John Calvin Commentary Zephaniah 1:7-9

"Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord Jehovah; for the day of Jehovah is at hand: for Jehovah hath prepared a sacrifice, he hath consecrated his guests. And it shall come to pass in the day of Jehovah`s sacrifice, that I will punish the princes, and the king`s sons, and all such as are clothed with foreign apparel. And in that day I will punish all those that leap over the threshold, that fill their master`s house with violence and deceit." — Zephaniah 1:7-9 (ASV)

The Prophet confirms here what he has previously taught, when he bids all to be silent before God; for this way of speaking is the same as if he had said that he did not terrify the Jews in vain, but seriously set before them God’s judgment, which they would find by experience to be even more than terrible. He also records some of their sins, so that the Jews might know that he did not threaten them for nothing, but that there were just reasons why God declared that he would punish them. This is the substance of the whole.

Let us first see what the Prophet means by the word silence. Something has been said of this in the second chapter of Habakkuk. We said then that by silence is meant submission; and to make this clearer, we said that we should notice the contrast between the silence to which men calmly submit, and the contumacy, which is always clamorous. For when men seek to be wise of themselves, and do not acquiesce in God’s word, it is then said that they are not silent, for they refuse to listen to his word; and when men give free rein to their own will, they observe no bounds.

Until God then obtains authority in the world, all places are full of clamor, and the whole life of men is in a state of confusion, for they run to and fro in their wanderings; and there is no restraint where God is not heard. It is for the same reason that the Prophet now demands silence, but the expression is adapted to the subject he is addressing.

To be silent at the presence of God, it is true, is to submit to God’s authority; but the connection must be considered, for Zephaniah saw then that God’s judgment was despised and regarded as nothing. And he intimates here that God had spoken in such a way that the execution was near at hand.

Hence he says, Be silent; that is, know that I have not spoken merely for the purpose of terrifying you. But as God is prepared to execute vengeance, he now reminds you of this, so that if there is any hope of repentance, you may in time seek to return to favor with him; if not, that you may be without excuse.

So now we understand why the Prophet bids them to be silent before the Lord Jehovah; and the context is a confirmation of the same view, for the reason is added, Because the day of Jehovah is nigh. For profane men always promise themselves some respite and think that they gain much by delay. The Prophet, on the contrary, now exposes to scorn this self-security and says that the day of Jehovah was near at hand. It is then the same as if he had said that his judgment should have been quickly anticipated, and even with fear and trembling.

He afterwards uses a metaphor to explain what he taught—that God had prepared a sacrifice, indeed, that he had already appointed and set apart his guests. By the word sacrifice, the Prophet reminded them that the punishment of which he had spoken would be just, and that the glory of God would thereby shine forth.

We indeed know how ready the world is to make complaints; when it is pressed by God’s hand, it expostulates on account of too much rigor, and many openly give utterance to their blasphemies. Since, then, they do not acknowledge God’s justice in his punishment, the Prophet calls it a sacrifice; and sacrifices, we know, are evidences of divine worship, and he who offers a sacrifice to God acknowledges him to be just.

So also by this kind of speaking Zephaniah intimates that God would not act cruelly in cutting off the city Jerusalem and its inhabitants, for this would be a sacrifice, according to the language often employed by the Prophets, and especially by Isaiah, who says of Bozrah, ‘A sacrifice is prepared in Bozrah’ (Isaiah 34:6), and who also says of Jerusalem itself, ‘Oh! Ariel! Ariel!’ (Isaiah 29:1), where Jerusalem itself is represented as the altar. It is as if he had said: In all the streets, in the open places, there will be altars to me, for I will collect together great masses of men, whom I will slay as a sacrifice to me. For all who were not willing to offer worship to God, and who did not freely offer themselves as spiritual victims to him, were to be drawn to the slaughter and were at the same time called sacrifices.

So the executions on the gallows, when the wicked suffer, may be said to be sacrifices to God, for the Lord arms the magistrate with the sword to restrain wickedness, so that the wicked may not have such liberty as to banish all equity from the world. The cities also, which, being forcibly taken, are subjected to slaughter, and the fields where armies are slain, become altars, for God makes the rebellious a sacrifice because they refuse willingly to offer themselves.

So also in this place the Prophet says, Jehovah has prepared for himself a sacrifice—Where? At Jerusalem, throughout the whole city, as has appeared from the quotation from Isaiah; for as they had not rightly sacrificed to God on Mount Zion, but vitiated his whole worship, God himself declares that he would become a priest, so that he might slay, as he thought right, those beasts who had obstinately refused his yoke: And he has prepared his guests. But I cannot finish today.

Prayer:

Grant, Almighty God, that as we continue in so many ways to provoke your wrath against us, we may patiently bear the punishment by which you would correct our faults, and also anticipate your judgment. And since you are pleased to recall us in due time to yourself, let us not turn deaf ears to your counsels, but so obey and submit ourselves to you that we may become partakers of that mercy which you offer to us, provided we seek to be reconciled to you, and so proceed in your service that, under the government of Christ your Son, whom you have appointed to be our supreme and only king, we may so strive to be wholly devoted to you that you may be glorified through our whole life, until we at last become partakers of that celestial glory which has been procured for us by the blood of your only-begotten Son. Amen.

[Exposition continues from previous day's lecture]

We stated yesterday why God compares the slaughter of the wicked to a sacrifice—because in punishing the ungodly, he shows himself to be the judge of the world. And this slaying is a sacrifice of sweet odor, because it makes known this glory. And he immediately adds that he had prepared his guests.

The word he uses is קדש, kodash, which means to sanctify but is often to be taken in a different sense. It may be explained as meaning that God had prepared his guests; but as express mention is made of sacrifice, Zephaniah, I have no doubt, continues the same metaphor.

The meaning, then, is that the Chaldeans, who were ministers of God’s vengeance, were already not only chosen for the purpose of executing it but were divinely consecrated for that end. This unwelcome saying was uttered by the Prophet so that he might more sharply touch the feelings of his own nation. The Jews indeed ought to have acknowledged God’s judgment even when executed by heathens; but this they would not have done if they had not understood that these, in exercising their cruelty, were, as it were, the priests of God, for the royal priesthood at Jerusalem had been profaned.

So now we see why the Prophet says that those were sanctified by the Lord who had been invited to feed on the flesh of the chosen people, as they were accustomed to eat the remainder of their sacrifices on festal days.

I yesterday repeated this verse: And it shall be, on the day of the sacrifice of Jehovah, that I will then visit the princes, and the sons of the king, and those who are clothed with strange apparel. The Prophet shows that he not only threatened the common people but also the chief leaders, so that he did not spare even the king’s sons.

So here he attacks the principal men among the people, for they were justly led to punishment in the first place, as they had been the cause of others' errors. We indeed know that those who excel in dignity give a much greater offense when they abuse their power in promoting what is sinful.

This is why God often seemed to have sent his Prophets to them only. For though the lowly and humble in the community were not exempt from punishment, yet it was only reasonable that God should more severely punish their leaders.

Hence the Prophet now says that God would visit the princes and the king’s sons. He did not indeed intend here to flatter obscure men, as if God meant to overlook them; but since the king and his counselors had sinned more grievously, God was angrier with them.

We also know that kings and others who exercise power are not easily moved, for the splendor of their fortune blinds them, and they think that they are in a way exempt from laws because they occupy a higher station. So now we see why the Prophet speaks especially of the princes and the king’s sons.

He also adds, And those who wear foreign apparel. Some refer this to the worshipers of Baal or his priests, but the context does not allow us to apply it to anyone but courtiers, whose great delight was in apparel. For what Christ says is proved by the experience of all ages to be too true—that those who wear soft clothing are in king’s courts.

Matthew 11:8. And it is probable that courtiers, through a foolish affectation, often changed their clothes; as is the case with men who seek to appear great, they daily devise some new way of spending money. And though they may be more splendidly clothed than necessary, yet they think it almost too sordid to wear the same apparel for a whole month; and so that their prodigality may be more evident, they also change the forms of their dress.

This affectation prevails far too much today in the world. But even then in the age of the Prophet, as it appears, the courtiers and those who had power among the people often changed their dress, so that they might better display their pomp and attract the admiration of the simple and poor people.

And it was not simple ambition, but it brought with it a contempt for others; for the rich in this way upbraided the poor, implying that they themselves alone were worthy of this superfluity and opulence.

It was not enough for them that they were clothed for their own comfort, and also that ornament and splendor were added; but they would willingly have made all others bare. And as it was a shame to do this, they nevertheless showed, as far as they could, by their superfluous abundance, that they alone were worthy of such display. It was then no wonder that the Lord threatened them with such severity.

As this vice over time had greatly increased, this passage of the Prophet deserves particular notice. And the more luxurious men become and the more they indulge in such varieties, and thus manifest their pride, the more carefully we ought to learn to restrain the desires of our flesh, so that they may not leap over the bounds of moderation. Let those who abound in wealth be content with what is modest and becoming, and let them especially abstain from that absurd affectation which the Prophet evidently condemns here.

It may, however, have been that the Jews then sought new and unusual fashions for their clothes from remote countries, like the French today, who delight in Turkish attire, for they have too much contact with Turkey.

So also at that time a foolish desire had possessed the hearts of the people, wishing to ingratiate themselves with the Chaldeans and to make friends of them by similarity in dress.

And we may learn this from a passage in Ezekiel, where he compares them to harlots or to foolish lovers (Ezekiel 23:2 and following). For just as lovers paint harlots on walls, and whoremongers and adulterers do the same, so Ezekiel accuses the Jews that they were so inflamed with a mad desire of making a covenant with the Chaldean nation that they had their images painted in their chambers. They also no doubt imitated their dress in order to show that they regarded it a great happiness if they became their friends and confederates.

Now follows what I also repeated yesterday: I will visit every one who danceth on the threshold. Some explain this as referring to the worshipers of Baal, but improperly; for as I have already said, the context will not allow us to understand this as referring to anyone except the servants of princes, who cruelly harassed the people and deprived helpless men of their property, who were not able to resist them.

The Prophet, then, after having spoken of the chief governors of the kingdom and of the king’s sons, now comes to their servants, who, like hunting dogs, were everywhere ready to seize the prey. Those who understand this to be said of the sacrifices of Baal adduce a passage from sacred history—that since the image of Dagon had been found on the threshold of the temple, they dared not tread on the threshold but leaped over it; but this is too far-fetched.

Others also offer different kinds of expositions; but the Prophet, I have no doubt, refers here to the liberty they took in plundering when he says that they danced on the threshold, as persons triumphing. For he afterwards adds that they filled, by rapine and fraud, the houses of the princes.

To leap or dance then on the threshold is nothing other than to take possession of other people’s houses and insolently to triumph over them, as is usually done by conquerors. For he who takes possession of what belongs to another does not quietly rest there as in his own habitation, but boasts and exults.

So also here, the Prophet vividly portrays the wantonness that the servants of princes showed when they entered the houses of others. He therefore says that they danced and said, "This is my house; and who will dare to say a word to the contrary?" Since, then, the servants of princes took such liberty, the Prophet here denounces God’s vengeance on them.

He then adds that they filled their masters’ houses by rapine and fraud. By rapine and fraud he means the prey gathered, partly by armed force and partly by deceit and craft, for courtiers have their nets by which they lay wait for helpless men.

But if they cannot obtain by fraud what they hope for, they have recourse to armed force. However this may be, they enrich themselves, sometimes by plundering and sometimes by fraud. Hence the Prophet mentions both here. It follows—