Zephaniah 1 Scofield
Read Zephaniah 1 · Matthew Henry on Zephaniah 1
1:4 I will also stretch out mine hand upon Judah, and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and I will cut off the remnant of Baal from this place, and the name of the Chemarims with the priests;
“Chemarims”
i.e. idolatrous priests. Cf. 2 Kgs 23:5.
1:5 And them that worship the host of heaven upon the housetops; and them that worship and that swear by the LORD, and that swear by Malcham;
“Malcham”
An idol of the Ammonites, same as Molech, or Milcom.
1:7 Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord GOD: for the day of the LORD is at hand: for the LORD hath prepared a sacrifice, he hath bid his guests.
“for the day of the Lord”
As in the other Prophets, the approaching invasion of Nebuchadnezzar is treated as an adumbration of the true day of the Lord in which all earth-judgments will culminate, to be followed by the restoration and blessing of Israel and the nations in the kingdom. See "Day of the Lord" Isa 2:10–22; Rev 19:11–21 "Israel"; Gen 12:2; Gen 12:3; Rom 11:26. CF. Joel 1, 2.
1:11 Howl, ye inhabitants of Maktesh, for all the merchant people are cut down; all they that bear silver are cut off.
“Maktesh”
Lit. The Mortar, a depression in Jerusalem where the bazaars were.
Public domain (1917). Text from the BibleSupport.com e-Sword module.
Introduction to Zephaniah
This prophet, a contemporary of Jeremiah, exercised his ministry during the reign of Josiah. It was a time of revival (2 Kings 22), but the captivity was impending, nevertheless, and Zephaniah points out the moral state which, despite the superficial revival under Josiah (Jer 2:11–13), made it inevitable.
Zephaniah is in four parts:
1. The coming invasion of Nebuchadnezzar a figure of the day of the Lord, Zeph 1:1 to Zeph 2:3.
2. Predictions of judgment on certain peoples, Zeph 2:4–15.
3. The moral state of Israel for which the captivity was to come, Zeph 3:1–7.
4. The judgment of the nations followed by kingdom blessing under Messiah, Zeph 3:8–20.