Zephaniah 2:4

Zephaniah 2:4 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)For Gaza shall be forsaken, and Ashkelon a desolation: they shall drive out Ashdod at the noon day, and Ekron shall be rooted up.
• New International Version (NIV)Gaza will be abandoned and Ashkelon left in ruins. At midday Ashdod will be emptied and Ekron uprooted.
• English Standard Version (ESV)For Gaza shall be deserted, and Ashkelon shall become a desolation; Ashdod's people shall be driven out at noon, and Ekron shall be uprooted.
• New King James Version (NKJV)For Gaza shall be forsaken, And Ashkelon desolate; They shall drive out Ashdod at noonday, And Ekron shall be uprooted.

Context of Zephaniah 2:4

2The wind takes away the dry parts of a plant that covered the seed. It will be like that when I punish you. Before it is the time for me to punish you, look for me. Before this time is past, look for me. Look for me, before I become very, very angry with you. There will be a day when the Lord will be angry. Look for me, before that day. Yes, look for the Lord, all you people who want to make him happy. You have done what the Lord wants. Continue to do what is good. But do not think that you are great. Perhaps you will find a safe place on the day when the Lord is angry. Then, the people who have lived in Gaza city and Ashkelon city will not be there. Enemies will also send away the people in Ashdod city at midday. And those enemies will destroy Ekron city. 5Terrible trouble will come to you people who came from Crete, you people who live beside the sea! The Lord has said this against you: I will kill all you Philistines who live in the land of Canaan! You will all die. So nobody will live there. 6By the sea, there will be houses for people who feed sheep. There will be safe places for their sheep.

Zephaniah 2:4 word by word

כִּ֤י עַזָּה֙ עֲזוּבָ֣ה תִֽהְיֶ֔ה וְאַשְׁקְל֖וֹן לִשְׁמָמָ֑ה אַשְׁדּ֗וֹד בַּֽצָּהֳרַ֙יִם֙ יְגָ֣רְשׁ֔וּהָ וְעֶקְר֖וֹן תֵּעָקֵֽר׃ סRead the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• For Gazaעַזָּה‛azzâh · GazaH5804
• shall be forsakenעָזַב‛âzab · to leave: forsakeH5800
• and Ashkelonאַשְׁקְלוֹן'ashqelôn · AshkelonH831
• a desolationשְׁמָמָהshemâmâh shimâmâh · devastationH8077
• they shall drive outגָּרַשׁgârash · to drive out: drive outH1644
• Ashdodאַשְׁדּוֹד'ashdôd · AshdodH795
• at the noon dayצֹ֫הַרtsôhar · middayH6672
• and Ekronעֶקְרוֹן‛eqrôn · EkronH6138
• shall be rooted upעָקַר‛âqar · to uprootH6131

Cross-references for Zephaniah 2:4

• Jeremiah 25:20the foreign people who lived in Egypt; all the kings of Uz; all the kings of the Philistines (They were the kings of Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron and the people who were still living in Ashdod);
• Jeremiah 47:1The Lord gave this message to the prophet Jeremiah before Pharaoh and the army of Egypt attacked Gaza. The Lord said this about the Philistines:
• Ezekiel 25:15The AlmightyLord says this: The Philistines were cruel to Judah's people when they wanted to punish them. They hated Judah's people and they wanted to destroy them. They would not stop attacking them.
• Amos 1:6The Lord says, ‘The people in Gaza have done more and more wrong things. So I will certainly punish them. They caught my people and they took them away from their homes. They sold them to the people in Edom.
• Zechariah 9:5The people in Ashkelon city will see it and they will be afraid. The people in Gaza city will see it and they will be afraid. The things that the people in Ekron city hope for will not happen. The king of Gaza will die and there will be no people in Ashkelon any longer.
• Psalms 91:6Do not be afraid of any illness that comes when it is dark, or any trouble that comes in the middle of the day.
• Jeremiah 6:4They will say to their soldiers, ‘Get ready to attack the city! We will attack at noon!’ But if the day is almost finished, they will say, ‘It is already evening and it will soon be dark.
• Jeremiah 15:8There will be more widows in Judah, than there is sand on the shore of the sea. At midday I will send an enemy to destroy the young men. Their mothers will weep for them. It will happen very suddenly. Fear and terror will come!

Commentaries on Zephaniah 2:4

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4Gaza shall be forsaken - This prophecy is against the Philistines. They had been greatly harassed by the kings of Egypt; but were completely ruined by Nebuchadnezzar, who took all Phoenicia from the Egyptians; and about the time of his taking Tyre, devastated all the seignories of the Philistines. This ruin we have seen foretold by the other prophets, and have already remarked its exact fulfillment.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4For - As a ground for repentance and perseverance, he goes through Pagan nations, upon whom God‘s wrath should come. Jerome: “As Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, after visions concerning Judah, turn to other nations round about, and according to the character of each, announce what shall come upon them, and dwell at length upon it, so doth this prophet, though more briefly” And thus under five nations, who lay west, east, south and north, he includes all…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. 4Zephaniah first focuses on judging the foreign nations (Zephaniah 2:4–15). Then, he returns to judging Judah and Jerusalem (Zephaniah 3:1–8). Finally, he describes God's plans for his purified and obedient people (Zephaniah 3:9–20).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 44. For--He makes the punishment awaiting the neighboring states an argument why the ungodly should repent (Zep 2:1) and the godly persevere, namely, that so they may escape from the general calamity. Gaza shall be forsaken--In the Hebrew there is a play of similar sounds, Gaza Gazubah; Gaza shall be forsaken, as its name implies. So the Hebrew of the next clause, Ekron teeakeer. at the noonday--when on account of the heat Orientals usually sleep, and…Read the comment

Topics related to Zephaniah 2:4

• Ashdod
• Ashkelon
• Ekron
• Gaza
• Philistines

In the dictionaries

• Ashdod
• Ashkelon
• Ekron
• Gaza
• Ekron; Ekronite
• Ashdod, or Azotus
• Ashdod, Azotus
• Ekron, Ekronites
• Cottage
• Nahum, Book of

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