Charles Ellicott Commentary Zephaniah 2:12

"Ye Ethiopians also, ye shall be slain by my sword." — Zephaniah 2:12 (ASV)

Ethiopia is to suffer by the sword in the execution of God’s purpose of magnifying His people. The conjunction of Ethiopia and Assyria is probably suggested by the earlier passage in Nahum 3:8 and following.

In addition to its earlier vicissitudes at the hands of Assyrian invaders, Ethiopia perhaps suffered as an ally of Egypt after the battle of Carchemish. It was probably invaded by Nebuchadnezzar; see the commentary on Ezekiel 30:4. With the Median ascendancy came a fresh series of calamities. Cambyses, the successor of Cyrus, reduced the country to a condition of vassalage in 525 B.C.; and in the time of Xerxes, the Ethiopians had to furnish a contingent against the Greeks.