Zephaniah 1:5

Besides the priests who lead the false worship, the various classes of worshippers shall be swept away: (1) those that worship the host of heaven on the house-tops; (2) those who unite Jehovah and other gods in their worship; and (3) those who have renounced the service of Jehovah, or who do not concern themselves about Him (Zephaniah 1:6) those wholly indifferent, "settled on their lees" (Zephaniah 1:12).

the host of heaven The "host of heaven" appears to be an expression including the heavenly bodies in general, sun, moon and stars. Of course only particular stars, such as the more brilliant fixed stars and the planets, with the constellations of the zodiac (2 Kings 23:5), would be worshipped, not the starry heavens in a mass. The sun and moon are frequently specified separately from the "host of heaven," because more conspicuous, though they are no doubt to be included in the general expression, "host of heaven." The fact that the worship of the heavenly bodies was performed on the housetops indicates that the service was rendered directly to them when visible and not indirectly to representations of them. Job 31:26 describes one way of performing the worship: "If I beheld the sun when it shined, or the moon walking in brightness, and my heart hath been secretly enticed, and my mouth hath kissed my hand"; cf. Ezekiel 8:16, "Behold, about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the Lord, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east." Worship of the host of heaven is not alluded to by the prophets of northern Israel, unless it be in the obscure passage Amos 5:26. Its prevalence in Judah in later times was due to the influence of Assyria. It was natural that the vassal state should imitate the manners and religion of its superior. The practice appears to have been introduced by Ahaz (2 Kings 23:12), and is frequently alluded to by Jeremiah and writers after his time (Jeremiah 19:13).

that swear by the Lord lit. that swear tothe Lord. To swear tothe Lord is to acknowledge and do homage to Jehovah as God; to swear bythe Lord is to bind oneself by His name in taking an oath. Cf. Isaiah 45:23, "untome every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear."

And that swear by Malcham The word Malchamas pointed means their King, that is, probably Molech. Others would point Milcom, the name of the god of the children of Ammon (1Ki 11:5; 1 Kings 11:33; 2 Kings 23:13), who however is called Molech in 1 Kings 11:7. Though Solomon to gratify his strange wives built highplaces to Milcom and other gods, worship of the Ammonitish Milcom in Israel is nowhere else alluded to and has little probability. The spelling Malcham, "their King," is therefore preferable, though it is possible that Malcham is merely another pronunciation of Milcom, meaning Molech. The vowels in the word Mólechare altogether anomalous, and are possibly those of the word shame(bósheth), i.e. Baal; the word should in all likelihood be spelled Mélech (or Malich), the ordinary word for "King," as in Isaiah 57:9. Molech is thus not a proper name, but one applicable to any chief god, whether Baal or another.

The construction of the clause is difficult. Two classes of persons cannot be meant: viz., such as worship and swear to Jehovah and such as swear by their King. One class of persons is described, those who worship Jehovah and also swear by their King, doing homage both to Jehovah and Molech. Ezekiel refers to such persons, ch. Ezekiel 23:37 ff., "For when they had slain their children to their idols, then they came the same day into my sanctuary to profane it" (Ezekiel 23:39).