Zephaniah 2:4

For Gaza shall be forsaken,.... Therefore seek the Lord; and not to the Philistines, since they would be destroyed, to whom Gaza, and the other cities later mentioned, belonged; so Aben Ezra connects

For Gaza shall be forsaken, and Ashkelon a desolation: they shall drive out Ashdod at the noon day, and Ekron shall be rooted up. For.

For; it is time to seek some refuge, high time to seek it in God, for your neighbours, as well as you, shall be destroyed, there shall he no refuge for you among your neighbours. Gaza; a chief city of the Philistines, very strong by its situation, and by art fortified; a frontier toward Egypt, and not full three miles from the sea. Shall be forsaken; when the conquering army of the Chaldeans shall come against it, shall be forsaken either by the flight or captivity of the inhabitants. Ashkelon; another of the strong cities of the Philistines, which fell to the tribe of Dan, and was a maritime town. A desolation; utterly wasted, so the abstract doth imply. They; Babylonians: see . Shall drive into captivity, cast them out of their own and force them into a strange land. Ashdod; a strong fortified city of Palestina, called in aftertimes Azotus. At the noon-day; it shall be taken by force at noon, or the citizens led away captive in the heat of the day, and under parching heats. Ekron; famous for its infamous idolatry, where Baalzebub was worshipped, the chief seat of devil-worship. Shall be rooted up; utterly extirpated, no more to spring up: see ,5: it shall be as a tree pulled up by the roots; or maimed, as horses that are houghed, as .

Zephaniah 2:4 For Gaza shall be forsaken, and Ashkelon a desolation: they shall drive out Ashdod at the noon day, and Ekron shall be rooted up.Ver. 4. For Gaza shall be forsaken, and Askelon, &c.] Here is dainty rhetoric in the original. This prophet was (as Quintilian saith a good orator ought to be) Vir bonus, dicendi peritus, a good man, and a master of speech. The Hebrew tongue seemeth to have been in the prime and flourish when Isaiah, Micah, and Zephaniah prophesied, like as the Latin was about Cicero’ s time. The Philistines are here threatened, for a terror to the impenitent Jews, who should taste of the same whip, and for the comfort of the godly, who should be hid when these their enemies should be utterly destroyed. Gaza was so forsaken, according to this prophecy, that it was therehence called Gaza, the desert; Askelon, according to its name, became ignis ignominia, the reproach of the fire that wasted it, and (as a merciless element) laid it desolate. Ashdod (called in the New Testament Azotus, Acts 8:26) shall also, according to its etymology, be wasted with fire, and her inhabitants driven into a far country as captives at high noon, when the sun, in those hot climates especially, is most parching and scorching; they shall be driven out with all the disadvantage that may be. And Ekron shall be rooted out] Ekron was the place where Beelzebub, the prince of devils had his throne. The poets put it for hell. Flectere si nequeo superos, Acheronta movebo. Threatened it is therefore here (not without an elegance that cannot be translated) with utter extirpation. The grand devil had nested and nestled himself as near the Holy Land as might be; but he shall not long rest there, the Hebrew child (παιςεβραιος) will disquiet the great Pan.

(4-15) Jehovah’s chastisement of foreign powers. These Divine visitations are introduced somewhat abruptly. The connection is perhaps that they are intended to lead God’s people to repent, and put their faith in Him who orders the destinies of all mankind. Also, as being inflicted on hostile peoples, they are in Israel’s favour, and ought therefore to elicit gratitude. But more especially are they all steps towards the establishment of Jehovah’s supremacy, and the inclusion of the Gentiles in His kingdom upon earth. (Comp. Zephaniah 2:11; Zephaniah 3:9, et seq.) This part of the Divine sentence is presented in three strophes of four verses each—viz., the chastisement of Philistia (Zephaniah 2:4-7); of Moab and Ammon (Zephaniah 2:8-11); of Ethiopia and Assyria (Zephaniah 2:12-15).

Verse 4. Gaza shall be forsaken] This prophecy is against the Philistines. They had been greatly harassed by the kings of Egypt; but were completely ruined by Nebuchadnezzar, who took all Phoenicia from the Egyptians; and about the time of his taking Tyre, devastated all the seignories of the Philistines. This ruin we have seen foretold by the other prophets, and have already remarked its exact fulfilment.

4–15. The judgment of the Day of the Lord upon the nations The nations on whom the impending judgment shall fall are: (1) the Philistines (Zephaniah 2:4-7); (2) Moab and Ammon (Zephaniah 2:8-15); (3) Cush or the Ethiopians (Zephaniah 2:12); and (4) Assyria (Zephaniah 2:13-15). In relation to Judah the four nations named lay respectively west, east, south, and north. The passage appears to be written in the rhythm of the ḳ ?inah or Elegy, though in some verses the rhythm is imperfect. Comp. Ezekiel 19. Cambridge Bible, and more fully, Budde in the Zeitsch. für Alttest. Wissensch., 1882, to whom is due the merit of discovering the true nature of the Elegiac rhythm.

For - As a ground for repentance and perseverance, he goes through Pagan nations, upon whom God’s wrath should come.

4-7. The doom of Philistia. Gaza… Ashkelon… Ashdod… Ekron — See on Amos 1:6-8. Gath is again absent. Shall be forsaken — Depopulated.