Zephaniah 1:8-9
Context1:8 “On the day of the Lord’s sacrificial meal,
I will punish the princes 1 and the king’s sons,
and all who wear foreign styles of clothing. 2
1:9 On that day I will punish all who leap over the threshold, 3
who fill the house of their master 4 with wealth taken by violence and deceit. 5
Zephaniah 2:7
Context2:7 Those who are left from the kingdom of Judah 6 will take possession of it. 7
By the sea 8 they 9 will graze,
in the houses of Ashkelon they will lie down in the evening,
for the Lord their God will intervene for them 10 and restore their prosperity. 11
Zephaniah 3:7
Context3:7 I thought, 12 ‘Certainly you will respect 13 me!
Now you will accept correction!’
If she had done so, her home 14 would not be destroyed 15
by all the punishments I have threatened. 16
But they eagerly sinned
in everything they did. 17


[1:8] 1 tn Or “officials” (NRSV, TEV); NLT “leaders.”
[1:8] 2 sn The very dress of the royal court, foreign styles of clothing, revealed the degree to which Judah had assimilated foreign customs.
[1:9] 3 sn The point of the statement all who hop over the threshold is unclear. A ritual or superstition associated with the Philistine god Dagon may be in view (see 1 Sam 5:5).
[1:9] 4 tn The referent of “their master” is unclear. The king or a pagan god may be in view.
[1:9] 5 tn Heb “who fill…with violence and deceit.” The expression “violence and deceit” refers metonymically to the wealth taken by oppressive measures.
[2:7] 5 tn Heb “the remnant of the house of Judah.”
[2:7] 6 tn Or “the coast will belong to the remnant of the house of Judah.”
[2:7] 7 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] 8 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] 9 tn Or “will care for them.”
[2:7] 10 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).
[3:7] 8 tn Or “fear.” The second person verb form (“you will respect”) is feminine singular, indicating that personified Jerusalem is addressed.
[3:7] 9 tn Or “dwelling place.”
[3:7] 11 tn Heb “all which I have punished her.” The precise meaning of this statement and its relationship to what precedes are unclear.
[3:7] 12 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.