Zephaniah 2:15

This is the rejoicing city that dwelt carelessly, that said in her heart, I am, and there is none beside me: how is she become a desolation, a place for beasts to lie down in! every one that passeth by her shall hiss, and wag his hand. THIS IS THE REJOICING CITY THAT DWELT CARELESSLY. Nothing then seemed more improbable than that the capital of so vast an empire, a city 60 miles in compass, with walls 100 feet high, and so thick that three chariots could go abreast on them, and with 1,500 towers, should be so totally destroyed that its site is with difficulty discovered. Yet so it is, as the prophet foretold. THAT SAID IN HER HEART, I AM, AND THERE IS NONE BESIDES ME. This special phrase, expressing self-congratulation, as if peerless, is plainly adopted from . The later prophets leant on the predictions of their predecessors, a...

He seems to have added this by way of anticipation, lest the magnificent splendor of the city Nineveh should frighten the Jews, as though it were exempt from all danger. The Prophet therefore reminds them here, that though Nineveh was thus proud of its wealth, it could not yet escape the hand of God; nay, he shows that the greatness, on account of which Nineveh extolled itself, would be the cause of its ruin; for it would cast itself down by its own pride: as a wall, when it swells, will not long stand; so also men, when they inwardly swell, and vent their own boastings, burst; and though no one pushes them down, they fall of themselves. Such a destruction the Prophet denounces on the Ninevites and the Assyrians. _This_, he says, _is the exulting city, which sat in confidence_. Isaiah reprobates in nearly the same words the pride of Babylon: but what Isaiah said of Babylon our Prophet ju...

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 2:15. _THIS_ IS _THE REJOICING CITY_] The city in which mirth, jocularity, and pleasure, reigned without interruption. AND _WAG HIS HAND_] Will point her out as a mark and monument of Divine displeasure....

This utter desolation is “the rejoicing city” (so unlike is it, that there is need to point out that it is the same); this is she, who was full of joy, exulting exceedingly, but in herself, not in God; “that dwelt carelessly,” literally, “securely,” and so carelessly; saying “Peace and safety” 1 Thessalonians 5:3, as though no evil would come upon her, and so perishing more certainly and miserably (see Judges 18:27) “That said in her heart,” this was her inmost feeling, the moving cause of all her deeds; “I am and there is none beside me;” literally , “and there is no I beside,” claiming the very attribute of God (as the world does) of self-existence, as if it alone were “I,” and others, in respect of her, were as nothing. Pantheism, which denies the being of God, as Author

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

THIS IS THE REJOICING CITY THAT DWELT CARELESSLY,.... Once exceeding populous, and the inhabitants full of mirth and gaiety, abounding with wealth and riches, and indulging themselves in all carnal delights and pleasures; and, being well fortified, thought themselves out of all danger, and were careless and unconcerned, not fearing any enemy that should attack them; imagining their city was impregnable and invincible: these are the words of the prophet, concluding his prophecy concerning the destruction of this city, and having, by a spirit of prophecy, a foresight of its ruin and desolation; or of passengers, and what they should say when they saw it lie in its ruins: THAT SAID IN HER HEART, I [AM], AND [THERE IS] NONE BESIDES ME; or, "is there any besides me?" t there is none, no city in the world to be compared to it for the largeness of the place, the strength of its walls, the numb...

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

WAG HIS HAND. Idiom expressive of derision....

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.