Zefanya 1:16

1:16 a day of trumpet blasts ¹  and battle cries. ² 

Judgment will fall on ³  the fortified cities and the high corner towers.

Zefanya 3:4

3:4 Her prophets are proud; ⁴ 

they are deceitful men.

Her priests defile what is holy; ⁵ 

they break God’s laws. ⁶ 

Zefanya 3:10

3:10 From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia, ⁷ 

those who pray to me ⁸  will bring me tribute.

Zefanya 3:12

3:12 I will leave in your midst a humble and meek group of people, ⁹ 

and they will find safety in the Lord’s presence. ¹⁰ 

Zefanya 3:16

3:16 On that day they will say ¹¹  to Jerusalem,

“Don’t be afraid, Zion!

Your hands must not be paralyzed from panic! ¹² 

Zefanya 3:18

3:18 “As for those who grieve because they cannot attend the festivals –

I took them away from you;

they became tribute and were a source of shame to you. ¹³ 

[1:16]  ¹ tn Heb “a ram’s horn.” By metonymy the Hebrew text mentions the trumpet (“ram’s horn”) in place of the sound it produces (“trumpet blasts”).

[1:16]  ² sn This description of the day of the Lord consists of an initial reference to anger, followed by four pairs of synonyms. The joining of synonyms in this way emphasizes the degree of the characteristic being described. The first two pairs focus on the distress and ruin that judgment will bring; the second two pairs picture this day of judgment as being very dark (darkness) and exceedingly overcast (gloom). The description concludes with the pairing of two familiar battle sounds, the blast on the ram’s horn (trumpet blasts) and the war cries of the warriors (battle cries).

[1:16]  ³ tn Heb “against.” The words “judgment will fall” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[3:4]  ⁴ sn Applied to prophets, the word פֹּחֲזִים (pokhazim, “proud”) probably refers to their audacity in passing off their own words as genuine prophecies from the Lord (see Jer 23:32).

[3:4]  ⁵ tn Or “defile the temple.”

[3:4]  sn These priests defile what is holy by not observing the proper distinctions between what is ritually clean and unclean (see Ezek 22:26).

[3:4]  ⁶ tn Heb “they treat violently [the] law.”

[3:10]  ⁷ tn Or “Nubia”; Heb “Cush.” “Cush” is traditionally assumed to refer to the region south of Egypt, i.e. Nubia or northern Sudan, referred to as “Ethiopia” by classical authors (not the more recent Abyssinia).

[3:10]  ⁸ tn Heb “those who pray to me, the daughter of my dispersed ones.” The meaning of the phrase is unclear. Perhaps the text is corrupt at this point or a proper name should be understood. For a discussion of various options see Adele Berlin, Zephaniah (AB 25A), 134-35.

[3:10]  sn It is not certain if those who pray to me refers to the converted nations or to God’s exiled covenant people.

[3:12]  ⁹ tn Heb “needy and poor people.” The terms often refer to a socioeconomic group, but here they may refer to those who are humble in a spiritual sense.

[3:12]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and they will take refuge in the name of the Lord.”

[3:12]  sn Safety in the Lord’s presence. From the time the Lord introduced his special covenant name (Yahweh) to Moses, it served as a reminder of his protective presence as Israel’s faithful deliverer.

[3:16]  ¹¹ tn Heb “it will be said.” The passive construction has been translated as active for stylistic reasons.

[3:16]  ¹² tn Heb “your hands must not go limp.”

[3:18]  ¹³ tn Heb “The ones grieving from an assembly I gathered from you they were, tribute upon her, a reproach.” Any translation of this difficult verse must be provisional at best. The present translation assumes three things: (1) The preposition מִן (min) prefixed to “assembly” is causal (the individuals are sorrowing because of the assemblies or festivals they are no longer able to hold). (2) מַשְׂאֵת (mas’et) means “tribute” and refers to the exiled people being treated as the spoils of warfare (see R. D. Patterson, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah [WEC], 385-86). (3) The third feminine singular suffix refers to personified Jerusalem, which is addressed earlier in the verse (the pronominal suffix in “from you” is second feminine singular). For other interpretive options see Adele Berlin, Zephaniah (AB 25A), 146.