Zephaniah 3:16
in Zephaniah 3On that day they will say to Jerusalem: “Do not fear, O Zion; do not let your hands fall limp.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem, Fear thou not; O Zion, let not thy hands be slack.
KJV
In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem, Fear thou not: and to Zion, Let not thine hands be slack.
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This verse in Zephaniah 3
Commentary
10 notes on this verseI am aware that some commentators understood this [text to apply to] the return from Babylon and the renovation of Jerusalem, and I do not contradict their words: the prophecy applies also to what happened at that time. But you can find a more exact …
This site's exposition
Sing, O daughter of Zion
on Zephaniah 3:14-17
The command to sing answers every woe and every wait of the book with unmixed joy, the daughter of Zion and daughter of Jerusalem addressed together as one people told to rejoice with all the heart rather than half measure. Verse 15's the king of Israel, even the Lord, is in the midst of thee identifies the ruler the whole book has been building toward, not a human throne restored but the Lord himself reigning in the city he searched with candles at 1:12. Verse 17 is the book's own summit and the Twelve's tenderest line, he will rejoice over thee with joy, he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing, the Lord pictured not merely forgiving Zion but singing over her, an image the bench calls unmatched anywhere else in the prophets for its warmth.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 14 and following) Praise, daughter of Zion, shout for joy, Israel, rejoice and exult with all your heart, daughter of Jerusalem. The Lord has taken away your judgment, he has turned away your enemies: the Lord, the King of Israel, is in your midst, you will no longer fear evil.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Thus the "Redeemer shall come to Zion," and to clear his own way, shall "turn away ungodliness from Jacob." These promises were to have their full accomplishment in gospel-times and gospel-graces. The Depravity of Jerusalem. 1 Woe to her that is filthy and polluted, to the oppressing city!
In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem, fear thou not,....
Let us now see what these precious promises are which are here made to the people of God, for the banishing of their griefs and fears and the encouraging of their hopes and joys; and to us are these promises made as well as to them.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Fear thou not - Thou shalt have no more captivities nor national afflictions. Let not thine hands be slack - This may refer, first, to the rebuilding of the temple of God, after the return from Babylon; and, secondly, to their diligence and zeal in the Christian Church.
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
HOLY SCRIPTURE is wonderfully full and abiding in its inner sense. It is a springing well, whereat you may draw, and draw again; for as you draw, it springs up for ever new and fresh. It is a well of water springing up everlastingly. The fulfillment of a divine promise is not the exhaustion of it. When a man gives you a promise, and he keeps it, there is an end of the promise; but it is not so with God.
HOLY SCRIPTURE is wonderfully full and abiding in its inner sense. It is a springing well, whereat you may draw, and draw again; for as you draw, it springs up for ever new and fresh. It is a well of water springing up everlastingly. The fulfillment of a divine promise is not the exhaustion of it. When a man gives you a promise, and he keeps it, there is an end of the promise; but it is not so with God. When he keeps his word to the full, he has but begun: he is prepared to keep it, and keep it, and keep it for ever and ever. What would you say of a man who had wheat upon his barn floor, and threshed it until he had beaten out the last golden grain; but the next day he went and threshed again, and brought back as much as the day before; and on the day after, again taking his flail, he went to the same threshing, and again brought back his measure as full as at the first, and so on for all the days of the year? Would it not seem to you as a fairy tale? It would certainly be a surprising miracle. But what should we say if, throughout a long life, this miracle could be prolonged.? Yet we have continued to thresh the promises ever since faith was given us, and we have carried away our full portion every day.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem, Fear thou not - For “perfect love casteth out fear” Joh 4:18; from where he saith, “Fear not, little flock; it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom” Luk 12:32. Who then and what should the Church or the faithful soul fear, since “mightier is He that is in her, than he that is in the world? And to Zion, Let not thine hands be slack,” through faint-heartedness (see Heb 12:12), but work with all thy might; be ready to do or bear anything; since Christ worketh with, in, by thee, and “in due time we shall reap, if we faint not” Gal 6:9.
The words behind it
10 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| בַּיּ֣וֹם | baiyom | on the day | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| הַה֔וּא | hahu' | <the> that | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| יֵאָמֵ֥ר | yeamer | it will be said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| לִירֽוּשָׁלִַ֖ם | lirushalim | to Jerusalem | H3389 → | 643 times |
| אַל־ | ʾal- | may not | H408 → | |
| תִּירָ֑אִי | tirai | you be afraid | H3372 → | 315 times |
| צִיּ֖וֹן | tziyon | O Zion | H6726 → | |
| אַל־ | ʾal- | may not | H408 → | |
| יִרְפּ֥וּ | yirpu | they drop | H7503 → | |
| יָדָֽיִךְ׃ | yadayikh | hands your | H3027 → | 1618 times |
בַּיּ֣וֹםon the day
baiyomH3117 →2304 times
הַה֔וּא<the> that
hahu'H1931 →1879 times
יֵאָמֵ֥רit will be said
yeamerH559 →5305 times
לִירֽוּשָׁלִַ֖םto Jerusalem
lirushalimH3389 →643 times
אַל־may not
ʾal-H408 →
תִּירָ֑אִיyou be afraid
tiraiH3372 →315 times
צִיּ֖וֹןO Zion
tziyonH6726 →
אַל־may not
ʾal-H408 →
יִרְפּ֥וּthey drop
yirpuH7503 →
יָדָֽיִךְ׃hands your
yadayikhH3027 →1618 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
Isaiah 41:10Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will surely help you; I will uphold you with My right hand…
it leads to
- Joshua 1:9
Have I not commanded you to be strong and courageous? Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”
- Isaiah 43:1–2
Now this is what the LORD says— He who created you, O Jacob, and He who formed you, O Israel: “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your…
- Romans 8:31
What then shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
- Deuteronomy 31:6–8
Be strong and courageous; do not be afraid or terrified of them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you.”
- Philippians 4:13
I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.
- Joshua 1:9
Through
Galatians 6:9Let us not grow weary in well-doing, for in due time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
it leads to
- 1 Corinthians 15:58
Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast and immovable. Always excel in the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
- 2 Thessalonians 3:13
But as for you, brothers, do not grow weary in well-doing.
- Isaiah 40:30–31
Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall.
- 1 Corinthians 15:58
Where this verse is studied
About Zephaniah
Who and where
2 names in this verse with a page on the site.
- PlaceJerusalemZionThe eastern ridge David took from the Jebusites and made his stronghold, the name the Psalms and the prophets give the city the LO…
- PlaceJerusalemJerusalemThe city David took from the Jebusites and made his capital, where Solomon built the temple, where Christ was crucified and rose,…
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Carl Friedrich Keil, The Twelve Minor Prophets; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 1990: “A Sermon for the Time Present” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Edward Bouverie Pusey, The Minor Prophets: A Commentary; Jerome, Commentary on Zephaniah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Theodoret of Cyrus, COMMENTARY ON ZEPHANIAH 3:16-18.