Zephaniah 2:1-5

The Prophet Warns the People

2:1 Bunch yourselves together like straw, ¹  you undesirable ²  nation,

2:2 before God’s decree becomes reality ³  and the day of opportunity disappears like windblown chaff, ⁴ 

before the Lord’s raging anger ⁵  overtakes ⁶  you –

before the day of the Lord’s angry judgment overtakes you!

2:3 Seek the Lord’s favor, ⁷  all you humble people ⁸  of the land who have obeyed his commands! ⁹ 

Strive to do what is right! ¹⁰  Strive to be humble! ¹¹ 

Maybe you will be protected ¹²  on the day of the Lord’s angry judgment.

Judgment on Surrounding Nations

2:4 Indeed, ¹³  Gaza will be deserted ¹⁴ 

and Ashkelon will become a heap of ruins. ¹⁵ 

Invaders will drive away the people of Ashdod by noon, ¹⁶ 

and Ekron will be overthrown. ¹⁷ 

2:5 Those who live by the sea, the people who came from Crete, ¹⁸  are as good as dead. ¹⁹ 

The Lord has decreed your downfall, ²⁰  Canaan, land of the Philistines:

“I will destroy everyone who lives there!” ²¹ 

[2:1]  ¹ tn The Hebrew text combines a Hitpolel imperative of קָשַׁשׁ (qashash) with a Qal imperative of the same root. Elsewhere this root appears in the polel stem with the meaning “gather stubble.” Zephaniah’s command is ironic, implying the people are like stubble or straw. As such, they are vulnerable to the Lord’s fiery judgment that will quickly consume them (see 1:18). See Adele Berlin, Zephaniah (AB 25A), 96.

[2:1]  ² tn Some relate this word to an Aramaic cognate meaning “to be ashamed.” With the negative particle it would then mean “unashamed” (cf. NIV “shameful”; NRSV “shameless”). However, elsewhere in biblical Hebrew the verb means “to desire,” or with the negative particle “undesirable.” Cf. also NEB “unruly.”

[2:2]  ³ tn Heb “before the giving birth of a decree.” For various alternative readings, see J. J. M. Roberts, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah (OTL), 187-88.

[2:2]  ⁴ tn The second half of the line reads literally, “like chaff it passes by a day.” The translation above assumes the “day” is the brief time God is giving the nation to repent. The comparison of this quickly passing opportunity to chaff is consistent with the straw imagery of v. 1.

[2:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “the fury of the anger of the Lord.” The synonyms are combined to emphasize the extreme degree of the Lord’s anger.

[2:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “comes upon.” This phrase occurs twice in this verse.

[2:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “seek the Lord,” but “favor” seems to be implied from the final line of the verse.

[2:3]  ⁸ tn Or “poor.” The precise referent of this Hebrew term is unclear. The word may refer to the economically poor or to the spiritually humble.

[2:3]  ⁹ tn The present translation assumes the Hebrew term מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat) here refers to God’s covenantal requirements and is a synonym for the Law. The word can mean “justice” and could refer more specifically to the principles of justice contained in the Law. In this case the phrase could be translated, “who have promoted the justice God demands.”

[2:3]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Seek what is right.”

[2:3]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Seek humility.”

[2:3]  ¹² tn Heb “hidden.” Cf. NEB “it may be that you will find shelter”; NRSV “perhaps you may be hidden.”

[2:4]  ¹³ tn Or “for” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV).

[2:4]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ tn Or “a desolate place.”

[2:4]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “[As for] Ashdod, at noon they will drive her away.”

[2:4]  ¹⁷ 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]  ¹⁸ 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]  ¹⁹ 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]  ²⁰ tn Heb “the word of the Lord is against you.”

[2:5]  ²¹ tn Heb “I will destroy you so there is no inhabitant [remaining].”