Zephaniah 1:18

Zep 1:18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD’S wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.

Ver. 18. Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord’s wrath] "We were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold," 1Pe 1:18. Money hath drowned many a soul, 1Ti 6:9, delivered none. See Pro 11:4 Isa 13:17 Eze 7:19. {See Trapp on "Pro 11:4"} It is righteousness, and not riches, that delivereth from death, Pro 10:2. Money can neither pacify God, nor still the conscience, nor stop the enemy’s mouth, but inflame them rather with an unsatisfiable desire of enjoying all, as Rome did the Gauls, and Cyprus the Romans (Sextus Rufus); and as the pearls, usually cast out with the flood, and gathered at the ebb, drew Caesar’s affection for the conquest of Britain (Sueton.).

But the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy] The sins of God’s people are not only disobediences, but treacheries, because of the covenant. God is thereby provoked to jealousy, which "is cruel as the grave," or hard as hell; "the coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame," Son 8:6, the word signifies the consuming flame of God.

For he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land] Swept clean by God with the besom of destruction; so that the land was desolate after them, Zec 7:14. Affliction rose not up the second time, Nah 1:9. See the notes there, and learn to give God the glory of his severity against sin.

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.

Neither . . . silver nor . . . gold shall . . . deliver them, &c.-- (Pro 11:4).

fire of his jealousy-- (Eze 38:19); His wrath jealous for His honor consuming the guilty like fire.

make even a speedy riddance of all--rather, a "consummation" (complete destruction: "full end," Jer 46:28; Eze 11:13) "altogether sudden" [MAURER]. "A consumption, and that a sudden one" [CALVIN].

Next: Zephaniah Chapter 2

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 18. Their silver nor their gold] In which they trusted, and from which they expected happiness; these shall not profit them in this awful day. And God will bring this about speedily; and a speedy riddance - a universal desolation, shall in a short time take place in every part of the land.

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

He repeats what he has already said—that the helps which the Jews hoped would be in readiness to prevent God’s vengeance would be vain. For though men dare not openly to resist God, yet they hope by some winding courses to find out some way by which they may avert his judgment. As then the Jews, trusting in their wealth, and in their fortified cities, became insolent towards God, the Prophet here declares, that neither gold nor silver should be a help to them. Let them, he says, accumulate wealth; though by the mass of their gold and silver they form high mountains for themselves, yet they shall not be able to turn aside the hand of God, nor be able to deliver themselves,—and why? He repeats again the same thing, that it would be the day of wrath. We indeed know, that the most savage enemies are sometimes pacified by money, for avarice mitigates their cruelty; but the Prophet declares here, that as God would be the ruler in that war, there would be no redemption, and therefore money would be useless: for God could by no means receive them into favor, except they repented and truly humbled themselves before him.

He therefore adds, that the land would be devoured by the fire of God’s jealousy, or indignation. He compares God’s wrath to fire; for no agreement can be made when fire rages, but the more materials there are the more will there be to increase the fire. So then the Prophet excludes the Jews from any hope of deliverance, except they reconciled themselves to God by true and sincere repentance; for a consummation, he says, he will make as to all the inhabitants of the land, and one indeed very quick or speedy. In short, he means, that as the Jews had hardened themselves against every instruction, they would find God’s vengeance to be such as would wholly consume them, as they would not anticipate it, but on the contrary enhance it by their pride and stupidity, and even deride 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.

(18) He shall make even a speedy riddance.—Literally, He shall effect a destruction, yea, a terrible one. Comp. Isa_10:23, from which passage this phraseology is probably borrowed.

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

18. The idea of the verse is illustrated in Pro_11:4, “Riches profit not in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivereth from death,” cf. Eze_7:19. The instruments also whom Jehovah employs to execute His judgments are sometimes animated by a loftiness of purpose and mind that despises mere earthly treasures: “Behold, I stir up the Medes against them, which regard not silver, and as for gold they delight not in it” (Isa_13:17).

the whole land] Rather, the whole earth; ch. Zep_3:8.

devoured by the fire of his jealousy] “Jealousy” means heat, and may refer to any violent emotion, as military ardour (Isa_42:13); usually it means the strong reaction or self-assertion of the mind against an injury. If the term have this special sense here it is explained by the words “they have sinned against Jehovah” (Zep_1:17). The figure of jealousy here is that of a fire devouring the whole earth. The words are repeated Zep_3:8.

make even a speedy riddance] lit. for an end, surely a terrible (or, sudden) destruction will he make (of) all the inhabiters of the earth. Cf. Nah_1:8. The chapter ends with announcing anew the universal destruction threatened in Zep_1:2-3.

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.

Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord's wrath Which they have gotten in an unjust way, and have hoarded up, and put their confidence in; these were the lees on which they were settled; but now, as they would be disregarded by the Lord, as insufficient to atone for their sins, and appease his wrath, and procure his favour; see ( Job 36:18 Job 36:19 ) ( Proverbs 11:4 ) so they would be of no avail to them, to deliver from their enemies, who would not be bribed therewith to save their lives; the same is said of the Medes at the taking of Babylon, ( Isaiah 13:17 ) : but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy; his zeal against sin, and for his own glory, shall burn like fire; which shall consume the whole land, and all the inhabitants of it, and was not to be stopped by anything that could be done by them; so furious and raging would it be: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land; burn up at once all the briers and thorns, even all that offend, and do iniquity, and spare neither root nor branch; or, as when a field is cleared of the stubble on it, after the wheat is gathered in; or a grain floor of its chaff, after the wheat is separated from it; thus with the besom of destruction would the Lord sweep away the sinful inhabitants of Judea, and clear it of them, as he did by the sword, by famine, by pestilence, and by captivity.

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

Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord’s wrath - Gain unjustly gotten was the cause of their destruction. For, as Ezekiel closes the like description; “They shall cast their silver into the streets, and their gold shall be removed; their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the Lord; they shall not satisfy their souls nor fill their bowels: “because it is the stumbling-block of their iniquity” Eze 7:19. Much less shall any possession, outward or inward, be of avail in the Great Day; since in death the rich man’s “pomp shall not follow him” Psa 49:17, and every gift which he has misused, whether of mind or spirit, even the knowledge of God without doing His will, shall but increase damnation. “Sinners will then have nothing but their sins.”

Here the prophet uses images belonging more to the immediate destruction; at the close the words again widen, and belong, in their fullest literal sense, to the Day of Judgment. “The whole land,” rather, as at the beginning, “the whole earth shall be devoured by the fire of His jelousy; for He shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land:” rather, “He shall make an utter, yea altogether a terriffic destruction of all the dwellers of the earth.” What Nahum had foretold of Nineveh , “He shall make the place thereof an utter consumption,” that Zephaniah foretells of all the inhabitants of the world. For what is this, “the whole earth shall be devoured by the fire of His jealousy,” but what Peter says, “the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up?” 2Pe 3:13. And what is that he says, “He shall make all the dwellers of the earth an utter, yea altogether a hasty destruction,” but a general judgment of all, who belong to the world, whose home, citizenship, whose whole mind is in the world, not as true Christians, who are strangers and pilgrims here, and their “citizenship is in heaven?” Heb 11:13; Phi 3:20.

These God shall make an utter, terrific, speedy destruction, a living death, so that they shall at once both be and not be; be, as continued in being; not be, as having no life of God, but only a continued death in misery. And this shall be through the jealousy of Almighty God, that divine quality in Him, whereby He loves and wills to be loved, and endures not those who give to others the love for which He gave so much and which is so wholly due to Himself Alone. Augustine, Conf. i. 5. p. 3, Oxford Translation: “Thou demandest my love, and if I give it not, art wroth with me, and threatenest me with grievous woes. Is it then a slight woe to love Thee not?” What will be that anger, which is Infinite Love, but which becomes, through man’s sin, Hate?

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

Gold. Ezechiel vii. 19. Thus the Medes despised riches, Isaias xiii. 17. (Calmet) --- Jealousy. God regarded the synagogue as his spouse. (Menochius) --- "If he loved not the soul of man, he would not be jealous of it." (St. Jerome) (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).

Neither their silver nor their gold: sometimes these have purchased friends, and redeemed a life at the hand of greedy soldiers, who have spared on promise of money; but now it shall not be so, neither silver nor gold shall help.

Shall be able to deliver; to pacify the enraged sultan of Babylon, who had been formerly appeased with presents and tribute money, but will no more. Nor shall his soldiers dare to spare or save any when they are charged to slay man, woman, and child, as in the taking of Jerusalem it is probable they were charged, Psa 137:7-9.

The Lord’s wrath: were it the wrath of man only, gifts might appease it; but it is the wrath of God, who is a righteous Judge, and receives not gifts.

Shall be devoured; utterly ruined, its wealth carried away, its provisions eat up, its stores exhausted, and its stock (which should continue their provision) utterly destroyed, as Zep 1:2.

By the fire of his jealousy; to which their sins provoked the Lord, which their sins enkindled, and now it burns that notre can quench it; see Deu 28:15, to the end of the chapter; all which God will now make good against them.

For he shall make even a speedy riddance: though lie had with wonderful patience waited and forborne, now he would wait no longer, but with speedy executions fulfil his threats and accomplish his wrath; which he did within less than twenty years after this prophecy, as is most likely, on the accuratest computation we can make of the times of Zephaniah’s prophesying and Nebuchadnezzar’s taking the city.

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

18. Ordinarily liberty and safety might be purchased from an invader by the payment of a heavy tribute, and thus the Egyptians are said to have purchased their freedom from the Scythians (see p. 511), but in this case gold and silver will not tempt the divinely appointed executioner (Isa_13:17; Eze_7:19; compare Pro_11:4).

The whole land — Judah; not “the whole earth,” for in Zep_1:4-18 the prophet confines himself to Judah and Jerusalem (not so in Zep_3:8).

The fire of his jealousy — See on Joe_2:18. In this case, however, the divine resentment is aroused not against those who have dishonored his people, but against his people for dishonoring Jehovah (compare Zep_1:17). While the devastation is wrought by a hostile army, back of it is Jehovah, who has made the enemy “the rod of his anger, the staff of his indignation” (Isa_10:5).

He shall make even a speedy riddance — Literally, for an end, even a terrible destruction he shall make. The destruction will be complete (compare Nah_1:8).

Them that dwell in the land — As before, the land of Judah.

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

Neither their silver, etc. They cannot bribe this enemy; their wealth cannot win for them immunity. (Isa_13:17 Eze_7:19) The fire of his jealousy. (Zep_3:8) The whole earth (for, as we have seen in Zep_1:2, Zep_1:3, the judgment is universal) shall be punished in the wrath of the Lord, who will not have the honour which is due to him given to any other. He shall make even a speedy riddance; more closely, he shall make an end, yea, a speedy end. (comp. Isa_10:23, which our text imitates) (For the sudden and unexpected arrival of the day of the Lord, see Luk_17:26, etc.)

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

In the land - Therefore let not sinners be laid asleep by the patience of God; for when the measure of their iniquity is full, his justice will both overtake and overcome them, will make quick and thorough work.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.