Zephaniah 3:9-10 NIV

The Pulpit Commentary - Zephaniah 3:9-20

Very remarkable is the way in which the most gracious promises are in this book interwoven, and, as it were, wrapped up in threatenings of judgment. This appears in Zephaniah 2:11 , where it is declared that the Lord shall be terrible to the nations that magnified themselves against his people, and shall famish all the gods of the earth, so depriving these nations of their fancied support and confidence; and then it is added that men shall worship him every one from his place, even all the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Zephaniah 3:10

From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia ( Cush ) ; i.e. from the distant south, a type of the remotest parts of the world ( Zephaniah 2:12 ). The rivers of Cush ( Isaiah 18:1 ), are the Nile, the Atbara, and their affluents. My suppliants, even the daughter of my dispersed, shall bring mine offering. From the ends of the earth, the Jews who have continued faithful to Jehovah, and have not lost their nationality among the Gentiles, but have considered themselves as belonging to "the... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Zephaniah 3:9

For then - In the order of God’s mercies. The deliverance from Babylon was the forerunner of that of the Gospel, which was its object. The spread of the Gospel then is spoken of in the connection of God’s Providence and plan, and time is overlooked. Its blessings are spoken of, as “then” given when the earnest was given, and the people, from whom according to the flesh Christ was to be born, were placed anew in the land where He was to be born. Lap.: “The prophet springs, as is his wont, to... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Zephaniah 3:10

From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia - (See Isaiah 18:1.) The farthest southern people, with whom the Jews had contact, stand as the type of the whole world beyond. The utmost bound of the known inhabited land should not be the bound of the Gospel. The conversion of Abyssinia is one, but the narrowest fulfillment of the prophecy. The whole new world, though not in the mind of the prophet, was in the mind of Him who spake by the prophet.My suppliants - He names them as what they shall be when they... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Zephaniah 3:9

Zephaniah 3:9. For then Or, afterward, as the particle אז seems to signify here, will I turn, or restore, to the people a pure language I will turn them from their idolatries, and other wickedness, (see Zephaniah 3:13,) to glorify me with one mind and one mouth. The same thing is expressed by speaking the language of Canaan, Isaiah 19:18. This promise seems primarily to respect the Jewish captives in Babylon, and to imply that God would, by the captivity, and other methods of his... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Zephaniah 3:10

Zephaniah 3:10. From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia The expression, מעבר , rendered from beyond, may be translated, from the borders of, as it signifies indifferently the hither or further side of a river. In the war with Pharaoh-necho, king of Egypt, many of the Jews were made captive and carried into Egypt, and from thence were sold into Ethiopia, properly so called. This prophecy, therefore, in its primary sense, seems to signify, that the posterity of these, termed here by God... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Zephaniah 3:9-20

3:9-20 SALVATION FOR THE REPENTANTWhen all the sinners have been destroyed, the humble who have previously turned from their sin (see 2:1-3) will then enjoy a new life of peace and blessing. In the midst of judgment there is mercy for the repentant. Cleansed sinners from all nations will worship and serve God with pure hearts (9-10). No longer will Jerusalem be characterized by the pride, rebellion, dishonesty and deceit of Zephaniah’s day. Wrongdoing will be removed from the community of God’s... read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Zephaniah 3:9

then: i.e. after all that is implied in Zephaniah 3:8 . Note the order of the blessings in "9, 10": Gentiles first, and Israel after; But in "18-20-", Israel first, and Gentiles after. people = peoples. a pure language = a lip purified: i.e. a clean lip in contrast with "unclean" lips (Isaiah 6:5 ). pure = separated from that which is impure or unclean. Hebrew. barar, as in Ezekiel 20:38 . Isaiah 52:11 .Daniel 11:35 ; Daniel 12:10 . The reference is, to being made fit for the worship of... read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Zephaniah 3:10

suppliants = worshippers. Hebrew. 'athar. Occurs in this sense nowhere else. From 'ath ar = to burn incense (Ezekiel 8:11 ); hence to pray or worship. the daughter of My dispersed: i.e. My dispersed People [Israel]. read more

James Burton Coffman

Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - Zephaniah 3:9

"For then will I turn to the peoples a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of Jehovah, to serve him with one consent.""For then ..." is somewhat similar to "at that time," or "in the day," or "in the last days," all of which are frequently used as references to the times of the Messiah. From here to the end of the chapter lies one of the most extensive and revealing Messianic passages in the whole Bible. "From this point forward, there is a new note of victory in Zephaniah."[18]... read more