to hush · verb, piel imperative, 2nd person masculine singular
presence
מִפְּנֵ֖יmi.pe.Nei
H6440
the face (as the part that turns) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct
Lord
אֲדֹנָ֣י'a.do.Nai
H136
the Lord (used as a proper name of God only) · proper noun, a title
GOD
יְהוִ֑הYah.weh
H3069
YHWH · proper noun, a title
day
י֣וֹםYom
H3117
a day (as the warm hours) · noun, common masculine singular construct
LORD
יְהוָ֔הYah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
hand
קָרוֹב֙ka.rOv
H7138
near (in place · adjective, masculine singular absolute
LORD
יְהוָ֛הYah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
prepared
הֵכִ֧יןhe.Khin
H3559
properly · verb, hiphil perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
sacrifice
זֶ֖בַחZe.vach
H2077
properly · noun, common masculine singular absolute
bid
הִקְדִּ֥ישׁhik.Dish
H6942
to be (causatively · verb, hiphil perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
guests
קְרֻאָֽיוke.ru.'Av
H7121
to call out to (i.e. properly · verb, qal passive participle, masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
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
Habakkuk 2:20 But the LORD is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him.
Zechariah 2:13 Be silent, O all flesh, before the LORD: for he is raised up out of his holy habitation.
Zephaniah 1:14 The great day of the LORD is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the LORD: the mighty man shall cry there bi…
Isaiah 34:6 The sword of the LORD is filled with blood, it is made fat with fatness, and with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys…
Jeremiah 46:10 For this is the day of the Lord GOD of hosts, a day of vengeance, that he may avenge him of his adversaries: and the sword shall devour, and…
Isaiah 13:6 Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.
1 Samuel 16:5 And he said, Peaceably: I am come to sacrifice unto the LORD: sanctify yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice. And he sanctified Jess…
Isaiah 2:12 For the day of the LORD of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brou…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Zephaniah 1:7-13
Notice is here given to Judah and Jerusalem that God is coming forth against them, and will be with them shortly; his presence, as a just avenger, his day, the day of his judgment and his wrath, are not far off, Zep 1:7. Those that improve not the presence of God with them as a Father, but sin away that presence, may expect his presence with them as a Judge, to call them to an account for the contempt put upon his grace. The day of the Lord will come. Men have their day now, when they take a liberty to do what they please; but God's day is at hand; it is here called his sacrifice, a sacrifice of his preparing, for the punishing of presumptuous sinners is a sacrifice to the justice of God, so…
Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord-- (Hab 2:20). Let the earth be silent at His approach [MAURER]. Or, "Thou whosoever hast been wont to speak against God, as if He had no care about earthly affairs, cease thy murmurs and self-justifications; submit thyself to God, and repent in time" [CALVIN].
Lord . . . prepared a sacrifice--namely, a slaughter of the guilty Jews, the victims due to His justice (Isa 34:6; Jer 46:10; Eze 39:17).
bid his guests--literally, "sanctified His called ones" (compare Isa 13:3). It enhances the bitterness of the judgment that the heathen Chaldeans should be sanctified, or consecrated as it were, by God as His priests, and be called to eat the flesh of th…
Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lords God - הס has, the same as hush, hist, among us. Remonstrances are now useless. You had time to acquaint yourselves with God; you would not: you cry now in vain; destruction is at the door.
The Lord hath prepared a sacrifice - A slaughter of the people.
He hath bid his guests - The Babylonians, to whom he has given a commission to destroy you. In all festivals sacrifices,
1. The victims were offered to God, and their blood poured out before the altar.
2. The people who were invited feasted upon the sacrifice. See on Isa 34:6 (note).
The Church Fathers
(Verse 7.) Be silent before the face of the Lord God, for the day of the Lord is near, for the Lord has prepared a sacrifice; He has sanctified His called ones. LXX: Fear before the face of the Lord God, for the day of the Lord is near, for the Lord has prepared His victim; He has sanctified His called ones. Because the LXX translated 'fear,' and we have put 'be silent,' in Hebrew it is an interjection of commanding silence, which is often used by the Comedians; but it is also commanded absolutely for all to be silent, because the day of the Lord is coming. But let us understand the day of the Lord as the day of captivity and vengeance upon the sinful people, and the destruction of Jerusalem, and the sanctification of those whom He has dedicated to be killed, according to what is said in Jeremiah: Sanctify them in the day of their slaughter (Jeremiah 12:3). And the meaning is: The predicted captivity will come upon the wicked people. It is now near. Under the reign of King Josiah, the prophecy is fulfilled: with him being killed, fear the face of the Lord God, for the day of the Lord is near, for the Lord has prepared His sacrifice, and sanctified His called ones. The whole devastation comes, from which also in Ezekiel: The end comes, he says, the end comes (Ezek. VII, 2), and so on. This sacrifice pleases me, these offerings I have sanctified. However, what he says can be understood as sanctifying his chosen ones, and even accepting those from Babylon whom he calls as his own servants for the vengeance of his people, avenging his injustice. I have called, he says, my servant Nebuchadnezzar (Jer. XXV, 9). And in the same volume, he not only calls him his servant, but also a dove: From the face of the sword a dove (Ibid., 30). Furthermore, according to the allegory, because the face of the Lord is upon those who do evil, to wipe their memory from the earth, and the day of judgment is near (for in comparison to eternity, the time of this world is brief), or the end of each individual: let everyone fear and be silent, lest the face of the Lord (of which the saint says (Ps. IV, 7): The light of your face, Lord, is shining upon us) consume the hay, straw, and wood of sins. For the Lord has prepared His sacrifice, the entire mystery of Leviticus, when through fire and the pouring out of blood, and the true offering, the saved ones will be made well and the called…
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
Entertainments · Invitations to: Often by the master in person — Invitations to: Often by the master in person
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).
John Gill on Zephaniah 1:7
Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord God,.... When he comes forth, and appears in the way of his judgments, do not dispute the point with him, or pretend to offer reasons against his proceedings, or in order to disprove the justice of them; stand in awe and reverence of him, who is the Lord God omniscient and omnipotent, holy, just, and true; humble yourselves under his mighty hand; be still, and know that he is God; and let not one murmuring and repining word come out of your mouth. The Targum is,
"let all the wicked of the earth perish from before the Lord God:''
for the day of the Lord is at hand; the time of his vengeance on the Jewish nation for their sins, which he had fixed in…
Zephaniah 1:7-9
7. Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord God: for the day of the Lord is at hand: for the Lord hath prepared a sacrifice, he hath bid his guests.
7. Tace a facie Domini Jehovae, quia propinquus dies Jehova, quia paravit Jehova sacrificium, (vel, ordinavit, [zykh],) sanctificavit invitatos suos.
8. And it shall come to pass in the day of the Lord's sacrifice, that I will punish the princes, and the king's children, and all such as are clothed with strange apparel.
8. Et erit, in die sacrificii Jehovae tunc visitabo super Principes, et super filios Regis, et super omnes qui induti sunt vestitu extraneo.
9. In the same day also will I punish all those that leap on the…
This judgment will speedily come. Zep 1:7. "Be silent before the Lord Jehovah! For the day of Jehovah is near, for Jehovah has prepared a slaying of sacrifice, He has consecrated His called." The command, "Be silent before the Lord," which is formed after Hab 2:20, and with which the prophet summons to humble, silent submission to the judgment of God, serves to confirm the divine threat in Zep 1:2-6. The reason for the commanding Hush! (keep silence) is given in the statement that the day of Jehovah is close at hand (compare Joe 1:15), and that God has already appointed the executors of the judgment. The last two clauses of the verse are formed from reminiscences taken from Isaiah. The descr…
The entire passage must be seen as one vast event. Some aspects would be fulfilled at Jerusalem’s fall in 586 BC; others would be repeated in various historical epochs (such as the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70) until the whole prophecy is fulfilled at the end of time when God acts fully and finally to judge the world and renew creation (Rev 19:11–22:5).
1:7 has prepared his people for a great slaughter and has chosen their executioners: Foreigners will slaughter the wicked among the Lord’s people.
Rashi on Zephaniah 1:7
He has invited His guests He prepared His armies for the appointed day.
