properly · preposition + noun, common masculine singular absolute
rivers
לְנַֽהֲרֵיle.na.ha.rei-
H5104
a stream (including the sea · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct
Ethiopia
כ֑וּשׁKhush
H3568
Cush (or Ethiopia) · proper noun, a place name
suppliants
עֲתָרַי֙'a.ta.Rai
H6282
incense (as increasing to a volume of smoke) · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix
daughter
בַּתbat-
H1323
a daughter (used in the same wide sense as other terms… · noun, common feminine singular construct
dispersed
פוּצַ֔יpu.Tzai
H6327
to dash in pieces · verb, qal passive participle, masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix
bring
יוֹבִל֖וּןyoi.Lun
H2986
properly · verb, hiphil imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural + paragogic nun
offering
מִנְחָתִֽיmin.cha.Ti
H4503
a donation · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix
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 68:31 Princes shall come out of Egypt; Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God.
Isaiah 11:11 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which sh…
Isaiah 18:1 Woe to the land shadowing with wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia:
Romans 15:16 That I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be…
1 Peter 1:1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,
Psalms 72:8-11 He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth.
Isaiah 18:7 In that time shall the present be brought unto the LORD of hosts of a people scattered and peeled, and from a people terrible from their beg…
Isaiah 27:12-13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall beat off from the channel of the river unto the stream of Egypt, and ye shall be…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Zephaniah 3:8-13
Things looked very bad with Jerusalem in the foregoing verses; she has got into a very bad name, and seems to be incorrigible, incurable, mercy-proof and judgment-proof. Now one would think it should follow, Therefore expect no other but that she should be utterly abandoned and rejected as reprobate silver; since they will not be wrought upon by prophets or providences, let them be made a desolation as their neighbours have been. But behold and wonder at the riches of divine grace, which takes occasion from man's badness to appear so much the more illustrious. They still grew worse and worse, therefore wait you upon me, saith the Lord, Zep 3:8. "Since the law, it seems, will make nothing per…
From beyond . . . Ethiopia my suppliants--literally, "burners of incense" (compare Psa 141:2; Rev 5:8; Rev 8:3-4). The Israelites are meant, called "the daughter of My dispersed," a Hebrew idiom for My dispersed people. "The rivers of Ethiopia" are those which enclose it on the north. In the west of Abyssinia there has long existed a people called Falashas, or "emigrants" (akin to the synonym "Philistine"). These trace their origin to Palestine and profess the Jewish religion. In physical traits they resemble the Arabs. When Bruce was there, they had a Jewish king, Gideon, and his queen, Judith. Probably the Abyssinian Christians were originally in part converted Jews. They are here made the…
From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia - This may denote both Africa and the southern Arabia. Bochart thinks that Arabia Chusaer is meant; and that the rivers are Besor, which flows into the Mediterranean; Rhinocorura, which flows into the Lake Sirbonis; Trajanus Amnis, which flows into the Red Sea; and the river Corys. Calmet thinks that these rivers mean the Nile, which by seven mouths falls into the Mediterranean. The Nile comes from Ethiopia, properly so called; and runs through all Egypt, and falls into the sea at that part of Arabia which the Scripture calls Cush or Ethiopia.
My dispersed - The Jews, scattered through different parts of the world. Shall bring mine offering. Shall acknowled…
The Church Fathers
(Verse 10 onwards) Beyond the rivers of Ethiopia, there my scattered children, the offspring of my dispersed ones, will bring a gift to me. On that day you will no longer be ashamed of all your rebellious acts against me, for then I will remove from your midst those who proudly boast of their arrogance, and you will no longer exalt yourself on my holy mountain. I will leave in your midst a humble and oppressed people, and they will trust in the name of the Lord. The remnant of Israel will not commit injustice or speak falsehood, and no deceitful tongue will be found in their mouths. They will feed and lie down, and no one will make them afraid. LXX: Concerning the boundaries of the rivers of Ethiopia, I will gather my dispersed ones. They will bring sacrifices to me. On that day, you will not be ashamed of all your inventions, in which you have acted impiously towards me, for then I will remove from you the arrogance of your insults, and you will no longer exalt yourself upon my holy mountain. I will leave in you a gentle and humble people, and they will revere the name of the Lord, those who remain of Israel. They will not commit iniquity, nor speak falsehoods, nor will there be deceitful language found in their mouths, for they will be nourished and lie down, and no one will make them afraid. When the Lord returns the chosen lip to the people of the believers, and all invoke the name of the Lord, and bear his yoke, then even beyond the rivers of Ethiopia (where the queen of Sheba came to hear the wisdom of Solomon) they will bring offerings to the Lord. And Ethiopia will stretch out its hand to God. And truly, the Ethiopian woman, who the lawgiver struck Egypt with ten plagues, will marry, while the Hebrew synagogue looks on with envy. But what he says according to the Hebrew: From there my supplicants, the daughter of my scattered ones, will bring me a gift of this kind: O Israel, formerly the assembly of daughters, whom I dispersed throughout the whole world, although you may envy, although you may be tormented by emulation, nevertheless from Ethiopia sacrifices will be brought to me, that is, from the Gentile people. In that day, that is, when the multitude of the Gentiles believes, even you will not be completely confounded above all your errors, by which you transgressed against me, choosing Barabbas and crucifying the Son of God (John 6). Then I…
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
Cush — Black. (1.) A son, probably the eldest, of Ham, and the father of Nimrod (Gen. 10:8; 1 Chr. 1:10). From him the land of Cush seems to have derived its name. The question of the precise locality of…
Ethiopia — Country of burnt faces; the Greek word by which the Hebrew Cush is rendered (Gen. 2:13; 2 Kings 19:9; Esther 1:1; Job 28:19; Ps. 68:31; 87:4), a country which lay to the south of Egypt, beginning at…
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).
From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia,.... Either the African Ethiopia, or Arabia Chusea, which lay between Judea and Egypt: here some particular places and people are mentioned, in whom the preceding prophecy would be fulfilled. If these rivers of Ethiopia are such as ran in the midst of the country, and so point at some parts of it, though on the other side of them, then this prophecy might have its accomplishment, at least when the Evangelist Matthew went thither, and preached the Gospel, and very likely the Apostle Paul; as also when the Ethiopian eunuch was converted, who doubtless did what in him lay to promote the interest of Christ in those parts. Ben Melech makes this parallel with and…
Zephaniah 3:10
10. From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia my suppliants, even the daughter of my dispersed, shall bring mine offering.
10. Trans fluvios Ethiopiae supplicantes mihi (vel, supplices mei;) filia dispersorum meorum offerent munus meum (hoc est, mihi; nam [y] affixum accipitur loco pronominis [yl'].)
Interpreters agree not as to the meaning of this verse; for some of the Hebrews connect this with the former, as though the Prophet was still speaking of the calling of the Gentiles. But others, with whom I agree, apply this to the dispersed Jews, so that the Prophet here gives hope of that restoration, of which he had before spoken. They who understand this of the Gentiles, think th…
"For then will I turn to the nations a pure lip, that they may all call upon the name of Jehovah, to serve Him with one shoulder. Zep 3:10. From beyond the rivers of Cush will they bring my worshippers, the daughter of my dispersed ones, as a meat-offering to me." By the explanatory kı̄ the promise is connected with the threat of judgment. The train of thought is this: the believers are to wait for the judgment, for it will bring them redemption. The first clause in Zep 3:9 is explained in different ways. Many commentators understand by sâphâh bherūrâh the lip of God, which He will turn to the nations through His holy servants. According to this view, Luther has adopted the rendering: "T…
The rivers of Ethiopia are the distant headwaters of the Nile River. The ancient world considered the origin of the Nile a great mystery, so the expression speaks of the farthest reaches of the earth.
Rashi on Zephaniah 3:10
From the other side of the rivers of Cush They will bring Me an offering.
My supplicants those who pray to me.
the community of My scattered ones The gatherings of My scattered ones, whom I scattered.
