Judgment on the Philistines and Promise to the Remnant
Zephaniah 2:4-7
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Zep.2.4 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- כי: CONJ
- עזה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- עזובה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- תהיה: VERB,qal,imperfect,3,f,sg
- ואשקלון: CONJ+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- לשממה: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- אשדוד: NOUN,prop,f,sg,abs
- בצהרים: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,abs
- יגרשוה: VERB,qal,impf,3,pl
- ועקרון: CONJ+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- תעקר: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,sg
Parallels
- Amos 1:6-8 (verbal): Pronounces judgment on Gaza and other Philistine cities (including Ashdod and Ekron), accusing them of deporting populations—parallels Zephaniah's naming of Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod and Ekron and the theme of desolation/uprooting.
- Jeremiah 47:5 (verbal): Specifically names Gaza and Ashkelon in a prophetic oracle of destruction (‘Baldness has come upon Gaza; Ashkelon is cut off’), closely echoing Zephaniah's declaration that these cities will be forsaken/desolate.
- Jeremiah 25:20-21 (thematic): Lists Philistine cities (Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Ekron) among those who must drink the LORD’s cup of wrath—the same catalogue of cities and the motif of divine judgment found in Zephaniah 2:4.
- Ezekiel 25:15-17 (thematic): Pronounces God’s vengeance against the Philistines and the seacoast towns (including Ashkelon/Ekron area), promising destruction of the remnant—parallel in content and purpose to Zephaniah’s prophecy of desolation of Philistine cities.
Alternative generated candidates
- For Gaza shall be abandoned, and Ashkelon a desolation; Ashdod will be driven out at noonday, and Ekron uprooted.
- For Gaza will be forsaken, and Ashkelon a desolation; Ashdod will be driven out at midday, and Ekron uprooted.
Zep.2.5 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- הוי: INTJ
- ישבי: NOUN,m,pl,cons
- חבל: NOUN,m,sg,cstr
- הים: NOUN,m,sg,abs,def
- גוי: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- כרתים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- דבר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- עליכם: PREP+PRON,2mp
- כנען: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ארץ: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- פלשתים: NOUN,m,pl,cstr
- והאבדתיך: VERB,hifil,perf,1,m,sg
- מאין: ADV,interrog
- יושב: VERB,qal,ptcp,1,m,sg
Parallels
- Amos 1:6-8 (thematic): Amos pronounces judgment on Gaza and the Philistine territory for violence and exile—parallel theme of God’s coming destruction of Philistine cities and their removal from habitation.
- Jeremiah 47:4 (verbal): Jeremiah declares the Lord will execute judgment on the Philistines, saying he will cut off their remnant and lay waste their cities, closely echoing Zephaniah’s formula of destruction and depopulation.
- Ezekiel 25:15-17 (thematic): Ezekiel predicts punishment on the Philistines for their hostility to Israel, with language of vengeance and scattering that parallels Zephaniah’s threat to destroy the land and leave it uninhabited.
- Joel 3:4-8 (allusion): Joel indicts Philistia for selling Jews and taking their silver and gold, and announces God’s reckoning—similar motive and the promise of divine judgment against the Philistines reflected in Zephaniah 2:5.
Alternative generated candidates
- Woe to the inhabitants of the seacoast, O nation of the Cherethites! Thus says the LORD concerning you, O Canaan, land of the Philistines: I will destroy you so there will be no inhabitants.
- Woe to the inhabitants of the seaboard, you nation of the Cherethites! Thus declares the LORD concerning you: Canaan, land of the Philistines—I will destroy you so that there shall be no inhabitant.
Zep.2.6 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- והיתה: VERB,qal,perf,3,f,sg
- חבל: NOUN,m,sg,cstr
- הים: NOUN,m,sg,abs,def
- נות: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- כרת: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- רעים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- וגדרות: CONJ+NOUN,f,pl,abs
- צאן: NOUN,m,pl,abs
Parallels
- Zephaniah 2:5 (structural): Immediate context—continues the same oracle against the Philistine coast; both verses describe the seacoast and Philistine cities being reduced to pastoral/dwelling places for shepherds and flocks.
- Amos 1:6–8 (thematic): Amos pronounces judgment on Philistine cities (Gaza, Ashdod, etc.); like Zephaniah 2:6 it depicts divine attack on the Philistines that results in loss of urban security and status.
- Isaiah 23:3–4, 8–12 (thematic): Isaiah's prophecy against Tyre (a major coastal city) uses maritime/coastal imagery and announces humiliation and destruction of a seaport—paralleling Zephaniah’s theme of coastal cities turned lowly.
- Jeremiah 50:39 (thematic): Jeremiah’s depiction of Babylon’s fall—cities becoming pastures and haunt of wild animals—uses the same motif of urban devastation giving way to flocks/wildlife as in Zephaniah 2:6.
- Ezekiel 29:10–12 (thematic): Ezekiel prophesies that Egypt’s cities will be desolate, inhabited by strangers and made like a pasture/desert; the outcome—cities laid waste and given over to non-urban uses—echoes Zephaniah’s image of the seacoast becoming shepherds’ dwellings.
Alternative generated candidates
- The seacoast shall become pastures with shepherds' tents and folds for flocks.
- The seaboard shall become pastures, pasturelands for shepherds and folds for flocks.
Zep.2.7 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- והיה: VERB,qal,imperfect,3,m,sg
- חבל: NOUN,m,sg,cstr
- לשארית: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- בית: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- יהודה: NOUN,m,sg,prop
- עליהם: PREP,3,m,pl
- ירעון: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- בבתי: PREP+NOUN,f,pl,cs
- אשקלון: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- בערב: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ירבצון: VERB,qal,imprf,3,m,pl
- כי: CONJ
- יפקדם: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- אלהיהם: NOUN,m,pl,abs+3mp
- ושב: VERB,qal,imp,2,m,sg
- שביתם: NOUN,m,sg,abs+PRON,3,m,pl
Parallels
- Zephaniah 3:20 (thematic): Same book promise of restoration and return of the scattered/remnant—God acting to gather and restore the people.
- Joel 3:1 (verbal): Explicitly speaks of God 'bringing back the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem,' echoing Zephaniah's language of the captivity returning and divine visitation.
- Jeremiah 30:3 (verbal): Declares 'I will bring again the captivity of my people,' a common prophetic formula for restoration that parallels Zephaniah's 'and their captivity shall return.'
- Amos 9:14 (thematic): Promises restoration of Israel—people rebuilt, planted, and possessing former lands—resonating with Zephaniah’s motif of a remnant restored to their places.
- Isaiah 11:11 (thematic): Foretells the LORD's second act of recovering a remnant of his people and bringing them back, closely matching Zephaniah's theme of remnant restoration by God.
Alternative generated candidates
- It shall be a pasture for the remnant of the house of Judah; they shall graze there and lie down in the houses of Ashkelon—by evening they shall stretch themselves out. For the LORD their God will visit them and restore their exiles.
- It shall be a domain for the remnant of the house of Judah; they shall graze there and lie down in the houses of Ashkelon at evening. For the LORD their God will attend to them and restore their fortunes.
For Gaza shall be deserted, Ashkelon a desolation; Ashdod at midday will be driven out, and Ekron shall be uprooted.
Woe to the inhabitants of the coastal plain, O nation of the Cherethites! The word of the LORD concerning you, O Canaan, land of the Philistines: I will destroy you so that you shall no longer be inhabited. And the coastal plain shall become pasture—shepherds’ dwellings and folds for flocks.
It shall be a possession for the remnant of the house of Judah; they shall pasture there, and at evening they shall lie down in the houses of Ashkelon, for the LORD their God will attend to them and restore their fortunes.