Zephaniah 3:7-9

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Zephaniah 3:7 tn Heb “said.”
2. Zephaniah 3:7 tn Or “fear.” The second person verb form (“you will respect”) is feminine singular, indicating that personified Jerusalem is addressed. sn God’s judgment of the nations (v. 6) was an object lesson for Israel’s benefit.
3. Zephaniah 3:7 tn Or “dwelling place.”
4. Zephaniah 3:7 tn Heb “cut off.”
5. Zephaniah 3:7 tn Heb “all which I have punished her.” The precise meaning of this statement and its relationship to what precedes are unclear.
6. Zephaniah 3:7 tn Heb “But they got up early, they made corrupt all their actions.” The phrase “they got up early” probably refers to their eagerness to engage in sinful activities.
7. Zephaniah 3:8 tn The second person verb form (“you must wait patiently”) is masculine plural, indicating that a group is being addressed. Perhaps the humble individuals addressed earlier (see 2:3) are in view. Because of Jerusalem’s sin, they must patiently wait for judgment to pass before their vindication arrives.
8. Zephaniah 3:8 tn Heb “when I arise for plunder.” The present translation takes עַד (ʿad) as “plunder.” Some, following the LXX, repoint the term עֵד (ʿed) and translate, “as a witness” (cf. NASB, NIV, NRSV). In this case the Lord uses a legal metaphor to picture himself as testifying against his enemies. Adele Berlin takes לְעַד (l^eʿad) in a temporal sense (“forever”) and translates “once and for all” (Zephaniah [AB 25A], 133).
9. Zephaniah 3:8 tn Heb “for my decision is.”
10. Zephaniah 3:8 tn Or “certainly.”
11. Zephaniah 3:9 tn Heb “Certainly [or perhaps, “For”] then I will restore to the nations a pure lip.” sn I will then enable the nations to give me acceptable praise. This apparently refers to a time when the nations will reject their false idol-gods and offer genuine praise to the one true God.
12. Zephaniah 3:9 tn Heb “so that all of them will call on the name of the Lord.”
13. Zephaniah 3:9 tn Heb “so that [they] will serve him [with] one shoulder.”