Zephaniah 2:11

will be terrible unto them lit. overthem. Malachi 1:14, "I am a treat king, and my name terrible among the nations." For "terrible" Sept. reads, will appear.

he will famish all the gods lit., as marg., make lean(Isaiah 17:4). Hitzig, followed by Keil, thinks the meaning to be, that by destroying all the nations the Lord will make lean or enfeeble all their gods, for the vigour of the god is proportionate to the robustness and power of the nation. This kind of reflection is not likely to have passed through the mind of the prophet. His idea appears to be that by terrible deeds Jehovah will make Himself known to the nations, who will fear Him alone, perceiving the impotency of their former gods; comp. Isaiah 2:20; Isaiah 30:22, and Ezekiel 25 ff. The use of the term make leanin regard to gods is certainly strange.

every one from his place i.e. each individual person, not each nation. The phrase "from his place" seems to mean, everyone where he dwells, the idea being that, without making pilgrimages to Jerusalem (Isaiah 2:3; Zechariah 8:22; Zechariah 14:16), the peoples shall worship Jehovah, every man in his own land (Malachi 1:11). The prep, frommight have a pregnant sense, each coming fromhis place, but this meaning is decidedly less natural.

the isles of the heathen The term "isles" appears to have been applied to the island-like coasts of the Mediterranean, and then to have been used of distant countries in general, Isaiah 41:1; Isaiah 59:18; Ezekiel 39:6.