Zephaniah 1:18

Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD’s wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
silver	כַּסְפָּ֨ם kas.Pam	H3701	silver (from its pale color) · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
gold	זְהָבָ֜ם ze.ha.Vam	H2091	gold · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
able	יוּכַ֣ל yu.Khal	H3201	to be able · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
deliver	לְהַצִּילָ֗ם le.ha.tzi.Lam	H5337	to snatch away · preposition + verb, hiphil infinitive construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
day	בְּיוֹם֙ be.yOm	H3117	a day (as the warm hours) · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
LORD’s	יְהוָ֔ה Yah.weh	H3068	Jehovah · proper noun, a title
wrath	עֶבְרַ֣ת 'ev.Rat	H5678	an outburst of passion · noun, common feminine singular construct
land	הָאָ֑רֶץ ha.'A.retz	H776	the earth (at large · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
devoured	תֵּאָכֵ֖ל te.'a.Khel	H398	to eat (literally or figuratively) · verb, niphal imperfect, 3rd person feminine singular
fire	וּבְאֵשׁ֙ u.ve.'Esh	H784	fire (literally or figuratively) · conjunction + preposition + noun, common both genders singular construct
jealousy	קִנְאָת֔וֹ kin.'a.To	H7068	jealousy or envy · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
make	יַֽעֲשֶׂ֔ה ya.'a.Seh	H6213	to do or make · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
speedy	נִבְהָלָה֙ niv.ha.Lah	H926	to tremble inwardly (or palpitate) · verb, niphal active participle, feminine singular absolute
riddance	כָלָ֤ה kha.Lah	H3617	a completion · noun, common feminine singular absolute
dwell	יֹשְׁבֵ֖י yo.she.Vei	H3427	properly · verb, qal active participle, masculine plural construct
land	הָאָֽרֶץ ha.'A.retz	H776	the earth (at large · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Ezekiel 7:19 They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be removed: their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them…
Zephaniah 3:8 Therefore wait ye upon me, saith the LORD, until the day that I rise up to the prey: for my determination is to gather the nations, that I m…
Proverbs 11:4 Riches profit not in the day of wrath: but righteousness delivereth from death.
Zephaniah 1:2-3 I will utterly consume all things from off the land, saith the LORD.
Jeremiah 9:11 And I will make Jerusalem heaps, and a den of dragons; and I will make the cities of Judah desolate, without an inhabitant.
Zephaniah 1:11 Howl, ye inhabitants of Maktesh, for all the merchant people are cut down; all they that bear silver are cut off.
Zephaniah 1:15 That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clo…
Matthew 16:26 For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Zephaniah 1:14–end

Nothing could be expressed with more spirit and life, nor in words more proper to startle and awaken a secure and careless people, than the warning here given to Judah and Jerusalem of the approaching destruction by the Chaldeans. That is enough to make the sinners in Zion tremble - that it is the day of the Lord, the day in which he will manifest himself by taking vengeance on them. It is the great day of the Lord, a specimen of the day of judgment, a kind of doom's-day, as the last destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans is represented to be in our Saviour's prediction concerning it, Mat 24:27. I. This day of the Lord is here spoken of as very near. The vision is not for a great while to co…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Zephaniah 1:18

Neither . . . silver nor . . . gold shall . . . deliver them, &c.-- (Pro 11:4). fire of his jealousy-- (Eze 38:19); His wrath jealous for His honor consuming the guilty like fire. make even a speedy riddance of all--rather, a "consummation" (complete destruction: "full end," Jer 46:28; Eze 11:13) "altogether sudden" [MAURER]. "A consumption, and that a sudden one" [CALVIN]. Next: Zephaniah Chapter 2

Adam Clarke on Zephaniah 1:18

Their silver nor their gold - In which they trusted, and from which they expected happiness; these shall not profit them in this awful day. And God will bring this about speedily; and a speedy riddance - a universal desolation, shall in a short time take place in every part of the land.

John Gill on Zephaniah 1:18

Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord's wrath,.... Which they have gotten in an unjust way, and have hoarded up, and put their confidence in; these were the lees on which they were settled; but now, as they would be disregarded by the Lord, as insufficient to atone for their sins, and appease his wrath, and procure his favour; see Job 36:18 so they would be of no avail to them, to deliver from their enemies, who would not be bribed therewith to save their lives; the same is said of the Medes at the taking of Babylon, Isaiah 13:17, but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy; his zeal against sin, and for his own glory,…

The Church Fathers

I am weary and vexed at enumerating the multitude of ornaments, and I am compelled to wonder how those who bear such a burden are not worried to death. O foolish trouble! O silly craze for display! They squander meretriciously wealth on what is disgraceful and in their love for ostentation disfigure God's gifts, emulating the art of the evil one. The rich man hoarding up in his barns and saying to himself, "You have many goods laid up for many years; eat, drink be merry," the Lord in the Gospels plainly called "fool." "For this night they shall take your soul; whose then shall those things which you have prepared be?" Apelles, the painter, seeing one of his pupils painting a figure loaded with gold color to represent Helen, said to him, "Boy, being incapable of painting her beautiful, you have made her rich." Such Helens are the ladies of the present day, not truly beautiful but richly got up. To these the Spirit prophesies by Zephaniah: "And their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the Day of the Lord's anger." But for those women who have been trained under Christ, it is suitable to adorn themselves not with gold but with the Word, through whom alone the gold comes to light.
— Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor Book 2

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Anger Of God, The · Specially reserved for the day of wrath — Specially reserved for the day of wrath
Day · Times of adversity — Times of adversity
Jealousy · Attributed to Go — Attributed to Go
Protection · Not to be found in: Riches — Not to be found in: Riches
Rich, The · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Riches · Cannot deliver in the day of God’s wrath — Cannot deliver in the day of God’s wrath
War · 28:25-68;32:30; — 28:25-68;32:30;

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Zephaniah 1:18

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Zephaniah 1:14–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Zephaniah 1:18

Adam Clarke on Zephaniah 1:18

John Gill on Zephaniah 1:18

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Zephaniah 1:18

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Zephaniah 1:14–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Zephaniah 1:18

Adam Clarke on Zephaniah 1:18

John Gill on Zephaniah 1:18

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Zephaniah 1:18–end

Keil & Delitzsch on Zephaniah 1:17–end

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Zephaniah 1:17

Rashi on Zephaniah 1:17