Zephaniah 1:2
in Zephaniah 1“I will completely sweep away everything from the face of the earth,” declares the LORD.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
I will utterly consume all things from off the face of the ground, saith Jehovah.
KJV
I will utterly consume all things from off the land, saith the Lord.
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This verse in Zephaniah 1
Commentary
6 notes on this verse(Verse 2, 3.) Gathering I will gather all from the face of the earth, says the Lord, gathering man and beast, gathering the birds of the sky, and the fish of the sea: and the ruins of the wicked will be, and I will destroy men from the face of the earth, says the Lord.
This site's exposition
I will utterly consume all things
on Zephaniah 1:2-3
The command sweeps backward through the creation order itself, man, beast, fowl of the heaven, fish of the sea, undoing Genesis one species by species until only the stumblingblocks with the wicked remain named. The bench reads the language as hyperbole proper to prophetic threat rather than literal annihilation of the animal kingdom, its force falling on Judah's covenant unfaithfulness even as it borrows the vocabulary of universal judgment. Cutting off man from off the land closes the announcement on the same soil the covenant was given for, so the threatened exile reads as land forfeited rather than the world ended.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
I will utterly consume all things from off the land, saith the Lord. That is, from the land of Judah, by means of the Chaldeans or Babylonians: this is a general denunciation of the judgments of God, the particulars follow: or, "in gathering I will gather"; all good things out of the land; all the necessaries of life, and blessings of Providence; all that is for the sustenance and pleasure of man, as well as all creatures, by death or captivity; and so the land should be entirely stripped, and left naked and bare.
): By taking away I will make an end of all things from off the face of the land, Saith the Lord. Ruin is coming, utter ruin, destruction from the Almighty. He has said it who can, and will, make good what he has said: " I will utterly consume all things.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens+odd-straight-quotes
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
I will utterly consume all things - All being now ripe for destruction, I will shortly bring a universal scourge upon the land. He speaks particularly of the idolaters.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
I will utterly consume all things - Better “all.” The word is not limited to “things” “animate” or “inanimate” or “men;” it is used severally of each, according to the context; here, without limitation, of “all.” God and all stand over against one another; God and all which is not of God or in God. God, he says, will utterly consume all from off the land (earth). The prophet sums up in few words the subject of the whole chapter, the judgments of God from his own times to the day of Judgment itself. And this Day Itself he brings the more strongly before the mind, in that, with wonderful briefness, in two words which he conforms, in sound also, the one to the other, he expresses the utter final consumption of all things. He expresses at once the intensity of action and blends their separate meanings, “Taking away I will make an end of all;” and with this he unites the words used of the flood, “from off the face of the earth.” Then he goes through the whole creation as it was made, pairing “man and beast,” which Moses speaks of as created on the sixth day, and the creation of the fifth day, “the fowls of the heaven and the fishes of the sea;” and before each he sets the solemn word of God, “I will end,” as the act of God Himself. The words can have no complete fulfillment, until “the earth and the works that are therein shall be burned up” 2Pe 3:10, as the Psalmist too, having gone through the creation, sums up, “Thou takest away their breath, they die and return to their dust” Psa 104:29; and then speaks of the re-creation, “Thou sendest forth Thy Spirit, they are created; and Thou renewest the face of the earth” Ps. […]
The words behind it
8 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אָסֹ֨ף | ʾasof | utterly <destroy> | H622 → | 200 times |
| אָסֵ֜ף | ʾasef | I will bring to an end | H5486 → | 7 times |
| כֹּ֗ל | kol | everything | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| מֵעַ֛ל | meal | from on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| פְּנֵ֥י | penei | [the] surface of | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| הָאֲדָמָ֖ה | haadamah | the ground | H127 → | |
| נְאֻם־ | neum- | [the] utterance of | H5002 → | 376 times |
| יְהוָֽה׃ | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
אָסֹ֨ףutterly <destroy>
ʾasofH622 →200 times
אָסֵ֜ףI will bring to an end
ʾasefH5486 →7 times
כֹּ֗לeverything
kolH3605 →5413 times
מֵעַ֛לfrom on
mealH5921 →5755 times
פְּנֵ֥י[the] surface of
peneiH6440 →2123 times
הָאֲדָמָ֖הthe ground
haadamahH127 →
נְאֻם־[the] utterance of
neum-H5002 →376 times
יְהוָֽה׃Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Micah 7:13Then the earth will become desolate because of its inhabitants, as the fruit of their deeds.
it leads to
- Isaiah 3:10–11
Tell the righteous it will be well with them, for they will enjoy the fruit of their labor.
- Jeremiah 25:11
And this whole land will become a desolate wasteland, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon for seventy years.
- Micah 6:13
Therefore I am striking you severely, to ruin you because of your sins.
- Isaiah 3:10–11
Through
Jeremiah 36:29You are to proclaim concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah that this is what the LORD says: You have burned the scroll and said, ‘Why have you written on it that the king of Babylon…
it leads to
- Isaiah 30:10
They say to the seers, “Stop seeing visions!” and to the prophets, “Do not prophesy to us the truth! Speak to us pleasant words; prophesy illusions.
- Jeremiah 26:9
How dare you prophesy in the name of the LORD that this house will become like Shiloh and this city will be desolate and deserted!” And all the people assembled against Jeremiah in the…
- Isaiah 29:21
those who indict a man with a word, who ensnare the mediator at the gate, and who with false charges deprive the innocent of justice.
- Jeremiah 32:3
For Zedekiah king of Judah had imprisoned him, saying: “Why are you prophesying like this? You claim that the LORD says, ‘Behold, I am about to deliver this city into the hand of the…
- Job 15:24
Distress and anguish terrify him, overwhelming him like a king poised to attack.
- Isaiah 30:10
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies3
On this verse
On this chapter
About Zephaniah
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jerome, Commentary on Zephaniah; John Calvin, Commentaries on the Twelve Minor Prophets; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.