Zefanya 1:4

1:4 “I will attack ¹  Judah

and all who live in Jerusalem. ² 

I will remove ³  from this place every trace of Baal worship, ⁴ 

as well as the very memory ⁵  of the pagan priests. ⁶ 

Zefanya 2:11

2:11 The Lord will terrify them, ⁷ 

for ⁸  he will weaken ⁹  all the gods of the earth.

All the distant nations will worship the Lord in their own lands. ¹⁰ 

[1:4]  ¹ tn Heb “I will stretch out my hand against,” is an idiom for hostile action.

[1:4]  ² map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[1:4]  ³ tn Heb “cut off.”

[1:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “the remnant of Baal.”

[1:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “name.” Here the “name” is figurative for the memory of those who bear it.

[1:4]  ⁶ tc Heb “of the pagan priests and priests.” The first word (כְּמָרִים, kÿmarim) refers to idolatrous priests in its two other appearances in the OT (2 Kgs 23:5, Hos 10:5), while the second word (כֹּהֲנִים, kohanim) is the normal term for “priest” and is used of both legitimate and illegitimate priests in the OT. It is likely that the second term, which is omitted in the LXX, is a later scribal addition to the Hebrew text, defining the extremely rare word that precedes (see J. J. M. Roberts, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah [OTL], 167-68; cf. also NEB, NRSV). Some argue that both words are original; among the modern English versions that include both are NASB and NIV. Possibly the first word refers to outright pagan priests, while the second has in view once-legitimate priests of the Lord who had drifted into idolatrous practices. Another option is found in Adele Berlin, who translates, “the idolatrous priests among the priests,” understanding the second word as giving the general category of which the idolatrous priests are a part (Zephaniah [AB 25A], 75).

[2:11]  ⁷ tn Heb “will be awesome over [or, “against”] them.”

[2:11]  ⁸ tn Or “certainly.”

[2:11]  ⁹ tn The meaning of this rare Hebrew word is unclear. If the meaning is indeed “weaken,” then this line may be referring to the reduction of these gods’ territory through conquest (see Adele Berlin, Zephaniah [AB 25A], 110-11). Cf. NEB “reduce to beggary”; NASB “starve”; NIV “when he destroys”; NRSV “shrivel.”

[2:11]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and all the coastlands of the nations will worship [or, “bow down”] to him, each from his own place.”