Zephaniah 2:5 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Zephaniah 2:5
Woe unto the inhabitants of the sea coast, the nation of the Cherethites! the word of the LORD is against you; O Canaan, the land of the Philistines, I will even destroy thee, that there shall be no inhabitant.
properly · verb, qal active participle, masculine plural construct
sea
הַיָּ֖םhai.Yam
H3220
a sea (as breaking in noisy surf) or large body of water · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
coast
חֶ֥בֶלChe.vel
H2256
a rope (as twisted) · noun, common both genders singular construct
nation
גּ֣וֹיGoy
H1471
a foreign nation · noun, common masculine singular construct
Cherethites
כְּרֵתִ֑יםke.re.Tim
H3774
a Kerethite or life-guardsman · noun, gentilic masculine plural absolute
word
דְּבַרde.var-
H1697
a word · noun, common masculine singular construct
LORD
יְהוָ֣הYah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
Canaan
כְּנַ֙עַן֙ke.Na.'an
H3667
Kenaan · proper noun, a place name
land
אֶ֣רֶץ'E.retz
H776
the earth (at large · noun, common feminine singular construct
Philistines
פְּלִשְׁתִּ֔יםpe.lish.Tim
H6430
a Pelishtite or inhabitant of Pelesheth · noun, gentilic masculine plural absolute
destroy
וְהַאֲבַדְתִּ֖יךְve.ha.'a.vad.Tikh
H6
properly · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential perfect, 1st person common singular + pronominal suffix, 2nd person feminine singular
inhabitant
יוֹשֵֽׁבyo.Shev
H3427
properly · verb, qal active participle, 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
Ezekiel 25:16 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will stretch out mine hand upon the Philistines, and I will cut off the Cherethims, and destroy…
Jeremiah 47:7 How can it be quiet, seeing the LORD hath given it a charge against Ashkelon, and against the sea shore? there hath he appointed it.
Joshua 13:3 From Sihor, which is before Egypt, even unto the borders of Ekron northward, which is counted to the Canaanite: five lords of the Philistine…
Amos 3:1 Hear this word that the LORD hath spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egy…
Judges 3:3 Namely, five lords of the Philistines, and all the Canaanites, and the Sidonians, and the Hivites that dwelt in mount Lebanon, from mount Ba…
Isaiah 14:30 And the firstborn of the poor shall feed, and the needy shall lie down in safety: and I will kill thy root with famine, and he shall slay th…
Amos 5:1 Hear ye this word which I take up against you, even a lamentation, O house of Israel.
Zephaniah 3:6 I have cut off the nations: their towers are desolate; I made their streets waste, that none passeth by: their cities are destroyed, so that…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Zephaniah 2:4-7
The prophet here comes to foretel what share the neighbouring nations should have in the destruction made upon those parts of the world by Nebuchadnezzar and his victorious Chaldees, as others of the prophets did at that time, which is designed, 1. To awaken the people of the Jews, by making them sensible how strong, how deep, how large, the inundation of calamities should be, that the day of the Lord, which was near, might appear the more dreadful, and they might thereby be quickened to prepare for it as for a general deluge. 2. To comfort them with this thought, that their case, though sad, should not be singular (Solamen miseris socios habuisse doloris - The wretched find it consolatory t…
inhabitants of the seacoast--the Philistines dwelling on the strip of seacoast southwest of Canaan. Literally, the "cord" or "line" of sea (compare Jer 47:7; Eze 25:16).
the Cherethites--the Cretans, a name applied to the Philistines as sprung from Crete (Deu 2:23; Jer 47:4; Amo 9:7). Philistine means "an emigrant."
Canaan . . . land of the Philistines--They occupied the southwest of Canaan (Jos 13:2-3); a name which hints that they are doomed to the same destruction as the early occupants of the land.
Adam Clarke on Zephaniah 2:5
The sea-coasts, the nation of the Cherethites - The sea-coasts mean all the country lying on the Mediterranean coast from Egypt to Joppa and Gaza. The Cherethites - the Cretans who were probably a colony of the Phoenicians. See on Sa1 30:14 (note), and Amo 9:7 (note).
John Gill on Zephaniah 2:5
Woe unto the inhabitants of the sea coasts, the nation of the Cherethites,.... Which is a name of the Philistines in general, as Kimchi and Ben Melech; or these were a particular tribe belonging to them, that inhabited the southern part of their country; see 1 Samuel 30:14 those on the sea coast, the coast of the Mediterranean sea, and so lay between that and Judea: out of this nation, in the times of David and Solomon, were some choice soldiers selected, called the Cherethites and Pelethites, who were their bodyguards, as Josephus (a) calls them; a royal band, which never departed from the king's person; see 2 Samuel 15:18. The Septuagint version calls them "strangers of the Cretians"; and…
The Church Fathers
(Verse 5-7.) Woe to those who dwell by the sea, the nation of the lost: the word of the Lord is against you, O Canaan, land of the Philistines; and I will destroy you so that there will be no inhabitant. And the sea coast shall be pastures, with shelters for shepherds and folds for flocks. And the remnant of the house of Judah shall possess it; they shall feed on it. In the houses of Ashkelon they shall lie down at evening; for the Lord their God will visit them and restore their fortunes. LXX: Woe to those who inhabit the edge of the sea, strangers from Crete! The word of the Lord is against you, O Canaan, land of the foreigners; and I will destroy you, and there will be a pasture for flocks in Crete, and a sheepfold for herds. And the edge of the sea shall belong to the remnant of the house of Judah; they shall feed their flocks in the houses of Ashkelon; in the afternoon they shall rest, for the Lord their God will visit them and turn back their captivity. As for the history, it is not difficult to interpret, because in the previous statements it was said: Gaza will be destroyed (or deserted), and Ascalon will be turned into a desert: Ashdod will be cast out to the south, and Ekron will be uprooted. With these four great cities of Palestine named, now it is evident that the Lord's discourse is directed towards the province itself, and a woe is pronounced on it: Woe to those who dwell by the sea, when the Babylonian comes; for even those who dwell near the sea will perish and be taken away. But it is doubted by no one that the land of the Palestinians is the land of Canaan. And I will destroy you, he says, so that there will be no inhabitant: and you will come to such a great devastation, that you rejoiced in the destruction of Judaea, so that all your well-fortified cities will become grazing grounds for shepherds. And after the Lord has visited his people, and has caused them to return under Zerubbabel and Joshua, and they have built the temple and rebuilt Jerusalem, you will be so uncultivated, and will be covered with thorns and nettles, that shepherds will rest from the remnants of the Jews in Ashkelon in the afternoon, and make their flocks lie down in the once noble city, and this will happen because the Lord will visit his people, and will turn away their captivity, whether it has happened or not, God will see. For our purpose now is not to weave…
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
Cherethim — (Ezek. 25:16), more frequently Cherethites, the inhabitants of Southern Philistia, the Philistines (Zeph. 2:5). The Cherethites and the Pelethites were David’s life-guards (1 Sam. 30:14; 2 Sam. 8:18;…
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…
Prophecy — Or prediction, was one of the functions of the prophet. It has been defined as a “miracle of knowledge, a declaration or description or representation of something future, beyond the power of human…
Cherethites · formed his bodyguard — formed his bodyguard
Philistines · General references — General references
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 2:4, 5
4. For Gaza shall be forsaken, and Ashkelon a desolation: they shall drive out Ashdod at the noon day, and Ekron shall be rooted up.
4. Quia Aza derelicta erit, et Aksalon in vastiationem; Asdod in meridie expellent, et Ekron dissipabitur.
5. Woe unto the inhabitants of the sea coast, the nation of the Cherethites! the word of the LORD is against you; O Canaan, the land of the Philistines, I will even destroy thee, that there shall be no inhabitant.
5. Heus habitatores funiculi maris (vel, regionis) gens Cretim; sermo Iehovae contra vos Canaan, terra Philistim; et exterminabo te, ne sit habitator.
The Prophet begins here to console the elect; for when God's vengeance ha…
Destruction of the Philistines. - Zep 2:4. "For Gaza will be forgotten, and Ashkelon become a desert; Ashdod, they drive it out in broad day, and Ekron will be ploughed out. Zep 2:5. Woe upon the inhabitants of the tract by the sea, the nation of the Cretans! The word of Jehovah upon you, O Canaan, land of the Philistines! I destroy thee, so that not an inhabitant remains. Zep 2:6. And the tract by the sea becomes pastures for shepherds' caves, and for folds of sheep. Zep 2:7. And a tract will be for the remnant of the house of Judah; upon them will they feed: in the houses of Ashkelon they encamp in the evening; for Jehovah their God will visit them, and turn their captivity." The fourth ve…
Old Testament scholars believe the Philistines came from the island of Crete (cp. Ezek 25:16).
Rashi on Zephaniah 2:5
the seacoast the border of the sea. The expression חֶבֶל is a measure of land that they measured with a rope, i.e., those close to the sea.
the nation of Cherethites the people liable to destruction. Who are the inhabitants of the seacoast of Canaan, the land of the Philistines? The Philistines, who dwell on the coast of the western sea, in the west of Eretz lsrael, within its boundaries. Although Jonathan explains this phrase homiletically as [the nation of] destruction, the nation of the Cherethites is a province of the Philistines; its name is Cherethi. So Scripture states (I Sam. 30:14) regarding Ziklag: “We made a raid upon the south of the Cherethites, etc.” Jonathan translates: on th…
