Zephaniah 2:8
in Zephaniah 2“I have heard the reproach of Moab and the insults of the Ammonites, who have taunted My people and threatened their borders.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
I have heard the reproach of Moab, and the revilings of the children of Ammon, wherewith they have reproached my people, and magnified themselves against their border.
KJV
I have heard the reproach of Moab, and the revilings of the children of Ammon, whereby they have reproached my people, and magnified themselves against their border.
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This verse in Zephaniah 2
Commentary
4 notes on this verseon Zephaniah 2:8-11
(Ver. 8 onwards) I have heard the reproach of Moab and the blasphemies of the sons of Ammon, who have reproached my people and magnified themselves against their borders. Therefore, as I live, says the Lord God (God remains silent), the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Moab shall be like Sodom, and the sons of Ammon like Gomorrah, a land of thorns and salt pits, and a desolation forever. The remnant of my people shall plunder them; the survivors of my nation shall possess them.
This site's exposition
the revilings of the children of Ammon
on Zephaniah 2:8-10
Moab and Ammon, Lot's own descendants and Israel's oldest relatives among the nations, are judged for reproach and reviling rather than for the violence charged against Philistia, a sin of the mouth and the proud heart magnified against Israel's border rather than an invading army. Verse 9's sentence names them Sodom and Gomorrah, breeding nettles and saltpits in a perpetual desolation, the same cities whose destruction Moab and Ammon themselves descend from at Genesis 19, the bench reading the judgment as fitting its own ancestry. The residue and remnant of my people shall spoil them and possess them turns Moab and Ammon's own land over to the surviving Judahites, the same reversal already given the Philistine coast.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Nay, God not only takes notice of, but interests himself in the reproaches cast on his people, because they are his; and it is certain that those who look with disdain upon the people of the Lord of hosts thereby dishonour the Lord of hosts himself. See this very thing charged on Moab and Ammon, Ezek. xxv. They are both laid under the same doom.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
I have heard the reproach of Moab - God punished them for the cruel part they had taken in the persecutions of the Jews; for when they lay under the displeasure of God, these nations insulted them in the most provoking manner. See on Amo 1:13 (note), and Gen 19:25 (note); Deu 29:23 (note); Isa 13:19 (note); Isa 34:13 (note); Jer 49:18 (note); Jer 50:40 (note).
The words behind it
13 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| שָׁמַ֙עְתִּי֙ | shama'ti | I have heard | H8085 → | |
| חֶרְפַּ֣ת | cherpat | [the] reproach of | H2781 → | |
| מוֹאָ֔ב | moav | Moab | H4124 → | |
| וְגִדּוּפֵ֖י | vegidufei | and [the] reviling words of | H1421 → | |
| בְּנֵ֣י | benei | [the] people of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| עַמּ֑וֹן | amon | Ammon | H5983 → | |
| אֲשֶׁ֤ר | ʾasher | who | H834 → | 5497 times |
| חֵֽרְפוּ֙ | cherefu | they have reproached | H2778 → | |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| עַמִּ֔י | ʾami | people my | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| וַיַּגְדִּ֖ילוּ | vaiyagdilu | and they have magnified themselves | H1431 → | |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| גְּבוּלָֽם׃ | gevulam | territory their | H1366 → |
שָׁמַ֙עְתִּי֙I have heard
shama'tiH8085 →
חֶרְפַּ֣ת[the] reproach of
cherpatH2781 →
מוֹאָ֔בMoab
moavH4124 →
וְגִדּוּפֵ֖יand [the] reviling words of
vegidufeiH1421 →
בְּנֵ֣י[the] people of
beneiH1121 →4930 times
עַמּ֑וֹןAmmon
amonH5983 →
אֲשֶׁ֤רwho
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
חֵֽרְפוּ֙they have reproached
cherefuH2778 →
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
עַמִּ֔יpeople my
ʾamiH5971 →1873 times
וַיַּגְדִּ֖ילוּand they have magnified themselves
vaiyagdiluH1431 →
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
גְּבוּלָֽם׃territory their
gevulamH1366 →
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
Amos 1:13This is what the LORD says: “For three transgressions of the Ammonites, even four, I will not revoke My judgment, because they ripped open the pregnant women of Gilead in order to enlarge their…
it leads to
- Hosea 13:16
Samaria will bear her guilt because she has rebelled against her God. They will fall by the sword; their little ones will be dashed to pieces, and their pregnant women ripped open.
- Ezekiel 25:2–7
“Son of man, set your face against the Ammonites and prophesy against them.
- Jeremiah 49:1–6
Concerning the Ammonites, this is what the LORD says: “Has Israel no sons? Is he without heir? Why then has Milcom taken possession of Gad? Why have his people settled in their cities?
- Isaiah 5:8
Woe to you who add house to house and join field to field until no place is left and you live alone in the land.
- Hosea 13:16
Through
Jeremiah 49:1Concerning the Ammonites, this is what the LORD says: “Has Israel no sons? Is he without heir? Why then has Milcom taken possession of Gad? Why have his people settled in their cities?
it leads to
- Ezekiel 25:2–10
“Son of man, set your face against the Ammonites and prophesy against them.
- Deuteronomy 23:3
No Ammonite or Moabite or any of their descendants may enter the assembly of the LORD, even to the tenth generation.
- Amos 1:13–15
This is what the LORD says: “For three transgressions of the Ammonites, even four, I will not revoke My judgment, because they ripped open the pregnant women of Gilead in order to enlarge their…
- Zephaniah 2:8–11
“I have heard the reproach of Moab and the insults of the Ammonites, who have taunted My people and threatened their borders.
- Ezekiel 25:2–10
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Zephaniah
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Carl Friedrich Keil, The Twelve Minor Prophets; Jerome, Commentary on Zephaniah; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.