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Exegesis and Exposition of Zephaniah 3:7-8

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Exegesis and Exposition of Zephaniah 3:7-8 EXEGESIS AND EXPOSITION OF ZEPHANIAH 3:7-8 Pastor William E. Wenstrom Jr. WENSTROM BIBLE MINISTRIES Marion, Iowa 2016 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries Exegesis and Exposition of Zephaniah 3:7-8 Zephaniah 3:7 Reverencing the Lord Zephaniah 3:7 “I said, ‘Surely you will revere Me, accept instruction.’ So her dwelling will not be cut off according to all that I have appointed concerning her. But they were eager to corrupt all their deeds.” (NASB95) “I said, ‘Surely you will revere Me, accept instruction’” is composed of the ,(אָמַ ר) following: (1) first person singular qal active perfect form of the verb ʾāmar surely” (3) second person feminine singular qal“ ,(אַ ְך) I said” (2) adverb ʾak“ you will revere” (4) object marker“ ,(יָרֵ א) active imperfect form of the verb yārēʾ which is not translated (5) first person singular independent personal ,(אֵ ת) ʾēt me” (6) third person feminine singular qal active perfect form“ ,(אֲנִי) pronoun ʾǎnî ,(מּוסָר) accept” (7) masculine singular noun mûsār“ ,(לָקַח) of the verb lāqaḥ “instruction.” The writer is using the figure of asyndeton in order to emphasize the statement here in Zephaniah 3:7. Specifically, the figure is designed to emphasize the God of Israel’s disgust and disappointment that the people of Jerusalem would not respect Him and accept His instruction through the prophets He sent her. The verb ʾāmar is in the qal stem and means “to say” with emphasis on the content which follows it. Here the statement to follow is ʾak-tîrĕʾî ʾôtiy tiqḥî mûsār Surely you will revere Me, accept instruction.” The“ ,(אַ יְך־תִירְאִִ֤ אֹותִ י֙תִ י קְחִִ֣ מּוסָָ֔ ר) first person singular form of this verb is of course referring to the God of Israel. Therefore, this verb expresses the idea of the God of Israel saying or speaking this to Himself. From the perspective of the New Testament revelation, we could the see this verb expressing the idea of members of the Trinity speaking to themselves about Jerusalem. Of course, Zephaniah did not have this revelation of the Trinity the church has. The qal stem of this verb is fientive expressing the act of God speaking this statement to Himself. The perfect conjugation of this verb is a complete-action perfect which describes a past action or event as a complete whole. In other words, it is a constative perfect which is describing in summary fashion the action of God saying to Himself that the people of Jerusalem would surely respect Him and would accept His instruction. The adverb ʾak means “surely, indeed” since it is functioning as a marker of emphasis and is thus emphasizing the statement: ʾak-tîrĕʾî ʾôtiy tiqḥî mûsār ”.Surely you will revere Me, accept instruction“ ,(אַ יְך־תִירְאִִ֤ אֹותִ י֙תִ י קְחִִ֣ מּוסָָ֔ ר) 2016 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 1 The verb yārēʾ means “to have reverence and respect for, to worship” since the word is used in the qal stem and pertains to showing high status and honor to one in authority even bordering on fear. The second person feminine singular form of this verb is referring to the city of Jerusalem. This indicated by the fact that this word agrees in gender (feminine) and number (singular) with the noun ʿîr, “the city” in Zephaniah 3:1 which is modified by the articular feminine singular qal active participle form of the verb yānâ, “tyrannical.” Together, they refer to Jerusalem. This verb in Zephaniah 3:7 also agrees in gender and number with the verbs in Zephaniah 3:2. The third person feminine singular pronominal suffix hîʾ, “her” which appears three times in Zephaniah 3:3, twice in Zephaniah 3:4 and once in Zephaniah 3:5 also agree in gender and number with the gender and number of this verb. This word yārēʾ must be interpreted in relation to the statement in Zephaniah 3:6 which records the Lord declaring that He has in the past caused the destruction of nations. He also asserts that the corner towers of these nations have been made a desolation. He states that He also caused their streets to be laid waste without even one person traveling on them. Lastly, He declares that these cities have been demolished without even one human being, without even one inhabitant. Therefore, this verb yārēʾ in Zephaniah 3:7 is expressing the idea of the people of Jerusalem in Zephaniah’s day in the seventh century B.C. having reverence and respect for God’s authority, bordering on fear as the result of His destruction of other nations for their unrepentant sinful lives. The qal stem of this verb is stative expressing the state or condition of the people of Jerusalem in Zephaniah’s day in the seventh century B.C. having respect for God’s authority over them. The imperfect conjugation of this verb refers to a completed action as part of a temporal sequence. It is expressing this action of people of Jerusalem respect God’s authority as taking place in the future from the perspective of Zephaniah in the seventh century B.C. after He has caused the destruction of the nations such as the northern kingdom of Israel through the Assyrian Empire. The first person singular independent personal pronoun ʾǎnî means “me” referring of course to the God of Israel and functions as the direct object of the which marks this word ,(אֵ ת) verb yārēʾ which is indicated by the object marker ʾēt out as the direct of this verb indicating the God of Israel as the object of respect. The verb lāqaḥ means “to accept” since it pertains to believing something and so acting upon it. The second person feminine singular form of this verb also refers to the citizens of Jerusalem. Here the object of this word is the noun mûsār which means “discipline, correction” since the word in this context pertains to disciplining and rebuking and reproving someone through teaching in order to correct their behavior. Here the discipline or correction came from the prophets of 2016 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 2 Israel like Zephaniah who followed Moses and like Moses were all sent by God. Therefore, this verb expresses the idea of the citizens of Jerusalem in the seventh century B.C. accepting correction from the prophets sent to her by God. The qal stem of this verb is fientive expressing the action of the Jews living in Jerusalem in the seventh century B.C. accepting correction from God’s servants, the prophets. The imperfect conjugation of this verb also refers to a completed action as part of a temporal sequence. It is expressing this action of people of Jerusalem accepting God’s discipline as taking place in the future from the perspective of Zephaniah after sending them His prophets and after He had caused the destruction of the nations such as the northern kingdom of Israel through the Assyrian Empire. The Purpose of Reverencing the Lord and Accepting Instruction Zephaniah 3:7 “I said, ‘Surely you will revere Me, accept instruction.’ So her dwelling will not be cut off according to all that I have appointed concerning her. But they were eager to corrupt all their deeds.” (NASB95) “So her dwelling will not be cut off according to all that I have appointed (so” (2“ ,(וְ ) concerning her” is composed of the following: (1) conjunction w not” (3) third person masculine singular niphal passive“ ,(לֹא) negative particle lōʾ will be cut off” (4) masculine singular“ ,(כָרַ ת) imperfect form of the verb kārat dwelling” (5) third person feminine“ ,(מָ עֹון) construct form of the noun māʿôn her” (6) collective singular construct form of“ ,(הִ יא) singular pronominal suffix hîʾ that” (8) first person“ ,(אֲשֶׁ ר) all” (7) relative pronoun ʾăšer“ ,(כֹל) the noun kōl (I have appointed” (9“ ,(פָקַד) singular qal perfect form of the verb pāqad concerning” (10) third person feminine singular pronominal“ ,(עַל) preposition ʿal ”.her“ ,(הִ יא) suffix hîʾ The conjunction w is a marker of result meaning it is introducing a statement which presents the result of the previous statement that God said to Himself that Jerusalem would surely respect Him and would accept correction from Him through His prophets He sent them. The verb kārat is in the niphal stem and means “to be violently destroyed.” This verb’s meaning is emphatically negated by the negative particle lōʾ, which means “never.” Therefore, taken together, these two words express the idea of a thing never being violently destroyed. The verb’s subject is the masculine singular construct form of the noun māʿôn, which means “dwelling” since it pertains to a place where one lives. The construct state of this noun means it is governing the word which follows it and is expressing a genitive relation with this word which is the third person feminine singular pronominal suffix hîʾ, which means “her” referring to the inhabitants of Jerusalem 2016 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 3 personified as a corporate unit as the daughters of this city. The genitive relation is possession or relationship. Therefore, these two words express the idea that the city of Jerusalem is the dwelling place of the Jewish people. The niphal stem of this verb kārat is a passive niphal which expresses an action where the subject is acted upon by either an expressed or unexpressed agency. The subject is the city of Jerusalem in the seventh century B.C. The agency implied is the Lord, the God of Israel. Therefore, the niphal stem indicates that the city of Jerusalem in Zephaniah’s day in the seventh century B.C.
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