Zephaniah 1:8 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Zephaniah 1:8
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.
a day (as the warm hours) · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
LORD’s
יְהוָ֔הYah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
sacrifice
זֶ֣בַחZe.vach
H2077
properly · noun, common masculine singular construct
punish
וּפָקַדְתִּ֥יu.fa.kad.Ti
H6485
to visit (with friendly or hostile intent) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 1st person common singular
princes
הַשָּׂרִ֖יםha.sa.Rim
H8269
a head person (of any rank or class) · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
king’s
הַמֶּ֑לֶךְha.Me.lekh
H4428
a king · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
children
בְּנֵ֣יbe.Nei
H1121
a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine plural construct
clothed
הַלֹּבְשִׁ֖יםha.loe.Shim
H3847
properly · definite article + verb, qal active participle, masculine plural absolute
strange
נָכְרִֽיna.khe.Ri
H5237
strange · adjective, masculine singular absolute
apparel
מַלְבּ֥וּשׁmal.Bush
H4403
a garment · noun, common masculine 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
Isaiah 24:21 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upo…
Isaiah 3:18-24 In that day the Lord will take away the bravery of their tinkling ornaments about their feet, and their cauls, and their round tires like th…
2 Kings 25:19-21 And out of the city he took an officer that was set over the men of war, and five men of them that were in the king’s presence, which were f…
Isaiah 39:7 And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, which thou shalt beget, shall they take away; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the kin…
Jeremiah 22:11-19 For thus saith the LORD touching Shallum the son of Josiah king of Judah, which reigned instead of Josiah his father, which went forth out o…
Jeremiah 22:24-30 As I live, saith the LORD, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were the signet upon my right hand, yet would I pluck thee thenc…
Jeremiah 39:6-7 Then the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah in Riblah before his eyes: also the king of Babylon slew all the nobles of Judah.
2 Kings 10:22 And he said unto him that was over the vestry, Bring forth vestments for all the worshippers of Baal. And he brought them forth vestments.
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…
the princes--who ought to have been an example of good to others, but were ringleaders in all evil.
the king's children--fulfilled on Zedekiah's children (Jer 39:6); and previously, on Jehoahaz and Eliakim, the sons of Josiah (Kg2 23:31, Kg2 23:36; Ch2 36:6; compare also Kg2 20:18; Kg2 21:13). Huldah the prophetess (Kg2 22:20) intimated that which Zephaniah now more expressly foretells.
all such as are clothed with strange apparel--the princes or courtiers who attired themselves in costly garments, imported from abroad; partly for the sake of luxury, and partly to ingratiate themselves with foreign great nations whose costume as well as their idolatries they imitated, [CALVIN]; whereas i…
I will punish the princes, and the king's children - After the death of Josiah the kingdom of Judah saw no prosperity, and every reign terminated miserably; until at last King Zedekiah and the king's children were cruelly massacred at Riblah, when Nebuchadnezzar had taken Jerusalem.
Strange apparel - I really think this refers more to their embracing idolatrous customs and heathen usages, than to their changing their dress. They acquired new habits, as we would say; customs, that they used as they did their clothing - at all times, and in every thing.
The Church Fathers
(Verse 8, 9.) And it shall come to pass on the day of the Lord's sacrifice, that I will punish the princes and the king's sons, and all who are clothed with foreign apparel. And I will punish everyone who arrogantly enters over the threshold on that day, those who fill the house of the Lord their God with iniquity and deceit. LXX: And it shall come to pass on the day of the Lord's sacrifice, that I will avenge the princes and the king's household, and all who are clothed with foreign garments; and I will avenge openly all who are in the vestibules on that day, those who fill the house of the Lord their God with impiety and deceit. In the captivity of Judah, when the whole people were to be sacrificed, the Lord will visit, both upon the princes who drank wine in the morning, and upon the sons of the king, or upon all of the royal lineage, or certainly upon the sons of Josiah, whom we read were either killed or captured, and upon all who were clothed in foreign garments, that is, those who worshiped idols. And upon all who proudly enter over the threshold on that day, that is, against the arrogant, who with a certain arrogance and a brow of dignity ascend the steps of the temple and the threshold of the sanctuary. Moreover, because in that place where we have interpreted, above the threshold, can be understood according to the Hebrew, those who leap over the threshold; and this is to be understood historically, I will vindicate against those who, according to the first book of Kings, do not trample upon the threshold of idols, but serve superstitions, who have filled the house (or temple) of their Lord God not only with the worship of idols, but also with iniquity and wickedness and every kind of lie, so that, along with the error of religion, iniquity is also joined to deception, directed both at those who are subject and at their neighbors. But because we have once explained it both literally and tropologically: The Lord will visit in the advent and passion of the Savior, that is, on the day of the offering of His Son above the high priests and priests of the Jewish people, and above the royal house. For until that time, the kings of Judah from the line of David persevered, according to the prophecy of Jacob: The ruler shall not fail from Judah, nor the leader from his thighs, until the one comes to whom it is reserved, and He shall be the expectation of…
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
Dress — (1.) Materials used. The earliest and simplest an apron of fig-leaves sewed together (Gen. 3:7); then skins of animals (3:21). Elijah’s dress was probably the skin of a sheep (2 Kings 1:8). The…
Day · Times of adversity — Times of adversity
Sacrifices · FIGURATIVE — FIGURATIVE
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).
John Gill on Zephaniah 1:8
And it shall come to pass in the day of the Lord's sacrifice,.... When the above sacrifice prepared shall be offered, and the slaughter of his people made, when his wrath shall be poured out upon them, within the time of its beginning and ending:
that I will punish the princes, and the king's children; either the children of Josiah, who, though a good prince, his children did evil in the sight of the Lord, and were punished by him: Jehoahaz, after a three months' reign was carried down to Egypt, and died there; Jehoiakim, his elder brother, that succeeded him, rebelling against the king of Babylon, in the fourth year of his reign, fell into his hands, and died, and was buried with the buria…
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…
The judgment will fall with equal severity upon the idolatrous and sinners of every rank (Zep 1:8-11), and no one in Jerusalem will be able to save himself from it (Zep 1:12, Zep 1:13). In three double verses Zephaniah brings out three classes of men who differ in their civil position, and also in their attitude towards God, as those who will be smitten by the judgment: viz., (1) the princes, i.e., the royal family and superior servants of the king, who imitate the customs of foreigners, and oppress the people (Zep 1:8, Zep 1:9); (2) the merchants, who have grown rich through trade and usury (Zep 1:10, Zep 1:11); (3) the irreligious debauchees (Zep 1:12, Zep 1:13). The first of these he thre…
The leaders and princes of Judah were the tribal chieftains of Israel (Num 1:4), court officials (1 Chr 22:17), district supervisors (1 Kgs 20:14-15), city officials (Judg 8:6), military leaders (1 Kgs 2:5; 2 Kgs 1:9-14; 25:23, 26), or even religious leaders (Ezra 8:24). Their influential role put them in a position of heightened responsibility before God (cp. Jas 3:1).
