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).
[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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