Zephaniah 2:3-5

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Zephaniah 2:3 tn Heb “seek the Lord,” but “favor” seems to be implied from the final line of the verse.
2. Zephaniah 2:3 tn Or “poor.” The precise referent of this Hebrew term is unclear. The word may refer to the economically poor or to the spiritually humble.
3. Zephaniah 2:3 tn The present translation assumes the Hebrew term מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat) here refers to God’s covenantal requirements and is a synonym for the Law. The word can mean “justice” and could refer more specifically to the principles of justice contained in the Law. In this case the phrase could be translated, “who have promoted the justice God demands.”
4. Zephaniah 2:3 tn Heb “Seek what is right.”
5. Zephaniah 2:3 tn Heb “Seek humility.”
6. Zephaniah 2:3 tn Heb “hidden.” Cf. NEB “it may be that you will find shelter”; NRSV “perhaps you may be hidden.”
7. Zephaniah 2:4 tn Or “for” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV).
8. Zephaniah 2:4 tn There is a sound play here in the Hebrew text: the name Gaza (עַזָּה, ’azzah) sounds like the word translated “deserted” (עֲזוּבָה, ’azuvah).
9. Zephaniah 2:4 tn Or “a desolate place.”
10. Zephaniah 2:4 tn Heb “[As for] Ashdod, at noon they will drive her away.”sn The reference to noon may suggest a sudden, quick defeat (see Jer 6:4; 15:8).
11. Zephaniah 2:4 tn Heb “uprooted.” There is a sound play here in the Hebrew text: the name “Ekron” (עֶקְרוֹן, ’eqron) sounds like the word translated “uprooted” (תֵּעָקֵר, te’aqer).
12. Zephaniah 2:5 tn Heb “Kerethites,” a people settled alongside the Philistines in the coastal areas of southern Palestine (cf. 1 Sam 30:14; Ezek 25:16). They originally came from the island of Crete.
13. Zephaniah 2:5 tn Heb “I will destroy you so there is no inhabitant [remaining].”