Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Zephaniah 1:18
Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD’s wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.
18. The idea of the verse is illustrated in Pro 11:4, “Riches profit not in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivereth from death,” cf. Eze 7:19. The instruments also whom Jehovah employs to execute His judgments are sometimes animated by a loftiness of purpose and mind that despises mere earthly treasures: “Behold, I stir up the Medes against them, which regard not silver, and as for gold they delight not in it” (Isa 13:17).
the whole land ] Rather, the whole earth; ch. Zep 3:8.
devoured by the fire of his jealousy ] “Jealousy” means heat, and may refer to any violent emotion, as military ardour (Isa 42:13); usually it means the strong reaction or self-assertion of the mind against an injury. If the term have this special sense here it is explained by the words “they have sinned against Jehovah” ( Zep 1:17). The figure of jealousy here is that of a fire devouring the whole earth. The words are repeated Zep 3:8.
make even a speedy riddance ] lit. for an end, surely a terrible (or, sudden) destruction will he make (of) all the inhabiters of the earth. Cf. Nah 1:8. The chapter ends with announcing anew the universal destruction threatened in Zep 1:2-3.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lords wrath – Gain unjustly gotten was the cause of their destruction. For, as Ezekiel closes the like description; They shall cast their silver into the streets, and their gold shall be removed; their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the Lord; they shall not satisfy their souls nor fill their bowels: because it is the stumbling-block of their iniquity Eze 7:19. Much less shall any possession, outward or inward, be of avail in the Great Day; since in death the rich mans pomp shall not follow him Psa 49:17, and every gift which he has misused, whether of mind or spirit, even the knowledge of God without doing His will, shall but increase damnation. Sinners will then have nothing but their sins.
Here the prophet uses images belonging more to the immediate destruction; at the close the words again widen, and belong, in their fullest literal sense, to the Day of Judgment. The whole land, rather, as at the beginning, the whole earth shall be devoured by the fire of His jelousy; for He shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land: rather, He shall make an utter, yea altogether a terriffic destruction of all the dwellers of the earth. What Nahum had foretold of Nineveh , He shall make the place thereof an utter consumption, that Zephaniah foretells of all the inhabitants of the world. For what is this, the whole earth shall be devoured by the fire of His jealousy, but what Peter says, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up? 2Pe 3:13. And what is that he says, He shall make all the dwellers of the earth an utter, yea altogether a hasty destruction, but a general judgment of all, who belong to the world, whose home, citizenship, whose whole mind is in the world, not as true Christians, who are strangers and pilgrims here, and their citizenship is in heaven? Heb 11:13; Phi 3:20.
These God shall make an utter, terrific, speedy destruction, a living death, so that they shall at once both be and not be; be, as continued in being; not be, as having no life of God, but only a continued death in misery. And this shall be through the jealousy of Almighty God, that divine quality in Him, whereby He loves and wills to be loved, and endures not those who give to others the love for which He gave so much and which is so wholly due to Himself Alone. Augustine, Conf. i. 5. p. 3, Oxford Translation: Thou demandest my love, and if I give it not, art wroth with me, and threatenest me with grievous woes. Is it then a slight woe to love Thee not? What will be that anger, which is Infinite Love, but which becomes, through mans sin, Hate?
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 18. Their silver nor their gold] In which they trusted, and from which they expected happiness; these shall not profit them in this awful day. And God will bring this about speedily; and a speedy riddance – a universal desolation, shall in a short time take place in every part of the land.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Neither their silver nor their gold: sometimes these have purchased friends, and redeemed a life at the hand of greedy soldiers, who have spared on promise of money; but now it shall not be so, neither silver nor gold shall help.
Shall be able to deliver; to pacify the enraged sultan of Babylon, who had been formerly appeased with presents and tribute money, but will no more. Nor shall his soldiers dare to spare or save any when they are charged to slay man, woman, and child, as in the taking of Jerusalem it is probable they were charged, Psa 137:7-9.
The Lords wrath: were it the wrath of man only, gifts might appease it; but it is the wrath of God, who is a righteous Judge, and receives not gifts.
Shall be devoured; utterly ruined, its wealth carried away, its provisions eat up, its stores exhausted, and its stock (which should continue their provision) utterly destroyed, as Zep 1:2.
By the fire of his jealousy; to which their sins provoked the Lord, which their sins enkindled, and now it burns that notre can quench it; see Deu 28:15, to the end of the chapter; all which God will now make good against them.
For he shall make even a speedy riddance: though lie had with wonderful patience waited and forborne, now he would wait no longer, but with speedy executions fulfil his threats and accomplish his wrath; which he did within less than twenty years after this prophecy, as is most likely, on the accuratest computation we can make of the times of Zephaniahs prophesying and Nebuchadnezzars taking the city.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
18. Neither . . . silver nor . . .gold shall . . . deliver them, c. (Pr11:4).
fire of his jealousy(Eze 38:19) His wrath jealousfor His honor consuming the guilty like fire.
make even a speedy riddanceof allrather, a “consummation” (completedestruction: “full end,” Jer 46:28;Eze 11:13) “altogethersudden” [MAURER]. “Aconsumption, and that a sudden one” [CALVIN].
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord’s wrath,…. Which they have gotten in an unjust way, and have hoarded up, and put their confidence in; these were the lees on which they were settled; but now, as they would be disregarded by the Lord, as insufficient to atone for their sins, and appease his wrath, and procure his favour; see Job 36:18 so they would be of no avail to them, to deliver from their enemies, who would not be bribed therewith to save their lives; the same is said of the Medes at the taking of Babylon, Isa 13:17:
but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy; his zeal against sin, and for his own glory, shall burn like fire; which shall consume the whole land, and all the inhabitants of it, and was not to be stopped by anything that could be done by them; so furious and raging would it be:
for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land; burn up at once all the briers and thorns, even all that offend, and do iniquity, and spare neither root nor branch; or, as when a field is cleared of the stubble on it, after the wheat is gathered in; or a grain floor of its chaff, after the wheat is separated from it; thus with the besom of destruction would the Lord sweep away the sinful inhabitants of Judea, and clear it of them, as he did by the sword, by famine, by pestilence, and by captivity.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
He repeats what he has already said—that the helps which the Jews hoped would be in readiness to prevent God’s vengeance would be vain. For though men dare not openly to resist God, yet they hope by some winding courses to find out some way by which they may avert his judgment. As then the Jews, trusting in their wealth, and in their fortified cities, became insolent towards God, the Prophet here declares, that neither gold nor silver should be a help to them. Let them, he says, accumulate wealth; though by the mass of their gold and silver they form high mountains for themselves, yet they shall not be able to turn aside the hand of God, nor be able to deliver themselves,—and why? He repeats again the same thing, that it would be the day of wrath. We indeed know, that the most savage enemies are sometimes pacified by money, for avarice mitigates their cruelty; but the Prophet declares here, that as God would be the ruler in that war, there would be no redemption, and therefore money would be useless: for God could by no means receive them into favor, except they repented and truly humbled themselves before him.
He therefore adds, that the land would be devoured by the fire of God’s jealousy, or indignation. He compares God’s wrath to fire; for no agreement can be made when fire rages, but the more materials there are the more will there be to increase the fire. So then the Prophet excludes the Jews from any hope of deliverance, except they reconciled themselves to God by true and sincere repentance; for a consummation, he says, he will make as to all the inhabitants of the land, and one indeed very quick or speedy. (89) In short, he means, that as the Jews had hardened themselves against every instruction, they would find God’s vengeance to be such as would wholly consume them, as they would not anticipate it, but on the contrary enhance it by their pride and stupidity, and even deride it. Now follows—
(89) Quickness rather than terror is what is evidently meant. See version 14. Most agree in this respect. Newcome renders it “speedy,” and Henderson “sudden.” The word “riddance,” for [ כלה ], in our version, is improper. It is rendered “full end” by Newcome, and “consummation” by Henderson, and “συντέλειαν— end” by the Septuagint. The particle [ אך ] does not mean “altogether,” as rendered by Henderson, but it is an asseveration—surely, indeed, certainly, doubtless. The [ אח ] before “inhabitants” has evidently here the meaning of κατα, with regard to. It is rendered επι, upon, in the Septuagint, and “with” by Marckius and Newcome. The whole verse is as follows,—
18. Neither their silver nor their gold Shall be able to deliver them In the day of the extreme-wrath of Jehovah; By the fire of his jealousy Shall be consumed the whole land; For an end, doubtless sudden, will he make, As to all the inhabitants of the land.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(18) He shall make even a speedy riddance.Literally, He shall effect a destruction, yea, a terrible one. Comp. Isa. 10:23, from which passage this phraseology is probably borrowed.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
18. Ordinarily liberty and safety might be purchased from an invader by the payment of a heavy tribute, and thus the Egyptians are said to have purchased their freedom from the Scythians (see p. 511), but in this case gold and silver will not tempt the divinely appointed executioner (Isa 13:17; Eze 7:19; compare Pro 11:4).
The whole land Judah; not “the whole earth,” for in Zep 1:4-18 the prophet confines himself to Judah and Jerusalem (not so in Zep 3:8).
The fire of his jealousy See on Joe 2:18. In this case, however, the divine resentment is aroused not against those who have dishonored his people, but against his people for dishonoring Jehovah (compare Zep 1:17). While the devastation is wrought by a hostile army, back of it is Jehovah, who has made the enemy “the rod of his anger, the staff of his indignation” (Isa 10:5).
He shall make even a speedy riddance Literally, for an end, even a terrible destruction he shall make. The destruction will be complete (compare Nah 1:8).
Them that dwell in the land As before, the land of Judah.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
REFLECTIONS
THINK Reader! from all that you and I have seen and gone through, in reading of the sins and sorrows of poor fallen nature, what an awful state was that nature in by the fall, and what a blessed deliverance from the guilt, dominion, and endless punishment of it, by the gracious undertaking and accomplishment of salvation, by the Lord Jesus Christ! Oh! thou Great, thou Glorious, and Almighty Benefactor of thy people. It was thine, O Lord, to bring us out from a ruin which nothing could have delivered from but thou. It is thine now, O Lord, to keep. us from. A ruin that would still cast us down, did not thy grace preserve us. And it is thine, O Lord, forever to keep us from falling, and to present us faultless before thy throne, in thy kingdom. Precious Lord Jesus! do thou who hast been our preserver, and the preserver of thy Church in all ages, keep us to the end, and bring us to thine eternal glory. Amen.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Zep 1:18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD’S wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.
Ver. 18. Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord’s wrath] “We were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold,” 1Pe 1:18 . Money hath drowned many a soul, 1Ti 6:9 , delivered none. See Pro 11:4 Isa 13:17 Eze 7:19 . See Trapp on “ Pro 11:4 “ It is righteousness, and not riches, that delivereth from death, Pro 10:2 . Money can neither pacify God, nor still the conscience, nor stop the enemy’s mouth, but inflame them rather with an unsatisfiable desire of enjoying all, as Rome did the Gauls, and Cyprus the Romans (Sextus Rufus); and as the pearls, usually cast out with the flood, and gathered at the ebb, drew Caesar’s affection for the conquest of Britain (Sueton.).
But the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy
For he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
land. Not the same word as in verses: Zep 2:3. for, Ginsburg thinks this should be “yea”.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
their silver: Zep 1:11, Psa 49:6-9, Psa 52:5-7, Pro 11:4, Pro 18:11, Isa 2:20, Isa 2:21, Jer 9:23, Jer 9:24, Eze 7:19, Mat 16:26, Luk 12:19-21, Luk 16:22, Luk 16:23
in the day: Zep 1:15, Job 21:30
but: Zep 3:8, Lev 26:33-35, Deu 29:20-28, Deu 31:17, Isa 24:1-12, Jer 4:26-29, Jer 7:20, Jer 7:34, Jer 9:11
the fire: Zep 3:8, Deu 32:21-25, 1Ki 14:22, Psa 78:58, Psa 79:5, Eze 8:3-5, Eze 16:38, Eze 36:5, Eze 36:6, 1Co 10:22
he shall: Zep 1:2, Zep 1:3, Isa 1:24
Reciprocal: Exo 10:7 – that Egypt Num 25:11 – that I Deu 4:24 – thy God Deu 8:19 – I testify against 2Ki 22:17 – shall not be Job 3:15 – who filled their houses Job 20:28 – and his goods Job 36:19 – Will Pro 10:2 – Treasures Pro 10:3 – but Pro 27:24 – For Ecc 5:13 – riches Isa 10:3 – where Isa 42:13 – jealousy Jer 2:15 – his cities Jer 21:12 – lest Eze 6:6 – the cities Eze 7:11 – none Eze 15:8 – I will Eze 22:21 – and blow Eze 23:25 – I will set Eze 30:11 – and fill Amo 4:3 – them into the palace Mic 2:3 – from Zep 2:2 – before the fierce Mal 4:1 – shall burn Mat 6:19 – General Mar 10:24 – trust Rom 4:15 – Because Heb 10:27 – fiery Jam 5:1 – ye Rev 18:11 – the merchants
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Zep 1:18. Sometimes a victorious army can be induced to make peace by the offer of money. But the Babylonians were not wanting that, instead they were bent on the subjugation of the city of Jerusalem and its surrounding territory.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
The Judeans would not be able to buy themselves out of their trouble when the Lord poured forth His wrath (cf. Eze 7:19). He would devour the whole earth with the fire of His jealous rage, jealousy provoked by His people’s preference for various forms of idolatry (Zep 1:4-6). He would destroy completely and terribly all the inhabitants of the earth (cf. Zep 1:2-3; cf. Joe 2:1-11).
The comprehensive nature of this judgment suggests that at this point the prophet’s perspective again lifted to what we can now see will be the eschatological fulfillment of this prophecy. The Babylonian invasion only previewed it. Another possibility is that we should understand "all the earth" as referring only to the Promised Land. However, other descriptions of the worldwide extent of God’s eventual judgment of sin and sinners in this book and others make this interpretation unattractive.