Zephaniah 2:15

Zephaniah 2:15 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)This is the rejoicing city that dwelt carelessly, that said in her heart, I am, and there is none beside me: how is she become a desolation, a place for beasts to lie down in! every one that passeth by her shall hiss, and wag his hand.
• New International Version (NIV)This is the city of revelry that lived in safety. She said to herself, “I am the one! And there is none besides me.” What a ruin she has become, a lair for wild beasts! All who pass by her scoff and shake their fists.
• English Standard Version (ESV)This is the exultant city that lived securely, that said in her heart, "I am, and there is no one else." What a desolation she has become, a lair for wild beasts! Everyone who passes by her hisses and shakes his fist.
• New King James Version (NKJV)This is the rejoicing city That dwelt securely, That said in her heart, “I am it, and there is none besides me.” How has she become a desolation, A place for beasts to lie down! Everyone who passes by her Shall hiss and shake his fist.

Context of Zephaniah 2:15

13And the Lord will stretch out His hand against the north And destroy Assyria, And He will make Nineveh a desolation [a wasteland], Parched as the desert. 14Flocks will lie down in her midst, All the animals which range in herds; Both the pelican and the short-eared owl Will roost on the top of Nineveh’s pillars. Birds will sing in the window, Desolation will be on the threshold; For He has uncovered the cedar paneling. This is the joyous city Which dwells carelessly [feeling so secure], Who says in her heart, “I am, and there is no one besides me.” What a desolation she has become, A lair for [wild] animals! Everyone who passes by her will hiss [in scorn] And wave his hand in contempt.

Zephaniah 2:15 word by word

זֹ֠את הָעִ֤יר הָעַלִּיזָה֙ הַיּוֹשֶׁ֣בֶת לָבֶ֔טַח הָאֹֽמְרָה֙ בִּלְבָבָ֔הּ אֲנִ֖י וְאַפְסִ֣י ע֑וֹד אֵ֣יךְ׀ הָיְתָ֣ה לְשַׁמָּ֗ה מַרְבֵּץ֙ לַֽחַיָּ֔ה כֹּ֚ל עוֹבֵ֣ר עָלֶ֔יהָ יִשְׁרֹ֖ק יָנִ֥יעַ יָדֽוֹ׃ סRead the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• the rejoicingעַלִּיז‛allîyz · jubilantH5947
• cityעִיר‛îyr ‛âr ‛âyar · cityH5892
• that dweltיָשַׁבyâshab · to dwellH3427
• carelesslyבֶּ֫טַחbeţach · securityH983
• that saidאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
• in her heartלֵבָבlêbâb · heartH3824
• none besideאֶ֫פֶס'ephes · endH657
• me: how is she become a desolationשַׁמָּהshammâh · horror: destroyedH8047
• a place for beastsחַיָּהchay · living thingH2416
• to lie down inמַרְבֵּץmarbêts · restingH4769
• every one that passeth byעָבַר‛âbar · to passH5674
• her shall hissשָׁרַקshâraq · to whistleH8319
• wagנוּעַnûa‛ · to shakeH5128
• his handיָדyâd · handH3027

Cross-references for Zephaniah 2:15

• Isaiah 10:12So when the Lord has completed all His work [of judgment] on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, He will say, “I will punish the fruit [the thoughts, the declarations, and the actions] of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and the haughtiness of his pride.”
• Isaiah 22:2You [Jerusalem] who were full of noise, A tumultuous city, a joyous and exuberant city; Your slain were not slain [in a glorious death] with the sword, Nor did they die in battle.
• Isaiah 47:7And you said, ‘I shall be a queen forevermore.’ You did not consider these things, Nor did you [seriously] remember the [ultimate] outcome of such conduct.
• Revelation 18:7To the degree that she glorified herself and reveled and gloated in her sensuality [living deliciously and luxuriously], to that same degree impose on her torment and anguish, and mourning and grief; for in her heart she boasts, ‘I sit as a queen [on a throne] and I am not a widow, and will never, ever see mourning or experience grief.’
• Isaiah 47:8“Now, then, hear this, you who live a luxuriant life, You who dwell safely and securely, Who say in your heart (mind), ‘I am [the queen], and there is no one besides me. I shall not sit as a widow, Nor know the loss of children.’
• Ezekiel 28:2“Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Because your heart is lifted up And you have said and thought, ‘I am a god, I sit in the seat of the gods In the heart of the seas’; Yet you are [only] a man [weak, feeble, made of earth] and not God, Though you [imagine yourself to be more than mortal and] think your mind is as [wise as] the mind of God—
• Ezekiel 29:3Speak and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, The great monster that lies in the midst of his rivers, [Boastfully] declaring, ‘My Nile is my own, and I have made it for myself.’
• Isaiah 14:4that you will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon, and say, “How the oppressor has ceased [his insolence], And how the fury has ceased!
• Lamentations 1:1How solitary and lonely sits the city [Jerusalem] That was [once] full of people! How like a widow she has become. She who was great among the nations! The princess among the provinces, Has become a forced laborer!
• Lamentations 2:1How the Lord has covered the Daughter of Zion (Jerusalem) With a cloud in His anger! He has cast down from heaven to the earth The glory and splendor of Israel And has not remembered His footstool In the day of His anger.
• Revelation 18:10standing a long way off, in fear of her torment, saying, ‘Woe, woe, the great city, the strong city, Babylon! In a single hour your judgment has come.’
• 1 Kings 9:7then I will cut off Israel from the land which I have given them, and I will cast out of My sight the house which I have consecrated for My Name and Presence. Then Israel will become a proverb (a saying) and a byword (object of ridicule) among all the peoples.
• Job 27:23People will clap their hands at him [to mock and ridicule him] And hiss him out of his place.
• Psalms 52:6The righteous will see it and fear, And will [scoffingly] laugh, saying,
• Lamentations 2:15All who pass along the way Clap their hands in derision at you; They scoff and shake their heads At the Daughter of Jerusalem, saying, “Is this the city that was called ‘The perfection of beauty, The joy of all the earth’?”
• Ezekiel 27:36The merchants among the people hiss at you [with malicious joy]; You have become a horror and a source of terrors. You will cease to be forever.’ ” ’ ”

Commentaries on Zephaniah 2:15

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 15This is the rejoicing city - The city in which mirth, jocularity, and pleasure, reigned without interruption. And wag his hand - Will point her out as a mark and monument of Divine displeasure.Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 4-15Verses 4-15 Those are really in a woful condition who have the word of the Lord against them, for no word of his shall fall to the ground. God will restore his people to their rights, though long kept from them. It has been the common lot of God's people, in all ages, to be reproached and reviled. God shall be worshipped, not only by all Israel, and the strangers who join them, but by the heathen. Remote nations must be reckoned with for the wrongs done…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 15ruin: The destruction was certain and could not be reversed (see Nahum 1:14; 2:13; 3:19). Zephaniah saw no future for Assyria or its capital. Nineveh was so completely destroyed that the Greek historian Xenophon passed by its ruins without knowing it was there. hisses and shakes his fist: Those who suffered under Assyria's cruel empire would feel glad seeing it come to an end.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1515. Nothing then seemed more improbable than that the capital of so vast an empire, a city sixty miles in compass, with walls one hundred feet high, and so thick that three chariots could go abreast on them, and with fifteen hundred towers, should be so totally destroyed that its site is with difficulty discovered. Yet so it is, as the prophet foretold. there is none beside me--This peculiar phrase, expressing self-gratulation as if peerless, is plainly…Read the comment

Topics related to Zephaniah 2:15

• Assyria
• Confidence
• Nineveh
• Pride

In the dictionaries

• Cottage
• Nahum, Book of
• Thereupon
• Couching-Place
• Judah, Kingdom of
• Zephaniah, Book of
• Assyria, Asshur
• Nineveh
• exult, exultant

Commentaries on Zephaniah 2

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings