Zephaniah 2:8 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Zephaniah 2:8
I have heard the reproach of Moab, and the revilings of the children of Ammon, whereby they have reproached my people, and magnified themselves against their border.
to hear intelligently (often with implication of attent… · verb, qal perfect, 1st person common singular
reproach
חֶרְפַּ֣תcher.Pat
H2781
contumely · noun, common feminine singular construct
Moab
מוֹאָ֔בmo.'Av
H4124
Moab · proper noun, a place name
revilings
וְגִדּוּפֵ֖יve.gi.du.Fei
H1421
vilification · conjunction + noun, common masculine plural construct
children
בְּנֵ֣יbe.Nei
H1121
a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine plural construct
Ammon
עַמּ֑וֹןa.Mon
H5983
Ammon · proper noun, a man's name
reproached
חֵֽרְפוּ֙che.re.Fu
H2778
to pull off · verb, piel perfect, 3rd person common plural
people
עַמִּ֔י'a.Mi
H5971
a people (as a congregated unit) · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix
magnified
וַיַּגְדִּ֖ילוּvai.yag.Di.lu
H1431
to be (causatively make) large (in various senses · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
border
גְּבוּלָֽםge.vu.Lam
H1366
properly · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
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
Psalms 83:4-7 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
Ezekiel 25:3-11 And say unto the Ammonites, Hear the word of the Lord GOD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou saidst, Aha, against my sanctuary, when it…
Jeremiah 48:27-29 For was not Israel a derision unto thee? was he found among thieves? for since thou spakest of him, thou skippedst for joy.
Jeremiah 49:1 Concerning the Ammonites, thus saith the LORD; Hath Israel no sons? hath he no heir? why then doth their king inherit Gad, and his people dw…
Amos 1:13 Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of the children of Ammon, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because t…
Ezekiel 36:2 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because the enemy hath said against you, Aha, even the ancient high places are ours in possession:
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.…
I have heard--A seasonable consolation to Judah when wantonly assailed by Moab and Ammon with impunity: God saith, "I have heard it all, though I might seem to men not to have observed it because I did not immediately inflict punishment."
magnified themselves--acted haughtily, invading the territory of Judah (Jer 48:29; Jer 49:1; compare Zep 2:10; Psa 35:26; Oba 1:12).
Adam Clarke on Zephaniah 2:8
I have heard the reproach of Moab - God punished them for the cruel part they had taken in the persecutions of the Jews; for when they lay under the displeasure of God, these nations insulted them in the most provoking manner. See on Amo 1:13 (note), and Gen 19:25 (note); Deu 29:23 (note); Isa 13:19 (note); Isa 34:13 (note); Jer 49:18 (note); Jer 50:40 (note).
John Gill on Zephaniah 2:8
I have heard the reproach of Moab, and the revilings of the children of Ammon,.... Two people that descended from Lot, through incest with his daughters; and are therefore mentioned together, as being of the same cast and complexion, and bitter enemies to the people of the Jews; whom they reproached and reviled, for the sake of their religion, because they adhered to the word and worship of God: this they did when the Jews were most firmly attached to the service of the true God; and the Lord heard it, and took notice of it; and put it down in the book of his remembrance, to punish them for it in due time; even he who hears, and sees, and knows all things:
whereby they have reproached my pe…
The Church Fathers
(Ver. 8 onwards) I have heard the reproach of Moab and the blasphemies of the sons of Ammon, who have reproached my people and magnified themselves against their borders. Therefore, as I live, says the Lord God (God remains silent), the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Moab shall be like Sodom, and the sons of Ammon like Gomorrah, a land of thorns and salt pits, and a desolation forever. The remnant of my people shall plunder them; the survivors of my nation shall possess them. This will happen to them because of their pride, for they have blasphemed and exalted themselves above the people of the Lord of hosts. The Lord will be terrible against them; He will destroy all the gods of the earth, and men from their places will worship Him, even all the coastlands of the nations. I have heard the reproach of Moab, and the insults of the people of Ammon, with which they have reproached My people and exalted themselves against their borders. Therefore, as I live, says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, surely Moab shall be like Sodom, and the people of Ammon like Gomorrah, a possession of nettles and salt pits, and a perpetual desolation. The remnant of My people shall plunder them, and the remainder of My nation shall possess them. This shall be their lot in return for their pride, because they have reproached and exalted themselves against the Lord of hosts. The Lord will be known to them; He will destroy all the gods of the nations on the earth, and men from their places will worship Him, even all the coastlands of the nations. Except for the prophet Daniel, who frequently sees visions of four kingdoms and explains their differences using various images (Dan. VIII), Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel also do this, so that after seeing the vision of Judah against the other nations surrounding it, they prophesy and proclaim what will happen to them according to the specific events, and they dwell on the description of these events for a longer time. Now the prophet Zephaniah does the same, although briefly, in the same manner. For against the Philistines, against whom the previous threat has been made, he says, 'Gaza shall be destroyed, and Ascalon shall be turned into a desert, Ashdod shall be driven away to the south, and Accaron shall be uprooted.' Now a prophecy is woven against Moab and the sons of Ammon, or as it has been added in the Septuagint, against…
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
Ammon — Another form of the name Ben-ammi, the son of Lot (Gen. 19:38). This name is also used for his posterity (Ps. 83:7).
Ammonite — The usual name of the descendants of Ammon, the son of Lot (Gen. 19:38). From the very beginning (Deut. 2:16-20) of their history till they are lost sight of (Judg. 5:2), this tribe is closely…
Moabite — The designation of a tribe descended from Moab, the son of Lot (Gen. 19:37). From Zoar, the cradle of this tribe, on the south-eastern border of the Dead Sea, they gradually spread over the region on…
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, The · Predictions respecting: Destructions for hatred to Israel — Predictions respecting: Destructions for hatred to Israel
Reviling And Reproaching · The wicked utter, against: Saints — The wicked utter, against: Saints
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 2:8
8. I have heard the reproach of Moab, and the revilings of the children of Ammon, whereby they have reproached my people, and magnified themselves against their border.
8. Audivi opprobrium Moab, et contumelias filiorum Ammon, quibus exprobrarunt populo meo, et se extulerunt contra terminum ipsorum.
The Prophet confirms what I have just said of God's vengeance against foreign enemies. Though all the neighboring nations had been eager in their hostility to the Jews, yet we know that more hatred, yea and more fury, had been exhibited by these two nations than by any other, that is, by the Moabites and the Ammonites, notwithstanding their connection with them by blood, for they…
The judgment upon Joab and Ammon. - Zep 2:8. "I have heard the abuse of Moab, and the revilings of the sons of Ammon, who have abused my nation, and boasted against its boundary. Zep 2:9. Therefore, as I live, is the saying of Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Yea, Moab shall become like Sodom, and the sons of Ammon like Gomorrha, an inheritance of nettles and salt-pits, and desert for ever. The remnant of my nation will plunder them, the residue of my nation will inherit them. Zep 2:10. Such to them for their pride, that they have despised and boasted against the nation of Jehovah of hosts." The threat now turns from the Philistines in the west to the two tribes to the east, viz., the Mo…
The Moabites and Ammonites were Israel’s traditional foes. The Israelites fought with them frequently (see 2 Kgs 3:1-27; 2 Chr 20:1-30), and they remained Israel’s enemies to the end (2 Kgs 25:25; Jer 40:11-14). • mocking . . . invading: The Israelites not only suffered repeated attacks by the Moabites and Ammonites (see Amos 1:13) but also endured their insults over their successes.
Rashi on Zephaniah 2:8
who taunted My people When [the people of] Israel were being led into exile toward the land of the Chaldeans, and they were passing through Ammon and Moab, and they would see Israel weeping, sighing, and crying out, they would taunt them and say, “Why are you suffering? Aren’t you going to your father’s house? Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the river from earliest times.” (Josh. 24:2)
and they aggrandized themselves on their border And they acted haughtily on their border.
