Zephaniah 2:4

"For Gaza shall be forsaken, and Ashkelon a desolation; they shall drive out Ashdod at noonday, and Ekron shall be rooted up."

The places condemned here were in Philistia, west of Jerusalem; and, taking the large view of this section to the end of the chapter, the four points of the compass are included in the sweeping condemnations. Although uttered in terminology with current meaning for the people of Zephaniah's day, the prophecy, we believe, is typical of the final destruction of all the nations of the earth in the final judgment. In the first two clauses, "The Hebrew words here furnish an assonance that cannot be carried over into English."[11]

"For Gaza shall be forsaken ..." The two words in Hebrew for Gaza and forsaken are: [~'azzah] and [~'azubah],"[12] and this type of pun is called paronomasia. Few scholars have tried to catch this in English; but Dummelow tried it: "Gaza shall be a ghastly ruin; and Ashkelon a deserted ash-heap."[13]

This prophecy of desolation of the coast of the Philistines (where these cities lay) was fulfilled, as indicated by the work of archeologists. Taylor commented that, "There is warrant, therefore, in Philistine history for these predictions of scattered populations and devastated cities."[14]

"They shall drive out Ashdod at noonday ..." This clause has a remarkable bearing on the allegation that the Scythian invasion is featured in Zephaniah's prophecy. That popular theory is today disbelieved by many careful students, especially recent ones, who, as Galley said, "do not see any evidence of the Scythian invasion."[15] First, the thrust of the whole chapter concerns not a local and limited threat such as was posed by Herodotus' tale of the Scythians. It is a worldwide situation that lies plainly in view. The north, east, west and south are all involved. Moreover, as Keil said, the nations mentioned seem to be, "To individualize the whole (world) ... restricting the number (of nations mentioned here) to four, according to the four quarters of the globe."[16] But this reference to the fall of Ashdod at noonday, as generally agreed, envisions a short siege and quick fall of the city. Powis Smith has cited a number of ancient inscriptions using this terminology, thus:

"One of the inscriptions of Esarhaddon, found at Sinjirli, says, `Memphi, his royal city, in a half a day, I besieged, I captured, I destroyed it, I burned with fire.` The Moabite Stone likewise says, `I fought against it from the break of day till noon, and I took it.'"[17]

But in Herodotus' tale, the siege of Ashdod lasted twenty-nine years![18] Zephaniah's prophecy, therefore, strongly suggests, not the Scythians, but the Assyrians.