17<\/strong>. The distress, though at first outward, leads to inward perplexity, when men can find no outlet or way, and grope like the blind. The comparison is a frequent one to express perplexity and helplessness: Deu 28:29<\/span> “thou shalt grope at noonday, as the blind gropeth in darkness;” Isa 59:10<\/span>. Here the perplexity is secondary, due to the paralysing calamities of the judgment; but in other cases by moral laws that operate invisibly moral confusion and perplexity invade the mind through sin. On the last part of the verse comp. Psa 79:3<\/span>; Psa 83:10<\/span>; Jer 9:22<\/span>; Jer 16:4<\/span>. The word translated flesh<\/em> (again only Job 20:23<\/span>) has been rendered by others, inwards, bowels<\/em> (Frd. Delitzsch, Prolegomena<\/em>, p. 193), but this sense is less probable.<\/p>\n I will bring distress upon men – <\/B>I will hem them in, in anguish on all sides. God Himself shall meet them with His terrors, wherever they turn. I will hem them in, that they may find it so .<\/P> That they shall walk like blind men – <\/B>Utterly bereft of counsel, seeing no more than the blind which way to turn, grasping blindly and franticly at anything, and going on headlong to their own destruction. So God forewarned them in the law; Thou shalt grope at noon day, as the blind gropeth in darkness Jer. 10:29; and Job, of the wicked generally, They meet with the darkness in the day-time, and grope in the noon-day as in the night Job 5:14<\/span>; and, They grope in the dark without light, and He maketh them to stagger like a drunken man Job 12:25<\/span>; and Isaiah foretelling of those times, We grope for the wall, as the blind; and we grope, as if we had no eyes; we stumble in the noon-day as in the night. Because they have sinned against the Lord Isa 59:10<\/span>, and so He hath turned their wisdom into foolishness, and since they have despised Him, He hath made them objects of contempt. Their blood shall be poured out like dust 1Sa 2:30<\/span>, as abundant and as valueless; utterly disregarded by Him, as Asaph complains, their blood have they shed like water Psa 79:3<\/span>; contemptible and disgusting as what is vilest; their flesh as the dung, refuse, decayed, putrefied, offensive, enriching by its decay the land, which had been the scene of their luxuries and oppressions. Yet, the most offensive disgusting physical corruption is but a faint image of the defilement of sin. This punishment, in which the carrion remains should be entombed only in the bowels of vultures and dogs, was especially threatened to Jehoiakim; He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, dragged and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem Jer 22:19<\/span>.<\/P> <\/p>\n Zep 1:17<\/span><\/p>\n They shall walk like blind men.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n The sinner a blind traveller<\/strong><\/p>\n The sinner is on a journey, step by step he is moving on to a destination. But how does he walk? The text tells us as a blind man. How does the blind man walk?<\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>The one is a calamity, the other is a crime.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>The one is to be pitied, the other is to be condemned.<\/p>\n 3. <\/strong>The one can be turned to a good account, the other cannot. (Homilist.<\/em>)<\/p>\n .<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Verse 17<\/span>. They shall walk like blind men<\/B><\/I>] Be in the most perplexing doubt<\/I> and uncertainty; and while in this state, have their blood poured out by the sword of their enemies, and their flesh trodden under foot.<\/P> <\/p>\n I will bring distress; <\/B>cast them into, and surround or besiege them with distress, calamities which shall greatly trouble and perplex. <\/P> Upon men; <\/B>the chiefest among them, the richest, and who think themselves safest; the mighty men, as Zep 1:10<\/span>, <\/P> like blind men, <\/B>shall neither know what to do nor where to flee, neither be fit for counsel nor action. <\/P> Because they have sinned against the Lord; <\/B>all this for their great sins against the Lord; these men of note have been as much greater in sin as in state above others, and shall be as much deeper in distress. <\/P> Their blood shall be poured out as dust; <\/B>as freely, abundantly, and as contemptibly, as dust in the highway. <\/P> And their flesh as the dung; <\/B>shall be spread as dung on the face of the earth to fatten and improve it; their life shall be of no more value than dust, their honour no more regarded than dung, and they shall be so used after death. <\/P> <\/p>\n 17. like blind men<\/B>unable tosee whither to turn themselves so as to find an escape from existingevils. <\/P> flesh<\/B>Hebrew,<\/I>“bread”; so the Arabic<\/I> term for “bread” isused for “flesh” (Mt26:26<\/span>).<\/P><\/p>\n And I will bring distress upon men<\/strong>,…. Not upon men in general, but particularly on the men of Judea, and inhabitants of Jerusalem; and especially those that were in the fenced cities and high towers; and who might think themselves safe and secure; but, being besieged, should be distressed with famine and pestilence, and with the enemy; and more especially when stormed, and a breach made, and the enemy just entering:<\/p>\n that they shall walk like blind men<\/strong>; not knowing which way to go, where to turn themselves, what methods to take, or course to steer, no more than a blind man. The phrase is expressive of their being at their wits’ ends, void of all thought and consultation:<\/p>\n because they have sinned against the Lord<\/strong>; and therefore he gives them up, not only into the hand of the enemy, but unto an infatuation of spirit, and a judicial blindness of mind:<\/p>\n and their blood shall be poured out as dust<\/strong>; in great quantities, like that, without any regard to it, without showing any mercy, and as if it was of no more value than the dust of the earth. The Targum is,<\/p>\n “their blood shall be poured out into the dust;”<\/p>\n or on it, and be drunk up by it:<\/p>\n and their flesh as the dung<\/strong>; or their carcasses, as the same paraphrase; that is, their dead bodies shall lie unburied, and rot, and putrefy, and shall be cast upon fields like dung, to fatten them. The word for “flesh”, in the Hebrew language, signifies bread or food; because dead bodies are food for worms; but in the Arabic language, as Aben Ezra and Jarchi observe, it signifies “flesh”.<\/p>\n In the midst of this tribulation the sinners will perish without counsel or help. Zep 1:17<\/span>. “And I make it strait for men, and they will walk like blind men, because they have sinned against Jehovah; and their blood will be poured out like dust, and their flesh like dung.<\/em> Zep 1:18<\/span>. Even their silver, even their gold, will not be able to save them on the day of Jehovah’s fury, and in the fire of His wrath will the whole earth be devoured; for He will make an end, yea a sudden one, to all the inhabitants of the earth.” <\/em> reminds of the threat of Moses in Deu 28:52<\/span>, to which Zephaniah alluded in Zep 1:16<\/span>. And in the allusion to Deu 28:29<\/span> is also unmistakeable. To walk like the blind, i.e., to seek a way out of the trouble without finding one. This distress God sends, because they have sinned against Him, by falling away from Him through idolatry and the transgression of His commandments, as already shown in Zep 1:4-12<\/span>. But the punishment will be terrible. Their blood will be poured out like dust. The point of comparison is not the quantity, as in Gen 13:16<\/span> and others, but the worthlessness of dust, as in 2Ki 13:7<\/span> and Isa 49:23<\/span>. The blood is thought as little of as the dust which is trodden under foot. L e chum <\/em>, which occurs again in Job 20:23<\/span>, means flesh (as in the Arabic), not food. The verb shaphakh <\/em>, to pour out, is also to be taken per zeugma <\/em> in connection with this clause, though without there being any necessity to associate it with 2Sa 20:10<\/span>, and regard l e chum <\/em> as referring to the bowels. For the fact itself, compare 1Ki 14:10<\/span> and Jer 9:21<\/span>. In order to cut off all hope on deliverance from the rich and distinguished sinners, the prophet adds in Zep 1:18<\/span>: Even with silver and gold will they not be able to save their lives. The enemy will give no heed to this (cf. Isa 13:17<\/span>; Jer 4:30<\/span>; Eze 7:19<\/span>) in the day that the Lord will pour out His fury upon the ungodly, to destroy the whole earth with the fire of His wrathful jealousy (cf. Deu 4:24<\/span>). By kol<\/em> – ha’arets <\/em> we might understand the whole of the land of Judah, if we looked at what immediately precedes it. But if we bear in mind that the threat commenced with judgment upon the whole earth (Zep 1:2<\/span>, Zep 1:3<\/span>), and that it here returns to its starting-point, to round off the picture, there can be no doubt that the whole earth is intended. The reason assigned for this threat in Zep 1:18<\/span><\/em> is formed after Isa 10:23<\/span>; but the expression is strengthened by the use of instead of , the word round in Isaiah. Kalah <\/em>: the finishing stroke, as in Isaiah l.c.<\/em> (see at Nah 1:8<\/span>). , only, equivalent to “not otherwise than,” i.e., assuredly. is used as a substantive, and is synonymous with behalah <\/em>, sudden destruction, in Isa 65:23<\/span>. The construction with ‘eth accus <\/em>. as in Nah 1:8<\/span>.<\/p>\n He confirms what I have already stated—that though other enemies, the Assyrians or Chaldeans, attacked the Jews, yet God would be the principal leader of the war. God then claims here for himself what the Jews transferred to their earthly enemies: and the Prophet has already often called it the day of Jehovah; for God would then make known his power, which had been a sport to them. He therefore declares in this place, that he would reduce man to distress, so that the whole nation would walk like the blind —that, being void of counsel, they would stumble and fall, and not be able to proceed in their course: for they are said to go astray like the blind, who see no end to their evils, who find no means to escape ruin, but are held as it were fast bound. And we must ever bear in mind what I have already said—that the Jews were inflated with such pride, that they heedlessly despised all the Prophets. Since then they were thus wise in themselves, God denounces blindness on them. <\/p>\n He subjoins the reason, Because they had acted impiously towards Jehovah (86) By these words he confirms what I have already explained—that the intermediate causes are not to be considered, though the Chaldeans took vengeance on the Jews; for there is a higher principle, and another cause of this evil, even the contempt of God and of his celestial truth; for they had acted impiously towards God. And by these words the Prophet reminds the Jews, that no alleviation was to be expected, as they had not only men hostile to them, but God himself, whom they had extremely provoked. <\/p>\n Hence he adds, Poured forth shall be your blood as dust (87) They whom God delivered up to extreme reproach were deserving of this, because he had been despised by them. Their flesh, (88) he says, shall be as dung. Now, we know how much the Jews boasted of their preeminence; and God had certainly given them occasion to boast, had they made a right and legitimate use of his benefits; but as they had despised him, they deserved in their turn to be exposed to every ignominy and reproach. Hence the Prophet here lays prostrate all their false boastings by which they were inflated; for they wished to be honorable, while God was despised by them. At last he adds— <\/p>\n (86) The Hebrew words are literally, <\/p>\n For against Jehovah have they sinned. <\/p>\n —<\/p>\n Ed. <\/p>\n (87) “Copiously and in contempt,” says Marckius; “as a thing of no value,” says Grotius; “as worthless as dust,” says Drusius. The comparison is evidently intended to show that their blood, or their life, would be treated with contempt, and no more regarded than dust.— Ed. <\/p>\n (88) The word is [ לחט ], usually rendered food; here it means what is fed, the carcass, the body. It is rendered “flesh” by the Septuagint.— Ed. <\/p>\n (17) Walk like blind men.<\/strong>i.e.,<\/em> groping about in fancied insecurity. The metaphor is taken from Deu. 28:29<\/span>. Their blood shall be poured out as recklessly as dust, and their flesh cast aside like the vilest refuse. Compare the sentence on Jehoiakim (Jer. 22:19<\/span>): He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, &c.<\/p>\n 17<\/strong>. <\/strong> The awfulness and suddenness of the calamity will throw the inhabitants into helpless confusion. <\/p>\n Distress <\/strong> Anxiety, terror, perplexity. <\/p>\n Walk like blind men <\/strong> They will look for a way out of the tribulation, but in their perplexity they grope around like blind men, unable to find one (compare Deu 28:29<\/span>). <\/p>\n Because they have sinned <\/strong> The judgment is the result of the sins described in Zep 1:4-13<\/span>. <\/p>\n Their blood shall be poured out as dust <\/strong> The point of comparison is worthlessness. Human blood will be considered of no more value than the dust trodden under foot; hence it will be poured out wantonly. The last clause expresses a similar thought. <\/p>\n Their flesh as the dung <\/strong> The word translated “flesh” occurs again only in Job 20:23<\/span>; its meaning is not certain, but the ancient versions favor the English translation. Some have suggested the translation “intestines” or “bowels,” which would be very appropriate here, but that translation has little support. Others render it “sap” (blood), in parallelism with “blood” in the preceding clause, while some change the Hebrew word to get this meaning. A very ingenious emendation is that of Bachmann, who reads the last clause, “and they shall lick water like camels.” In the absence of conclusive evidence to the contrary, it may be best to retain the meaning given to the word by the English translators, which gives acceptable sense. The bodies of the slain will be cast forth like dung (compare Amo 8:3<\/span>).<\/p>\n Zep 1:17 And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the LORD: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung.<\/p>\n Ver. 17. And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men<\/strong> ] The Dutch have a proverb, God puts out the eyes of him whom he intendeth to destroy; i.e.<\/em> he besots and infatuates them, they shall be consilii et auxilii inopes: in rebus liquidis aqua haerebit:<\/em> they grope for the wall like the blind, they grope as if they had no eyes: they stumble at noon day as in the night; they are in desolate places as dead men, Isa 59:10<\/span> . This was long before threatened, Deu 28:28-29<\/span> . <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Because they have sinned against the Lord<\/strong> ] Sin is the mother of misery. See my Lovetokens. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n And their blood shall be poured out as dust<\/strong> ] Than which nothing is more vile and abject; the enemy shall make no more of spilling their blood than of sprinkling a little dust, Copiosissime et abiectissime<\/em> most richly and lowly. (Turner.) <\/p>\n <\/p>\n And their flesh as dung<\/strong> ] Spread upon the land to manure it. The Hebrew word for flesh here may seem to signify worms’ meat. Our bodies are no better, why then do we pamper and pink them up?<\/p>\n they shall walk, &c. Reference to Pentateuch (Deu 28:29). <\/p>\n they shall: Deu 28:28, Deu 28:29, Psa 79:3, Isa 29:10, Isa 59:9, Isa 59:10, Lam 4:14, Mat 15:14, Joh 9:40, Joh 9:41, Rom 11:7, Rom 11:25, 2Co 4:4, 2Pe 1:9, 1Jo 2:11, Rev 3:17 <\/p>\n because: Isa 24:5, Isa 24:6, Isa 50:1, Isa 59:12-15, Jer 2:17, Jer 2:19, Jer 4:18, Lam 1:8, Lam 1:14, Lam 1:18, Lam 4:13-15, Lam 5:16, Lam 5:17, Eze 22:25-31, Dan 9:5-19, Mic 3:9-12, Mic 7:13 <\/p>\n and their blood: 2Ki 9:33-37, Psa 79:2, Psa 79:3, Psa 83:10, Jer 9:21, Jer 9:22, Jer 15:3, Jer 16:4-6, Jer 18:21, Lam 2:21, Lam 4:14, Amo 4:10 <\/p>\n Reciprocal: 1Ki 14:10 – as a man taketh Isa 5:25 – torn Jer 8:2 – they shall be Eze 16:38 – shed Eze 30:11 – and fill Mic 2:3 – from<\/p>\n Zep 1:17. This verse is a description of the humiliation to come upon the men of Judah when the Babylonians came against the land. The reason for all this terrible judgment is expressed by the words because they have sinned against the Lord.<\/p>\n Zep 1:17-18. I will bring distress, &c., that they shall walk as blind men I will bring them into such straits that they shall no more know whither to turn themselves, or which way to go for safety, than if they were blind: compare Deu 28:29, and Isa 59:10; in both which places the image is heightened by the circumstance of groping, or stumbling, like the blind, even at noon-day. And their blood shall be poured out as dust That is, as if it were of no value at all; and their flesh as dung The inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be slain in the streets of the city, and their carcasses left there to rot and putrefy. Neither their silver nor gold shall deliver them This is spoken of the merchants, and other rich citizens. The whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy Gods vengeance is frequently compared to fire: see Nah 1:6. This, it is here threatened, should consume the land and its inhabitants for their heinous offences, and chiefly for their idolatry; because that sin gives that honour which is only due to the one living and true God, to images, or fictitious gods, and therefore, in a peculiar manner, intrenches on Gods glory; is so contrary in its nature to the truth and fitness of things, and to all that is reasonable, just, and proper; has so great a tendency to corrupt and debase mens minds, and the practice of it is so unfit in every point of view, that the Scriptures, to give men some idea how odious it is, and what a great provocation to the Most High, represent him as jealous of having that honour which is only due to him, given to another. <\/p>\n The Lord would distress His people so severely that they would grope around as though they were blind. He would do this because they had sinned against Him (cf. Deu 28:28-29). Their precious blood would lie all over the ground like common dust, and their dead flesh would lie in the streets like putrid, decaying dung.<\/p>\n "Humans may categorize their sins into the serious, the mediocre, and the insignificant. To Zephaniah (see Jas 2:10-11) the mere fact of sin excited and merited the whole weight of divine rage. The simple statement ’they have sinned’ is sufficient." [Note: Motyer, p. 924.] <\/span><\/p>\n And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the LORD: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung. 17. The distress, though at first outward, leads to inward perplexity, when men can find no outlet or way, … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Zephaniah 1:17”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22815","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commentary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22815","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22815"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22815\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22815"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22815"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22815"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
I. <\/strong>Unnaturally. Though a few men may be born blind, vision is one of the chief attributes of humanity. Without the human eye all the beauties of nature would go for nothing. Blindness is unnatural. So is sin. The life of sin is a life of unnaturalness.<\/p>\n
II. <\/strong>Privationally. What does the blind lose? The great world of beauty and sublimity, the great firmament of burning worlds, and all the exquisite and exhilarating sensations of vision are excluded from him. What does the sinner lose? Peace of conscience–harmony of feeling–fellowship with the Infinite–power over death–a blessed hope of heaven, etc.<\/p>\n
III. <\/strong>Servilely. The blind man must slavishly depend on others to guide him on his way. We have seen him feeling his way with a stick, led by a little child, and sometimes dependent even on a dog. The sinner, however he may boast of his independence, is a slave to the world. He is the servant of sin, a tyrant. He has no true independence.<\/p>\n
IV. <\/strong>Perilously. The blind man always feels himself in danger when alone. The sinners walk is perilous indeed. His danger is great–ever accumulating, and ever approaching. Such then is the walk of the sinner. But moral blindness is worse far than corporeal.<\/p>\n
<\/strong><\/p>\nFuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible <\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"