Zephaniah 1:13

Zep 1:13 Therefore their goods shall become a booty, and their houses a desolation: they shall also build houses, but not inhabit [them]; and they shall plant vineyards, but not drink the wine thereof.

Ver. 13. Therefore their goads shall become a booty] Their illgotten goods, Zep 1:9; Zep 1:11 (for a proof of my providence which they blushed not to deny), shall be carried away by the Chaldees, to their unmedicinable sorrow and heartbreak, Ecc 4:1-3.

And their houses a desolation] Because built in blood. See Nah 2:11-12.

They shall also build houses, but not inhabit them, &c.] Ex lege mutuatur minas. That they might the more regard his words, the prophet makes use of the menaces of the law, Deu 28:30; Deu 28:39, whereof the prophets were interpreters; applying, as here, the general doctrine thereof to the people of their times. To rebuke or exhort men in good words, in God’s own words, is the readiest way to prevail with them; unless they be Lucifugae scripturarum (as Tertullian saith of the Marcionites and Valentinians), which yet will take hold of them howsoever, Zec 1:6.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1:13 God would send an invading force to plunder Jerusalem. The destruction would come so quickly that those with ill-gotten gain would not survive to enjoy their wealth.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Therefore their goods shall become a booty, &c.--Fulfilling the prophecy in Deu 28:30, Deu 28:39 (compare Amo 5:11).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 13. Their goods (in which they trust) shall become a booty] To the Chaldeans. They shall have no profit of all their labours. The houses they have built they shall not inhabit; of the wine of the vineyards they have planted, they shall not drink. See Am 5:11, where we find the same evils threatened.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Zephaniah pursues the same subject—that God, after long forbearance, would punish his rebellious and obstinate people. Hence he says, that they were now delivered, even by God himself, into the hands of their enemies. They indeed knew that many were inimical to them; but they did not consider God’s judgment, as God himself elsewhere complains—that they did not regard the hand of him who smote them. Isaiah 9:13. Our Prophet, therefore, declares now that they were given up to destruction, and that their enemies would find no trouble nor difficulty in invading the land, since all places would be open to plunder. And he recites what is found in Leviticus 26:20; for the Prophets were interpreters of the law, and the only difference between Moses and them is, that they apply his general truth to their own time. The Prophet now pursues this course, as though he had said, that God had not in vain or to no purpose threatened this evil in his law; for the Jews would find by experience that this would really be the case, and that it had been truly said, that the fruit of the land, their habitations, and other comforts of life, would be transferred to others. It now follows—

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(13) Part of the curse on apostasy in Deuteronomy 28 is, “Thou shalt build an house, and thou shalt not dwell therein: thou shalt plant a vineyard, and shalt not gather the grapes thereof.”

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

13. The verse implies that the “search” (Zep_1:12) is made by the foe under commission of the Lord; the foe is in quest of spoil, but his acts are the Lord’s “visitation” on the unbelieving.

They shall also build houses] and they shall build houses, but not inhabit them. The phrase is a common one signifying that they shall not enjoy the fruit of their labour; meaning, and the houses which they have built they shall not inhabit. Comp. Amo_5:11; Mic_6:15; Deu_28:30; Deu_28:39; Isa_65:21-22.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Therefore their goods shall become a booty To the enemy; the riches they trusted in, and thought themselves so secure of; and therefore denied divine Providence, which ought to be depended upon amidst the greatest affluence; or otherwise the Lord has various ways by which he can soon strip men of all their enjoyments, and dispose of them to others: and their houses a desolation; be pulled down by the enemy; or left uninhabited, they being killed or carried captive, even their whole families: they shall also build houses, but not inhabit [them]; not long, at least; not always, as they expected, and promised themselves when they built them: and they shall plant vineyards, and not drink the wine thereof: but before the vines planted by them bring forth grapes, and these are pressed, and wine made of them, they should fall into the hands of the enemy, who would drink it, and not they; and all this agreeably to what was threatened them in the law of Moses, which they ought to have regarded, ( Deuteronomy 28:30 ) .

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Therefore their goods - Literally, “And their strength.” It is the simple sequel in God’s Providence. It is a continued narrative. God will visit those who say, that God does not interfere in man’s affairs, and, it shall be seen Jer 44:28 whose words shall stand, God’s or their’s. All which God had threatened in the law shall be fulfilled. God, in the fulfillment of the punishment, which He had foretold in the law Lev 26:32-33; Deut. 28, would vindicate not only His present Providence, but His continual government of His own world. All which is strength to man, shall the rather fail, because it is strength, and they presume on it and it deceives them. Its one end is to “become a prey” of devils. Riches, learning, rule, influence, power, bodily strength, genius, eloquence, popular favor, shall all fail a man, and he, when stripped of them, shall be the more bared because he gathered them around him. “Wealth is ever a runaway and has no stability, but rather intoxicates and inclines to revolt and has unsteady feet. Exceeding folly is it to think much of it. For it will not rescue those lying under the divine displeasure, nor will it free any from guilt, when God decreeth punishment, and bringeth the judgment befitting on the transgressors. How utterly useless this eagerness after wealth is to the ungodly, he teacheth, saying, that “their strength shall be a prey” to the Chaldaean.”

And their houses a desolation - Cyril: “For they are, of whom it may be said very truly, “This is the man that took not God for his strength, but trusted unto the multitude of his riches, and strengthened himself in his wickedness” Psa 52:7. But if indeed their houses are adorned in a costly manner, they shall not be theirs, for they shall be burned, and themselves go into captivity, leaving all in their house, and deprived of all which would gladden. And this God said clearly to the king of Judah by Jeremiah, “Thou hast builded thyself a large house and wide chambers, ceiled with cedar, and painted with vermilion. Shalt thou reign because thou closest thyself with cedar!” Jer 22:14-15. Gregory (Mor. viii. 14): “As the house of the body is the bodily dwelling, so to each mind its house is that, wherein through desire it is wont to dwell,” and “desolate” shall they be, being severed forever from the things they desired, and forever deserted by God. “They shall also build houses but not inhabit them,” as the rich man said to his soul, “Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years .... Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee; then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?” Luk 12:19-20. Before the siege by the Romans, Jerusalem and the temple had been greatly beautified, only to be destroyed. “And they shall plant vineyards, but not drink the wine thereof.” This is the woe, first pronounced in the law Deu 28:39, often repeated and ever found true. Wickedness makes joy its end, yet never finds it, seeking it where it is not, out of God.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Strength. Children or riches. (Haydock)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Therefore; as a punishment for other sins, so for this secure, atheistical denial of Providence; though they have denied, they shall feel, and confess, that the evil they suffer is both just, and from my hand too.

Their goods; stores in their shops and warehouses, furniture in their chambers, and wardrobes.

A booty; a prey divided among the Babylonish soldiers, invading, prevailing, wasting villages and cities.

Their houses a desolation; that they may remember the curse threatened in the law, executed on them, and acknowledge that he who gave the law rules by it.

Build houses, but not inhabit them, & c.; according to that Deu 28:30,39.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

13. These indifferent and skeptical persons Jehovah will startle from their spiritual slumber when he manifests himself as judge and ruler of the world.

Therefore — Their disregard of Jehovah compels him to vindicate his power and supremacy.

Their goods shall become a booty — The prophet expects the judgment to take the form of a hostile invasion; the enemy will capture the city and carry off as booty the possessions of the inhabitants.

Their houses a desolation — Nothing but ruins and desolation will be left behind. 13b seems to be a sort of proverbial saying announcing that the godless will not be permitted to enjoy the results of their labors (see on Amo_5:11; compare Mic_6:15). The originality of 13b has been questioned, and not without reason. It is certainly strange that the prophet should announce the judgment as imminent (Zep_1:7; compare Zep_1:14), and then, almost in the same breath, should give the inhabitants enough time to build houses and plant vineyards before the judgment falls.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Their goods; literally, their strength; their wealth in which they trusted shall become the prey of the enemy, and thus they shall learn that God ruleth in the affairs of men. They shall also build houses, etc. They shall prove in their own case the reality of the punishment threatened in the Law. (Lev_26:32, etc.; Deu_28:30, Deu_28:39; comp. Amo_5:11 Mic_6:15)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.