8. 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 (Jeremiah 48:29; Jeremiah 49:1; compare Zephaniah 2:10; Psalms 35:26; Obadiah 1:12). read more
C. judgment on Israel’s neighbors 2:4-15Since all people need to seek the Lord (Zephaniah 2:3), Zephaniah revealed that judgment was headed for the nations around Judah as well as for Judah. He selected nations that lived in four directions from Judah to represent all the nations. Philistia lay west of Judah, Moab and Ammon east, Ethiopia south, and Assyria north."He [God] would also judge nations that were near as well as nations that were far away. Those near would be plundered and possessed... read more
Probably Zephaniah linked Moab and Ammon because both nations descended from Lot (Genesis 19:30-38) as well as because both lay to Judah’s east. Both nations had taunted and reviled the Israelites from their earliest history. They had repeatedly lifted themselves up as enemies of God’s chosen people (cf. Numbers 22; Numbers 24:17; Judges 3:12-14; Judges 10:7-9; Judges 11:4-6; 1 Samuel 11:1-11; 2 Samuel 10:1-14; 2 Kings 3). read more
2. Judgment coming on Moab and Ammon 2:8-11 read more
Jehovah’s impending Judgment upon Judah’s Neighbours and FoesThe universal note which is struck in Zephaniah 1:2-3 is now further amplified. Jehovah’s agents of punishment, the Scythians, shall carry desolation along the Philistine plain to Egypt (as they actually did), and to the nations E. of the Jordan and Dead Sea, and even to distant Assyria, which in 605 b.c. fell before them.1-3. Exhortation to repentance. The Heb. text is exceedingly doubtful. It is also not clear whether or not... read more
(4-15) Jehovah’s chastisement of foreign powers. These Divine visitations are introduced somewhat abruptly. The connection is perhaps that they are intended to lead God’s people to repent, and put their faith in Him who orders the destinies of all mankind. Also, as being inflicted on hostile peoples, they are in Israel’s favour, and ought therefore to elicit gratitude. But more especially are they all steps towards the establishment of Jehovah’s supremacy, and the inclusion of the Gentiles in... read more
(8) Reproach.—i.e., abusive speech, or offensive design expressed in words. Balak’s appeal to Balaam, “Come, curse me this people,” at once suggests itself. We may instance also the conspiracy described in Psalms 83:0 as illustrating this combination of Moab and Ammon for hostile purposes. read more
(8-11) The sentence against Moab and Ammon, the descendants of Lot and the enemies of God’s people, even in the post-exilic period, comp. Nehemiah 2:19; Nehemiah 4:1; Nehemiah 4:3; Nehemiah 4:7.) read more
NINIVE DELENDAZephaniah 2:4-15THERE now come a series of articles on foreign nations, connected with the previous prophecy by the conjunction for, and detailing the worldwide judgment which it had proclaimed. But though dated from the same period as that prophecy, circa 626, these oracles are best treated by themselves.These oracles originally formed one passage in the well-known Qinah or elegiac measure; but this has suffered sadly both by dilapidation and rebuilding. How mangled the text is... read more
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Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - Zephaniah 2:8
"I have heard the reproach of Moab, and the revilings of the children of Ammon, wherewith they have reproached my people, and magnified themselves against their border."Moab and Ammon were east of Jerusalem. These peoples were akin to Israel through their ancestor Lot, but they were traditionally enemies of God's people. Therefore, Ironside referred to the Moabites and Ammonites as "Strange children" of Abraham, similar to certain 'relatives' of the Lord in our own times, "Christless professors... read more