Zephaniah 3:4
in Zephaniah 3Her prophets are reckless, faithless men. Her priests profane the sanctuary; they do violence to the law.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Her prophets are light and treacherous persons; her priests have profaned the sanctuary, they have done violence to the law.
KJV
Her prophets are light and treacherous persons: her priests have polluted the sanctuary, they have done violence to the law.
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This verse in Zephaniah 3
Commentary
8 notes on this verseHer prophets are light and treacherous persons,.... The false prophets, as the Targum and Kimchi explain it: these seem to design the lawyers spoken of in the New Testament, whose business it was to interpret the law to the people; these were "light" men, good for nothing, of no worth and value; light in knowledge, as Kimchi gives the sense of the word; men of no brains; empty headed men, that had no substantial knowledge; giddy, unstable, and inconstant, and compliant with the humours and vices of the people; men of no gravity in their countenance, speech, and conversation.
This site's exposition
her judges are evening wolves
on Zephaniah 3:3-4
Four offices are catalogued in turn, princes as roaring lions, judges as evening wolves who gnaw the bones so completely that nothing is left till morning, prophets light and treacherous, priests who have polluted the very sanctuary they were consecrated to guard. The bench reads the evening wolf as hungrier and more thorough than a morning hunter, the day's business finished by officials who leave their victims nothing, an image of civic corruption rather than literal predation. Priests doing violence to the law closes the list on the institution meant to teach it, the same charge Ezekiel brings against Jerusalem's priesthood in his own book.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Chapter 3, verses 1 onwards) Woe to the provoking and redeemed city: the dove did not hear the voice and did not receive discipline. It did not trust in the Lord and did not approach its God. Its princes are in its midst, like roaring lions. Its judges are wolves of the evening, they do not leave anything for the morning. Its prophets are insane, unfaithful men. Its priests have defiled the holy, they have acted unjustly against the law. The Lord is righteous; he will not do injustice.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
They were so given to bantering that it was hard to say when they were serious. Their pretended prophecies were all a sham, and they secretly laughed at those that were deluded by them. Her priests, who are teachers by office and have the charge of the holy things, are false to their trust and betray it.
By way of promise of mercy and grace, which God had yet in reserve for them. Two general heads of promises here are:-- 1. That God would bring in a glorious work of reformation among them, cleanse them from their sins, and bring them home to himself; many promises of this kind here are,
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
light--in whose life and teaching there is no truth, gravity, or steadiness. treacherous--false to Jehovah, whose prophets they profess to be (Jer 23:32;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase+unbalanced-parens
Her prophets are light and treacherous persons - They have no seriousness, no deep conviction of the awful nature of their office, no concern for the immortal souls of the people. Treacherous persons - they betray the souls of the people for the sake of worldly honor, pleasure, and profit. Even in our own enlightened country we find prophets who prefer hunting the hare or the fox, and pursuing the partridge and pheasant, to visiting the sick, and going after the strayed, lost sheep of the house of Israel. Poor souls!
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Her prophets are light - , boiling and bubbling, up, like water boiling over , empty boasters claiming the gift of prophecy, which they have not; “boldly and rashly pouring out what they willed as they willed;” promising good things which shall not be. So they are “her” prophets, to whom they “prophesy smooth things” (see Mic 2:11), “the prophets of this people” not the prophets of God; “treacherous persons” (literally, men of treacheries) wholly given to manifold treacheries against God in whose Name they spake and to the people whom they deceived. Jerome: “They spake as if from the mouth of the Lord and uttered everything against the Lord.” “The leaders of the people,” those who profess to lead it aright, Isaiah says, “are its misleaders” (Isa 9:15 (Isa 9:16 in English)). “Thy prophets,” Jeremiah says, “have seen vain and foolish things for thee; they have seen for thee false visions and causes of banishment” Lam 2:14. Her priests have polluted her sanctuary - Literally, “holiness,” and so holy rites, persons Ezr 8:28, things, places (as the sanctuary), sacrifices. All these they polluted, being themselves polluted; they polluted first themselves, then the holy things which they handled, handling them as they ought not; carelessly and irreverently, not as ordained by God; turning them to their own use and self-indulgence, instead of the glory of God; then they polluted them in the eyes of the people, “making them to abhor the offering of the Lord” 1Sa 2:17, since, living scandalously, they themselves regarded the Ministry entrusted to them by God so lightly. Their office was to “put difference between holy and unholy and between clean and unclean, and to teach the children all the statutes which the Lord hath spoken unto them by Moses” Lev 10:10-11; that they “should sanctify themselves and be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy” (Lev 11:44; Lev 19:2, etc.). […]
The words behind it
9 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| נְבִיאֶ֙יהָ֙ | nevieiha | prophets its | H5030 → | |
| פֹּֽחֲזִ֔ים | pochazim | [are] insolent | H6348 → | |
| אַנְשֵׁ֖י | ʾanshei | men of | H582 → | |
| בֹּֽגְד֑וֹת | bogedot | treacheri<es> | H900 → | |
| כֹּהֲנֶ֙יהָ֙ | kohaneiha | priests its | H3548 → | |
| חִלְּלוּ־ | chilelu- | they profane | H2490 → | |
| קֹ֔דֶשׁ | kodesh | [the] sanctuary | H6944 → | |
| חָמְס֖וּ | chamesu | they do violence to | H2554 → | |
| תּוֹרָֽה׃ | torah | [the] law | H8451 → |
נְבִיאֶ֙יהָ֙prophets its
nevieihaH5030 →
פֹּֽחֲזִ֔ים[are] insolent
pochazimH6348 →
אַנְשֵׁ֖יmen of
ʾansheiH582 →
בֹּֽגְד֑וֹתtreacheri<es>
bogedotH900 →
כֹּהֲנֶ֙יהָ֙priests its
kohaneihaH3548 →
חִלְּלוּ־they profane
chilelu-H2490 →
קֹ֔דֶשׁ[the] sanctuary
kodeshH6944 →
חָמְס֖וּthey do violence to
chamesuH2554 →
תּוֹרָֽה׃[the] law
torahH8451 →
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
Ezekiel 22:26Her priests do violence to My law and profane My holy things. They make no distinction between the holy and the common, and they fail to distinguish between the clean and the unclean. They…
it leads to
- Leviticus 10:10
You must distinguish between the holy and the common, between the clean and the unclean,
- Ezekiel 22:8
You have despised My holy things and profaned My Sabbaths.
- Ezekiel 44:23
They are to teach My people the difference between the holy and the common, and show them how to discern between the clean and the unclean.
- Malachi 2:8
But you have departed from the way, and your instruction has caused many to stumble. You have violated the covenant of Levi,” says the LORD of Hosts.
- Leviticus 10:10
Through
Malachi 2:8But you have departed from the way, and your instruction has caused many to stumble. You have violated the covenant of Levi,” says the LORD of Hosts.
it leads to
- Nehemiah 13:29
Remember them, O my God, because they have defiled the priesthood and the covenant of the priesthood and of the Levites.
- Nehemiah 13:29
Through
Lamentations 2:14The visions of your prophets were empty and deceptive; they did not expose your guilt to ward off your captivity. The burdens they envisioned for you were empty and misleading.
it leads to
- Isaiah 58:1
“Cry aloud, do not hold back! Raise your voice like a ram’s horn. Declare to My people their transgression and to the house of Jacob their sins.
- Ezekiel 22:28
Her prophets whitewash these deeds by false visions and lying divinations, saying, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says,’ when the LORD has not spoken.
- Isaiah 58:1
Through
Hosea 9:7The days of punishment have come; the days of retribution have arrived—let Israel know it. The prophet is called a fool, and the inspired man insane, because of the greatness of your iniquity and…
it leads to
- Acts 26:24–25
At this stage of Paul’s defense, Festus exclaimed in a loud voice, “You are insane, Paul! Your great learning is driving you to madness!”
- Acts 26:24–25
Where this verse is studied
About Zephaniah
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Zephaniah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.