Zephaniah 3:1

Zephaniah 3:1 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Woe to her that is filthy and polluted, to the oppressing city!
• New International Version (NIV)Woe to the city of oppressors, rebellious and defiled!
• English Standard Version (ESV)Woe to her who is rebellious and defiled, the oppressing city!
• New King James Version (NKJV)Woe to her who is rebellious and polluted, To the oppressing city!

Context of Zephaniah 3:1

Woe (judgment is coming) to her who is rebellious and defiled, The tyrannical city [Jerusalem]! 2She did not listen and heed the voice [of God]; She accepted no correction. She did not trust in the Lord [but trusted her own power]; She did not draw near to her God [but to the pagan gods of Baal or Molech]. 3Her officials within her are roaring lions; Her judges are [as hungry as] the wolves at evening, They leave nothing for the morning.

Zephaniah 3:1 word by word

ה֥וֹי מֹרְאָ֖ה וְנִגְאָלָ֑ה הָעִ֖יר הַיּוֹנָֽה׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Woeהוֹיhôy · woe!H1945
• to her that is filthyמָרָאmârâ' · to flapH4754
• and pollutedגָּאַלgâ'al · to defileH1351
• to the oppressingיָנָהyânâh · to oppressH3238
• cityעִיר‛îyr ‛âr ‛âyar · cityH5892

Cross-references for Zephaniah 3:1

• Leviticus 1:16He shall remove its crop with its feathers and throw it next to the east side of the altar, in the place for ashes.
• Isaiah 5:7For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house (nation) of Israel And the men of Judah are His delightful planting [which He loves]. So He looked for justice, but in fact, [He saw] bloodshed and lawlessness; [He looked] for righteousness, but in fact, [He heard] a cry of distress and oppression.
• Isaiah 30:12Therefore, the Holy One of Israel says this, “Because you have refused and rejected this word [of Mine] And have put your trust in oppression and guile, and have relied on them,
• Isaiah 59:13Rebelling against and denying the Lord, Turning away from [following] our God, Speaking oppression and revolt, Conceiving and muttering from the heart lying words.
• Jeremiah 6:6For the Lord of hosts has said, “Cut down her trees And build a siege [mound] against Jerusalem. This is the city which must be punished; There is nothing but oppression inside her [walls].
• Jeremiah 22:17“But your eyes and your heart Are only intent on your own dishonest gain, On shedding innocent blood, On oppression and extortion and violence.”
• Ezekiel 22:7In you they have treated father and mother lightly. They have oppressed the stranger among you; and in your presence they have wronged the fatherless and the widow.
• Amos 3:9Proclaim on the fortresses in Ashdod (Philistia) and on the citadels in the land of Egypt, and say, “Assemble yourselves on the mountains of Samaria, and see the great confusion within her and the oppressions and abuse of authority in her midst.
• Amos 4:1Hear this word, you [well-fed, pampered] cows (women) of Bashan who are on the mountain of Samaria, Who oppress the poor, who crush the needy, Who say to their husbands, “Bring [the wine] now, and let us drink!”
• Micah 2:2They covet fields and seize them, And houses, and take them away. They oppress and rob a man and his house, A man and his inheritance.
• Zechariah 7:10and do not oppress or exploit the widow or the fatherless, the stranger or the poor; and do not devise or even imagine evil in your hearts against one another.’
• Malachi 3:5“Then I will come near you for judgment; I will be a swift witness against sorcerers, against adulterers, against perjurers, and against those who oppress the laborer in his wages and widows and the fatherless, and against those who turn away the alien [from his right], and those who do not fear Me [with awe-filled reverence],” says the Lord of hosts.

Commentaries on Zephaniah 3:1

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 1Wo to her that is filthy - This is a denunciation of Divine judgment against Jerusalem.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 1The “woe,” having gone round the pagan nations, again circles round where it began, the “Jerusalem that killed the prophets and stoned those that were sent unto her” Matthew 23:37. Woe upon her, and joy to the holy Jerusalem, the “new Jerusalem Revelation 3:12; Revelation 21:10, the Jerusalem which is from above, the mother of us all,” close this prophecy; both in figure; destruction of her and the whole earth, in time, the emblem of the eternal death…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 1Further reproofs for sin. (1-7) Encouragement to look for mercy. (8-13) Promises of future favour and prosperity. (14-20) Verses 1-7 The holy God hates sin most in those nearest to him. A sinful state is, and will be, a woful state. Yet they had the tokens of God's presence, and all the advantages of knowing his will, with the strongest reasons to do it; still they persisted in disobedience. Alas, that men often are more active in doing wickedness than…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1Polluted Jerusalem (made unclean by sin and wrongdoing) had turned away from its calling to be a holy city (Isaiah 52:1).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-201. filthy--Maurer translates from a different root, "rebellious," "contumacious." But the following term, "polluted," refers rather to her inward moral filth, in spite of her outward ceremonial purity [Calvin]. Grotius says, the Hebrew is used of women who have prostituted their virtue. There is in the Hebrew Moreah; a play on the name Moriah, the hill on which the temple was built; implying the glaring contrast between their filthiness and the holiness…Read the comment

In the dictionaries

• Pride
• Zephaniah, Book of

Commentaries on Zephaniah 3

• 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