Zephaniah 1:8

"And it shall come to pass in the day of Jehovah's sacrifice, that I will punish the princes and the king's sons and all such as are clothed with foreign apparel."

"Punish the princes and the king's sons ..." Some have professed to find a difficulty here, because Josiah, who was under the age of twenty at the time we believe Zephaniah was written would not have had any children in the times of Zephaniah old enough to fall under the criticism given here. However, "The Septuagint translation used 'house of the king' here, and that may be more accurate."[28] If that should not be allowed, "the king's sons" might refer to the sons of preceding kings who would still have been living when Zephaniah wrote. Another possibility is that Zephaniah here spoke of Judah in a general sense, not focusing upon the reign of Josiah at all. Certainly a number of "king's sons" died without mercy during God's terrible judgment upon Judah. For example, Zedekiah who was carried away to Babylon saw his sons put to death before his eyes, and then he himself was blinded by the barbarous Nebuchadnezzar (2 Kings 25:1-7).

"Such as are clothed with foreign apparel ..." It is hard to believe that God would have punished his people for any innocent preference of one kind of clothing or another; so what is meant here is that something most shameful and reprehensible was involved in the wearing of the "foreign apparel" here mentioned. "Grotius said this refers to clothing forbidden by the law, e.g., men's garments worn by women, and vice versa, a heathen usage in the worship of Mars and Venus (Deuteronomy 2:5)."[29] By aping the popular fashions of Assyria and other pagan nations, the leaders of the people were also showing their willingness to receive the philosophy and morals of the pagans. It is only a small step between accepting the dress of pagans and accepting their teachings.