Friday, December 14, 2018

Zephaniah 3:14-20




Zephaniah 3:14-20 (NRSV)
14 Sing aloud, O daughter Zion;
shout, O Israel!
Rejoice and exult with all your heart,
O daughter Jerusalem!
15 The Lord has taken away the judgments against you,
he has turned away your enemies.
The king of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst;
you shall fear disaster no more.
16 On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem:
Do not fear, O Zion;
do not let your hands grow weak.
17 The Lord, your God, is in your midst,
a warrior who gives victory;
he will rejoice over you with gladness,
he will renew you in his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing
18      as on a day of festival.
I will remove disaster from you,
so that you will not bear reproach for it.
19 I will deal with all your oppressors
at that time.
And I will save the lame
and gather the outcast,
and I will change their shame into praise
and renown in all the earth.
20 At that time I will bring you home,
at the time when I gather you;
for I will make you renowned and praised
among all the peoples of the earth,
when I restore your fortunes
before your eyes, says the Lord.

During the reign of Josiah, the prophet Zephaniah, the great-great grandson of Hezekiah, offered his words in 632-621. 

The prophet was the great-great grandson of Hezekiah, king of Judah. Some people think that from a linguistic analysis all of the minor prophets were written at about the same time, between 630 and 520 BC, but set within certain times. Ben Zvi is a particular proponent of this position.  

His concern was for the immediate Scythian invasion as it affected Assyria in 632 BC, as well as the threat of Assyria itself.  Herodotus says Scythians were wild and ferocious marauders from the Asian interior. Medes and Assyrians were having trouble with them.

Zephaniah 3:14-20 gives me an opportunity to discuss the role of the promise of the Lord to protect Jerusalem always and the promise that exiles shall return home.

Zephaniah 3:14-18a is a psalm of joy in Zion. 14 Sing aloud, singing being an integral part of worship and common life, reserved for joyful occasions, while laments were for mournful occasions. Singing is a theme found frequently in prophetic writings (especially Isaiah) and in the psalms. The people are to rejoice and sing for joy (Psalm 5:11). The psalmist will give thanks and sing praise Psalm 7:17). The Psalmist will be glad, exult, and sing[1] praise (Psalm 9:2). The people are to sing praises, shout aloud, and sing for joy due to the glorious deeds and the presence of the Lord (Isaiah 12:5, 6). The city is to make sweet melody and sing many songs (Isaiah 23:16). They sing for joy and shout due to the majesty of the Lord (Isaiah 24:14). They are to sing and offer praise to the Lord who has delivered them (Jeremiah 20:13). They shall sing alone and have radiance due to the harvest (Jeremiah 31:12). The command to sing here in Zephaniah is in sharp contrast to the other sounds prophesied earlier in the book: silence (1:7), a cry (1:10), a wail (1:10), a loud crash (1:10), a bitter sound (1:14), a battle cry (1:16). It is clear that the prophetic command to sing reflects the dramatically changed circumstances of the Lord’s restoration of normal, everyday happiness for a people devastated by the “great day of the Lord. The prophet is encouraging a particular group to sing. O daughter Zion,[2] a sign of the affection with which the prophet thinks of Jerusalem, as if to say, “My dear Zion/Jerusalem.” Far from the cold thundering of condemnation so frequently associated with prophetic writings about Zion/Jerusalem, the prophets actually regarded their beloved capital city with deep affection. They mourned its impending destruction on the one hand and celebrated sincerely its envisioned restoration on the other. In much of the three-chapter book, Zephaniah prophesies against idolatrous, haughty Jerusalem and Judah, as well as against the nations. Scan 1:1–3:8 for the promised judgment, even though the people of Jerusalem claim that the Lord will do nothing (1:12). The expression “the day of the Lord” (1:7-8, 14-18; 2:1-3) often means “Judgment Day.” It appears in other biblical prophets; e.g., see Isaiah 13:6 ff.; Jeremiah 46:10; Ezekiel 30:3; Joel (five times); Amos 5:18-24. Shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter Jerusalem![3] 15 The Lord has taken away the judgments against you; the Lord has turned away your enemies. The “foe” may be collaborators with Assyria. Their presence has made judgment necessary. The dwelling of the Lord is not in Jerusalem. The cause for the celebration is that the Lord has judged the enemies of Israel. That Israel’s historical calamities were evidence of divine disfavor or punishment was one of the pillars of biblical thought, despite a minority view that dissented from this understanding of the relationship between theology and history. The majority view, found especially in the book of Deuteronomy, permeates both testaments of the Bible and receives its classical expression in Deuteronomy 28: “If you will only obey the Lord your God … all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you. … But if you will not obey … then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you …” (vv. 1, 2, 15). Obedience results in blessing, disobedience in calamity, for the nation and for the individual. That theology of historical retribution, that God blesses in this life those who obey the divine will and curses those who disobey, remains one of the most deeply held religious views in the Western world, despite the protestations of the wisdom literature (especially Ecclesiastes and Job) and portions of the New Testament (e.g., John 9:1-3). The prophetic tradition accepted and promoted this theology of divine retribution. It saw in Israel’s devastations God’s punishment and envisioned in Israel’s restoration, as here, the return of God’s favor. Significantly, the king of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst; therefore, you shall fear disaster no more. Kingship was always an ambiguous presence in Israel. A particular target of prophetic protest was kingship. Kingship arose in Israel in the mid-11th century B.C. amid considerable controversy from the perspective of the prophetic tradition (see I Samuel 8), and a debased monarchy remained a favorite object of prophetic denunciation. The people asked for a human king because they saw other people having a king, but the Lord was their king (1 Samuel 12:12). A great king died, but the prophet has a vision in the temple of the true king of Israel (Isaiah 6:1ff). The Lord is the judge, ruler, and king of Israel and will save them (Isaiah 33:22). The Lord is king and judge of the earth (Psalm 96:10). The Lord is king (Psalm 93).   From the prophetic perspective, Israel abandoned its true king, Yahweh, in installing an earthly king, even though the prophets sought to find ways to harmonize the two institutions. Zephaniah’s subtle reminder that the Lord was Israel’s true king reflects the long-simmering controversy. A debased monarchy remained a favorite object of prophetic denunciation. From the prophetic perspective, Israel abandoned its true king, The statement also reflects the theology of Jerusalem’s ultimate inviolability, which developed from the temple theology that emerged soon after the Israelite settlement in Canaan. Because the Ark of the Covenant resided in the temple in Jerusalem (having been brought there from Shiloh by David), the temple was understood to be the earthly dwelling place of Israel’s patron deity, whose dwelling could never be destroyed by enemies. Of course, historical events, such as the destruction of Shiloh and later Jerusalem, would undermine this theology. Jeremiah invites people to go to Shiloh and see the destruction the Lord brought to it due to the wickedness of its people, and now, the Lord will do the same to Jerusalem (7:12,14). The Lord will make Jerusalem like Shiloh and make it’s a name a curse throughout the earth (26:6). However, prophets will recast the inviolability of Jerusalem into eschatological terms. 16 On that day, it shall be said to Jerusalem: Do not fear, O Zion; do not let your hands grow weak. The people are not to let their discipline to relax. 17 The Lord, your God, is in your midst, a warrior who gives victory. God has won the battle with evil, so the salvation of Israel has arrived. The Lord will rejoice over you with gladness, the Lord will renew you in the love of the Lord;[4] the Lord will exult over you with loud singing 18a as on a day of festival. The Lord dwells as king among them. That has been question throughout this prophecy. Who will rule the life of Judah? The King of the universe is the King of love, whose will is to save.  The pictures of that day are interesting: The people are having a carnival.  The Lord is present celebrating as well, a shepherd calling out to friends and neighbors that the Lord has recovered lost sheep. Other passages speak of joy replacing fear or grief. The anger of the Lord is for a moment, while the favor of the Lord is for a lifetime, turning mourning into dancing and joy (Psalm 30:4-12). They will exchange weeping for joy (Psalm 126). The anger of the Lord is over and now the Lord brings comfort (Isaiah 12:1-6). 

Zephaniah 3:18b-20[5] reflects common themes of prophetic eschatology. 18bI will remove disaster from you, so that you will not bear reproach for it. Some think that this could refer to the apostates in 1:5-6, who worshipped heavenly beings and Milcom in combination with their worship of the Lord. 19 I will deal with all your oppressors at that time. He refers to the final defeat of their enemies. Further, referring the exiles, I will save the lame and gather the outcast, and I will change their shame into praise and renown in all the earth. 20 At that time, I will bring you home, at the time when I gather you; for I will make you renowned and praised among all the peoples of the earth, when I restore your fortunes before your eyes, says the LordThe promise to bring them home is a metaphor that one can view from several perspectives. Some people have a nostalgic notion of home. Some long for a home they never had in reality. Some would not want to return the type of home they had. The notion of home can be heartwarming and troubling for people. For this author, the promise of to return home contained many positive images: in verse 15, to be safe from enemies, to be in the presence of loved ones, and to live without fear, in verse 17, it menas to be around those who delight in you and to be in a place of joy and singing, in verse 19, to be free from exile and oppression, and in verse 20 to receive honor and praise. When we look at the historical setting of this promise, it could refer to those of the Assyrian exile returning home, which never happened. The prophet refers to the restoration of a secure and bountiful homeland and the exaltation of Israel among the nations. The scattered people will see the victory of God and participate in it. This beatific vision of the end of the present world will persist in remarkably intact form, through the rest of the Jewish and Christian canons and even into contemporary theology. The notion of the homeland in this passage will become the wellspring of the anguished politics of the modern Middle East. Multiple biblical passages depict God’s promises to bring the people of the Lord home from exile. The promise to the tribes enslaved in Egypt was that they would return home (Exodus 6:6-7). Judgment from the Lord will scatter the people of Israel to the nations, but if they return to the Lord, the Lord will restore them to their land (Deuteronomy 30:1-6). The gathering of the people from among the nations to Israel will allow the people to give thanks (Psalm 106:47-48). The redeemed are to tell others freely that the Lord has gathered them from among the nations (Psalm 107). The Lord will gather the outcasts and dispersed from the nations (Isaiah 11:12). They are not to fear, for the Lord is with them and will gather them from the north, south, east, and west (Isaiah 43:1-8). They shall come from faraway lands and return to Israel (Isaiah 49:8-16). The redeemed and ransomed shall return to the land (Isaiah 51:10-11). From the time of exile, it will be seventy years before the Lord brings them back (Jeremiah 29:10-14). The Lord will bring them back with singing and joy (Jeremiah 31:7-13). The Lord is giving Judah to Babylon, but the Lord will also gather the people from the lands the Lord drove them (Jeremiah 32:36-44). The Lord has been a sanctuary for the exiles and will bring them home (Ezekiel 11:14-20). They will find security in their home (Ezekiel 34:25-31). We also have hints of this theme in the New Testament. The Lord will rescue Israel from its enemies (Luke 1:67-79). The son who has gone to the far country will return home to the loving Father (Luke 15:11-32). Peter can address the exiles of the dispersion in modern day Turkey, considers their time of exile, and that as exiles they are to abstain from the desires of the flesh (I Peter 1:1, 17; 2:9-11.)


[1] The verb “exult,” in a slight Hebrew variation, parallels the verb to sing

[2] II Kings 19:21; Psalm 9:14; Isaiah 1:8; 10:32; 16:1; 37:22; etc.). Earlier translations, such as the Authorized Version and the RSV, understood the Hebrew phrase bat-tsion correctly as a construct chain but incorrectly as the first element being, in some sense, the possession of the second. Accordingly, they translated the phrase famously (and misleadingly) as “daughter of Zion.” The construct phrase is an appositional or associative genitive rather than a possessive genitive (which most Hebrew grammars recognize), with the first element functioning adjectivally. Zion had no daughter; Zion was the daughter, and the word daughter functions in the phrase as a term of endearment: “dear” or (better, perhaps, because of its “nouniness”) “darling.” Even the more accurate NRSV translation fails to capture this nuance. The phrase (and its parallel at the end of the verse) should be translated something such as “darling Zion/beloved Jerusalem.” Even the more accurate NRSV translation fails to capture this nuance. The phrase (and its parallel at the end of the verse) should be translated something such as “darling Zion/beloved Jerusalem.” As W.F. Stinespring (“Zion, Daughter of,” supplementary volume of the Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, 985) indicates: “The first [Hebrew] word is in the construct state, and the following genitive is not the usual genitive of possession, but the appositional genitive.” Apposition is placing two closely associated words together, as in “My friend George.” The NRSV appropriately translates “O daughter Zion” instead of “O daughter of Zion.” “Daughter” in Hebrew is bat (as in bat mitzvah); it is sometimes used metaphorically. When Boaz addresses Ruth (Ruth 2:8) with the Hebrew expression bitti (literally “my daughter”), he isn’t actually calling this Moabite woman his daughter, but is gently saying “My dear Ruth.” At heart, the Lord’s words in verse 14 express a very caring “My dear people.”

[3] “Rejoice” in both instances comes from the Hebrew root samah (hard h), which means (to express) joy, mirth, gladness, jubilation. In both verses, the singing aloud is from the Hebrew root ranan, which means to sing for joy or to shout out a ringing cry of joy. The Greek LXX/Septuagint translates verse 14’s ranan as χαιρω. 

[4] (Tanakh has “soothe with His love”),

[5] While some consider the last few verses of Zephaniah to be later additions, they are consonant with other parts of prophetic and psalmic literature which juxtapose warning/judgment or negative circumstances with promise/hope. It seems based on the prophecies of III Isaiah.

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