Herds shall lie down in her midst, all kinds of beasts; even the owl and the hedgehog shall lodge in her capitals; a voice shall hoot in the window; devastation will be on the threshold; for her cedar work will be laid bare.
Nineveh ruled the world of its day, yet Zephaniah describes it as an empty shell full of animals and birds. Why did God single out this city, and what does its ruin mean for readers today?
A sentence passed while the city still stood
The timing matters. Zephaniah spoke while Nineveh was still standing and still strong, not after the city fell.
William KellyThis word of Zephaniah must have come before the destruction of Nineveh. Only those who think the prophets were frauds would say otherwise. He lived, there can be little doubt, in Josiah's reign.
Why the great city fell
Nineveh fell for what she said about herself and for how she treated others.
Morrish Bible DictionaryNineveh had been very proud, and had said in its heart, "I am, and there is none beside me"; it would be a place for wild beasts. Zeph. 2:13-15... It had been "a city of blood," full of lies and robbery. It would be made vile. Its destruction would be final: its wound would never heal.
Nineveh was not a city without warning. God had spoken to it through the prophet Jonah long before Zephaniah, and the city forgot.
An Outline of Sound WordsHistory itself is the witness that the judgment God announced through Zephaniah has come to pass. Proud Nineveh had long forgotten the warning of Jonah, which God gave more than two hundred years before the days of Zephaniah. The judgment announced then was long delayed, but in the end it fell.
The creatures that move in
Commentators differ over which creatures the verse names. Either way, these are the sort that settle only where people have gone.
Morrish Bible DictionaryThe word in the Greek Old Testament means 'hedgehog or porcupine,' and some Hebrew scholars prefer that meaning for the Hebrew word qippod. But in two of the passages it is mentioned alongside a bird, the cormorant. So it is more likely a bird, and the description fits the habits of the bittern. These passages point to desolation because of the judgments of God. Isa. 14:23; Isa. 34:11; Zeph. 2:14. The bittern is a bird that avoids company, and it is at home in any deserted marshy place. The spots and markings on its feathers match the colours of the reeds it lives among, so it escapes notice. Its mournful cry has often been treated as a sign of coming evil.
The same Hebrew word turns up elsewhere in Scripture, and translators have not always rendered it the same way.
Morrish Bible DictionaryThe Psalmist said, "I am like a pelican of the wilderness." This refers to the bird sitting alone for hours as it digests its supply of fish... In two other passages older translations render the same Hebrew word 'cormorant,' where it should be 'pelican.' Isa. 34:11; Zeph. 2:14.
Doorways and cedar work
The verse turns from the animals to the building: the ornament over the door, the cedar panelling inside. The word behind that ornament is uncertain.
Morrish Bible DictionaryIn Amos 9:1 and Zeph. 2:14 the Hebrew word is kaphtor. Elsewhere translators render the same word 'knop.' It may refer to some decoration placed over a door.
A sample of a larger day
Zephaniah does not stop with one city. He names nations near and far, and the spread of that list is the point.
William KellySo we find it is a judgment that picks out two classes: nations nearby and others far off. This shows the character of a universal judgment on the world. It is the day of Jehovah on the earth.
That makes Nineveh's ruin both history and preview.
Arno Clemens GaebeleinZephaniah predicts her complete desolation, just as Nahum did. The fate announced for Nineveh came literally true. And one day all the proud cities of the nations, steeped in wickedness, will also fall, as Nineveh fell from her place as mistress of the world.
Summary
- Spoken first. Zephaniah spoke while Nineveh still ruled, in Josiah's reign. The prophecy came before the fall, not after it.
- Pride named. Nineveh said in her heart, "I am, and there is none beside me." Her end was wild beasts in the streets and a wound that never heals.
- Mercy ignored. God's warning through Jonah reached Nineveh two hundred years earlier. The city forgot it, and the judgment still came.
- Emptiness pictured. The creatures named avoid people and settle in deserted places. The decorated doorways and cedar panelling lie stripped open.
- Pattern set. Zephaniah names nations near and far together. Their fall shows the character of a universal judgment — the day of the Lord on the earth, with every proud city to follow.