then those who survive will become a community of believers in our God, ³⁸  like a clan in Judah, and Ekron will be like the Jebusites.

[25:16]  ¹ sn The “testimony” is the Decalogue (Exod 24:12; 31:18; Deut 4:13; 9:9; 1 Kgs 8:9); the word identifies it as the witness or affirmation of God’s commandments belonging to his covenant with Israel. It expressed God’s will and man’s duty. In other cultures important documents were put at the feet of the gods in the temples.

[25:17]  ² tn The noun is כַּפֹּרֶת (kapporet), translated “atonement lid” or “atonement plate.” The traditional translation “mercy-seat” (so KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV) came from Tyndale in 1530 and was also used by Luther in 1523. The noun is formed from the word “to make atonement.” The item that the Israelites should make would be more than just a lid for the ark. It would be the place where atonement was signified. The translation of “covering” is probably incorrect, for it derives from a rare use of the verb, if the same verb at all (the evidence shows “cover” is from another root with the same letters as this). The value of this place was that Yahweh sat enthroned above it, and so the ark essentially was the “footstool.” Blood was applied to the lid of the box, for that was the place of atonement (see S. R. Driver, Exodus, 269-270).

[25:17]  ³ tn After verbs of making or producing, the accusative (like “gold” here) may be used to express the material from which something is made (see GKC 371 §117.hh).

[1:6]  ⁴ sn Gaza was one of the five major Philistine cities (along with Ashdod, Ashkelon, Ekron, and Gath). It was considered to mark the southern limit of Canaan at the point on the coast where it was located (Gen 10:19).

[1:6]  ⁵ tn Traditionally, “transgressions” (KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV) or “sins” (NIV). For an explanation of the atrocities outlined in this oracle as treaty violations of God’s mandate to Noah in Gen 9:5-7, see the note on the word “violations” in 1:3.

[1:6]  ⁶ tn Heb “Because of three violations of Gaza, even because of four.”

[1:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “I will not bring it [or “him”] back.” The translation understands the pronominal object to refer to the decree of judgment that follows; the referent (the decree) has been specified in the translation for clarity. For another option see the note on the word “judgment” in 1:3.

[1:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “[group of] exiles.” A number of English translations take this as a collective singular and translate it with a plural (e.g., NAB, NIV, NRSV).

[1:6]  ⁹ tn Heb “in order to hand them over.”

[1:7]  ¹⁰ sn The city wall symbolizes the city’s defenses and security.

[1:7]  ¹¹ tn Heb “it”; the referent (the fire mentioned in the previous line) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:8]  ¹² tn Heb “cut off.”

[1:8]  ¹³ tn Heb “the one who sits.” Some translations take this expression as a collective singular referring to the inhabitants rather than the ruler (e.g., NAB, NRSV, NLT).

[1:8]  ¹⁴ sn Ashdod was one of the five major Philistine cities (along with Ashkelon, Ekron, Gaza, and Gath).

[1:8]  ¹⁵ sn Ashkelon was one of the five major Philistine cities (along with Ashdod, Ekron, Gaza, and Gath).

[1:8]  ¹⁶ sn Ekron was one of the five major Philistine cities (along with Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gaza, and Gath).

[1:8]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “I will turn my hand against Ekron.” For other uses of the idiom, “turn the hand against,” see Ps 81:14; Isa 1:25; Jer 6:9; Zech 13:7.

[1:8]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and the remnant of the Philistines will perish.” The translation above assumes that reference is made to other Philistines beside those living in the cities mentioned. Another option is to translate, “Every last Philistine will die.”

[2:4]  ¹⁹ tn Or “for” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV).

[2:4]  ²⁰ tn There is a sound play here in the Hebrew text: the name Gaza (עַזָּה, ’azzah) sounds like the word translated “deserted” (עֲזוּבָה, ’azuvah).

[2:4]  ²¹ tn Or “a desolate place.”

[2:4]  ²² tn Heb “[As for] Ashdod, at noon they will drive her away.”

[2:4]  ²³ tn Heb “uprooted.” There is a sound play here in the Hebrew text: the name “Ekron” (עֶקְרוֹן, ’eqron) sounds like the word translated “uprooted” (תֵּעָקֵר, te’aqer).

[2:5]  ²⁴ tn Heb “Kerethites,” a people settled alongside the Philistines in the coastal areas of southern Palestine (cf. 1 Sam 30:14; Ezek 25:16). They originally came from the island of Crete.

[2:5]  ²⁵ tn Heb “Woe, inhabitants of the coast of the sea, nation of Kerethites.” The Hebrew term הוֹי (hoy, “ah, woe”), is used to mourn the dead and express outwardly one’s sorrow (see 1 Kgs 13:30; Jer 22:18; 34:5). By using it here the prophet mourns in advance the downfall of the Philistines, thereby emphasizing the certainty of their demise (“as good as dead”). Some argue the word does not have its earlier connotation here and is simply an attention-getting interjection, equivalent to “Hey!”

[2:5]  ²⁶ tn Heb “the word of the Lord is against you.”

[2:5]  ²⁷ tn Heb “I will destroy you so there is no inhabitant [remaining].”

[2:6]  ²⁸ tn The NIV here supplies the phrase “where the Kerethites dwell” (“Kerethites” is translated in v. 5 as “the people who came from Crete”) as an interpretive gloss, but this phrase is not in the MT. The NAB likewise reads “the coastland of the Cretans,” supplying “Cretans” here.

[2:6]  ²⁹ tn The Hebrew phrase here is נְוֹת כְּרֹת (nÿvot kÿrot). The first word is probably a plural form of נָוָה (navah, “pasture”). The meaning of the second word is unclear. It may be a synonym of the preceding word (cf. NRSV “pastures, meadows for shepherds”); there is a word כַּר (kar, “pasture”) in biblical Hebrew, but elsewhere it forms its plural with a masculine ending. Some have suggested the meaning “wells” or “caves” used as shelters (cf. NEB “shepherds’ huts”); in this case, one might translate, “The seacoast will be used for pasturelands; for shepherds’ wells/caves.”

[2:7]  ³⁰ tn Heb “the remnant of the house of Judah.”

[2:7]  ³¹ tn Or “the coast will belong to the remnant of the house of Judah.”

[2:7]  ³² tc Heb “on them,” but the antecedent of the masculine pronoun is unclear. It may refer back to the “pasture lands,” though that noun is feminine. It is preferable to emend the text from עֲלֵיהֶם (’alehem) to עַל־הַיָּם (’al-hayyam, “by the sea”) an emendation that assumes a misdivision and transposition of letters in the MT (cf. NEB “They shall pasture their flocks by the sea”). See J. J. M. Roberts, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah (OTL), 192.

[2:7]  ³³ tn The referent of the pronominal subject (“they”) is unclear. It may refer (1) to the shepherds (in which case the first verb should be translated, “pasture their sheep,” cf. NEB), or (2) to the Judahites occupying the area, who are being compared to sheep (cf. NIV, “there they will find pasture”).

[2:7]  ³⁴ tn Or “will care for them.”

[2:7]  ³⁵ tn Traditionally, “restore their captivity,” i.e., bring back their captives, but it is more likely the expression means “restore their fortunes” in a more general sense (cf. NEB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[9:5]  ³⁶ tn The present translation presupposes a Hiphil perfect of יָבֵשׁ (yavesh, “be dry”; cf. NRSV “are withered”) rather than the usually accepted Hiphil of בּוֹשׁ (bosh, “be ashamed”; cf. KJV, ASV), a sense that is less suitable with the removal of hope.

[9:7]  ³⁷ tn Heb “and I will take away their blood from their mouth and their abominations from between their teeth.” These expressions refer to some type of abominable religious practices, perhaps eating meat with the blood still in it (less likely NCV “drinking blood”) or eating unclean or forbidden foods.

[9:7]  ³⁸ tn Heb “and they will be a remnant for our God”; cf. NIV “will belong to our God”; NLT “will worship our God.”