Zephaniah 1:9

1:9 On that day I will punish all who leap over the threshold, ¹ 

who fill the house of their master ²  with wealth taken by violence and deceit. ³ 

Zephaniah 2:7

2:7 Those who are left from the kingdom of Judah ⁴  will take possession of it. ⁵ 

By the sea ⁶  they ⁷  will graze,

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

for the Lord their God will intervene for them ⁸  and restore their prosperity. ⁹ 

[1:9]  ¹ 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]  ² tn The referent of “their master” is unclear. The king or a pagan god may be in view.

[1:9]  ³ tn Heb “who fill…with violence and deceit.” The expression “violence and deceit” refers metonymically to the wealth taken by oppressive measures.

[2:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “the remnant of the house of Judah.”

[2:7]  ⁵ tn Or “the coast will belong to the remnant of the house of Judah.”

[2:7]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ tn Or “will care for them.”

[2:7]  ⁹ 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).