Zephaniah 1:7

Hold thy peace … Lord God lit. the Lord Jehovah. The divine name Jehovah was not pronounced in the synagogue reading, the word Lord (A.V. in that case Lord) being substituted for it; but when the actual word Lord (Adonai) stood beside Jehovah then the reader substituted God (A.V. God) for Jehovah. The prophet vividly realises the presence of Jehovah. He is present in the Day of the Lord which is at hand. And before His presence the prophet exclaims to men, Hush!Habakkuk 2:20; Zechariah 2:13. The "day of the Lord" is not merely some great calamity or judgment which the prophet feels to be impending, it is always Jehovah's manifestation of Himself in fulness, and the judgment is the final and universal one. The coming of "the day of the Lord" was an ancient idea of the prophets (Hosea 4:3; Isaiah 2:12 ff.) and even of the people (Amos 5:18); it was a belief older than any written prophecy, as the passage in Amos shews, and later prophets (Isaiah 13:6 ff.; Zephaniah 1:7 ff.; Joel 1:15; Joel 2:1) only amplify the details of the idea. The presentiment of its nearness, however, was often awakened in the prophet's mind by severe visitations of providence (Joel), or by great convulsions among the nations (Isaiah 13; Zephaniah 1). Jehovah was so visibly present in these events that the presentiment could not be repressed that they were the tokens and heralds of His final manifestation of Himself, when His glory would be revealed and all flesh should see it together. Of course the prophet's presentiment was not realised, the impending judgment passed over, and the day of the Lord was delayed. But this fact should not lead us to suppose that the prophets call any great visitation of God by the name of "the day of the Lord."

prepared a sacrifice The sacrifice, which is Israel, is slain, and the guests who are to eat of the sacrificial meal are invited. The destruction of Israel is so certain that it is conceived as already accomplished.

He hath bid his guests lit. he hath consecrated(sanctified) them that are bidden(1 Samuel 9:13). Those bidden are the foes who shall devour Israel. In ancient times slaughter of animals even for food was a kind of sacrificial act, as the blood and part of the flesh were offered to God, and only those who were clean could partake of the sacrificial meal (1 Samuel 20:26); hence some consecration or preparation on the part of the guests was necessary, such as washing the clothes, in order to "sanctify" themselves. The Lord has sanctified His guests who are to eat His sacrifice (Isaiah 13:3). Comp. the same idea Isaiah 34:6; Jeremiah 46:10; Ezekiel 39:17, though in Ezek. the guests bidden to the Lord's sacrifice are the birds of every sort and the beasts of the field. There is a certain inconsistency in the figure: of course the foes are those who slay Israel, the sacrifice, but the figure represents Jehovah as slaying and preparing the sacrifice, which the guests consume. The metaphor shews that some particular assailant of Israel is in the prophet's view, just as in Isaiah 13:3. See Introduction, § 1.