Zephaniah 2:11

The LORD will be terrible unto them: for he will famish all the gods of the earth; and men shall worship him, every one from his place, even all the isles of the heathen.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
LORD	יְהוָה֙ Yah.weh	H3068	Jehovah · proper noun, a title
terrible	נוֹרָ֤א no.Ra'	H3372	to fear · verb, niphal active participle, masculine singular absolute
famish	רָזָ֔ה ra.Zah	H7329	to emaciate · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
gods	אֱלֹהֵ֣י 'e.lo.Hei	H430	gods in the ordinary sense · noun, common masculine plural construct
earth	הָאָ֑רֶץ ha.'A.retz	H776	the earth (at large · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
worship	וְיִשְׁתַּֽחֲווּ ve.yish.ta.cha.vu-	H7812	to depress · conjunction + verb, 3rd person masculine plural
one	אִ֣ישׁ 'ish	H376	a man as an individual or a male person · noun, common masculine singular absolute
place	מִמְּקוֹמ֔וֹ mi.me.ko.Mo	H4725	properly · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
isles	אִיֵּ֥י 'i.Yei	H339	properly · noun, common masculine plural construct
heathen	הַגּוֹיִֽם ha.go.Yim	H1471	a foreign nation · 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

Micah 4:1-3 But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established in the top of the mountains, and…
Zechariah 13:2 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD of hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they shall n…
Zechariah 14:9-21 And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one.
Genesis 10:5 By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands; every one after his tongue, after their families, in their nations.
Psalms 72:8-11 He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth.
Psalms 117:1-2 O praise the LORD, all ye nations: praise him, all ye people.
Psalms 138:4 All the kings of the earth shall praise thee, O LORD, when they hear the words of thy mouth.
Isaiah 2:2-4 And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shal…

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

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Zephaniah 2:8-11

The Moabites and Ammonites were both of the posterity of Lot; their countries joined, and, both adjoining to Israel, they are here put together in the prophecy against them. I. They are both charged with the same crime, and that was reproaching and reviling the people of God and triumphing in their calamities (Zep 2:8): They have reproached my people; while God's people kept close to their duty it is probable that they reproached them for the singularities of their religion; and now that they had revolted from God, and fallen under his displeasure, they reproached them for that too. It has been the common lot of God's people in all ages to be reproached and reviled upon one account or other.…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Zephaniah 2:11

famish--bring low by taking from the idols their former fame; as beasts are famished by their food being withheld. Also by destroying the kingdoms under the tutelage of idols (Psa 96:4; Isa 46:1). gods of the earth--who have their existence only on earth, not in heaven as the true God. every one from his place--each in his own Gentile home, taught by the Jews in the true religion: not in Jerusalem alone shall men worship God, but everywhere (Psa 68:29-30; Mal 1:11; Joh 4:21; Co1 1:2; Ti1 2:8). It does not mean, as in Isa 2:2; Mic 4:1-2; Zac 8:22; Zac 14:16 that they shall come from their several places to Jerusalem to worship [MAURER]. all . . . isles of . . . heathen--that is, all the…

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Adam Clarke on Zephaniah 2:11

He will famish all the gods of the earth - They shall have no more sacrifices; their worship shall be entirely destroyed. Idolaters supposed that their gods actually fed on the fumes and spirituous exhalations that arose from the burnt-offerings which they made unto their idols. It is in reference to this opinion that the Lord says, "He will famish all the gods of the land."

John Gill on Zephaniah 2:11

The Church Fathers

The Lord will come suddenly upon them, and will utterly destroy all the gods of the nations of the earth, and men shall worship him, every one from his place, even all the isles of the nations! From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia shall they bring offering to me.
— Cosmas Indicopleustes, The Christian Topography, Book 5

Despite all this, they still could not raise up a temple and restore the place in which they would be allowed to observe all these rituals according to the law. For the power of Christ, the power which founded the church, has also destroyed that place. The prophet foretold that Christ would come and that he would do these things, even though he would not come until after the captivity.
— John Chrysostom, DEMONSTRATIONS AGAINST THE PAGANS 17:5

But let us also call the churches islands. And indeed it is said in another place too: "Many islands shall be converted to me." Do you wish to know that the churches are called islands? It is said in the prophet in the person of the Lord: "Speak," he says, "to the inhabitants of this island." Let the many islands be glad. For just as islands are set in the midst of the sea, so also the churches are set as it were in the midst of the sea of this world, and thus they are battered by persecutions as if by diverse waves. But these islands are battered daily, yet they are not overthrown. They are indeed in the sea, but they have Christ for their foundation, who cannot be moved.
— Jerome, Homily 24, on Psalm 96

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

Nahum, Book of — Nahum prophesied, according to some, in the beginning of the reign of Ahaz (B.C. 743). Others, however, think that his prophecies are to be referred to the latter half of the reign of Hezekiah (about…
Ammonites · Prophecies concerning — Prophecies concerning
Famine · Illustrative of: Destruction of idols — Illustrative of: Destruction of idols
Island · Prophecies concerning — Prophecies concerning
Pride · They who are guilty of, shall be: Punished — They who are guilty of, shall be: Punished

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 2:11

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Zephaniah 2:8-11

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Zephaniah 2:11

Adam Clarke on Zephaniah 2:11

John Gill on Zephaniah 2:11

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Zephaniah 2:11

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Zephaniah 2:8-11

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Zephaniah 2:11

Adam Clarke on Zephaniah 2:11

John Gill on Zephaniah 2:11

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Zephaniah 2:11

Keil & Delitzsch on Zephaniah 2:11

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Zephaniah 2:11

Rashi on Zephaniah 2:11