Zephaniah 1:4 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Zephaniah 1:4
I will also stretch out mine hand upon Judah, and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and I will cut off the remnant of Baal from this place, and the name of the Chemarims with the priests;
properly · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
name
שֵׁ֥םshem
H8034
an appellation · noun, common masculine singular construct
Chemarims
הַכְּמָרִ֖יםha.ke.ma.Rim
H3649
properly · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
priests
הַכֹּהֲנִֽיםha.ko.ha.Nim
H3548
literally one officiating · definite article + noun, common masculine plural 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
Hosea 10:5 The inhabitants of Samaria shall fear because of the calves of Beth-aven: for the people thereof shall mourn over it, and the priests thereo…
2 Kings 23:4-5 And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the door, to bring forth out of the…
Micah 5:13 Thy graven images also will I cut off, and thy standing images out of the midst of thee; and thou shalt no more worship the work of thine ha…
2 Kings 21:13 And I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab: and I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipeth a dis…
2 Chronicles 34:4 And they brake down the altars of Baalim in his presence; and the images, that were on high above them, he cut down; and the groves, and the…
Isaiah 14:26-27 This is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth: and this is the hand that is stretched out upon all the nations.
Jeremiah 6:12 And their houses shall be turned unto others, with their fields and wives together: for I will stretch out my hand upon the inhabitants of t…
Exodus 15:12 Thou stretchedst out thy right hand, the earth swallowed them.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Zephaniah 1:1-6
Here is, I. The title-page of this book (Zep 1:1), in which we observe, 1. What authority it has, and who gave it that authority; it is from heaven, and not of men: It is the word of the Lord. 2. Who was the instrument of conveying it to the church. His name was Zephaniah, which signifies the servant of the Lord, for God revealed his secrets to his servants the prophets. The pedigree of other prophets, whose extraction we have an account of, goes no further back than their father, except Zecharias, whose grandfather also is named. But this of Zephaniah goes back four generations, and the highest mentioned is Hizkiah; it is the very same name in the original with that of Hezekiah king of Juda…
stretch out mine hand--indicating some remarkable and unusual work of vengeance (Isa 5:25; Isa 9:12, Isa 9:17, Isa 9:21).
Judah--including Benjamin. These two tribes are to suffer, which thought themselves perpetually secure, because they escaped the captivity in which the ten tribes were involved.
Jerusalem--the fountainhead of the evil. God begins with His sanctuary (Eze 9:6), and those who are nigh Him (Lev 10:3).
the remnant of Baal--the remains of Baal worship, which as yet Josiah was unable utterly to eradicate in remote places. Baal was the PhÅ“nician tutelary god. From the time of the Judges (Jdg 2:13), Israel had fallen into this idolatry; and Manasseh lately had set up this i…
I will cut off the remnant of Baal - I think he refers here, partly at least, to the reformation which Josiah was to bring about. See the account, Kg2 23:5 (note).
The Chemarims - The black-robed priests of different idols. See the note on Kg2 23:6. These were put down by Josiah.
John Gill on Zephaniah 1:4
I will also stretch out mine hand upon Judah,.... Under whom the tribe of Benjamin is comprehended, which are only designed; the ten tribes having been carried captive in Hezekiah's time many years before this: not "to Judah", as beckoning to come and hearken to him, as calling to repentance and reformation; this he had done, but was rejected, and therefore determines to stretch out his hand "upon" them; nor "over Judah", to protect and defend them; but "upon Judah", exerting his power, stirring up his wrath, and executing his vengeance; and this is dreadful and intolerable to bear! and when his hand is stretched out, it cannot be turned back; and when laid on, can never be removed, till he…
The Church Fathers
(Verse 4 and following) And I will stretch out my hand over Judah and over all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and I will destroy from this place the remnants of Baal, and the names of the idolatrous priests together with the priests, and those who worship on the rooftops the host of heaven, and those who worship and swear by the Lord, and swear by Melchom; and those who turn away from the Lord, and those who have not sought the Lord or inquired of him. LXX: And I will stretch out my hand over Judah, and over all who dwell in Jerusalem, and I will remove from this place the names of the Baals, and the names of the priests with the priests, and those who worship on the rooftops the host of heaven, and those who swear by the Lord, and swear by their king, and those who turn away from the Lord, and those who do not seek the Lord, and those who do not retain the Lord. After the downfall of the impious and the removal of the wicked from the face of the earth, consequently, regarding Judah and Jerusalem, it is said in the person of the Lord: 'And I will stretch out my hand over Judah and over all the inhabitants of Jerusalem' (for the stretching out of the hand indicates the gesture of striking); 'and I will destroy from this place the remnants of Baal' (not that the names of the Baals according to the Septuagint are to be completely eradicated, but rather that the worshippers of Baal, who remained few in number from the slaughter of the enemies in Judah and Jerusalem, are to be removed). The names of the priests, as well as the temple attendants, were also mentioned. Judas and Benjamin had fallen into such great impiety that they set up a statue of Baal in the Temple of the Lord, as Ezekiel writes and the fourth book of Kings shows. This statue, which the Lord calls the image of jealousy, and the idols in the same sanctuary were worshipped both by priests and the Lord (Ezekiel VIII). Hence, the priests of the idols were specifically called not priests, but 'temple attendants' or fanatics, which in Hebrew is called Acchumarim (4 Kings X and XVII). So the Lord will remove from Jerusalem the judges and priests who once served him, as well as those who worshiped the army of heaven—the sun and the moon and the stars—and those who swore allegiance to the Lord but also worshiped Molech, the detestable idol of the Ammonites. The Lord will sweep them away and erase even…
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
Baal — Lord. (1.) The name appropriated to the principal male god of the Phoenicians. It is found in several places in the plural BAALIM (Judg. 2:11; 10:10; 1 Kings 18:18; Jer. 2:23; Hos. 2:17). Baal is…
Chemarim — Black, (Zeph. 1:4; rendered “idolatrous priests” in 2 Kings 23:5, and “priests” in Hos. 10:5). Some derive this word from the Assyrian Kamaru, meaning “to throw down,” and interpret it as describing…
Chemarim, The — (those who go about in black, i.e. ascetics). In the Hebrew applied to the priests of the worship of false gods. (2 Kings 23:5; Hosea 10:5) in margin; (Zephaniah 1:4)
Molech — (king). The fire-god Molech was the tutelary deity of the children of Ammon, and essentially identical with the Moabitish Chemosh. Fire-gods appear to have been common to all the Canaanite, Syrian…
Apostasy · Guilt and punishment of — Guilt and punishment of
Apostates · Guilt and punishment of — Guilt and punishment of
Chemarim · A term — A term
Seeking God · Punishment of those who neglect — Punishment of those who neglect
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 1:4
4. I will also stretch out mine hand upon Judah, and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and I will cut off the remnant of Baal from this place, and the name of the Chemarims with the priests;
4. Et extendam manum meam super Jehudah, et super omnes incolas Jerusalem; et excidam ex loco hoc reliquias Baal, et nomen cultorum cum sacerdotibus.
The Prophet explains still more clearly why he directed his discourse in the last verse against the beasts of the earth and the birds of heaven, even for this end--that the Jews might understand that God was angry with them. I will stretch forth, he says, my hand on Judah and on Jerusalem. God, then, by executing his vengeance on anima…
The judgment coming upon the whole earth with all its inhabitants will fall especially upon Judah and Jerusalem. Zep 1:4. "And I stretch my hand over Judah, and over all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and cut off from this place the remnant of Baal, the name of the consecrated servants, together with the priests. Zep 1:5. And those who worship the army of heaven upon the roofs, and the worshippers who swear to Jehovah, and who swear by their king. Zep 1:6. And those who draw back from Jehovah, and who did not seek Jehovah, and did not inquire for Him." God stretches out His hand (יד) or His arm (זרוע) to smite the ungodly with judgments (compare Zephaniah 6:6, Deu 4:34; Deu 5:15, with Isa 5:2…
Having pronounced judgment on the whole earth (1:2-3), Zephaniah now focuses attention on his own people, Judah and Jerusalem.
1:4 When Zephaniah made this prophecy, before Josiah’s reforms in 622 BC, idolatrous priests rampantly promoted Baal worship and other forms of paganism (2 Kgs 23:5).
Rashi on Zephaniah 1:4
the remnant of Baal that there shall be no remnant of its remembrance.
the name of the idolatrous priests with the ancillary priests Their worshippers with their priests.
