Zephaniah 2:13

Zephaniah 2:13 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And he will stretch out his hand against the north, and destroy Assyria; and will make Nineveh a desolation, and dry like a wilderness.
• English Standard Version (ESV)And he will stretch out his hand against the north and destroy Assyria, and he will make Nineveh a desolation, a dry waste like the desert.
• New King James Version (NKJV)And He will stretch out His hand against the north, Destroy Assyria, And make Nineveh a desolation, As dry as the wilderness.
• New Living Translation (NLT)And the Lord will strike the lands of the north with his fist, destroying the land of Assyria. He will make its great capital, Nineveh, a desolate wasteland, parched like a desert.

Context of Zephaniah 2:13

11The Lord will be awesome to them when he destroys all the gods of the earth. Distant nations will bow down to him, all of them in their own lands. 12“You Cushites, too, will be slain by my sword.” He will stretch out his hand against the north and destroy Assyria, leaving Nineveh utterly desolate and dry as the desert. 14Flocks and herds will lie down there, creatures of every kind. The desert owl and the screech owl will roost on her columns. Their hooting will echo through the windows, rubble will fill the doorways, the beams of cedar will be exposed. 15This 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.

Zephaniah 2:13 word by word

וְיֵ֤ט יָדוֹ֙ עַל־צָפ֔וֹן וִֽיאַבֵּ֖ד אֶת־אַשּׁ֑וּר וְיָשֵׂ֤ם אֶת־נִֽינְוֵה֙ לִשְׁמָמָ֔ה צִיָּ֖ה כַּמִּדְבָּֽר׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• And he will stretch outנָטָהnâţâh · to stretchH5186
• his handיָדyâd · handH3027
• against the northצָפוֹןtsâphôn tsâphôn · northH6828
• and destroyאָבַד'âbad · to perishH6
• Assyriaאַשּׁוּר'ashshûr 'ashshûr · AssyriaH804
• and will makeשׂוּםώûm ώîym · to set: makeH7760
• Ninevehנִינְוֵהnîynevêh · NinevehH5210
• a desolationשְׁמָמָהshemâmâh shimâmâh · devastationH8077
• dryצִיָּהtsîyâh · drynessH6723
• like a wildernessמִדְבָּרmidbâr · wildernessH4057

Cross-references for Zephaniah 2:13

• Psalms 83:8Even Assyria has joined them to reinforce Lot’s descendants.
• Isaiah 10:12When the Lord has finished all his work against Mount Zion and Jerusalem, he will say, “I will punish the king of Assyria for the willful pride of his heart and the haughty look in his eyes.
• Isaiah 11:11In that day the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to reclaim the surviving remnant of his people from Assyria, from Lower Egypt, from Upper Egypt, from Cush, from Elam, from Babylonia, from Hamath and from the islands of the Mediterranean.
• Ezekiel 31:3Consider Assyria, once a cedar in Lebanon, with beautiful branches overshadowing the forest; it towered on high, its top above the thick foliage.
• Nahum 1:1A prophecy concerning Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite.
• Nahum 2:10She is pillaged, plundered, stripped! Hearts melt, knees give way, bodies tremble, every face grows pale.
• Nahum 3:7All who see you will flee from you and say, ‘Nineveh is in ruins—who will mourn for her?’ Where can I find anyone to comfort you?”
• Zechariah 10:10I will bring them back from Egypt and gather them from Assyria. I will bring them to Gilead and Lebanon, and there will not be room enough for them.

Commentaries on Zephaniah 2:13

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 13He will - destroy Assyria - He will overthrow the empire, and Nineveh, their metropolitan city. See on Jonah and Nahum.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. 13Zephaniah shifts focus from the south (Zephaniah 2:12) to the north. Like Nahum before him, he predicts the downfall of Assyria that would happen soon.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1313. Here he passes suddenly to the north. Nineveh was destroyed by Cyaxares and Nabopolassar, 625 B.C. The Scythian hordes, by an inroad into Media and thence in the southwest of Asia (thought by many to be the forces described by Zephaniah, as the invaders of Judea, rather than the Chaldeans), for a while interrupted Cyaxares' operations; but he finally succeeded. Arbaces and Belesis previously subverted the Assyrian empire under Sardanapalus (that is…Read the comment

Topics related to Zephaniah 2:13

• Assyria
• Nineveh

In the dictionaries

• Assyria
• Nineveh
• Assyria, Assyrian, Assyrian Empire
• Nineveh, Ninevite
• Cottage
• Nahum, Book of
• Thereupon
• Judah, Kingdom of
• North; North Country
• Zephaniah, 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