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Zephaniah 3:6

in Zephaniah 3

“I have cut off the nations; their corner towers are destroyed. I have made their streets deserted with no one to pass through. Their cities are laid waste, with no man, no inhabitant.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV

ASV

I have cut off nations; their battlements are desolate; I have made their streets waste, so that none passeth by; their cities are destroyed, so that there is no man, so that there is no inhabitant.

KJV

I have cut off the nations: their towers are desolate; I made their streets waste, that none passeth by: their cities are destroyed, so that there is no man, that there is none inhabitant.

This verse in Zephaniah 3

Commentary

8 notes on this verse

A commentator

Jerome

Commentary on Zephaniah · Written before 420.

(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.

This site's exposition

I made their streets waste

on Zephaniah 3:6-7

The Lord points Jerusalem to the very judgments chapter 2 has just pronounced on the nations as a warning already carried out before her eyes, towers desolate and streets so wasted that none passes by, meant to teach the lesson before it had to be applied at home. Verse 7's I said, Surely thou wilt fear me states the purpose plainly, the destruction of others intended as instruction rather than mere entertainment or distant news. But they rose early, and corrupted all their doings answers the intended lesson with its opposite, diligence turned toward corruption rather than correction, the same eagerness Judah shows for evil that a faithful people would show for good.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

I have cut off the nations,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

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 Century3 voices

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

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.

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

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 righteousness to be righteous.

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

I have cut off the nations - Syria, Israel, and those referred to, Isa 36:18, Isa 36:20. - Newcome.
1 more voice on this verse

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

I have cut off the nations - God appeals to His judgments on pagan nations, not on any particular nation, as far as we know; but to past history, whether of those, of whose destruction Israel itself had been the instrument, or others.

The words behind it

14 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • הִכְרַ֣תִּיI have cut off

    hikhratiH3772288 times

  • גוֹיִ֗םnations

    goyimH1471561 times

  • נָשַׁ֙מּוּ֙they are desolate

    nashamuH8074

  • פִּנּוֹתָ֔םcorners their

    pinotamH6438

  • הֶחֱרַ֥בְתִּיI have made desolate

    hecheravtiH2717

  • חֽוּצוֹתָ֖םstreets their

    chutzotamH2351

  • מִבְּלִ֣יbecause not

    mibeliH1097

  • עוֹבֵ֑ר[one who] passes by

    overH5674556 times

  • נִצְדּ֧וּthey have been laid waste

    nitzduH6658

  • עָרֵיהֶ֛םcities their

    ʾareihemH58921090 times

  • מִבְּלִי־because not

    mibeli-H1097

  • אִ֖ישׁanyone

    ʾishH376

  • מֵאֵ֥יןfrom not

    meeinH369789 times

  • יוֹשֵֽׁב׃inhabitant

    yoshevH34271079 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    1 Corinthians 10:11

    Now these things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come.

    it leads to

    • Romans 15:4

      For everything that was written in the past was written for our instruction, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures, we might have hope.

    • Romans 13:11

      And do this, understanding the occasion. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, for our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.

    • 1 Corinthians 9:10

      Isn’t He actually speaking on our behalf? Indeed, this was written for us, because when the plowman plows and the thresher threshes, they should also expect to share in the harvest.

    • 1 John 2:18

      Children, it is the last hour; and just as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have appeared. This is how we know it is the last hour.

    • Philippians 4:5

      Let your gentleness be apparent to all. The Lord is near.

  • Through

    1 Corinthians 10:6

    These things took place as examples to keep us from craving evil things as they did.

    it leads to

    • Jude 1:7

      In like manner, Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, who indulged in sexual immorality and pursued strange flesh, are on display as an example of those who sustain the punishment of eternal…

    • 1 Corinthians 10:11

      Now these things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come.

    • 2 Peter 2:6

      if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction, reducing them to ashes as an example of what is coming on the ungodly;

Where this verse is studied

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); 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 Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.