Zephaniah 1 - Introduction
_GOD'S SEVERE JUDGMENT AGAINST JUDAH FOR DIVERS SINS._ _Before Christ 612._... [ Continue Reading ]
_GOD'S SEVERE JUDGMENT AGAINST JUDAH FOR DIVERS SINS._ _Before Christ 612._... [ Continue Reading ]
I WILL UTTERLY CONSUME— _I am about to take away._ Houbigant, to put to death and destroy. This first chapter contains the general threatening against all the people whom the Lord had appointed to the slaughter; against Judah, and against those who leap on the threshold; that is, the Philistines. Se... [ Continue Reading ]
I WILL CONSUME, &C.— _I will take away;_ namely, from the land of Judah. Houbigant; who, instead of, _And the stumbling-blocks with the wicked,_ reads, _I will bring ruin on the wicked._ Others read, _The stumbling-blocks of the wicked;_ whereby must be meant idols and their worshippers.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE NAME OF THE CHEMARIMS, &C.— _Of the_ [_idolatrous_] _sacrificers with the priests._ See the note on 2 Kings 23:5.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THEM THAT WORSHIP, AND THAT SWEAR, &C.— _And those worshippers, who, when they swear by the Lord, swear also by Melchom;_ that is to say, who would unite together the worship of Jehovah, and that of _Melchom,_ the idol of the Ammonites. See 2 Kings 18.... [ Continue Reading ]
HE HATH BID— _He hath appointed his guests,_ that is to say, the Babylonians.... [ Continue Reading ]
THOSE THAT LEAP ON THE THRESHOLD— _Over the threshold._ Houbigant. Calmet observes, that this alludes to the custom of the Philistines, when they enter the temple of Dagon; but the author of the _Observations_ is of a different opinion. That notion can have nothing to recommend it, says he, I think,... [ Continue Reading ]
A CRY FROM THE FISH-GATE— Which was at the entering of the city. Some render the next clause, _And a howling from the middle part of the city:_ but Houbigant renders it, _A howling from Misna;_ or from the _second city_ which Manasseh built.... [ Continue Reading ]
MAKTESH— This may be interpreted, says Houbigant, _rock;_ what follows points out the place of the city where the merchants and silversmiths lived, and which perhaps was so named from a certain rock that was situated there. Instead of, _All they that bear silver,_ Houbigant reads, _All they that are... [ Continue Reading ]
THE MEN THAT ARE SETTLED ON THEIR LEES— The prophet here describes those men, who, trusting in their riches, paid very little regard to the threats of the prophets, and seemed intirely safe in their own eyes, while they kept their beloved treasures near them.... [ Continue Reading ]
EVEN THE VOICE OF THE DAY OF THE LORD— _For the message of the day of the Lord shall be bitter: The mighty man shall howl upon it._ Houbigant. See 2 Kings 21:14; 2 Kings 21:26.... [ Continue Reading ]
OF WASTENESS— _Calamity_ or _tumult. Zephaniah 1:17. Their flesh_] _Their carcases._ REFLECTIONS.—1st, We have, 1. An account of the inspired penman of this prophesy, Zephaniah, whose ancestors for four generations prior to him are mentioned, probably as men of distinguished note; and some have tho... [ Continue Reading ]