Zephaniah 1:4

1:4 “I will attack ¹  Judah

and all who live in Jerusalem. ² 

I will remove ³  from this place every trace of Baal worship, ⁴ 

as well as the very memory ⁵  of the pagan priests. ⁶ 

Zephaniah 2:14-15

2:14 Flocks and herds ⁷  will lie down in the middle of it,

as well as every kind of wild animal. ⁸ 

Owls ⁹  will sleep in the tops of its support pillars;

they will hoot through the windows. ¹⁰ 

Rubble will cover the thresholds; ¹¹ 

even the cedar work ¹²  will be exposed to the elements. ¹³ 

2:15 This is how the once-proud city will end up ¹⁴  –

the city that was so secure. ¹⁵ 

She thought to herself, ¹⁶  “I am unique! No one can compare to me!” ¹⁷ 

What a heap of ruins she has become, a place where wild animals live!

Everyone who passes by her taunts her ¹⁸  and shakes his fist. ¹⁹ 

[1:4]  ¹ tn Heb “I will stretch out my hand against,” is an idiom for hostile action.

[1:4]  ² map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[1:4]  ³ tn Heb “cut off.”

[1:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “the remnant of Baal.”

[1:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “name.” Here the “name” is figurative for the memory of those who bear it.

[1:4]  ⁶ tc Heb “of the pagan priests and priests.” The first word (כְּמָרִים, kÿmarim) refers to idolatrous priests in its two other appearances in the OT (2 Kgs 23:5, Hos 10:5), while the second word (כֹּהֲנִים, kohanim) is the normal term for “priest” and is used of both legitimate and illegitimate priests in the OT. It is likely that the second term, which is omitted in the LXX, is a later scribal addition to the Hebrew text, defining the extremely rare word that precedes (see J. J. M. Roberts, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah [OTL], 167-68; cf. also NEB, NRSV). Some argue that both words are original; among the modern English versions that include both are NASB and NIV. Possibly the first word refers to outright pagan priests, while the second has in view once-legitimate priests of the Lord who had drifted into idolatrous practices. Another option is found in Adele Berlin, who translates, “the idolatrous priests among the priests,” understanding the second word as giving the general category of which the idolatrous priests are a part (Zephaniah [AB 25A], 75).

[2:14]  ⁷ tn Heb “flocks.” The Hebrew word can refer to both flocks of sheep and herds of cattle.

[2:14]  ⁸ tn Heb “[and] all the wild animals of a nation.” How גוֹי (goy, “nation”) relates to what precedes is unclear. It may be a corruption of another word. See J. J. M. Roberts, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah (OTL), 193.

[2:14]  ⁹ tn The Hebrew text reads here גַּם־קָאַת גַּם־קִפֹּד (gam-qa’at gam-qippod). The term קָאַת refers to some type of bird (see Lev 11:18; Deut 14:17) that was typically found near ruins (Isa 34:11); one of the most common translations is “owl” (cf. NEB “horned owl”; NIV, NRSV “desert owl”; contra NASB “pelican”). The term קִפֹּד may also refer to a type of bird (cf. NEB “ruffed bustard”; NIV, NRSV “screech owl”). Some suggest a rodent may be in view (cf. NASB “hedgehog”); this is not unreasonable, for a rodent or some other small animal would be able to sleep in the tops of pillars which would be lying in the ruins of the fallen buildings.

[2:14]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “a sound will sing in the window.” If some type of owl is in view, “hoot” is a more appropriate translation (cf. NEB, NRSV).

[2:14]  ¹¹ tn Heb “rubble [will be] on the threshold.” “Rubble” translates the Hebrew word חֹרֶב (khorev, “desolation”). Some emend to עֹרֵב (’orev, “raven”) following the LXX and Vulgate; Adele Berlin translates, “A voice shall shriek from the window – a raven at the sill” (Zephaniah [AB 25A], 104).

[2:14]  ¹² tn The meaning of the Hebrew word translated “cedar work” (so NASB, NRSV) is unclear; NIV has “the beams of cedar.”

[2:14]  ¹³ tn Heb “one will expose.” The subject is probably indefinite, though one could translate, “for he [i.e., God] will lay bare.”

[2:15]  ¹³ tn Heb “this is the proud city.”

[2:15]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the one that lived securely.”

[2:15]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “the one who says in her heart.”

[2:15]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “I [am], and besides me there is no other.”

[2:15]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “hisses”; or “whistles.”

[2:15]  ¹⁸ sn Hissing (or whistling) and shaking the fist were apparently ways of taunting a defeated foe or an object of derision in the culture of the time.