New English Translation
Zephaniah 2:4
4Indeed, Gaza will be deserted and Ashkelon will become a heap of ruins. Invaders will drive away the people of Ashdod by noon, and Ekron will be overthrown.
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
2before God’s decree becomes reality and the day of opportunity disappears like windblown chaff, before the Lord’s raging anger overtakes you – before the day of the Lord’s angry judgment overtakes you! 3Seek the Lord’s favor, all you humble people of the land who have obeyed his commands! Strive to do what is right! Strive to be humble! Maybe you will be protected on the day of the Lord’s angry judgment. Indeed, Gaza will be deserted and Ashkelon will become a heap of ruins. Invaders will drive away the people of Ashdod by noon, and Ekron will be overthrown. 5Those who live by the sea, the people who came from Crete, are as good as dead. The Lord has decreed your downfall, Canaan, land of the Philistines: “I will destroy everyone who lives there!” 6The seacoast will be used as pasture lands by the shepherds and as pens for their flocks.
Read all of Zephaniah 2Zephaniah 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 foreigners living in Egypt; all the kings of the land of Uz; all the kings of the land of the Philistines, the people of Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, the people who had been left alive from Ashdod;
- Jeremiah 47:1The Lord spoke to the prophet Jeremiah about the Philistines before Pharaoh attacked Gaza.
- Ezekiel 25:15“This is what the sovereign Lord says: ‘The Philistines have exacted merciless revenge, showing intense scorn in their effort to destroy Judah with unrelenting hostility.
- Amos 1:6This is what the Lord says: “Because Gaza has committed three crimes – make that four! – I will not revoke my decree of judgment. They deported a whole community and sold them to Edom.
- Zechariah 9:5Ashkelon will see and be afraid; Gaza will be in great anguish, as will Ekron, for her hope will have been dried up. Gaza will lose her king, and Ashkelon will no longer be inhabited.
- Psalms 91:6the plague that comes in the darkness, or the disease that comes at noon.
- Jeremiah 6:4They will say, ‘Prepare to do battle against it! Come on! Let’s attack it at noon!’ But later they will say, ‘Oh, oh! Too bad! The day is almost over and the shadows of evening are getting long.
- Jeremiah 15:8Their widows will become in my sight more numerous than the grains of sand on the seashores. At noontime I will bring a destroyer against the mothers of their young men. I will cause anguish and terror to fall suddenly upon them.
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
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
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