Zephaniah 2:13-15

13-15. The doom of Nineveh.

Stretch out his hand See on Zephaniah 1:4.

Against the north From Ethiopia in the far south Jehovah will turn northward to strike Assyria.

Assyria The beginnings of the Assyrian empire are shrouded in obscurity, but from about the middle of the twelfth century until near the close of the seventh century B.C. it was the great Asiatic world power. Nearly all the prophets, beginning with Amos, look upon it as the divinely appointed agent to execute judgment upon the rebellious Israel; but several of them are convinced that it has gone beyond its commission and that its cruel policy of conquest is contrary to Jehovah’s will; therefore they heap upon Assyria the severest denunciations (for example, Isaiah 10:5 ff.; Micah 5:6; the entire Book of Nahum).

Nineveh The capital of Assyria in the days of Zephaniah (see on Jonah 3:2-3).

Desolation,… dry like a wilderness To make Nineveh dry like a wilderness would require a manifestation of extraordinary power, for the city was situated on the banks of one river, the Tigris, while another, the Choser, flowed right through it.