God’s Word Translation
Zephaniah 2:6
6The seacoast will become pastureland with meadows for shepherds and fenced-off places for sheep.
Zephaniah 2:6 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And the sea coast shall be dwellings and cottages for shepherds, and folds for flocks.
- New International Version (NIV)The land by the sea will become pastures having wells for shepherds and pens for flocks.
- English Standard Version (ESV)And you, O seacoast, shall be pastures, with meadows for shepherds and folds for flocks.
- New King James Version (NKJV)The seacoast shall be pastures, With shelters for shepherds and folds for flocks.
Context of Zephaniah 2:6
4Gaza will be deserted, and Ashkelon will be destroyed. Ashdod will be driven out at noon, and Ekron will be torn out by the roots. 5How horrible it will be for those who live on the seacoast, for the nation from Crete. The Lord’s word is against you, Canaan, the land of the Philistines: “I will destroy you so that no one will be living there.” The seacoast will become pastureland with meadows for shepherds and fenced-off places for sheep. 7The coast will belong to the faithful few from the nation of Judah. There they will graze their sheep. In the evening they will lie down in the houses of Ashkelon. The Lord their God will take care of them and will restore their fortunes. 8“I have heard the insults from Moab and the mockery from Ammon. They insulted my people and bragged about their territory.
Read all of Zephaniah 2Zephaniah 2:6 word by word
וְֽהָיְתָ֞ה חֶ֣בֶל הַיָּ֗ם נְוֹ֛ת כְּרֹ֥ת רֹעִ֖ים וְגִדְר֥וֹת צֹֽאן׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Zephaniah 2:6
- Zephaniah 2:14Flocks will lie down in it along with animals of every kind. Even pelicans and herons will nest on top of its columns. Listen! A bird will sing in a window. The doorway will be in ruins, because the Lord will expose the cedar beams.
- Isaiah 17:2The cities of Aroer will be deserted. These cities will be used for sheep, which will lie down in them. There will be no one to disturb those sheep.
- Ezekiel 25:5I will turn Rabbah into a pasture for camels, and I will turn Ammon into a resting place for sheep. Then you will know that I am the Lord.
Commentaries on Zephaniah 2:6
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 6And the sea-coasts shall be dwellings - Newcome considers כרת keroth as a proper name, not cottages or folds. The Septuagint have , Crete, and so has the Syriac. Abp. Secker notes, Alibi non extat כרת , et forte notat patriam כרתים . "The word כרת is not found elsewhere, and probably it is the name of the country of the Cherethim."Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 6The seacoast shall be dwellings and cottages - oliterally, cuttings or diggings. This is the central meaning of the word; the place of the Cherethites (the cutters off) shall be “cheroth” of shepherds, places which they dug up that their flocks might be enclosed therein. The tracts once full of fighting men, the scourge of Judah, should be so desolate of its former people, as to become a sheep-walk. Men of peace should take the place of its warriors. So…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. 6pastures … wells for shepherds and folds for sheep: The destruction of cities and their return to nature is a severe punishment from God. See also Isaiah 7:23–25; 13:19–21; 32:9–15; Ezekiel 35:9.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 66. dwellings and cottages for shepherds--rather, "dwellings with cisterns" (that is, water-tanks dug in the earth) for shepherds. Instead of a thick population and tillage, the region shall become a pasturage for nomad shepherds' flocks. The Hebrew for "dug cisterns," Ceroth, seems a play on sounds, alluding to their name Cherethites (Zep 2:5): Their land shall become what their national name implies, a land of cisterns. Maurer translates, "Feasts for…Read the comment
Topics related to Zephaniah 2:6
In the dictionaries
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
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
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