Zephaniah 3:20

Zep 3:20 At that time will I bring you [again], even in the time that I gather you: for I will make you a name and a praise among all people of the earth, when I turn back your captivity before your eyes, saith the LORD.

Ver. 20. At that time will I bring you again] And this I tell you again, that you may the better believe it; only you must wait my time, for, in time will I bring you again, and in time will I gather you, and in time will I make your name and a praise among all people of the earth, as before I promised; but you must give me time to do all this. He that believest maketh not haste. The vision is yet for an appointed time, Hab 2:3. {See Trapp on "Hab 2:3"} Limit not the Holy One of Israel, set him not a day, say not now or never; wake not your beloved till he please. He is a God of judgment, and waiteth to be gracious, Isa 30:18. Have patience, therefore, yea, let patience have her perfect work, Jas 1:4, that ye may receive a full reward, 2Jn 1:8. For behold I come, and my reward is with me, to give you an expected end, Jer 29:11.

When I turn back your captivity] Heb. Captivities; that is, all four captivities together For the Jews were carried captive to Babylon (1) Under Manasseh, 2Ch 33:11. (2) Next, under Jehoiachim, 2Ch 36:6. (3) Under Jechonias, 2Ki 24:12 2Ch 36:10. (4) Lastly, under Zedekiah, 2Ch 36:17 2Ki 25:6. All these shall be brought back together by an eminent and signal deliverance.

Before your eyes] Those eyes of yours that failed almost for my salvation, and for the word of my righteousness, Psa 119:123, shall see the accomplishment thereof, and be satisfied Psa 54:7; Psa 92:11. Dexter tibi prae laetitia salter oculus.

Saith the Lord] This is the seal of all, and security sufficient, for Dei dixisse est fecisse To God to have said is to have done, God will not suffer his faithfulness to fail nor alter the thing that is gone out of his lips Psa 89:33-34.

Laus Deo in aeternum.

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.

3:20 On that day: After a time of terrible wrath and judgment, the day of the Lord culminates in everlasting blessings for all who trust in him (3:9, 12; see Ps 2:12; Isa 45:22; see also Rev 19:11–22:5). • I, the Lord, have spoken! Zephaniah’s prophecy, entirely from God (see also Zeph 1:1-3, 10; 2:9; 3:8), is utterly trustworthy.

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

make you a name . . . praise--make you to become celebrated and praised.

turn back your captivity--bring back your captives [MAURER]. The Hebrew is plural, "captivities"; to express the captivities of different ages of their history, as well as the diversity of places in which they were and are dispersed.

before your eyes--Incredible as the event may seem, your own eyes with delight shall see it. You will scarcely believe it for joy, but the testimony of your own eyes shall convince you of the delightful reality (compare Luk 24:41).

Next: Haggai Introduction

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 20. At that time] First, when the seventy years of the Babylonish captivity shall terminate. "I will bring you again" to your own land; and this restoration shall be a type of their redemption from sin and iniquity; and at this time, and at this only, will they have a name and praise among all the people of the earth, not only among the Jews, but the Gentiles.

Before your eyes] Some read before THEIR eyes; that is, the eyes of all people. On their conversion to Christianity, they shall become as eminent as they ever were in the most illustrious days of their history, Lord, hasten the conversion of Israel! Amen.

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

He repeats the same things, with some change in the words; and not without reason, because no one of them thought that the Jews, who were cast as it were into the grave, would ever come forth again, and especially, that they would be raised unto such dignity and unto so elevated an honor. As then this was not probable, that Prophet confirms his prediction—I will restore you, says God, I will gather you, even because I have given you a name; that is, it is my resolved and fixed purpose to render you celebrated: but here again are laid down the words we have already noticed.

He afterwards adds—When I shall restore your captivities. The plural number is to be noticed; and not rightly nor prudently is what has been done by many interpreters, who have rendered the word in the singular number; for the Prophet mentions captivities designedly, as the Jews had not only been driven into exile, but had also been scattered through various countries, so that they were not one captive people, but many troops of captives. Hence his purpose was to obviate a doubt; for it would not have been enough that one captivity should be restored, except all who had been dispersed were collected into one body by the wonderful power of God. And hence he adds before your eyes, that the Jews might be convinced that they should be eye-witnesses of this miracle, which yet they could hardly conceive, without raising up their thoughts above the world.

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.

(20) See Deu_30:3, et seq.

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

20. even in the time that I gather you] The sense is probably as R.V., and at that time will I gather you, though the language of the original is very anomalous.

among all people of the earth] all the peoples of the earth.

turn back your captivity] See on Zep_2:7.

before your eyes] The deliverance shall not be delayed till their eyes are closed and be seen only by their children. Their own eyes shall see it. “This generation shall not pass away till all be fulfilled.” Isa_52:8.

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.

At that time I will bring you [again], even in the time that I gather you That is, at the time that the Lord will gather them in the effectual calling to himself and to his church, he will return them to their own land; and, as soon as the Jews are converted, they will not only be gathered into Christian churches, but will be gathered together in one body, and appoint themselves one head; and will go up out of each of the lands wherein they have been dispersed, and enter into their own land, and possess it; at the same time they are made partakers of the grace of God, they will enjoy all their civil privileges and liberties; see ( Hosea 1:11 ) : for I will make you a name and a praise among all people of the earth; this is repeated from the preceding verse ( Zephaniah 3:19 ) , for the confirmation of it; and in connection with the following clause, to show when it will be: when I turn back your captivity before your eyes, saith the Lord; or "captivities" F24; meaning not the several captivities of the kings of Judah in Babylon, as of Manasseh, Jehoiakim, Jeconiah, and Zedekiah; but the two fold captivity of this people, literal and spiritual; their present outward exile from their own land, captivity and dispersion among the nations; and their spiritual captivity or bondage, to sin, Satan, the law, and the traditions of their elders; from both which they will be delivered at one and the same time; and which will be notorious and manifest; what their eyes will see with pleasure and admiration; and which may he depended upon will be done, since the Lord has said it, whose purposes, promises, and prophecies, never fail of their accomplishment: he is God omniscient and knows with certainty what will be done; he is God omnipotent, and can and will do whatever he has determined, promised, or said should be done. FOOTNOTES: F24 (Mkytwbv ta) "captivitates vestras", Pagninus, Montanus, Calvin, Drusius.

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

At that time will I bring you in - that is, into the one fold, the one Church, the one “Household of God, even in the time that I gather you.” “That time” is the whole time of the Gospel; the one “day of salvation,” in which all who shall ever be gathered, shall be brought into the new Jerusalem. These words were fulfilled, when, at our Lord’s first Coming, the remnant, the true Israel, those “ordained to eternal life” were brought in. It shall be fulfilled again, when “the fullness of the Gentiles shall be “come in,” and so all Israel shall be saved” Rom 11:25-26. It shall most perfectly be fulfilled at the end, when there shall be no going out of those once “brought” in, and those who have gathered others into the Church, shall be “a name and a praise among all people of the earth,” those whom God hath “redeemed out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation” Rev 5:9, shining like stars forever and ever.

When I turn back your captivity - Rup.: “That conversion, then begun, now perfected, when the dead shall rise and they shall be placed on the right hand, soon to receive the kingdom prepared for them from the foundation of the world. O mighty spectacle of the reversed captivity of those once captives; mighty wonder at their present blessedness, as they review the misery of their past captivity!” “Before your eyes,” so that we shall see what we now believe and hope for, the end of all our sufferings, chastisements, losses, achings of the heart, the fullness of our Redemption. That which our eyes have looked for, “our eyes shall behold and not another,” the everliving God as He is, face to Face; “saith the Lord,” Who is the Truth Itself, all Whose words will be fulfilled. “heaven and earth shall pass away, but My Words shall not pass away” Mar 13:31, saith He who is “God blessed forever.” And so the prophet closes in the thought of Him, Whose Name is I am, the Unchangeable, the everlasting Rest and Center of those who, having been once captives and halting and scattered among the vanities of the world, turn to Him, to whom be glory and thanksgiving forever and ever. Amen.

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

Bring. Septuagint, "do good to you." (Haydock) --- Praise. All shall speak well of you who have been lately dishonoured, when I shall take both Gentiles and Jews for my spouse after the captivity, which seems present, (Calmet) it is so certain. (Haydock) --- Captivity, under satan and sin. (Menochius)

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).

This verse is a repetition of the promise for the greater assurance of it, and seems to add but little to what was before promised, unless it be the speediness of what God doth for them, and the comprehensiveness of it; he will turn back their captivities, Heb. plural, whether under Manasseh, or Jehoiakim, or Jeconiah, or Zedekiah; all which is confirmed with the broad seal of Heaven,

Thus saith the Lord. Believe, then, and rejoice in it.

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

Will I bring you again (in). He repeats the promise with some slight verbal changes. I will lead you like a flock to the pastures of Zion. People; Peoples. when I turn back your captivity; i.e. when God brings them all home into the spiritual Zion from which they were long exiled. (but see note on Zep_2:7; and comp. Hos_6:11 Amo_9:14) Before your eyes. Most certainly and evidently, so that what they hoped for they shall plainly see. (Deu_1:30 Deu_30:3 Isa_52:8, Isa_52:10) Saith the Lord. All this shall assuredly come to pass, for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. In the prophet"s eye the restoration from captivity and the times of Messiah are synchronous, or the former is so closely connected in idea with the latter that he speaks of both under one set of terms, applying the same imagery to both.

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

A praise - So the universal church of the first-born will be, in the great day. And then the Israel of God be made a name and a praise to all eternity.

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