Глава 2

1–3. The prophet’s admonition to the people of Judah in general and to its best representatives in particular is to turn to the Lord before the day of His wrath and judgment comes. God's judgment will extend not only to Judea, but to the whole world: 4–7. on the Philistines, 8–11. against the Moabites and Ammonites, 12. against the Ethiopians, finally, 13–15. against the Assyrians, whose capital Nineveh will be completely desolate. Zeph.2:1. Examine yourself carefully, examine yourself, unbridled people, Zeph.2:2. until the decree comes - the day will fly by like chaff - until the fiery wrath of the Lord comes upon you, until the day of the wrath of the Lord comes for you. “Having excellently depicted the severity of the war and the greatness of the calamity that was about to come, He again opportunely turns his speech to arousing repentance in them, when it was already convenient to defeat them, since they, presumably, were brought into fear. When the soul has become hardened and is driven by a strong inclination towards the shameful and disgraceful, then we do not even easily come to the desire to repent, but fear often prompts us to do this against our will. So he calls them to communion with Himself” (St. Cyril Al., p. 34). While the death of foreign peoples, the prophecy of which is contained here below with Zeph.2:4, will be irrevocable, final, the Jewish people, in the best part, at least, can still be saved. The path to salvation lies in a change in the spiritual mood of the people, in repentance and correction, the beginning of which should be formed by the concentration of all the spiritual forces of the people, the self-deepening of each and everyone. This is what the prophet calls for in v. 1 of his contemporaries, pointing out the motive for this in Art. 2 on the inevitability, otherwise, of the coming of the day of God’s judgment in all its horror. In view of the deep indifference of society contemporary to the prophet, already known from Sophia 1.12, to the highest demands of the spirit and to the cause of religion, as well as its complete carelessness and uncontrollable pursuit of the fleeting blessings and pleasures of life, the prophet calls his people gagga lo-niksaf, LXX: τὸ ἔθνος τὸ ἀπαίδευτον, Vulg.: gens non amabilis (people not worthy of love), slav.: “unpunished tongue” and appeals to him gitkosheshu vakoshshu, LXX: συvαχθτε καὶ συvδεθῆτε and Vulg.: convenite, congregamini, slav.: “gather together and be united,” i.e., encourages all contemporary Jews to concentrate all thoughts and feelings on one subject - on the decision to sweep away death through repentance: “come to your senses and humble yourself, helpless people!” Otherwise, destruction, and complete destruction at that - like disappearing chaff (Hebrew kemots. cf. Isaiah 24.5), and terrible, like the flame of Jehovah’s wrath (Hebrew charonath-Jehovah). Zeph.2:3. Seek the Lord, all you humble of the earth, who keep His laws; seek truth, seek humility; perhaps you will be hidden in the day of the wrath of the Lord. After admonishing the whole people (vv. 1–2), the prophet, not noticing any response to his preaching among the masses of the people, leaves the people to their own fate, and now turns to a small, selected part of the pious, believing members of the people, calling them anve-haaretz, ταπεινοὶ γης, mansueti terrae, humility of the earth. He convinces them: “seek the Lord,” Heb. bakkeshu et Jehovah, ζητησατε τὀν Κὺριον, quaerite Dominum, i.e. according to the explanation of the blessed. Theodoret: “look at the insignificance of your nature, at your forefather - the dust, and seek the Creator, who has richly endowed you with so many blessings. Then the prophet teaches in what way one can seek God: do justice, and seek righteousness, (seek meekness) and answer. Be straightforward and fair, love a modest and moderate life” (p. 47). The main and fundamental virtue, which, according to the prophet, brings a person closest to God and unites him with Him and which, therefore, the prophet commands “the humble of the earth” is humility, Heb. anava. The word anava is the same root as anav, “humble,” and like the latter, expresses not the physical oppression and humiliation of a person (Ps 9.13, 33; Proverbs 14.21), but about his moral qualities: patience, humility, meekness (Numbers 12.3; Proverbs 3.34, 16.19), and, moreover, often means not just the subordination of a person manifested in one case or another the will of God, but as a constant, dominating over all mental life, mood, denoted in Greek by the names: πραύτης, ταπεινοφροσύνη... In this very sense, in the sense of piety, the word anava is found in the book of Proverbs (Proverbs 15.33, 18.3, 22.4), as an adjective anav - in the book of Psalms (Ps 11.6, 71.12–14, 81.3–4, 81.13). Unfairly, some researchers (Schwalli among others) argued that the Jews and their prophets before the captivity did not consider humility a religious virtue, since the Jewish people then were distinguished by opposite qualities and therefore saw different ideals of moral life, and since the word anav, found in a few prophetic places, is of indisputable additional origin (Am 2.7, 8.4; Is 11.4, 29.19 ) simply means "poor". On this basis, these researchers attribute to the place Soph 2.3, where anav and anava are well-defined religious terms, a post-exilic origin. But here, first of all, it is completely in vain to ignore those numerous passages from the books of Psalms and Proverbs, where the words in question anav and anav are undoubtedly of an ethical nature (the editors of these books are completely arbitrarily pushed back to the post-exilic times). Then, there are prophetic passages, the additional origin of which is not suspected by criticism, in which the concept of anav has an indisputable relationship to the moral characteristics of a person, for example. in Am 2.6–7, where anav stands in parallel with the right tzaddik - a concept that undoubtedly refers to the characteristic of the internal moral state of a person (cf. Isa 11.4), this also includes the place Micah 6.8, where among the godly virtues it is called “to walk humbly with God” (cf. Num. 12.3, etc.). Finally, the assertion that before the captivity, not only ordinary Jews, but also the prophets themselves, were dominated by other ideals of moral life, among which humility before God had no place, is of very dubious value. This is strongly opposed not only by individual cases of biblical Jews displaying deep humility before God - Jacob (Gen. 32.10), David (2 Kings 7.18), even Ahab (1 Kings 21.29), etc., but most importantly - the great image of the Servant of Jehovah created by the exiled prophets, the deepest essence of whose service is formed by unparalleled humility. One can also add that without humility, true religion is generally unthinkable, and this, without a doubt, was the biblical religion throughout all the centuries of its existence. Under the condition of righteousness and humility, the prophet gives his listeners some hope of getting rid of common destruction 4. But this is only a partial hope and not without uncertainty. Judgment is inevitable, and it will extend not only to Judea, but also to other nations. But it is precisely in view of the coming judgment of God that the righteous must demonstrate the virtues required of them by the prophet: after God’s judgment over the wicked, a new, better order of things will come, in which the correspondence required by the moral law between a person’s moral dignity and his external state will be restored. Hence the speeches against foreigners, starting with Art. 4th, connected with the previous speech of exhortation to the Jews by the causal union ki, διότι, quia; the closest connection between the two departments of Chapter II of Bla. Theodoret expresses it this way: “If you proceed to the repentance mentioned above, you will gain salvation, and foreign cities will suffer the predicted disasters” (p. 47). Zeph.2:4. For Gaza will be abandoned and Ascalon will be desolate, Azoth will be driven out in the middle of the day and Ekron will be uprooted. Zeph.2:5. Woe to the inhabitants of the seaside country, the people of Crete! The word of the Lord is upon you, O Canaanites, land of the Philistines! I will destroy you, and you will have no inhabitants, Zeph.2:6. and the seaside country will be a shepherd's pasture and a fold for cattle. Zeph.2:7. And this region will be given to the remnants of the house of Judah, and they will feed there, and in the houses of Ascalon they will rest in the evening, for the Lord their God will visit them and restore their captivity. The prophet's menacing speech addresses, first of all, the Western neighbors of the Jews - the Philistines. In the name of the land of the Philistines, Heb. Pelesheth (in the Greek translation Παλαιστίνη, cf. Herod. Hist II, 104; VII, 89), Ps 59.10; Isaiah 14.29, etc., in the Bible the coastal strip of present-day Syria from Jaffa to Gaza is called, in the biblical period bordering on the tribes of Dan, Simeon and Judah. The name is found in cuneiform scripts in the forms Palastu, Pilistu. This root, also found in the Ethiopian language, expresses the concept of wandering, migration, which is reminiscent of the LXX transfer of the popular name Pelishtim into a common noun: ἀλλόφυλοι, foreigners. The very name of the Philistines apparently contained the idea of ​​moving them to Palestine from some other country. And the Bible preserves a legend about their prehistoric eviction of a certain Caphtor (Am 9.7; Deut. 2.23; sn. Gen. 10.14; 1 Chr. 1.12) or the island of Caphtor (Jer 47.4) - according to the prevailing scientific opinion (Ewald, Kinert, Stade, etc.) of the island of Crete. Hence the two other names of the Philistines - Caphtorim and Kretim (cf. Eze 25.16; Zeph 2.5). The opinion about the origin of the Philistines from the island of Crete was widespread in ancient times, as can be seen, among other things, from the interpretations of St. Cyril of Alexandria, blessed Theodoret and Jerome. (Stade) Odyss is cited not without reason in favor of this opinion. XIX, 172–177. The history of the Philistines in the Bible runs parallel to the history of the biblical Jews for almost its entire length; the first either ruled over the Jews (for example, during the period of the Judges, partly under Saul), or was subordinate to them (under David, then under Hezekiah, etc.), in general they were connected with the Israeli-Jewish history by numerous threads. In political and administrative terms, the country of the Philistines was divided into five districts, subordinate to five owners (Seranim 1. Joshua 13.3) and each having a kind of capital in the form of cities: Gaza, Azoth, Ascalon, Ekron, or, according to reading, LXX, Ekron and Gath, with the predominance of Gaza. The geographical location of all these cities and their districts is described in Tolkov. Bible, vol. II, p. 330 and 326–329. The prophet Zephaniah does not mention the fate of Gath (like other prophets who predicted the desolation of the Philistine country, Am 1.6–8; Jer 25.20; Zech 9.5–6): apparently, after its defeat by the king of Judah Uzziah (2 Chronicles 26.6), it lost all significance and was finally destroyed around 711 (cf. Onomast 302). The first the prophet names is the southernmost and most significant of the Philistine cities - Gaza (see Onomast 306). Gaza (in the cuneiform writings Hazzatu, Hazzutu, Naziti, in the Till Amarkan writings Azzati) - according to Jewish etymology from az - “strength”. To depict the future fate of the city, the prophet uses a word consonant with the name of the city: azuva, abandoned (LXX: διηρπασμένη, VuIg.: destructa erit). By blessed Jerome, “Gaza means my fortress. Consequently, those who are magnified by bodily strength, or worldly power, and together with the devil say: “I will do it by force,” will be destroyed and reduced to insignificance on the day of the Lord’s wrath” (p. 271). Ascalon (Onomast. 162), (Assyrian Iskaluna, Askaluna, in Tell Amark. letters Ackaluna), near the Mediterranean Sea; according to I. Flavius ​​(Jude War 3:2, 1), it was an excellent fortress, and has long been famous for its church in honor of the goddess Derketo-Melita, destroyed by the Scythians. Blazh. Jerome (with dubious, however, philological thoroughness) notes: “Ascalon, which means: “weighed” or: “murderous fire,” - when the day of the Lord comes, he will feel the extent of his crime and will be oppressed by the weight that he produced. And since he ardently sought to shed blood, then... he will be turned into the desert, and burned to dust by the fire of Gehenna” (p. 271). Azoth (Onomast. 36) (Assyrian Asdudu) is the main focus of the cult of Dagon, in whose church at one time there was the ark of God (1 Samuel 5.1). Uzziah destroyed his walls (2 Chronicles 26.6), but after that he was independent. Then it was besieged more than once by the troops of the Assyrians and Egyptians (Isaiah 20.1), until, according to Herodotus (II, 157), it was taken by Pharaoh Psammetichus after a 28-year siege. The Prophet threatens Azoth with the expulsion of its inhabitants bazzagaraim, in broad daylight, that is, at that time, everyone considers himself most safe (cf. Jer 6.4, 15.8). Ekron or Ekron (Onomast. 51) (Assyrian Am Karruna) was the northernmost city among the Philistine five-city; during the period of the divided Jewish kingdom it was the place of the cult of Baal-Zebub with a church and an oracle with it (2 Kings 1.1; See: Interpretations of the Bible, vol. II, p. 495). As with regard to Gaza, the prophet also in relation to the fate of Ekron allows an image expressed in a form consonant with the name of the city: Ekron theaker, “Ekron will be eradicated”, LXX: έκριὡωθησ´εται, Vulg.: eradicabitur, slav.: Ekron will be eradicated (cf. Zech 9.5,7). Further, art. 5–7, the prophet speaks of the destruction not only of individual Philistine cities, but of the entire Philistine country as a whole. In Art. 5 the names “inhabitants of the coastal country”, “Cretan people” on the one hand and then “Chanan” and “Philistine land” are undoubtedly parallel and synonymous with each other, meaning the country and inhabitants of the Philistine land. Therefore, it is impossible to accept the common meaning for Kretim (in the expression: goy-Kretim), reading it as Koretim and passing it on with the Vulgate: (gens) perditorum (a similar reading was accepted, according to the testimony of Blessed Jerome, by the ancient Greek translations: Aquila, Symmachus, Theodotion and Quintus). One should, on the contrary, accept a consonant reading of the Hebrew Masoretic, Greek LXX (κρητῶν) and Syriac texts in the sense of the proper name of the inhabitants of the Philistine land. – A large, hitherto unresolved difficulty of a textual nature is presented in Art. 6 euros the word kerot (according to the usual understanding - “cistern”), rendered in the LXX also Κρήτη, Slav.: Crete, no doubt, contrary to the original and true meaning of the text; in the Vulgate this word is completely omitted in translation. All attempts by researchers to clarify this difficulty were unsuccessful (see Fr. Schwally Das Buch Ssephanja... Zeitschrift fur aittestament liohe Wissensch. 1890, K. II, S. 185–186. Sn. Tyurnin, Cited works, pp. 100–104). The general meaning of verses 5-7, however, is quite clear. In the distant future, the prophet contemplates the picture of the coming Philistine catastrophe and the form that the country will take after the last one. The coastal country, now serving as an arena of vibrant life, replete with populated ports and populous and fortified cities, famous for its wide sea and land trade, by the will of God, will be desolate and turn into a deserted steppe, in which only shepherds with their flocks will live. Then, according to Art. 7, this steppe will become the property of “the remnant of the house of Judah,” which “will rest in the houses of Ascalon in the evening, when the Lord their God (mercifully) looks upon them and brings them back from captivity.” By blessed Theodoret, “this came to fruition upon the return of the Jews from captivity; for in the books of Maccabees we find that Jonathan and Simon, having taken possession of Gaza, Ascalon and Ptolemais, subjugated them to their power. The exact and indisputable fulfillment of the prophecy can be seen after the ascension of our Savior and after the preaching of the holy apostles: for they, having come out of Judea, dwelt in these cities towards the evening, that is, before the end of the evening, when the God of all looked upon the pagans and freed them from bitter slavery and “captivity” (p. 48). Zeph.2:8. I heard the reproach of Moab and the curses of the children of Ammon, how they mocked My people and boasted in their borders. Zeph.2:9. Therefore, I live! says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Moab will be like Sodom, and the children of Ammon will be like Gomorrah, a land of nettles, a salt pit, a wilderness forever; the remnant of my people will take them as a spoil, and the survivors of my people will receive them as an inheritance. From the Philistines, the neighbors of Judah in the west, the prophet turns to the eastern neighbors of the chosen people, the descendants of Lot - the Moabites and Ammonites. Being tribes related to Israel, both of them, however, throughout almost the entire biblical history, with the exception of isolated cases of peaceful and friendly relations (Ruth. 1.1 and 1 Samuel 22.1–3), were constantly at enmity with the chosen people. The Moabites' enmity towards Israel manifested itself even under Moses, as is known from the history of Balaam (Numbers 22.1 et c.). During the period of the Judges, the yoke of the Moabites weighed heavily on the Jews for 18 years (Judges 3:12–14). With varying success, the struggle between both peoples continued throughout the entire period of the kings (2 Kings 8.2; 2 Kings 1.1, f. III, etc.). The attitude of the Ammonites towards the Jews was almost the same, only, apparently, they were characterized by even greater cruelty on both sides. (1 Kings 11.16–7; 2 Kings 12.31). The Ammonites fought with Israel, especially under Jephthah (Judges 11:32–33) and David (2 Samuel 8.12), and also many times after him. During Nebuchadnezzar's invasion of Judea, the Ammonites joined his troops and participated in the destruction of the country (2 Kings 24.2; Ezekiel 25.1). Their cruel enmity towards the Jews did not cease even after the latter returned from captivity, manifesting itself in many cases (Nehemiah 5.2–7, 6, etc.). Prophet, Art. 8, speaks of reproach, Heb. cherla, Moab, and curses, giddufa, the sons of Ammon against the people of God. According to St. Kirill Alex., “the neighboring nations mocked the devastated Jerusalem and the Israelites exposed to disasters; they imagined that the captivity of Judea was the work of their own false gods, when it was as if the Hand of the sovereign God who had always helped them from above was completely overthrown and, as it were, reduced to insignificance... So, he says, I heard the “reproaches” of the Moabites and the “reproaches of the sons of Ammonih”; for, whether with a rod or a stone, he who reproaches people who have fallen into trouble is no different from the one who opens his unbridled mouth against them, spews out and speaks such words, with which, undoubtedly, some are brought to sorrow and sorrow, and from which the severity of the misfortune becomes even heavier. since they turned out to be spewing blasphemous speeches against the divine glory itself; therefore, he says, having been subjected to the punishment of the Sodomites, they will reach destruction, and, in their misfortunes, although showing a little of the suffering of Gomorrah, late and barely through what happened to them they will recognize the power of the one who calls it” (pp. 360-351). From what has been said above about the historically known relations of the Moabites and Ammonites towards Israel, it is obvious that the reason that caused the judgment of God proclaimed by the prophet can be considered the entire totality of the internal and active enmity of both peoples towards the chosen people of God, and together towards God himself and his religion. This not only political, national, but also religious imprint of the irreconcilable hostility of the Moabites and Ammonites towards Israel also determines the solemn tone of the prophet’s menacing speech against them in Art. 9–10. The deep solemnity and sanctified tone of the prophet’s speech is conveyed primarily by the oath of Jehovah by Himself (cf. Heb. 6.13): “As I live,” Heb. Hai Ani, a form of oath found in St. Scriptures are not often written, precisely when it is necessary to assure people of the inevitable occurrence of events that are of little probability for human understanding (cf. Num 14.21; Deut. 32.40; Isa 49.18; Ezek 5.11, 16.48, etc.). The meaning of this oath is an affirmation of the immutability of what is proclaimed, indicating the immutability of God’s will and the immutability of His being. And this idea is also fundamental in the subsequent divine name Jehovah (Exodus 3.14 and others. Compare our article “Jehovah” in the “Theological Encyclopedia”, edited by Prof. N.K. Glubokovsky, vol. VI). The next name of God is “Jehovah Tsebaoth,” the Lord of hosts, in which in this place there is still the epithet Eloh Israel, the God of Israel means God the Savior, the King of the theocratic kingdom founded by Him among the chosen people (see Tyurnin, pp. 120–123. See Prof. priest B.A. Glagolev, Old Testament biblical teaching about Angelah, p. 238 ff.). What is announced to the Moabites and Ammonites is the complete destruction of the inhabitants and the complete desolation of the country - like the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah - an image of God's judgment, used every time by the prophets when they threaten one or another country with terrible desolation (Isa 1.9, 13.9; Am 4.11; Hos 11.8; Jer 49.18), but especially in this case appropriate, since both peoples lived near the Dead Sea and, thus, constantly had a visible monument to the terrible punishment of God. From the same association by contiguity it is clear how inappropriate the transmission in the LXX (also in St. Cyrus Al. and Blessed Theodoret) of Heb. mimshak proper name Δαμασκός, Damascus (as it would stand: dammeshek). Slav.: “and Damascus was left like a barnyard.” The introduction of the thought of Damascus into the speech about the Moabites and Ammonites cannot be explained in any way. Thus, for the expressions of the Hebrew text mimshah harul and the following: mikre-melakh, the common noun meaning is more suitable, which, however, is defined very differently by translations and interpreters and therefore can only be established with approximate accuracy. The first expression can most likely be conveyed: “a place or region of thorns” (R. synod.: “property of nettles”), the second: “salt pit” (R. synod.: “salt pothole”, Vulg.: acervi salis). Both figurative expressions are further explained by the prophet with an expression of direct, literal meaning: ushmama ad-olam, and desert forever. The prophet's gaze, apparently, was presented to a deserted area in the vicinity of the Dead Sea, which already in biblical times struck the observer with its barrenness; Due to the abundance of salt in the soil, only wild thorny plants could grow here. The prophet threatens the land of the Moabites and Ammonites with similar desolation. But their deserted country, says the prophet at the end of v. 9, will one day be the property of the remnant of God’s chosen people who were saved after the captivity. “That the executor of these punishments will one day be no other people, this very one who was subjected to disasters and humiliation, this is shown by saying: I will also plunder the rest of My people; and those who remain of My tongue shall inherit them; for he calls the remnants of the people those who escaped from captivity, who defeated the pagans and, taking the cities of foreigners, turned them into desert” (St. Cyril of Alexandria p. 361). Zeph.2:10. This is to them for their arrogance, for the fact that they mocked and magnified themselves over the people of the Lord of hosts. In Art. 10 indicates the main reason for the image in Art. 9 the death of the Moabites and Ammonites, it was their extraordinary arrogance, pride (Heb. gaon, Greek ὕβρις, Lat. superbia), due to which they mocked the people of the Lord of hosts. And other prophets more than once denounced the arrogant and contemptuous attitude of the Moabites towards the Jews (Is 16.6; Jer 48.29–30, 49.4; Eze 25.3, 8), and this attitude extended to them and the religion of Jehovah: “they, pathetic ones, dared to utter insolent words and spew out blasphemous speeches against the Most ineffable Glory and, acting under the influence of their strange and unbridled insolence, they almost rebelled against the One who is above all” (St. Cyril Alexander., p. 362). This idea, that the ridicule and reproach of the Moabites and Ammonites concerned the most religious beliefs of the chosen people, is expressly expressed in the accepted Greek text of the LXX: by omitting the word τὸν λαόν, corresponding to the Hebrew ai - people. But in other Greek lists, for example: 22, 36, 51, 62, 86, 114, 147, 228, 238, 240 in Golmes is read in accordance with the Masoretic Hebrew; so in glory: “on the people of the Lord Almighty”). Zeph.2:11. The Lord will be terrible for them, for he will destroy all the gods of the earth, and all the islands of nations will worship Him, each from his own place. Art. 11, in accordance with the main idea of ​​the book of the prophet Zephaniah (see Zeph 1.2–3) about the universality of God’s judgment, about its extension to all the peoples of the earth, indicates the inner meaning and final goal of this judgment. This meaning and this goal are to show the pagan peoples the insignificance of their gods and the inconsistency of their beliefs, and then to encourage them to recognize and confess the divine omnipotence of the one Jehovah and to truly worship Him. The first word of the verse is “hole”, terrible, Vulg. horribitis, in LXX it is rendered differently: έπιφανήσεται, slav. "will appear" . Apparently the LXX was read in Hebrew: nira, “will appear.” Which of these two readings is more correct is difficult to decide, since each of them has analogies for itself (Hebrew - cf. Ps 65:5, 95:4, 80:6, 10:8; Greek see Is 60.2). Moreover, there is no significant difference in the meaning of the verse from these discrepancies: one way or another, here we speak about the manifestation of Divine Justice, first of all, in relation to the peoples mentioned in the previous verses, but also in relation to other peoples of the world. The whole essence, the whole meaning and the whole purpose of the manifestation of God's judgment over the pagans are expressed in the following words: ki raza et-kaleloge-gaaretz, “for (Jehovah) will destroy all the gods of the earth”; Vulg.: attentuabit omnes deos terrae. LXX: ἐξολοθρεύσει πάντας τούς θεούς τῶν ἐθνῶν της γῆς , glorified: all the gods of the tongues of the earth will consume, (The addition of the word “peoples” in the Greek-Slavic text, according to some, was intended to prevent the idea that the prophet recognized the existence of other gods). To understand this punishment over the pagan gods, a parallel passage can be used: Exodus 12.12, which speaks of Jehovah’s judgment over the gods of Egypt, cf. Isa 19.1–4; Ps 81.7. Each nation represented its god or its gods as the patrons of only a given people, who believed in the gods all their national strength. To exterminate the gods of paganism means: to expose their complete powerlessness to help their fans, to show their complete insignificance. “Since they have assigned to their own gods the glory of omnipotence, then the Lord will be revealed to them, i.e. e.: He will reveal His own power by destroying all their gods; for their churches were destroyed and fell by the hand of Israel, and the man-made idols of the conquered nations truly turned out to be the work of human hands everywhere and in every nation. So where is the power of the gods? Or how could those who are unable to help themselves save others? (St. Cyril Al. pp. 362–363). The consequence of the pagans’ awareness of the insignificance of their gods will be their confession of the One True God, Jehovah: “and He will be worshiped, each from his own place, by all the islands of the nations.” The expression “all the islands of nations”, kol – yeegaggoiim (Is 41.1, 40.15, 42.4), according to prophetic usage, means all, even those most distant from Israel, peoples, the entire pagan world in the aggregate. That worship of Jehovah, which here, Zeph 2.11, will be adopted by the pagans, is not yet the complete conversion of the latter to Jehovah, which is discussed below in Zeph.3:9-10. Here, the recognition and confession by the pagans of the omnipotent power of Jehovah is only the initial moment in turning to the True God - that feeling of awe that, according to the sacred writers, the pagans always experience when the wondrous signs and judgment of God are manifested on earth (Ex. 14:4, 15:14-15; Ps. 95: 9-10; Is. 19.16; Hab. 3: 9, 13, etc.). But the consciousness of the pagans of the omnipotent power of Jehovah does not yet mean their complete turning to Him; such an appeal will follow only when Jehovah, after the judgment, turns with His mercy to the pagan peoples (Zeph 3.9–10). In addition to the general thought about the conversion of the pagans to Jehovah, Zeph 2.11 also contains a more specific thought about the worship of Jehovah “every one from his own place”: therefore, the future service of the pagans to Jehovah is understood here not in the sense of their arrival in Jerusalem to worship Him (as in Isa 2.2–3, 56.7; Jer 3.17; Micah 4.1–2), but in the sense of their expression of their religious feelings towards Jehovah in their countries of residence. Malachi later prophesied about this (Mal 1.11, 14), but the beginning of the full implementation of this was announced by Christ the Savior in a conversation with the Samaritan woman (John 4.23). “The prophetic word says that everyone will worship Him from their place. And this is not done according to the law, but according to the teaching of the Gospel; because the law gathered everyone into one single church. The Lord in the Gospel says to the Samaritan: Amen, amen, I tell you, woman, an hour is coming, when not in Jerusalem or in this place, but in every place they will worship the Father 5 (John 4.21-23). The God-wise Zephaniah also cries the same” (Blessed Theodoret, p. 50). After indicating the main goal of God’s judgment over the world (v. 11), the prophet again returns to depicting God’s judgment in the destinies of individual nations; now he dwells on the two most powerful peoples of that time, distant from the land of Israel: the Ethiopians (v. 12) and the Assyrians, mainly in their capital Nineveh (vv. 13–15). Zeph.2:12. And you Ethiopians will be slain by My sword. The prophet “remembers every tribe or people that fought against Israel and slandered the divine glory. So, from the Moabites and Ammonites it passes to the Ethiopians, or to the peoples living in the east and living in the country adjacent to the land of the Persians, or to the Egyptians, as adjacent and neighboring to the Israelites; and the land of Egypt is part of Ethiopia” (St. Cyril Al., p. 365). Information about the situation in the country of the Cushites Heb. Kushim or Ethiopians, Greek. Αιθιοπες, slav. murini, see Tolk. Bible, vol. II, p. 525. Calling the Cushites, and probably implying both the neighboring and historically associated Egyptians (cf. Eze 29.10; Isa 20.3-5; 2 Kings 19.9), the prophet threatens them on behalf of Jehovah that they will be struck by His sword, Heb. haple-harbi (cf. Is 66.16; Jer 25.33) The power of the Ethiopians (cf. Is 18.2, 7; Nahum 3.8), for human reasons, could seem invincible, but Jehovah says that He himself will be an accomplice of the enemies of the Ethiopians - the black color of the skin of the inhabitants of Ethiopia ( Jer 13.23) served as a reason for Christian symbolism to see images of evil spirits in the “Ethiopians” and “Murins”; “The word “murini” means a horde of demons crushed by the attack of the saving cross” (Blessed Theodoret, p. 50). From the inhabitants of the distant southwest, the prophet now turns in the exact opposite direction - to the distant northeast, to the people who were one of the most terrible enemies of the people of God - the Assyrians, Zeph.2:13-15. The significantly greater detail of the prophet’s speech about the death and desolation of Assyria and Nineveh, perhaps, is meant to reject the Jews contemporary to the prophet, including Josiah, who died, as is known, as a result of unreasonable devotion to the interests of Assyria, which prompted him to spontaneously oppose the Egyptian pharaoh (2 Kings 23.29; 2 Chronicles 35.20–24), - from unreasonable and the disastrous attraction to an alliance with Assyria, whose days were already numbered. Zeph.2:13. And He will stretch out His hand to the north, and destroy Asshur, and turn Nineveh into ruins, into a place as dry as a desert, The entire menacing speech of the prophet Zephaniah about the imminent devastation of Assyria and Nineveh in content and character resembles the prophecy of Nahum on the same subject (see Nahum 1:1, 14, 2:2, 3:1–7 d.). Only in the words of the prophet. Zephaniah seems to feel the immediate proximity of the catastrophe coming to Assyria and Nineveh: the punishing hand of God is already stretched out over Nineveh and Assyria (13a), and fatal disasters are ready to rush upon this city and this country in an unstoppable stream. “I will look... he says, at the inhabitants of the countries to the east and north, and together with others I will destroy the Assyrians and add the most famous Nineveh, the main city of the Chaldeans, to the devastated cities. It will be waterless, like impassable and uninhabited lands... To this will be added a considerable number of other signs...” (St. Cyril Al., p. 367). Zeph.2:14. and flocks and all kinds of animals will rest in the midst of it; the pelican and the hedgehog will spend the night in her carved decorations; their voice will be heard in the windows, destruction will be revealed on the doorposts, for the cedar paneling will no longer be on them. A powerful and vivid artistic picture of the terrible desolation awaiting Nineveh and all of Assyria, reminiscent of the prophet Isaiah's equally majestic depiction of the complete desolation of Babylon (Is 13.1, esp. Is 13.20–22) and Edomea (Is 34.11–15). Wild animals like the pelican and the raven, animals like the hedgehog will be the only inhabitants of the ruins of a once flourishing country. “For any sane person there is no doubt that neither hedgehogs live in houses, nor animals choose to spend the night among the city, and night crows are reluctant to live in its gates, if in these places there is no complete and very pleasant peace for a creature of such nature; because the animals and other animals in question do not like to live with people, but are looking for places where there would be the possibility of greater solitude and a completely calm life for them, and where the vast desert seems to give them security and relieves them of all fear” (St. Cyril Al., pp. 367–363). “But all this, says the prophet, Nineveh will endure for the arrogance of the soul; because her arrogance was likened to a cedar" (Blessed Theodoret, p. 51). Zeph.2:15. This is what a triumphant city will be, living carelessly, saying in its heart: “I, and there is no other besides me.” How it became a ruin, a den for animals! Everyone passing by him will whistle and wave his hand. The final verse characterizes the pride of Nineveh, and together depicts the striking contrast that exists between the once flourishing state of this city and its final desolation and transformation into a den of beasts - in the near future. The immeasurable and unbridled pride of Nineveh was expressed by a conviction devoid of any sense of measure: “I am and there is no other besides me” (cf. Isa 47.8). All the more amazement, close to horror, will be aroused by the sight of the complete desolation of the once glorious capital of not only Assyria, but of all Asia; Every passerby in amazement and horror will whistle and wave his hand (cf. 1 Kings 9.8; Jer 48:16, 49:17) - “because it is the custom of people, when misfortunes have befallen them beyond their expectations, to whistle and raise their hands in the air.” (Blessed Theodoret, p. 51). “Perhaps you will somehow hide on the day of the fiery wrath of God,” that is, perhaps by chance, due to the fact that you sought the Lord and did His righteousness, you will have the opportunity to avoid wrath on the approaching day and avoid captivity” (Blessed Jerome, p. 270). glory: woman, I believe in them, for the hour is coming when you will worship the Father, neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem! You might be interested in: