Zephaniah 2:11

2:4-15 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.

To the Moabites and Ammonites in the execution of his judgments upon them, and make their proud hearts tremble; for with him is terrible majesty; he is terrible to the kings of the earth, and cuts off the spirit of princes, Job 37:22 or, as Kimchi observes, this may be understood of the people of God reproached by the Moabites and Ammonites, by whom the Lord is to be feared and reverenced with a godly and filial fear: so it may be rendered, "the Lord is to be feared by them" (e); and to this inclines the Targum, "the fear of the Lord is to redeem them;'' for he will famish all the gods of the earth; particularly of those countries mentioned in the context, the Philistines, Moabites, Ammonites, Ethiopians, and Assyrians; as Dagon, Chemosh, Molech, Bel, and others; called "gods of the earth", in distinction from the God of heaven, to whom they are opposed; and because made of earthly matter, and worshipped by earthly and carnal men; these the Lord, who is above them, and can destroy them at pleasure, threatens to "famish"; or to bring "leanness" (f) upon them, as the word signifies; to bring them into a consumption, and cause them to pine away gradually, by little and little, till they are no more; and that by reducing the number of their worshippers, so that they shall not have the worship and honour paid them, nor the sacrifices offered to them, supposed by the heathens to be the food of their gods; and, this being the case, their priests would be starved and become lean, who

The LORD will be terrible unto them: {g} for he will famish all the gods of the earth; and men shall worship him, every one from his place, even all the isles of the heathen. (g) When he will deliver his people and destroy their enemies and idols, his glory will shine throughout all the world.

The Lord will be terrible; or, the Lord, who is to be feared, is against or above them, and will make it appear that he is terrible in his doings. Unto them; Moabites and Ammonites, and their gods, of whom they gloried. He will famish; starve; though now their altars are filled with sacrifices, and their bowls run over, as if they designed to make their gods fat; but they shall want their sacrifices and drink offerings, these shall be few or quite cease, and their priests grow lean. There shall be a consumption among them all. All the gods, idols, heathen gods, of the earth; of those lands, Dagon, Chemosh, Molech, &c., that are gods no where else but on earth, and among the deceived; or gods of the earth., as sons of the earth, vile, spurious gods. Men shall worship him; men of that country whose gods are undone, or all men, shall know, own, and worship the God of Israel. Every one from his place, where he dwelleth, not only at Jerusalem, or in this mount, but every where. All the isles; either literally, as we now see it fulfilled, or as the Jews interpret isles to be transmarine places. So they wait for his law, as foretold Isaiah 42:4 . Of the heathen; of all nations in all parts of the world. This is eminently fulfilled by the prevailing of the gospel.

11. famish—bring low by taking from the idols their former fame; as beasts are famished by their food being withheld. Also by destroying the kingdoms under the tutelage of idols (Ps 96:4; Isa 46:1). gods of the earth—who have their existence only on earth, not in heaven as the true God. every one from his place—each in his own Gentile home, taught by the Jews in the true religion: not in Jerusalem alone shall men worship God, but everywhere (Ps 68:29, 30; Mal 1:11; Joh 4:21; 1Co 1:2; 1Ti 2:8). It does not mean, as in Isa 2:2; Mic 4:1, 2; Zec 8:22; 14:16 that they shall come from their several places to Jerusalem to worship [Maurer]. all … isles of … heathen—that is, all the maritime regions, especially the west, now being fulfilled in the gathering in of the Gentiles to Messiah.

Verse 11. - § 4. Before passing to the judgment on the nations of the south and north, the prophet shows the object of all these chastisements: God destroys idolatry in order that pure religion may reign over all the earth. The Lord will be terrible unto them. The Lord shows himself as a terrible God over the Moabites and Ammonites, but only as parts of the heathen world, and with a view to a universal result This is the purpose of the revelation of himself as Judge. Septuagint, Ἐπιφανήσεται Κύριος ἐπ αὐτούς , "The Lord will appear against them." For he will famish all the gods of the earth. The verb means literally, "to make lean," and then "to destroy;" hence the LXX., ἐξολοθρεύσει . The word may be chosen in order to express the idea that worshippers will no more be found to offer sacrifices and drink offerings to the gods (see Bel and the Dragon 6, 12). The nations being destroyed, the gods reverenced by them would vanish and be heard of no more. Men shall worship him. Idolatry abolished, men shall learn to worship Jehovah. Every one from his place. Every one shall worship God in his own place and country; the Lord shall be universally recognized, and his worship shall no longer be confined to one temple or one land, but wherever men dwell there shall they offer their homage and adoration (comp. Isaiah 19:18, 19 ; Malachi 1:11 , where the same truth is signified).

Such passages as Micah 4:1 and Zechariah 14:16 , which seem to imply that all nations are to come up to the material Jerusalem to pay their devotions, require evidently a spiritual interpretation, and denote that the heathen converted to Christ shall be received into the Church, and join in the worship of the true Israel. The isles of the heathen; or, coasts of the nations ; the most distant countries that lie across the seas ( Genesis 10:5 ; Psalm 72:10 ; Isaiah 11:11 , etc.). Zephaniah 2:11

11 . will be terrible unto them ] lit. over them. Malachi 1:14 , “I am a treat king, and my name terrible among the nations.” For “terrible” Sept. reads, will appear . he will famish all the gods ] lit., as marg., make lean ( Isaiah 17:4 ). Hitzig, followed by Keil, thinks the meaning to be, that by destroying all the nations the Lord will make lean or enfeeble all their gods, for the vigour of the god is proportionate to the robustness and power of the nation. This kind of reflection is not likely to have passed through the mind of the prophet. His idea appears to be that by terrible deeds Jehovah will make Himself known to the nations, who will fear Him alone, perceiving the impotency of their former gods; comp. Isaiah 2:20 ; Isaiah 30:22 , and Ezekiel 25 ff. The use of the term make lean in regard to gods is certainly strange. every one from his place ] i.e. each individual person, not each nation. The phrase “from his place” seems to mean, everyone where he dwells, the idea being that, without making pilgrimages to Jerusalem ( Isaiah 2:3 ; Zechariah 8:22 ; Zechariah 14:16 ), the peoples shall worship Jehovah, every man in his own land ( Malachi 1:11 ).

The prep, from might have a pregnant sense, each coming from his place, but this meaning is decidedly less natural. the isles of the heathen ] The term “isles” appears to have been applied to the island-like coasts of the Mediterranean, and then to have been used of distant countries in general, Isaiah 41:1 ; Isaiah 59:18 , Ezekiel 39:6 .