Zephaniah 1:5 - Exposition.

That worship the host of heaven upon the house tops. In this verse two classes of fame worshippers are mentioned, viz. star worshippers, and waverers. The worship of the sun, moon, and stars was a very ancient form of error, the heavenly bodies being regarded as the representatives of the powers of nature and the originators of events on earth (see Deuteronomy 4:19 ; Deuteronomy 17:3 ; Job 31:26 , Job 31:27 ; 2 Kings 17:16 ). It was especially prevalent in the time of Manasseh ( 2 Kings 21:3 ), On the flat roofs of the houses, which were used as places of meditation, recreation, or conference (comp. Joshua 2:6 ; 1 Samuel 9:25 ; 2 Samuel 11:2 ; Acts 10:9 ), they erected altars for family worship of the heavenly bodies. Here they both burned incense ( Jeremiah 19:13 ) and offered animal sacrifices ( 2 Kings 23:12 ). "In Syrian cities," says Dr. Thomson, "the roofs are a great comfort. The ordinary houses have no other place where the inmates, can either see the sun, smell the air, dry their clothes, set out their flower pots, or do numberless other things essential to their health and comfort. During a large part of the year the roof is the most agreeable place about the establishment, especially in the morning and evening. There multitudes sleep during the summer". Them that worship and that, etc.; rather, the worshippers who, etc. These were people who endeavoured to blend the worship of God with that of Baal, or halted between two opinions ( 1 Kings 18:21 ). Swear by the Lord; rather, swear to the Lord; i.e. bind themselves by oath to him, and at the same time swear by Malcham; swear by their king, Baal, or Moloch; call upon him as god. Septuagint, κατὰ τοῦ βασιλέως αὐτῶν , "by their king." But it is, perhaps, best to retain the name untranslated, in which ease it would be the appellation of the god Moloch, who could hardly be omitted in enumerating the objects of idolatrous worship (see Jeremiah 49:1 , Jeremiah 49:3 ; and notes on Amos 1:15 ; Amos 5:26 ).