Zephaniah 3:4

Her prophetsare light Both the idea and the expression find a parallel in Jeremiah 23:32, "I am against them that prophesy false dreams, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their lightness" (R.V. vain boasting); cf. Lamentations 2:14; Ezekiel 22:28. The figure expressed by "light" is that of the boiling over of water (Genesis 49:4; Judges 9:4), and the word characterizes the prophets as vapourers, extravagant and arrogant in their own imaginations and conceits, their minds lacking the restraint of the word of God under which the true prophets spoke.

treacherous persons lit. men of treacheries, or, perfidiousnesses. The precise sense is not clear. The verb to deal treacherously is often used of falsehood or perfidy toward God; Jeremiah 3:20, "as a wife dealeth treacherously against her husband so have ye dealt treacherously against me O house of Israel;" Hosea 6:7. The idea, however, that the prophets dealt unfaithfully with God in giving out the imaginations of their own heart as His word to men (Hitzig), is rather strained. In the ethical writings of the Old Testament, such as the Proverbs, "treacherous dealer" is often parallel to "wicked" (Proverbs 2:22; Proverbs 11:6; Proverbs 21:18; cf. Habakkuk 1:13), and means one who acts untruly or wrongfully in regard to moral law. Jeremiah frequently taxes the prophets of his day with immoral conduct (Jeremiah 23:14; Jeremiah 29:23).

have polluted the sanctuary Rather: have profaned that which is holy. Ezekiel 22:26 offers a complete parallel: "Her priests have done violence to my law, and have profaned mine holy things; they have put no difference between the holy and profane, between the clean and the unclean." The last words explain at least one way of doing "violence" or wrong to the law. Jeremiah 2:8 makes similar charges against the various official classes.