Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 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.
14. all the beasts of the nations ] Sept. all the beasts of the earth, as the phrase usually runs (Gen 1:24; Psa 79:2), or beasts of the field. The phrase seems to stand in apposition to flocks, the idea of which it expands. The word “flocks” seems nowhere to be used of wild creatures, but always of those tended by the shepherd. The term “beasts” is generally used of wild creatures, but in Isa 46:1 it is used of tame animals, and elsewhere of creatures in general. The term nation (here sing.) is used of locusts (Joe 1:6), just as “people” is used of the ants and conies (Pro 30:25-26), and many assume that it is so used here, rendering, all kinds of animals in crowds (Keil, R.V. marg.). The construction is against such a sense, and there seems no reason for departing from the ordinary meaning of nation. Nineveh shall be a common pasture for every tribe of people. On the other hand, Wellhausen appears to take “beasts” in a figurative sense, rendering a motley medley of people, the reference being to the tribes who own the flocks. But though “beasts” be sometimes used figuratively of peoples, when the idea is to be expressed that they shall attack and devour another people (Isa 56:9), in a passage like the present such a sense is entirely unnatural.
cormorant and the bittern ] R.V. pelican and porcupine. The first word is usually supposed to denote the pelican (Deu 14:17; Isa 34:11; Psa 102:6). Sept. renders the second “hedgehog”; by others it is supposed to mean the bittern (Tristram). For upper lintels, marg. more literally: chapiters (so R.V.), that is, the carved tops of the pillars now flung to the ground, or of those still standing amidst the ruins.
Their voice shall sing ] lit. a voice that singeth = hark! they sing! The idea of “singing” is strange; Sept. takes the word in a more general sense of the cry of birds or wild creatures.
desolation shall be in the thresholds ] Instead of “desolation,” Sept. (with difference of one letter) reads ravens, a reading which many follow. Cf. Isa 34:11.
uncover the cedar work ] The text is probably in disorder. The term “uncover” is that rendered rase to the foundation, Psa 137:7 (see on Hab 3:13). The supposed form rendered “cedar work” does not occur elsewhere. The slightest possible change in pointing would give her cedar, which might mean, her cedar work. The word, however, might possibly be some form of the verb to make lean ( Zep 2:11), either 1 pers. impf., I will make her void and rase her, or with Aramaic spelling (as Isa 63:3), 3 pers. perf., they shall make (lit. have made) her void and rase her, which is equivalent to the passive she shall be made void, &c. But all this is little satisfactory.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
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, they shall be for flocks, which shall lie down and none shall make them afraid Isa 17:2, and of Judah until its restoration by Christ, that it should be a joy of wild asses, a pasture of flocks (Isa 32:14, compare Jer 6:2). And not only those which are wont to be found in some connection with man, but all the beasts of a nation , the troops of wild and savage and unclean beasts which shun the dwellings of man or are his enemies, these in troops have their lair there.
Both the cormorant and the bittern – They may be the same. The pelican retires inland to consume its food. Tristram, Houghton, in Smiths Bible Dictionary, Pelican note. It could be a hedgehog.
Shall lodge in the upper lintels of it. – The chapiters (English margin) or capitals of the pillars of the temples and palaces shall lie broken and strewn upon the ground, and among those desolate fragments of her pride shall unclean animals haunt. The pelican has its Hebrew name from vomiting. It vomits up the shells which it had swallowed whole, after they had been opened by the heat of the stomach, and so picks out the animal contained in them , the very image of greediness and uncleanness. It dwells also not in deserts only but near marshes, so that Nineveh is doubly waste.
A voice shall sing in the windows – In the midst of the desolation, the muteness of the hedgehog and the pensive loneliness of the solitary pelican, the musing spectator is even startled by the gladness of a bird, joyous in the existence which God has given it. Instead of the harmony of music and men-singers and women-singers in their palaces shall be the sweet music of some lonely bird, unconscious that it is sitting in the windows of those, at whose name the world grew pale, portions of the outer walls being all which remain of her palaces. Desolation shall be in the thresholds, sitting, as it were, in them; everywhere to be seen in them; the more, because unseen. Desolation is something oppressive; we feel its presence. There, as the warder watch and ward at the empty portals, where once was the fullest throng, shall desolation sit, that no one enter. For He shall uncover (hath uncovered, English margin) the cedar-work: in the roofless palaces, the carved cedar-work shall be laid open to wind and rain. Any one must have noticed, how piteous and dreary the decay of any house in a town looks, with the torn paper hanging uselessly on its walls. A poet of our own said niche beautiful ruins of a wasted monastery:
For the gay beams of lightsome day
Gild, but to flout the ruins gray.
But at Nineveh it is one of the mightiest cities of the world which thus lies waste, and the bared cedar-work had, in the days of its greatness, been carried off from the despoiled Lebanon or Hermon .
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 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 kaath; and the bittern, 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 Isa 34:11; Isa 34:14, where nearly the same terms are used.
I have in another place introduced a remarkable couplet quoted by Sir W. Jones from a Persian poet, which speaks of desolation in nearly the same terms.
[Persian]
[Persian]
“The spider holds the veil in the palace of Caesar:
The owl stands sentinel in the watchtower of Afrasiab.”
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Nineveh shall be so razed that flocks of cattle shall lie down in the midst of it, as before of the Philistines, Zep 2:6.
All the beasts of the nations; all sorts of beasts which are found in those countries, the tame under the girard of watching shepherds, and wild ones seeking their prey, will attend about those places.
The cormorant and the bittern; birds that are solitary, and delight in desolate places, in reedy fens, where they seek their food, and are looked on as unlucky birds.
Shall lodge in the upper lintels; shall either make their nests there, or seek and choose their lodging there; they shall roost there in the night upon the pillars, or turrets, or pinnacles.
Their voice shall sing in the windows; these doleful creatures shall make a more doleful noise, that shall be all the music to be heard in their desolate windows.
Desolation shall be in the thresholds, the lowest part of their houses; from top to bottom nothing but wastes and ruin; instead of beautiful ladies looking out at windows and doors and singing, now cormorants and bitterns, and their doleful notes.
For he shall uncover the cedar work; or, when the Babylonian hath burnt the houses, or beat down the curious roofs and coverings of cedar, the beauty and the defence of their houses.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
14. flocksof sheep; answeringto “beasts” in the parallel clause. Wide pastures for sheepand haunts for wild beasts shall be where once there was a teemingpopulation (compare Zep 2:6).MAURER, needlessly for theparallelism, makes it “flocks of savage animals.”
beasts of the nationsthatis, beasts of the earth (Ge 1:24).Not as ROSENMULLER, “allkinds of beasts that form a nation,” that is, gregarious beasts(Pro 30:25; Pro 30:26).
cormorantrather, the”pelican” (so Psa 102:6;Isa 34:11, Margin).
bittern (Isa14:23). MAURERtranslates, “the hedgehog”; HENDERSON,”the porcupine.”
upper lintelsrather,”the capitals of her columns,” namely, in hertemples and palaces [MAURER].Or, “on the pomegranate-like knops at the tops of the houses”[GROTIUS].
their voice shall sing in thewindowsThe desert-frequenting birds’ “voice in thewindows” implies desolation reigning in the upper parts of thepalaces, answering to “desolation . . . in the thresholds,”that is, in the lower.
he shall uncover the cedarworklaying the cedar wainscoting on the walls, and beams ofthe ceiling, bare to wind and rain, the roof being torn off, and thewindows and doors broken through. All this is designed as aconsolation to the Jews that they may bear their calamitiespatiently, knowing that God will avenge them.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
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, Zep 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; of the doors of the houses in Nineveh: or, “on its pomegranates” k; the figures of these being often put on chapiters, turrets, pinnacles, pillars, and posts in buildings, and over porches of doors; and on these those melancholy and doleful creatures here mentioned, which delight in solitary places, should take up their abode. The “cormorant” is the same with the “corvus aquaticus”, or “sea raven”, about the size of a goose; it builds not only among rocks, but often on trees: what is called the “shagge” is a species of it, or the lesser cormorant, a water fowl common on our northern coasts; is somewhat larger than a common duck, and builds on trees as the common cormorant l. Bochart m takes it to be the “pelican” which is here meant; and indeed, whatever bird it is, it seems to have its name from vomiting; and this is what naturalists n observe of the pelican, that it swallows down shell fish, which, being kept awhile in its stomach, are heated, and then it casts them up, which then open easily, and it picks out the flesh of them: and it seems to delight in desolate places, since it is called the pelican of the wilderness, Ps 102:6. Isidore says o it is an Egyptian bird, dwelling in the desert by the river Nile, from whence it has its name; for it is called “canopus Aegyptus”; and the Vulgate Latin version renders the word here “onocrotalus”, the same with the pelican; and Montanus translates it the “pelican”; and so do others. The “bittern” is a bird of the heron kind; it is much the size of a common heron; it is usually found in sedgy and reedy places near water, and sometimes in hedges; it makes a very remarkable noise, and, from the singularity of it, the common people imagine it sticks its beak in a reed or in the mud, in order to make it; hence it is sometimes called the “mire drum” p. It is said it will sometimes make a noise like a bull, or the blowing of a horn, so as to be heard half a German mile, or one hour’s journey; hence it is by some called “botaurus”, as if “bootaurus”, because it imitates the bellowing of a bull q. The Tigurine version renders it the “castor” or “beaver” r; but Bochart s takes it to be the “hedgehog”; and so the word is rendered in the Vulgate Latin, Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic versions, and by others: which is a solitary creature, and drives away all other animals from society with it by its prickles:
[their] voice shall sing in the windows: of desolate houses, the inhabitants being gone who used to be seen looking out of them; but now these creatures before named should dwell here, and utter their doleful sounds, who otherwise would not have come near them:
desolation [shall be] in the thresholds; there being none to go in and out over them. The Septuagint version, and which is followed by the Vulgate Latin and Arabic versions, render it, “the ravens shall be in its gates”: mistaking , “desolation”, for , “a raven”:
for he shall uncover the cedar work; the enemy Nebuchadnezzar, or Nabopolassar, when he should take the city, would unroof the houses panelled with cedar, and expose all the fine cedar work within to the inclemencies of the air, which would soon come to ruin. All these expressions are designed to set forth the utter ruin and destruction of this vast and populous city; and which was so utterly destroyed, as Lucian says, that there is no trace of it to be found; and, according to modern travellers, there are only heaps of rubbish to be seen, which are conjectured to be the ruins of this city; [See comments on Na 1:8].
k “in malogranatis ejus”, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Tarnovius. l Vid Supplement to Chambers’s Dictionary, in the words “Cormorant, Cornus Aquaticus”, and “Shagge”. m Hierozoic. par. 2. l. 1. c. 24. col. 294. n Aristot. Hist. Animal. l. 9. c. 10. Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 10. c. 40. Aelian de Animal. l. 3. c. 20. o Originum, l. 12. c. 7. p Supplement, ut supra (Chambers’s Dictionary), in the word “Bittern”. q Schotti Physica Curiosa, par. 2. l. 9. c. 24. p. 1160. r Vid. Fuller. Miscel. Saer. l. 1. c. 18. s Hierozoic. par. 1. l. 3. c. 36. col. 1036.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
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 a place where Nineveh once stood. (104) He adds that the bitterns, or the storks or the cuckoos, and similar wild birds would be there. (105) As to their various kinds, I make no laborious research; for it is enough to know the Prophet’s design: besides, the Jews themselves, who boldly affirm that either the bittern or the stork is meant, yet adduce nothing that is certain. What, in short, this description means, is—that the place, which before a vast multitude of men inhabited, would become so forsaken, that wild beasts and nocturnal birds would be its only inhabitants.
But we must bear in mind what I have stated, that all these things were set before the Jews, that they might patiently bear their miseries, understanding that God would become their defender. For this is the only support that remains for us under very grievous evils, as Paul reminds us in the first chapter of the Second Epistle to the Thessalonians; for he says, that the time will come when the Lord shall give to us relief and refreshment, and that he will visit our adversaries with punishment 2Th 1:6.
The Prophet mentions especially Nineveh, that the Jews might know that there is nothing so great and splendid in the world which God does not esteem of less consequence than the salvation of his Church, as it is said in Isaiah, I will give Egypt as thy ransom. So God threatens the wealthiest city, that he might show how much he loved his chosen people. And the Jews could not have attributed this to their own worthiness; but the cause of so great a love depended on their gratuitous adoption. It afterwards follows—
(104) It is literally, “every wild beast of the nation,”—[ נוי ],—“of the land,” in the Septuagint. What is meant is, every wild beast that belonged to that country.— Ed.
(105) Both Newcome and Henderson render the two words, “the pelican and the porcupine.” The former says that [ קאת ], “pelican,” comes from [ קאה ], to vomit, because it casts up fish or water from its membranaceous bag; and [ קפד ], “porcupine,” according to Bochart, is from the verb, which means to cut off as by a bite, or rather, he says, from its Syriac meaning, to dread, for it is a solitary animal. See Newcome. But Parkhurst contends that it is the hedgehog, and both the Septuagint and Vulgate render it so.
What Calvin translates “ in postibus ejus,” [ בכפתויה ], is rendered by Newcome, “in the carved lintels thereof,” by Henderson, “in her capitals,” and by Parkhurst, “in her door-porches,” i.e. when thrown down.— Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(14) Both the cormorant. . . .Better, Both the pelican and the hedgehog shall lodge on her pillar capitals, these lying strewn upon the ground.
Their voice.Better, The voice [of the bird] shall sing in the windows. In the midst of the desolation, the muteness of the hedgehog, and the pensive loneliness of the solitary pelican, the musing spectator is startled by the glad strain of some song bird, unconscious that it is sitting in the windows of those at whose name the world grew pale (Pusey). This description of desolation extends even to the cedar panelling of the roofless walls, which is to be laid open to wind and rain.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
14. In the ruins desert animals will take up their abode.
Flocks R.V., “herds.” A word used elsewhere only of animals tended by herdsmen, but since the rest of Zep 2:14 seems to be an expansion of the term, it must be used here of wild beasts and creatures of the desert. Wellhausen changes one letter and transposes two, which gives the name “Arabians.”
All the beasts of the nations Margin R.V., “all beasts of every kind”; LXX., “all the beasts of the field.” The common English translation is the most literal reproduction of the Hebrew text, but the meaning of the phrase is not clear. Some have understood “beasts” figuratively of wild and ferocious men, perhaps the shepherds of the flocks (but see preceding comment), as if the prophet wanted to say that wild men coming from different nations would lodge in the ruins of Nineveh. This figurative use of “beasts” is not very probable. The LXX. reading gives better sense, and we may be justified in altering the present Hebrew text to make it agree with it. The marginal translation also gives good sense, but to get it from the present Hebrew text is a difficult task. The present text may be retained, if we give to the word translated “nations” a meaning which it does not have ordinarily, “mass” or “swarms” (compare Joe 1:6; Pro 30:25), and render the whole phrase “all kinds of beasts in mass.” This, in apposition to the preceding “flocks,” would express the idea that great masses of desert animals of every kind will settle in the ruins of the destroyed city.
Cormorant R.V., “pelican.” There is much uncertainty about the animals or birds mentioned in this verse. Undoubtedly all are such as are accustomed to inhabit ruins and desolate places. The translation of R.V. is generally accepted as correct (compare “pelican of the wilderness,” Psa 102:6). H. Duhm ( Die bosen Geister im Alten Testament) sees here a reference to demons that were thought to dwell in ruins.
Bittern R.V., “porcupine.” The latter is the meaning which LXX. gives to the word and is accepted by most commentators. The two words occur together in a similar description in Isa 34:11 (compare Isa 14:23).
The upper lintels R.V., “capitals.” See on Amo 9:1. These capitals are thought of as lying on the ground, so that even porcupines can make their homes in them. “The seer has such a mass of ruins in view as Baalbek presents to-day; the giant capitals which encircled the buildings lie like broken cornstalks; on the other hand, the walls still stand in ruin, with desolate threshold and window, through which the wind whistles.”
Their voice will sing in the windows Literally, a voice shall sing; or, better, since it is an exclamation, Hark! they sing! (See on Zep 1:14.) The prophet imagines himself standing in the midst of the ruins, and, hearing a voice, he exclaims, “Hark! they sing!” The subject of “sing” must be the creatures inhabiting the ruins; hence “sing” must be understood in the general sense of making a noise or uttering a sound, a meaning which the verb does not have ordinarily. Instead of “voice” (= hark) many read “owls”; the whole clause, “owls shall sing in the windows.” If the emendation suggested for the next clause is correct, a comparison with Isa 34:11, suggests that “owl” was read here originally. It is even possible that the two words translated “a voice shall sing” should be read as one, and that this one word is the corrupt form of a noun meaning “owls,” so that the whole clause would read, “owls shall be in the windows.”
Desolation shall be in the thresholds LXX, reads, with a change of one letter, “ravens” for “desolation,” and this fits admirably in the context, “ravens shall be in the thresholds.”
For he shall uncover the cedar work A much-discussed clause whose meaning is uncertain. It seems to state the reason why the city will become the habitation of desert birds and animals. “He shall uncover” might be understood in the indefinite sense “one shall uncover” they shall uncover, that is, the enemies who will execute the divine judgment. The same verb is translated in Psa 137:7, “rase” (to the foundation), and implies destruction. The word translated “cedar work” occurs in this form only here; if original it must refer to the costly woodwork in the palaces and temples of Nineveh. In order to remove the peculiar form some change the vocalization so as to read “her cedar”=her cedar work, that is, the cedar work of the city. Others see in the word a corrupt form of a verb similar in meaning to the other verb, so that the whole clause would read, “they shall destroy, they shall ruse.” All these suggestions are more or less unsatisfactory, and much uncertainty remains; perhaps the text is in disorder.
Zep 2:15 contains a taunt-song over the fallen city.
This The ruin inhabited by desert animals and birds.
The rejoicing city R.V., “joyous.” Good fortune seemed to smile on Nineveh, hence all was joy and exultation.
Dwelt carelessly Added to the natural strength of its site were extensive fortifications, so that the city seemed impregnable; in consequence her inhabitants were careless and boastful.
I am, and there is none beside me Literally, I am, and none else (compare Isa 47:8). Her armies had conquered almost the whole known world, from all directions tribute and countless treasures were being brought to the city, hence there was some ground for the boast. But pride always comes before the fall. The glory of Nineveh will be turned into shame.
Desolation See on Zep 2:13.
A place for beasts See on Zep 2:14.
Shall hiss An expression of derision and scorn (Mic 6:16; Jer 18:16).
Wag his hand Also a gesture of scorn, equivalent to wag his head (Jer 18:16; compare Nah 3:19).
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Zep 2:14. And flocks shall lie down, &c. And flocks of every kind of animals shall lie down in the midst of her: both the pelican and the porcupine shall lodge in the upper chapiters or carved work of it: the voice of birds shall be heard through the window; the crow shall sit in the thresholds; for her roofs of cedar shall be made bare; or, he shall uncover her cedar-work. Houbigant.
REFLECTIONS.1st, God warns before he strikes, that sinners may have time to repent, and prevent the threatened judgments.
1. A summons is sent to this people. Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together, to fast and pray, and humble your souls; or search yourselves; examine your ways, that you may discover your sins, and turn unto the Lord, O nation not desired, or not desirous after God and his favour; negligent and careless, and ignorant of divine things, or not pleasing to him, but odious through the multitude of their provocations.
2. They are urged instantly to lay their case to heart, before the decree bring forth, and be put in execution; before the day pass as the chaff, when they should be driven into captivity, unable to withstand their fate, as chaff before the whirlwind; before the fierce anger of the Lord, the day of the Lord’s anger, come upon you; terrible beyond expression. Delays are dangerous, where eternity is at stake and the wrath of God is threatened: we need be quickened to seize the present moment; and to-day, whilst it is called to-day, not to harden our hearts.
3. The few gracious souls among them are addressed, whatever others do, to make their calling and election sure. Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the earth: this is the character of God’s people; they are meek and lowly of heart, patient under the provocations of men, and submissive under the afflictive providences of God: which have wrought his judgment; obedient to his laws, observant of his worship. Such as these, who will receive the word of exhortation, are enjoined to seek the Lord by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving. Seek righteousness, seek meekness; a greater increase of grace, that they may be more holy and exemplary; for none who know themselves can rest in any present attainments, conscious how short they come at the best; and therefore, forgetting those things which are behind, they reach forth unto those things which are before, pressing toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
4. There is hope that such faithful souls may escape the general desolations, and, by a peculiar, interposition of Divine Providence, be hid in the day of the Lord’s anger, and not perish with their ungodly countrymen: but, whether involved in temporal calamities or not with others, it not only may be, but it certainly shall be, that such shall be hid in the great day of his wrath.
2nd, The neighbouring nations are here called to the bar, and their doom read. Though judgment begins at the house of God, it will not end there. The Philistines were the ancient enemies of Israel, and would rejoice at their fall; but they are destined to the same destruction.
1. They shall be extirpated. God pronounces a woe against them, with their neighbours the Cherethites, unless this be another name for the Philistines. Their capital cities are devoted to ruin: they must fall since God’s word is against them, whose determined purposes are irresistible. Their destruction will be universal; not an inhabitant shall be left; and their sea-coast, where their cities once stood full of inhabitants, shall only now afford a few miserable cottages, where shepherds watch and fold their flocks.
2. Judah shall possess the land, repair and inhabit their cities in peace, when the Lord shall visit them, and turn away their captivity, which was fulfilled after their return from Babylon, in the days of the Maccabees.
3rdly, Moab and Ammon, the children of Lot, are joined together, alike in sin and in suffering.
1. Their sins are, [l.] Reproach and reviling of God’s people, insulting them in the day of their calamity, and probably helping forward their ruin; and they magnified themselves against their border, seizing what lay contiguous to their country: but God heard, and noted their words and works, and will recompense them. [2.] Their pride. Puffed up with self-conceit, they looked on the people of the Lord of Hosts as contemptible, and arrogantly despised their religion and their God. Note; Pride is the first-born of hell, and in God’s sight most odious.
2. Their judgment is the same; condemned to an overthrow terrible as that of Sodom and Gomorrah, their country shall become barren and uncultivated as a wilderness; and Israel, whom they have insulted, shall, after their return from Babylon, spoil them, and possess the country, after it had begun to revive from the desolations of Nebuchadnezzar: and this is confirmed by the oath of the Lord of Hosts, none of whose words shall fail. Note; They who have trampled on others, are brought in just judgment under the feet of those whom they thus insulted.
3. A gracious promise, which respects the times of the gospel, closes the burthen of Moab and Ammon. God will not only be terrible to them, but he will famish or bring leanness upon all the gods of the earth, when idolatry before the power of the gospel of Jesus should be destroyed; and men shall worship him, every one from his place, or in his place, without going up to Jerusalem, the spiritual sacrifices of prayer and praise being acceptable now in every place; even all the isles of the heathen: and, blessed be God, we see the promise fulfilled graciously to us in this land.
4thly, The inhabitants of Arabia, or Ethiopia, and the Assyrians, with Nineveh their capital, are devoted to destruction, which was brought upon them by Nebuchadnezzar. And we have,
1. The state of prosperity and security in which Nineveh had been. This is the rejoicing city that dwelt carelessly; mirth and jollity once rang through her palaces; and, fearless of danger, no melancholy thought interrupted the jocund hours: that said in her heart, I am, and there is none besides me; none to be compared to me for wealth, strength, and beauty. But when self-complacence swells the bosom of the proud, and security lulls the sinner to his deceitful rest, ruin hangs over him, wrath is at his heels.
2. The miserable situation to which Nineveh shall be reduced. Turned to a heap of ruins, these proud palaces shall become the den of wild bears, and the abode of every rueful ominous bird. The description is inimitably beautiful, and which a comment cannot but debase. It expresses the utter desolation which would ensue; and every passenger who shall behold the scene, while they wonder at the fearful change, will hiss and wag the hand, insulting over her fall, who so often insulted over others.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Zep 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.
Ver. 14. And flocks shall lie down in the midst of her, &c. ] Here are various and vehement expressions of the dreadful face of her desolations. Omnia congerit quae vastitatem horribilem denotare solent, saith Gualther, because it was held a thing almost impossible that Nineveh should be destroyed. Hence that admiration of bystanders and beholders, Zep 2:15 . But what can be impossible to the Almighty? and what will not he do for his Church’s cause and comfort? See Zep 2:6 .
All the beasts of the nations
Both the cormorant (or pelican) and the bittern] Those inauspicious birds of prey that are signs both of God’s curse and man’s misery, Isa 34:11 . The former hath its name in Hebrew from vomiting, and seemeth, saith one, to be the same that we call the shovelard, which swallows shell fishes, and after vomiteth them to get the fish. The latter liveth about lakes, saith Pliny, and with her beak beateth the fish out of the shell with great vehemence.
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
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
all = all kinds of. Figure of speech Synecdoche (of Genus), App-6.
upper lintels = chapiters, or carved capitals.
cedar work: i.e. the wainscotting.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
flocks: Zep 2:6, Isa 13:19-22, Isa 34:11-17, Rev 18:2
cormorant: or, pelican
upper lintels: or, knops, or chapiters, Amo 9:1
for he shall uncover: or, when he hath uncovered
the cedar: Jer 22:14
Reciprocal: Psa 102:6 – a pelican Isa 5:17 – shall the lambs Isa 14:17 – made Isa 14:23 – make Eze 25:5 – a stable Zep 2:9 – as Gomorrah
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Zep 2:14. After the Assyrians lost control of their territory, the same was to be used by their successors as a pasturage for their stock. Not only so, but wild creatures were to infest the desirable spots and enjoy themselves in the doleful place. Uncover the cedar work. The important buildings of ancient countries were lined with this beautiful wood, and the Lord predicted that they were to be ransacked and the ornamental cedar finishing be exposed to decay.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
2:14 And flocks shall lie down in the midst of her, all the beasts of the nations: both the {h} 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.
(h) Read Isa 34:11
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Beautiful Nineveh would become a dwelling place for wild animals and birds rather than populated with multitudes of sophisticated citizens. The very idea must have seemed incredible in Zephaniah’s day because Nineveh was the greatest city in the ancient Near East. [Note: M. R. Wilson, "Nineveh," in Major Cities of the Biblical World, p. 186.]