Zephaniah 2:14

And flocks shall lie down in the midst of her, all the beasts of the nations: both the cormorant and the bittern shall lodge in the upper lintels of it; their voice shall sing in the windows; desolation shall be in the thresholds; for he shall uncover the cedar work. AND FLOCKS SHALL LIE DOWN IN THE MIDST OF HER - of sheep, answering to "beasts" in the parallel clause. Wide pastures for sheep, and haunts for wild beasts, shall be where once there was a teeming population (cf. Zephaniah 2:6). Maurer, needlessly for the parallelism, makes it 'flocks of savage animals.' ALL THE BEASTS OF THE NATIONS - i:e., "beasts of the earth" (Genesis 1:24). Not as Rosenmuller, 'all kinds of beasts that form a nation' - i:e., gregarious beasts ...

The Prophet describes here the state of the city and the desolation of the country. He says, that the habitations of flocks would be in the midst of the city Nineveh. The city, we know, was populous; but while men were so many, there was no place for flocks, especially in the middle of a city so celebrated. Hence no common change is here described by the Prophet, when he says, that _flocks would lie down in the middle of Nineveh_; and he adds, _all wild beasts_. For beasts, which seek seclusion and shun the sight of men, are wont to come forth, when they find a country desolate and deserted; and they range then at large, as it is the case after a slaughter in war; and when any region is emptied of its inhabitants, the wolves, the lions, and other wild beasts, roam here and there at full liberty. So the Prophet says, that wild beasts would come from other parts and remote places, and find...

4-15 Those are really in a woful condition who have the word of the Lord against them, for no word of his shall fall to the ground. God will restore his people to their rights, though long kept from them. It has been the common lot of God's people, in all ages, to be reproached and reviled. God shall be worshipped, not only by all Israel, and the strangers who join them, but by the heathen. Remote nations must be reckoned with for the wrongs done to God's people. The sufferings of the insolent and haughty in prosperity, are unpitied and unlamented. But all the desolations of flourishing nations will make way for the overturning Satan's kingdom. Let us improve our advantages, and expect the performance of every promise, praying that our Father's name may be hallowed every where, over all the earth....

Verse Zephaniah 2:14. _AND FLOCKS SHALL LIE DOWN IN THE MIDST OF HER_] Nineveh was so completely destroyed, that its situation is not at present even known. The present city of _Mossoul_ is supposed to be in the _vicinity_ of the place where this ancient city stood. _The cormorant_ קאת kaath; and the _bittern_, קפד kippod. These _Newcome_ translates, "The pelican and the porcupine." THEIR _VOICE SHALL SING IN THE WINDOWS_] The windows shall be all demolished; wild fowl shall build their nests in them, and shall be seen coming from their sills, and the fine _cedar_ ceilings shall be exposed to the weather, and by and by crumble to dust. See the note on Isaiah 34:11;...

AND FLOCKS SHALL LIE DOWN IN THE MIDST OF HER - No desolation is like that of decayed luxury. It preaches the nothingness of man, the fruitlessness of his toils, the fleetingness of his hopes and enjoyments, and their baffling when at their height. Grass in a court or on a once beaten road, much more, in a town, speaks of the passing away of what has been, that man was accustomed to be there, and is not, or is there less than he was. It leaves the feeling of void and forsakenness. But in Nineveh not a few tufts of grass here and there shall betoken desolation, it shall be one wild rank pasture, where “flocks” shall not feed only, but “lie down” as in their fold and continual resting place, not in the outskirts only or suburbs, but in the very center of her life and throng and busy activity, “in the midst of her,” and none shall fray them away. So Isaiah had said of the cities of Aroer, “...

EXPOSITION. VERSE 2:1-3:8 Part II. EXHORTATION TO REPENTANCE AND TO PERSEVERANCE. ZEPHANIAH 2:1 § 1. The prophet urges all to examine their ways before the day of the Lord come; and he prays the righteous to seek the Lord more earnestly, in order that they may be safe in the judgment. ZEPHANIAH 2:1 GATHER YOURSELVES TOGETHER. So the versions; and this rendering is probably correct. The prophet calls upon his nation to assemble themselves together in order to take mutual counsel or to make general confession and supplication to God. Another rendering, based on some alteration

AND FLOCKS SHALL LIE DOWN IN THE MIDST OF HER,.... In the midst of the city of Nineveh; in the streets of it, where houses stood, and people in great numbers walked; but now only should be seen the cottages of shepherds, and flocks of sheep feeding or lying down, as is before observed of the sea coast of the Philistines, Zephaniah 2:6: ALL THE BEASTS OF THE NATIONS; that is, all sorts of beasts, especially wild beasts, in the several parts of the world, should come and dwell here; instead of kings and princes, nobles, merchants, and the great men thereof, who once here inhabited, now there should be beasts of prey, terrible to come nigh unto; for these are to be understood properly and literally, and not figuratively, of men, for their savageness and cruelty, comparable to beasts: both the cormorant and the bittern shall lodge in the upper lintels of it

CHAPTER S 2-3:8 The Call to Repentance in View of the Judgment _ 1. The call to repentance (Zephaniah 2:1) _ 2. The judgment of the Philistines (Zephaniah 2:4) 3. The judgment of Moab and Ammon (Zephaniah 2:8) 4. The judgment of the other nations (Zephaniah 2:11) 5. The woe and warning to Jerusalem and His people (Zephaniah 3:1) Zephaniah 2:1. As we found it in Joel, so it is here. In view of the co

ALL. all kinds of. Figure of speech _Synecdoche_ (of Genus), App-6. UPPER LINTELS. chapiters, or carved capitals. CEDAR WORK: i.e. the wainscotting....

The judgment of the Day of the Lord upon the nations The nations on whom the impending judgment shall fall are: (1) the Philistines (Zephaniah 2:4); (2) Moab and Ammon (Zephaniah 2:8); (3) Cush or the Ethiopians (Zephaniah 2:12); and (4) Assyria (Zephaniah 2:13). In relation to Judah the four nations named lay respectively west, east, south, and north. The passage appears to be written in the rhythm of the _ḳinah_or Elegy, though in some verses the rhythm is imperfect. Comp. Ezekiel 19. _Cambridge Bible_, and more fully, Budde in the Zeitsch.