Zephaniah 2 is the second chapter of the Book of Zephaniah in the Hebrew Bible or the

Old Testament The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...

of the

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

Bible. This book contains the prophecies attributed to the prophet

Zephaniah Zephaniah (, ) is the name of several people in the Hebrew Bible and Jewish Tanakh, the most prominent one being the prophet who prophesied in the days of Josiah, king of Judah (640–609 BCE) and is attributed a book bearing his name among the ...

, and is a part of the Book of the Twelve Minor Prophets. This chapter contains a call to penitence and oracles against nations.

Text

The original text was written in Hebrew language. This chapter is divided into 15 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text tradition, which includes the

Codex Cairensis The Codex Cairensis (also: ''Codex Prophetarum Cairensis'', ''Cairo Codex of the Prophets'') is a Hebrew manuscript containing the complete text of the Hebrew Bible's Nevi'im (Prophets). It has traditionally been described as "the oldest dated He ...

(895), the Petersburg Codex of the Prophets (916),

Aleppo Codex The Aleppo Codex ( he, כֶּתֶר אֲרָם צוֹבָא, romanized: , lit. 'Crown of Aleppo') is a medieval bound manuscript of the Hebrew Bible. The codex was written in the city of Tiberias in the tenth century CE (circa 920) under the ...

(10th century), Codex Leningradensis (1008). Fragments containing parts of this chapter in Hebrew were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, including 4Q77 (4QXII^b; 150–125 BCE) with extant verses 13–15;Dead sea scrolls - Zephaniah
/ref> 4Q78 (4QXII^c; 75–50 BCE) with extant verse 15; and Wadi Murabba'at Minor Prophets (Mur88; MurXIIProph; 75–100 CE) with extant verses 1–15. There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BC. Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version include Codex Vaticanus (B;

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^B; 4th century), Codex Sinaiticus (S; BHK:

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^S; 4th century), Codex Alexandrinus (A;

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^A; 5th century) and Codex Marchalianus (Q;

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^Q; 6th century). Fragments cumulatively containing all verses of this chapter (a revision of the Septuagint) were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, i.e., Naḥal Ḥever (8ḤevXII^gr; 1st century CE) with extant verses 9–10.

A Call to Penitence (2:1–3)

Following a tradition of Amos (), a call of penitence is given after the threats of total disaster.

Oracles against the Nations (2:4–15)

The nations spoken here represent Israel's enemies at 'the four points of the compass', so the oracles may function to establish Yahweh as 'the Lord of the Four Quarters of the Earth' or 'the Lord of the whole world'.

Verse 4

:''For Gaza shall be forsaken,'' ::''And Ashkelon desolate;'' :''They shall drive out Ashdod at noonday,'' ::''And Ekron shall be uprooted.'' *"

Gaza Gaza may refer to: Places Palestine * Gaza Strip, a Palestinian territory on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea ** Gaza City, a city in the Gaza Strip ** Gaza Governorate, a governorate in the Gaza Strip Lebanon * Ghazzeh, a village in ...

", " Ashkelon", "

Ashdod Ashdod ( he, ''ʾašdōḏ''; ar, أسدود or إسدود ''ʾisdūd'' or '' ʾasdūd'' ; Philistine: 𐤀𐤔𐤃𐤃 *''ʾašdūd'') is the sixth-largest city in Israel. Located in the country's Southern District, it lies on the Mediterran ...

", " Ekron" – Four of the usual five leading cities of the Philistines are mentioned. Gath is omitted, being at this time under the dominion of Israel/Judah. King David had subjugated it (). Under Joram the Philistines almost regained it (), but Uzziah () and Hezekiah () conquered them, so it remained under the Judah. ; ; , similarly mention only four cities of the Philistines. Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

Verse 5