Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Zephaniah 2:12
Ye Ethiopians also, ye [shall be] slain by my sword.
12. Threat against Ethiopia
Ethiopia or Cush was the country lying south of Egypt. Stretching from Syene (Assouan) southward, it corresponded to Nubia and the modern Soudan. Its capital is supposed to have lain near the 4th Cataract, on the great western bend of the Nile, about midway between Abu Hamed and Old Donkola.
ye shall be slain ] lit. are the slain of my sword, Isa 66:16. Comp. Jer 25:33. The words are a prediction.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Ye Ethiopians also, ye shall be slain by My sword – Literally, Ye Ethiopians also, the slain of My sword are they. Having summoned them to His throne, God speaks of them, not to them anymore; perhaps in compassion, as elsewhere in indignation . The Ethiopians were not in any direct antagonism to God and His people, but allied only to their old oppressor, Egypt. They may have been in Pharaoh Nechos army, in resisting which, as a subject of Assyria, Josiah was slain: they are mentioned Jer 46:9 in that army which Nebuchadnezzar smote at Carchemish in the 4th year of Jehoiakim. The prophecy of Ezekiel implies rather, that Ethiopia should be involved in the calamities of Egypt, than that it should be itself invaded. Great terror shall be in Ethiopia, when the slain shall fall in Egypt Eze 30:4. Ethiopia and Lybia and Lydia etc. and all the men of the land that is in league, shall fall with these, by the sword Eze 30:5. They also that uphold Egypt shall fall Eze 30:6.
Syene, the frontier-fortress over against Ethiopia, is especially mentioned as the boundary also of the destruction. Messengers God says, shall go forth from Me to make the careless Ethiopians afraid Eze 30:9, while the storm was bursting in its full desolating force upon Egypt. All the other cities, whose destruction is foretold, are cities of lower or upper Egypt .
But such a blow as that foretold by Jeremiah and Ezekiel must have fallen heavily upon the allies of Egypt. We have no details, for the Egyptians would not, and did not tell of the calamities and disgraces of their country. No one does. Josephus, however, briefly but distinctly says , that after Nebuchadnezzar had in the 23rd year of his reign, the 5th after the destruction of Jerusalem, reduced into subjection Moab and Ammon, he invaded Egypt, with a view to subdue it, killed its then king, and having set up another, captured for the second time the Jews in it and carried them to Babylon. The memory of the devastation by Nebuchadnezzar lived on apparently in Egypt, and is a recognized fact among the Muslim historians, who had no interest in the fulfillment of Jewish prophecy, of which it does not appear that they even knew.
Bokht-nasar (Nebuchadnezzar), they say , made war on the son of Nechas (Necho), slew him and ruined the city of Memphis and many other cities of Egypt: he carried the inhabitants captive, without leaving one, so that Egypt remained waste forty years without one inhabitant. Another says , The refuge which the king of Egypt granted to the Jews who fled from Nebuchadnezzar brought this war upon it: for he took them under his protection and would not give them up to their enemy. Nebuchadnezzar, in revenge, marched against the king of Egypt and destroyed the country. One may be certain, says a good authority , that the conquest of Egypt by Nebuchadnezzar was a tradition generally spread in Egypt and questioned by no one.
Ethiopia was then involved, as an ally, and as far as its contingent was concerned, in the war, in which Nebuchadnezzar desolated Egypt for those 40 years. But, although this fulfilled the prophecy of Ezekiel, Isaiah, some sixty years before Zephaniah, prophesied a direct conquest of Ethiopia. I have given, God says, Egypt as thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee Isa 43:3. It lay in Gods purpose, that Cyrus should restore His own people, and that his ambition should find its vent and compensation in the lands beyond. It may be that, contrary to all known human policy, Cyrus restored the Jews to their own land, willing to bind them to himself, and to make them a frontier territory toward Egypt, not subject only but loyal to himself. This is quite consistent with the reason which he assigns; The Lord God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and He hath charged me to build Him an house at Jerusalem which is in Judah Ezr 1:2-3; and with the statement of Josephus, that he was moved thereto by reading the prophecy which Isaiah left, 210 years before.
It is, alas! nothing new to Christians to have mixed motives for their actions: the exception is to have a single motive, for the glory of God. The advantage to himself would doubtless flash at once on the founder of a great empire, though it did not suggest the restoration of the Jews. Egypt and Assyria had always, on either side, wished to possess themselves of Palestine, which lay between them. Anyhow, one Persian monarch did restore the Jews; his successor possessed himself of Egypt, and part, at least, of Ethiopia. Cyrus wished, it is related , to war in person against Babylon, the Bactrians, the Sacae, and Egypt. He perished, as is known, before he had completed the third of his purposed conquests. Cambyses, although after the conquest of Egypt he planned ill his two more distant expeditions, reduced the Ethiopians bordering upon Egypt ( lower Ethiopia and Nubia), and these brought gifts permanently to the Persian Sovereign. Even in the time of Xerxes, the Ethiopians had to furnish their contingent of troops against the Greeks. Herodotus describes their dress and weapons, as they were reviewed at Doriscus . Cambyses, then, did not lose his hold over Ethiopia and Egypt, when forced by the rebellion of Pseudo-Smerdis to quit Egypt.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 12. Ye Ethiopians also] Nebuchadnezzar subdued these. See Jer 46:2; Jer 46:9; Eze 30:4; Eze 30:10. See also on Am 9:1-7.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The prophet doth not speak of the African Ethiopians, south of Egypt, but of the Arabian Ethiopians, much nearer to Canaan, whose country was called Cusaea, with the addition Ethiopia Cusaea. See Hab 3:7.
Ye shall be slain, punished by war, and your people cut off,
by my sword; Nebuchadnezzar and his Chaldeans, called here Gods sword, for God employed and prospered them.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
12. Fulfilled whenNebuchadnezzar (God’s sword, Isa10:5) conquered Egypt, with which Ethiopia was closely connectedas its ally (Jer 46:2-9;Eze 30:5-9).
Yeliterally, “They.”The third person expresses estrangement; while doomed before God’stribunal in the second person, they are spoken of in the third asaliens from God.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Ye Ethiopians also,…. Or, “as for ye Ethiopians also” h; not the Ethiopians in Africa beyond Egypt, at a distance from the land of Israel, and the countries before mentioned; but the inhabitants of Arabia Chusea, or Ethiopia, which lay near to Moab and Ammon; these should not escape, but suffer with their neighbours, who sometimes distressed the people of the Jews, and made war with them, being nigh them; see 2Ch 14:9:
ye [shall be] slain by my sword; or, “the slain of my sword are they” i; R. Japhet thinks here is a defect of the note of similitude “as”, which should be supplied thus, “ye” are, or shall be, “the slain of my sword”, as they; as the Moabites and Ammonites; that is, these Ethiopians should be slain as well as they by the sword of Nebuchadnezzar; which is called the sword of God, because he was an instrument in the hand of God for punishing the nations of the earth. This was fulfilled very probably when Egypt was subdued by Nebuchadnezzar, with whom Ethiopia was confederate, as well as near unto it, Jer 46:1. The destruction of these by the Assyrians is predicted, Isa 20:4.
h “etiam ad vos Aethiopes quod attinet”, Piscator. i “interfecti gladio meo ipsi”, Montanus.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
After this statement of the aim of the judgments of God, Zephaniah mentions two other powerful heathen nations as examples, to prove that the whole of the heathen world will succumb to the judgment. Zep 2:12. “Ye Cushites also, slain of my sword are they. Zep 2:13. And let him stretch out his hand toward the south, and destroy Asshur; and make Nineveh a barren waste, a dry place, like the desert. Zep 2:14. And herds lie down in the midst of it, all kinds of beasts in crowds: pelicans also and hedgehogs will lodge on their knobs; the voice of the singer in the window; heaps upon the threshold: for their cedar-work hath He made bare. Zep 2:15. This the city, the exulting one, the safely dwelling one, which said in her heart, I, and no more: how has she become a desolation, a lair of beasts! Every one that passeth by it will hiss, swing his hand.” As a representative of the heathen dwelling in the south, Zephaniah does not mention Edom, which bordered upon Judah, or the neighbouring land of Egypt, but the remote Ethiopia, the furthest kingdom or people in the south that was known to the Hebrews. The Ethiopians will be slain of the sword of Jehovah. does not take the place of the copula between the subject and predicate, any more than in Isa 37:16 and Ezr 5:11 (to which Hitzig appeals in support of this usage: see Delitzsch, on the other hand, in his Comm. on Isaiah, l.c.), but is a predicate. The prophecy passes suddenly from the form of address (in the second person) adopted in the opening clause, to a statement concerning the Cushites (in the third person). For similar instances of sudden transition, see Zep 3:18; Zec 3:8; Eze 28:22.
(Note: Calvin correctly says: “The prophet commences by driving them, in the second person, to the tribunal of God, and then adds in the third person, ‘They will be,’ etc.”)
is a reminiscence from Isa 66:16: slain by Jehovah with the sword. Zephaniah says nothing further concerning this distant nation, which had not come into any hostile collision with Judah in his day; and only mentions it to exemplify the thought that all the heathen will come under the judgment. The fulfilment commenced with the judgment upon Egypt through the Chaldaeans, as is evident from Eze 30:4, Eze 30:9, as compared with Josephus, Ant. x. 11, and continues till the conversion of that people to the Lord, the commencement of which is recorded in Act 8:27-38. The prophet dwells longer upon the heathen power of the north, the Assyrian kingdom with its capital Nineveh, because Assyria was then the imperial power, which was seeking to destroy the kingdom of God in Judah. This explains the fact that the prophet expresses the announcement of the destruction of this power in the form of a wish, as the use of the contracted forms yet and yasem clearly shows. For it is evident that Ewald is wrong in supposing that stands for , or should be so pointed, inasmuch as the historical tense, “there He stretched out His hand,” would be perfectly out of place. (to stretch out a hand), as in Zep 1:4. al tsaphon , over (or against) the north. The reference is to Assyria with the capital Nineveh. It is true that this kingdom was not to the north, but to the north-east, of Judah; but inasmuch as the Assyrian armies invaded Palestine from the north, it is regarded by the prophets as situated in the north. On Nineveh itself, see at Jon 1:2 (p. 263); and on the destruction of this city and the fall of the Assyrian empire, at Nah 3:19 (p. 379). Lishmamah is strengthened by the apposition tsiyyah kammidbar .
Nineveh is not only to become a steppe, in which herds feed (Isa 27:10), but a dry, desolate waste, where only desert animals will make their home. Tsiyyah , the dry, arid land – the barren, sandy desert (cf. Isa 35:1). , in the midst of the city which has become a desert, there lie flocks, not of sheep and goats ( , Zep 2:6; cf. Isa 13:20), but , literally of all the animals of the (or a) nation. The meaning can only be, “all kinds of animals in crowds or in a mass.” is used here for the mass of animals, just as it is in Joe 1:6 for the multitude of locusts, and as is in Prov. 30:35-36 for the ant-people; and the genitive is to be taken as in apposition. Every other explanation is exposed to much greater objections and difficulties. For the form , see at Gen 1:24. Pelicans and hedgehogs will make their homes in the remains of the ruined buildings (see at Isa 34:11, on which passage Zephaniah rests his description). , upon the knobs of the pillars left standing when the palaces were destroyed ( kaphtor ; see at Amo 9:1). The reference to the pelican, a marsh bird, is not opposed to the tsiyyah of Zep 2:13, since Nineveh stood by the side of streams, the waters of which formed marshes after the destruction of the city. cannot be rendered “a voice sings,” for shorer , to sing, is not used for tuning or resounding; but y e shorer is to be taken relatively, and as subordinate to , the voice of him that sings will be heard in the window. Jerome gives it correctly: vox canentis in fenestra . There is no necessity to think of the cry of the owl or hawk in particular, but simply of birds generally, which make their singing heard in the windows of the ruins. The sketching of the picture of the destruction passes from the general appearance of the city to the separate ruins, coming down from the lofty knobs of the pillars to the windows, and from these to the thresholds of the ruins of the houses. Upon the thresholds there is chorebh , devastation (= rubbish), and no longer a living being. This is perfectly appropriate, so that there is no necessity to give the word an arbitrary interpretation, or to alter the text, so as to get the meaning a raven or a crow. The description closes with the explanatory sentence: “for He has laid bare the cedar-work,” i.e., has so destroyed the palaces and state buildings, that the costly panelling of the walls is exposed. ‘Arzah is a collective, from ‘erez , the cedar-work, and there is no ground for any such alteration of the text as Ewald and Hitzig suggest, in order to obtain the trivial meaning “hews or hacks in pieces,” or the cold expression, “He destroys, lays bare.” In Zep 2:15 the picture is rounded off. “This is the city,” i.e., this is what happens to the exulting city. , exulting, applied to the joyful tumult caused by the men – a favourite word with Isaiah (cf. Isa 22:2; Isa 23:7; Isa 24:8; Isa 32:13). The following predicates from to are borrowed from the description of Babel in Isa 47:8, and express the security and self-deification of the mighty imperial city. The Yod in ‘aphs is not paragogical, but a pronoun in the first person; at the same time, ‘ephes is not a preposition, “beside me,” since in that case the negation “not one” could not be omitted, but “the non-existence,” so that = , I am absolutely no further (see at Isa 47:8). But how has this self-deifying pride been put to shame! , an expression of amazement at the tragical turn in her fate. The city filled with the joyful exulting of human beings has become the lair of wild beasts, and every one that passes by expresses his malicious delight in its ruin. Sharaq , to hiss, a common manifestation of scorn (cf. Mic 6:16; Jer 19:8). , to swing the hand, embodying the thought, “Away with her, she has richly deserved her fate.”
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| Ethiopia and Assyria Threatened. | B. C. 612. |
12 Ye Ethiopians also, ye shall be slain by my sword. 13 And he will stretch out his hand against the north, and destroy Assyria; and will make Nineveh a desolation, and dry like a wilderness. 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. 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.
The cup is going round, when Nebuchadnezzar is going on conquering and to conquer; and not only Israel’s near neighbours, but those that lay more remote, must be reckoned with for the wrongs they have done to God’s people; the Ethiopians and the Assyrians are here taken to task. 1. The Ethiopians, or Arabians, that had sometimes been a terror to Israel (as in Asa’s time, 2 Chron. xiv. 9), must now be reckoned with: They shall be slain by my sword, v. 12. Nebuchadnezzar was God’s sword, the instrument in his hand with which these and other enemies were subdued and punished, Ps. xvii. 14. 2. The Assyrians, and Nineveh the head city of their monarchy, are next set to the bar, to receive their doom: He that is God’s sword will stretch out his hand against the north, and destroy Assyria, and make himself master of it. Assyria had been the rod of God’s anger against Israel, and now Babylon is the rod of God’s anger against Assyria, Isa. x. 5. He will make Nineveh a desolation, as was lately and largely foretold by the prophet Nahum. Observe, (1.) How flourishing Nineveh’s state had formerly been (v. 15): This is the rejoicing city that dwelt carelessly. Nineveh was so strong that she feared no evil, and therefore dwelt carelessly and set danger at defiance; she was so rich that she thought herself sure of all good, and therefore was a rejoicing city, full of mirth and gaiety; and she had such a dominion that she admitted no rival, but said in her heart, “I am, and there is none besides me that can compare with me, no city in the world that can pretend to be equal with me.” God can with his judgments frighten the most secure, humble the most haughty, and mar the mirth of those that most laugh now. (2.) How complete Nineveh’s ruin shall now be; it shall be made a desolation, v. 13. Such a heap of ruins shall this once pompous city be that it shall be, [1.] A receptacle for beasts, such a wilderness that flocks shall lie down in it; nay, such a waste, desolate, frightful place, that wild beasts, shall take up their abode there; the melancholy birds, as the cormorant and bittern, shall make their nests in what remains of the houses, as they sometimes do in old ruinous buildings that are uninhabited and unfrequented. The lintels, or chapiters of the pillars, the windows and thresholds, and all the fine cedar-work curiously engraven, shall lie exposed; and on them these rueful ominous birds shall perch, and their voice shall sing. How are the songs of mirth turned into hideous horrid noises! What little reason have men to be proud of stately buildings, and rich furniture, when they know not what all the pomp of them may come to at last! [2.] A derision to travellers. Those that had come from far, to gratify their curiosity with the sight of Nineveh’s splendour, shall now look on her with as much contempt as ever they looked upon her with admiration (v. 15): Every one that passes by shall hiss at her, and wag his hand, making light of her desolations, nay, and making sport with them–“There is an end of proud Nineveh.” They shall not weep, and wring their hands (the adversities of those are unpitied and unlamented who were insolent and haughty in their prosperity), but they shall hiss and wag their hands, forgetting that perhaps their own ruin is not far off.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
The Prophet extends farther the threatened vengeance, and says, that God would also render to the Ethiopians the reward which they deserved; for they had also harassed the chosen people. But if God punished that nation, how could Ammon and Moab hope to escape? For how could God spare so great a cruelty, since he would visit with punishment the remotest nations? For the hatred of the Moabites and of the Ammonites, as we have said, was less excusable, because they were related to the children of Abraham. They ought, on this account, to have mitigated their fierceness: besides, vicinity ought to have rendered them more humane. But as they exceeded other nations in cruelty, a heavier punishment awaited them. Now this comparison was intended for this end—that the Jews might know that God would be inexorable towards the Moabites, by whom they had been so unjustly harassed, since even the Ethiopians would be punished, who yet were more excusable on account of their distance.
As to the words, some regard the demonstrative pronoun המה, eme, they, as referring to the Babylonians, and others, to the Moabites. I prefer to understand it of the Moabites, if we read, like them, or with them, as these interpreters consider it: for they regard the particle את, at, with, or כ, caph, like, to be understood, Ye Ethiopians shall be slain by my sword like them, or with them. It would in this case doubtless apply to the Moabites. But it seems to me that the sentence is irregular, even ye Ethiopians, and then, they shall be slain by any sword. The Prophet begins the verse in the second person, summoning the Ethiopians to appear before God’s tribunal; he afterwards adds in the third person, they shall be slain by my sword. (103)
God calls whatever evils were impending over the Ethiopians his sword; for though they were destroyed by the Chaldeans yet it was done under the guidance of God himself. The Chaldeans made war under his authority, as the Assyrians did, who had been previously employed by him to execute his vengeance. It follows—
(103) Newcome cuts the knot, here by an emendation, by [ אתם ], ye, for [ המה ], they; and Houbigant, by [ תהיו ], ye shall be,—“the wounded of my sword shall ye be.” This is according to the Septuagint; but the former is more in accordance with the Hebrew idiom; for the pronoun is often used without the auxiliary verb. Some take [ המה ] as ipsi in Latin, connected with vos , ye yourselves. Then the rendering would be—
Also ye Cushites, The slain of my sword shall ye yourselves be.
But what Calvin says is not uncommon in the Prophet, the abrupt change of persons.— Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
CRITICAL NOTES.]
Zep. 2:12.] Fulfilled when Nebuchadnezzar conquered Egypt, with which Ethiopia was closely allied (Jer. 46:2; Jer. 46:9; Eze. 30:5-9).
THE DOOM OF ETHIOPIA.Zep. 2:12
Zephaniah has to complete his circuit. He has travelled East and West, and now completes his round by denouncing judgment on the nations of the North and South. At the South he merely aims a blow in passing; but it is curious to note how far it reaches. He travels to the utmost limit of his knowledge, and hurls his curt ringing anathema at Cush or Ethiopia, the southernmost kingdom known to the Hebrews. Notice
I. That the enemies of the Church, though numerous and far distant, will be found out and punished. Philistia, Moab, and Ammon escape not. The sword passes Edom, a constant enemy, immediately south to Judah. Egypt insolent and more southern still, is not mentioned. But far away the judgment sweeps to remote Ethiopia. Ye Ethiopians also.
II. That in the punishment of these enemies the hand of God must be recognized. Slain by my sword. All nations and individuals are Gods instruments, and under his control. The most powerful and profane are under the rule and wielded by the hand of God. None can annoy and act without his permission. All things are as easily managed as a sword in the hand. Hence learn (a) to submit to God in the persecution by wicked men; and (b) to discern his power and use of them. Deliver my soul from the wicked, which is thy sword.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
(12) Ethiopia is to suffer by the sword in the execution of Gods purpose of magnifying His people. The conjunction of Ethiopia and Assyria is probably suggested by the earlier passage in Nah. 3:8. et seq. In addition to its earlier vicissitudes at the hands of Assyrian invaders, Ethiopia perhaps suffered as an ally of Egypt after the battle of Carchemish. It was probably invaded by Nebuchadnezzar; see on Eze. 30:4. With the Median ascendancy came a fresh series of calamities. Cambyses, the successor of Cyrus, reduced the country to a condition of vassalage, B.C. 525; and in the time of Xerxes the Ethiopians had to furnish a contingent against the Greeks.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
12. The doom of Ethiopia.
Ethiopians Or, Cushites. The inhabitants of the vast and undefined territory immediately south of Egypt. The country Hebrews Kush is mentioned frequently in connection with Egypt (Nah 3:9; Isa 20:3-5). During the flourishing period of Egyptian history, Ethiopia was subject to the kings of Egypt, but toward the close of the eighth century B.C. an Ethiopian dynasty usurped the throne of the latter, which it was able to hold for only a brief period. At the time of Zephaniah, the Ethiopian rulers had been expelled again; nevertheless, some have supposed that in this passage Ethiopia stands for Egypt. It is undoubtedly true that a threat against the near and powerful Egypt would make a deeper impression upon the people of Judah than a threat against the distant Ethiopia, and, as a matter of fact, the Scythians never went farther than the northern borders of Egypt; yet there seems insufficient warrant for identifying the two. It is preferable to retain Ethiopia and take it as a representative of the remote south, just as the islands of the nations represent the west and Assyria the east or northeast; the dreaded enemy comes from the north.
Ye shall be slain Hebrew, “they shall be slain”; the ancient versions read the second person, which is to be preferred. The terrible invader will make a terrible end of the Ethiopians.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The Ethiopians ( Zep 2:12 ).
Zep 2:12
“You Ethiopians also, you will be slain by my sword.”
This brief reference takes us by surprise. The Ethiopians (Cushi) would probably be the furthest nation south known to Zephaniah. But we would have expected more comment. This suggests that rather than having any particular reason for targeting the Ethiopians he was just deliberately thinking of as far south as possible. Basically he was indicating that almost the whole world of his day was to be included in the coming catastrophe. The ‘Ethiopians’ were more in the area of the Sudan on the upper cataracts of the Nile, although they may have extended into Ethiopia.
It has been suggested that Egypt was in mind for they had been ruled by Ethiopian kings for sixty years in the not too distant past (up to 664 BC), with the reference being contemptuous, ‘you Ethiopians’. But it seems unlikely that if it were Egypt the reference would be so brief, whereas Zephaniah probably knew little about the Ethiopians apart from the fact of their existence.
Nebuchadnezzar would in fact conquer Egypt and include Ethiopia in his conquests.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Zep 2:12 Ye Ethiopians also, ye [shall be] slain by my sword.
Ver. 12. Ye Ethiopians also, ye shall be slain by my sword ] Which is long enough to reach you, though far remote. The poets feign that Jupiter was wont to be feasted by the Ethiopians; but that shall not save them from God’s sore and great strong sword. Nebuchadnezzar, to whom God had given Ethiopia, and Egypt, and Saba as a ransom for his people, Isa 43:3 . See Pro 11:8 . See Trapp on “ Pro 11:8 “ The Ethiopians and Egyptians were subdued together, Jer 46:2 Isa 18:1-2 . It is now inhabited by the Abyssinians (a kind of mongrel Christians), and called Prester John’s country; where they say they have this custom, among others: In their great solemnities they have a cup of gold borne before them, filled within, and besmeared without with dirt, yet so as the gold appeareth; and next to this cup is carried a crucifix. Hereby they would show that man should be pure as gold; but being within and without defiled by sin, he is restored by Christ crucified, so as that the gold of God’s graces appeareth in him here in part, and shall do hereafter in all perfection.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
ye. See note on “For”, Zep 2:4.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Ethiopians: Isa 18:1-7, Isa 20:4, Isa 20:5, Isa 43:3, Jer 46:9, Jer 46:10, Eze 30:4-9
my: Psa 17:13, Isa 10:5, Isa 13:5, Jer 47:6, Jer 47:7, Jer 51:20-23
Reciprocal: Deu 32:41 – whet Isa 34:5 – my sword Jer 12:12 – the sword Jer 25:33 – the slain Eze 21:3 – will draw Eze 30:9 – messengers Eze 30:24 – and put
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Zep 2:12. Ethiopia was another heathen nation that had made light of God’s people and hence was threatened with divine vengeance.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Zep 2:12. Ye Ethiopians also shall be slain Here a denunciation of divine wrath is uttered against the Ethiopians, as, Zep 2:8, against the Moabites and Ammonites. It is said that they should be slain by Gods sword; because Nebuchadnezzar, who was to subdue them, was raised up by the divine providence, in order to execute its purposes; and to cut off those whose wickedness called for the infliction of divine vengeance. This denunciation against the Ethiopians was fulfilled by Nebuchadnezzar, by whom they were overthrown, when they came to assist the king of Egypt against him.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
3. Judgment coming on Ethiopia 2:12
Zephaniah’s oracle against Ethiopia is very brief (cf. Isaiah 18-20; Jeremiah 46; Ezekiel 29-32). Patterson suggested that Zephaniah may have meant Egypt rather than Ethiopia. [Note: Patterson, pp. 349-50.] Biblical Ethiopia occupied the territory now held by southern Egypt, Sudan, Eritrea, and northern Ethiopia. The Ethiopians were the southernmost (really southwestern-most) people known to the Judeans. God promised to send His sword against this nation. His instrument of judgment proved to be Nebuchadnezzar who defeated Ethiopia shortly after overrunning all of Judah in 586 B.C. (cf. Eze 30:4-5; Eze 30:9; Eze 30:24-25). The prophet gave no reason for this overthrow, though it must be that Ethiopia shared the same disregard for Yahweh that the other nations he condemned did.