Zephaniah 2:1-7

Zephaniah 2. Doom on Philistia [Moab and Ammon], Ethiopia, and Assyria.

Zephaniah 2:1. Having spent its rage on Judah, the storm of Divine judgment sweeps south by the Philistian sea-board, uprooting cities and their inhabitants, driving them off like chaff, and leaving the once fertile plain a pasturage for shepherds and folds for flocks.

Zephaniah 2:1. The meaning of the first words is highly uncertain. An attractive suggestion yields, Get you shame, yea, be abashed, O nation unabashed, the reference being to the Philistines, rather than Judah, as many scholars maintain.

Zephaniah 2:2. The text here is both corrupt and overladen. The original should perhaps be reduced to read, Ere ye become fine dust, as chaff which passeth away.

Zephaniah 2:3. A late interpolation, offering escape for the meek and humble (of Judah).

Zephaniah 2:4. As for Ashdod by noon-day (after but a morning's siege) they shall rout her.

Zephaniah 2:5. Cherethites: a parallel designation of the Philistines, in allusion to their Cretan origin (p. 56, 1 Samuel 30:14 *, Ezekiel 25:16).

Zephaniah 2:6. Here also the text is overladen. Read simply, And thou shalt become pastures for shepherds and folds for flocks.

Zephaniah 2:7. The first and last clauses are clearly post-exilic additions (after the manner of Zephaniah 2:3), turning the prophecy into a glorification of the remnant of Judah. The original may have read as follows: By the seashore shall they feed; in the houses of Ashkelon at even shall they lay them down.