Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

“Enumeration in detail of the "all things" (Zep 1:2; compare Jer 9:10; Ho 4:3). the stumbling-blocks--idols which cause Judah to offend or stumble (Eze 14:3, 4, 7). with the wicked--The idols and their worshippers shall be involved in a common destruction…”

“GROTIUS refers the "strange apparel" to garments forbidden by the law, for example, men's garments worn by women, and vice versa, a heathen usage in the worship of Mars and Venus (De 22:5).”

“Compare Isa 2:6, "thy people . . . are soothsayers like the Philistines." CALVIN'S view agrees best with the latter clause of the verse. fill . . . masters' houses with violence, &c.--that is, with goods obtained with violence, &c.”

“Therefore their goods shall become a booty, &c.--Fulfilling the prophecy in De 28:30, 39 (compare Am 5:11).”

“Gather yourselves--to a religious assembly, to avert the judgment by prayers (Joe 2:16) [GROTIUS]. Or, so as not to be dissipated "as chaff" (Zep 2:2). The Hebrew is akin to a root meaning "chaff." Self-confidence and corrupt desires are the dissipation fro…”

“MAURER puts it parenthetically, "the day (that is, time) passes as the chaff (that is, most quickly)." CALVIN, "before the decree bring forth" (the predicted vengeance), (then) the chaff (the Jews) shall pass in a day, that is, in a moment, though they thought…”

“Gaza shall be forsaken--In the Hebrew there is a play of similar sounds, Gaza Gazubah; Gaza shall be forsaken, as its name implies. So the Hebrew of the next clause, Ekron teeakeer. at the noonday--when on account of the heat Orientals usually sleep, and mili…”

“Eze 25:16). the Cherethites--the Cretans, a name applied to the Philistines as sprung from Crete (De 2:23; Philistine means "an emigrant." Canaan . . . land of the Philistines--They occupied the southwest of Canaan (Jos 13:2, 3); a name which hints that t…”

“Instead of a thick population and tillage, the region shall become a pasturage for nomad shepherds' flocks. The Hebrew for "dug cisterns," Ceroth, seems a play on sounds, alluding to their name Cherethites (Zep 2:5): Their land shall become what their nation…”

“Judah--those of the Jews who shall be left after the coming calamity, and who shall return from exile. feed thereupon--namely, in the pastures of that seacoast region (Zep 2:6). visit--in mercy (Ex 4:31).”

“It does not mean, as in Isa 2:2; 14:16 that they shall come from their several places to Jerusalem to worship [MAURER]. all . . . isles of . . . heathen--that is, all the maritime regions, especially the west, now being fulfilled in the gathering in of the …”

“Here he passes suddenly to the north. Nineveh was destroyed by Cyaxares and Nabopolassar, 625 B.C. The Scythian hordes, by an inroad into Media and thence in the southwest of Asia (thought by many to be the forces described by Zephaniah, as the invaders of Jud…”

“Yet so it is, as the prophet foretold. there is none beside me--This peculiar phrase, expressing self-gratulation as if peerless, is plainly adopted from Isa 47:8.”

“GROTIUS says, the Hebrew is used of women who have prostituted their virtue. There is in the Hebrew Moreah; a play on the name Moriah, the hill on which the temple was built; implying the glaring contrast between their filthiness and the holiness of the worshi…”

“Lord--Distrust in the Lord as if He were insufficient, is the parent of all superstitions and wickednesses [CALVIN]. drew not near to her God--Though God was specially near to her (De 4:7) as "her God," yet she drew not near to Him, but gratuitously estrang…”

“The just Lord--Why then are ye so unjust? is in the midst thereof--He retorts on them their own boast, "Is not the Lord among us" (Mic 3:11)? True He is, but it is for another end from what ye think [CALVIN]; namely, to lead you by the example of His righteo…”

“I had hoped that My people by My judgments on other nations would be led to amendment; but they are not, so blinded by sin are they. towers--literally, "angles" or "corners"; hence the towers built at the angles of their city walls.”

“For--The blessed things promised in this and Zep 3:10 are the immediate results of the punishment inflicted on the nations, mentioned in Zep 3:8 (compare Zep 3:19). turn to the people a pure language--that is, changing their impure language I will give t…”

“Probably the Abyssinian Christians were originally in part converted Jews. They are here made the representatives of all Israel which is to be restored. shall bring mine offering--that is, the offering that is My right. I prefer, with DE WETTE and Chaldee Ver…”

“The Hebrew is plural, "captivities"; to express the captivities of different ages of their history, as well as the diversity of places in which they were and are dispersed. before your eyes--Incredible as the event may seem, your own eyes with delight shall s…”