Sofonias 3:3-7 NVIPT

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Zephaniah 3:7

Surely thou wilt fear me - After so many displays of my sovereign power and judgments. But they rose early - And instead of returning to God, they practiced every abomination. They were diligent to find out times and places for their iniquity. This is the worst state of man. read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Zephaniah 3:3

Verse 3 The Prophet now explains what we have stated respecting plunder and fraud. He confirms that he had not without reason called Jerusalem היונה, eiune, a rapacious city, or one given to plunder; for the princes were like lions and the judges like wolves. And when he speaks of judges, he does not spare the common people; but he shows that all orders were then corrupt: for though no justice or equity is regarded by the people, there will yet remain some shame among the judges, so as to... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Zephaniah 3:4

Verse 4 The Prophet again reverts to the pollution and filth of which he has spoken in the first verse. He shows that he had not without reason cried against the polluted city; for though the Jews used their washings, they could not yet make themselves clean in this manner before God, as the whole of religion was corrupted by them. He says that the Prophets were light. He alone speaks here, and he condemns the many. We hence see that there is no reason why the ungodly should allege their great... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Zephaniah 3:5

Verse 5 Here the Prophet throws back against hypocrites what they were wont to pretend, when they sought wickedly to reject every instruction and all warnings; for they said, that God dwelt in the midst of them, like the Papists at the present day, who raise up this as their shield against us,—that the Church is the pillar of the truth. Hence they think that all their wicked deeds are defended by this covering. So the Jews at that time had this boast ever on their lips,—We are notwithstanding... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Zephaniah 3:6

Verse 6 Here the Prophet shows in another way that there was no hope for a people, who could not have been instructed by the calamities of others, to seek to return to God’s favor. For God here complains that he had in vain punished neighboring nations, and made them examples, in order to recall the Jews to himself. Had they been of a sane mind they might have been led, by their quiet state, while God spared them, to consider what they had deserved—If this is done in the green tree, what at... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Zephaniah 3:1-5

§ 6. The prophet turns to Jerusalem, and warns her that, if God punishes the heathen, he will not spare the hardened sinners in Judah. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Zephaniah 3:1-5

"Woe to her that is filthy and polluted, to the oppressing city! She obeyed not the voice; she received not correction; she trusted not in the Lord; she drew not near to her God," etc. "To give still greater emphasis to his exhortation to repentance, the prophet turns to Jerusalem again, that he may once more hold up before the hardened sinners the abominations of this city in which Jehovah daily proclaims his right, and shows the necessity for the judgment, as the only way that is left by... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Zephaniah 3:1-8

Having taken a mental survey of the surrounding heathen nations, the seer returns again in thought to his own people. It was, indeed, in their interest that he had been led to take this wide review of God's dealings with men. He desired to make very real to them the Divine law that sin cannot go unpunished, and that national guilt must inevitably be followed by chastisement; yea, more, that if this law operated in heathen lands, much more might they expect to come under it who had enjoyed the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Zephaniah 3:1-8

Zephaniah 3:1-8 . - Jerusalem the rebellious and polluted; or, the wickedness and woe of a degenerate city. I. THE NUMBER AND VARIETY OF HER SINS . 1 . Rebellion. This, marking her attitude towards God, is amplified and detailed as consisting in four transgressions. 2 . Pollution. This declares what the city was in herself. The completeness of her defilement discovered itself in the wickedness of all classes of her population, but more especially of her... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Zephaniah 3:3

Roaring lions. The princes, who ought to protect the people, are ready to tear them in pieces and devour them ( Proverbs 28:15 ). Probably the violence and arrogance of the chiefs had increased during the minority of the king. This must have been written before the great reformation. Evening wolves (see note on Habakkuk 1:8 ). The judges, whose duty it was to administer justice and to set an example of equity and virtue, are themselves most cruel and rapacious. They gnaw not the bones... read more

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Zephaniah 3:7

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Zephaniah 3:3

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Zephaniah 3:4

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Zephaniah 3:5

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Zephaniah 3:6

The Pulpit Commentary - Zephaniah 3:1-5

The Pulpit Commentary - Zephaniah 3:1-5

The Pulpit Commentary - Zephaniah 3:1-8

The Pulpit Commentary - Zephaniah 3:1-8

The Pulpit Commentary - Zephaniah 3:3

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