Zephaniah 3:8

Therefore wait ye upon me As R.V. for me, the words being further explained in the clause: for the day that I rise up, &c. The expression wait for meis not ironical (Hitz.), though it might be used in a threatening sense, like Amos 4:12, "prepare to meet thy God, O Israel." Most probably, however, though the verse contains anew the announcement of the coming universal judgment (ch. Zephaniah 1:2 ff.), the promise of Zephaniah 3:9-13 is already in the prophet's mind. The judgment is not the last act of the drama; behind the storm of universal judgment rises clear the day of universal salvation. The exhortation to wait for Jehovah is parallel to ch. Zephaniah 2:1-3.

Until the day that I rise up to the prey for the day, continuing for me. If this meaning be accepted, the impending judgment of God is expressed figuratively as a hostile attack by Him, and the question what is meant by the "prey" must not be asked: the "prey" is merely part of the metaphor. Both Sept. and Syr., however, interpreted, "rise up for a witness" (reading le-êdfor Heb. le-ad), and this sense is followed by many commentators. Comp. Micah 1:2, "let the Lord God be witness against you;" Psalms 50:7; Malachi 3:5. On the expression "rise up" in reference to a witness cf. Psalms 27:12; Psalms 35:11; Deuteronomy 19:15; Job 16:8.

to gather the nations It is not implied that the nations shall be gathered to Jerusalem to be judged, as in later writings, e.g. Joel 3:2; Isaiah 66:18; Zechariah 14:2; Zechariah 14:12 ff.; the "gathering" merely expresses the idea that they shall be universally and simultaneously judged. The judgment is one embracing the whole earth, as ch. Zephaniah 1:18, and falls on Israel as well as on the nations.