Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

“I will sweep away man and beast; I will sweep away the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, and the idols with their wicked worshipers.

“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.”

“On the Day of the LORD’s sacrifice I will punish the princes, the sons of the king, and all who are dressed in foreign apparel.

“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).”

On that day I will punish all who leap over the threshold, who fill the house of their master with violence and deceit.

“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.”

Their wealth will be plundered and their houses laid waste. They will build houses but not inhabit them, and plant vineyards but never drink their wine.

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

Gather yourselves, gather together, O shameful nation,

“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."”

before the decree takes effect and the day passes like chaff, before the burning anger of the LORD comes upon you, before the Day of the LORD’s anger comes upon…

“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 that…”

For Gaza will be abandoned, and Ashkelon left in ruins. Ashdod will be driven out at noon, and Ekron will be uprooted.

“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.”

Woe to the dwellers of the seacoast, O nation of the Cherethites!

“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 . . .”

So the seacoast will become a land of pastures, with wells for shepherds and folds for sheep.

“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 national name implies, a…”

The coast will belong to the remnant of the house of Judah; there they will find pasture.

“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).”

The LORD will be terrifying to them when He starves all the gods of the earth.

“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 . . .”

And He will stretch out His hand against the north and destroy Assyria; He will make Nineveh a desolation, as dry as a desert.

“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…”

This carefree city that dwells securely, that thinks to herself: “I am it, and there is none besides me,” what a ruin she has become, a resting place for beasts.

“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.”

Woe to the city of oppressors, rebellious and defiled!

“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…”

She heeded no voice; she accepted no correction. She does not trust in the LORD; she has not drawn near to her God.

“Lord--Distrust in the Lord as if He were insufficient, is the parent of all superstitions and wickednesses [CALVIN].”

The LORD within her is righteous; He does no wrong. He applies His justice morning by morning; He does not fail at dawn, yet the unjust know no shame.

“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)?”

“I have cut off the nations; their corner towers are destroyed. I have made their streets deserted with no one to pass through.

“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 then I will restore pure lips to the peoples, that all may call upon the name of the LORD and serve Him shoulder to shoulder.

“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).”

At that time I will bring you in; yes, at that time I will gather you.

“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 see it.”