ris3n's Apologetics Codex

Passage

Zephaniah 3.17

Book: Zephaniah · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

There are ads on our codex that pay for hosting and keep the codex free. If you can, please consider whitelisting ris3n.com or allowing scripts to support the work.

Sponsored

Brands, events, influencers advertise here

ASV

15. Jehovah hath taken away thy judgments, he hath cast out thine enemy: the King of Israel, even Jehovah, is in the midst of thee; thou shalt not fear evil any more. 16. In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem, Fear thou not; O Zion, let not thy hands be slack.

17. Jehovah thy God is in the midst of thee, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love; he will joy over thee with singing.

  1. I will gather them that sorrow for the solemn assembly, who were of thee; to whom the burden upon her was a reproach. 19. Behold, at that time I will deal with all them that afflict thee; and I will save that which is lame, and gather that which was driven away; and I will make them a praise and a name, whose shame hath been in all the earth. (Zephaniah 3:15-19, ASV)
WEB

15. Yahweh has taken away your judgments. He has thrown out your enemy. The King of Israel, Yahweh, is among you. You will not be afraid of evil any more. 16. In that day, it will be said to Jerusalem, “Don’t be afraid, Zion. Don’t let your hands be weak.”

17. Yahweh, your God, is among you, a mighty one who will save. He will rejoice over you with joy. He will calm you in his love. He will rejoice over you with singing.

  1. I will remove those who grieve about the appointed feasts from you. They are a burden and a reproach to you. 19. Behold, at that time I will deal with all those who afflict you, and I will save those who are lame, and gather those who were driven away. I will give them praise and honor, whose shame has been in all the earth. (Zephaniah 3:15-19, WEB)
KJV

15. The LORD hath taken away thy judgments, he hath cast out thine enemy: the king of Israel, even the LORD, is in the midst of thee: thou shalt not see evil any more. 16. In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem, Fear thou not: and to Zion, Let not thine hands be slack. slack: or, faint

17. The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing. rest: Heb. be silent

  1. I will gather them that are sorrowful for the solemn assembly, who are of thee, to whom the reproach of it was a burden. reproach: Heb. the burden upon it was reproach 19. Behold, at that time I will undo all that afflict thee: and I will save her that halteth, and gather her that was driven out; and I will get them praise and fame in every land where they have been put to shame. get: Heb. set them for a praise where: Heb. of their shame (Zephaniah 3:15-19, KJV)
YLT

15. Jehovah hath turned aside thy judgments, He hath faced thine enemy, The king of Israel, Jehovah, [is] in thy midst, Thou seest evil no more. 16. In that day it is said to Jerusalem, 'Fear not, O Zion, let not thy hands be feeble.

17. Jehovah thy God [is] in thy midst, A mighty one doth save, He rejoiceth over thee with joy, He doth work in His love, He joyeth over thee with singing.'

  1. Mine afflicted from the appointed place I have gathered, from thee they have been, Bearing for her sake reproach. 19. Lo, I am dealing with all afflicting thee at that time, And I have saved the halting one, And the driven out ones I do gather, And have set them for a praise and for a name, In all the land of their shame. (Zephaniah 3:15-19, YLT)

See this page's graph and discover linked topics

Setting

  • Speaker: the prophet Zephaniah
  • Audience: Judah and Jerusalem
  • Location: Jerusalem
  • Time period: during the reign of Josiah, c. 640-609 BC, most likely before or during his reforms

Theological reading

The LORD thy God is in the midst of thee, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love; he will joy over thee with singing.

The startling claim is the direction of the emotion. Scripture repeatedly commands people to rejoice in God; here God rejoices over his people, and the second half of the verse says he does it with singing. It is one of only a handful of places in the Old Testament that ascribe singing to God.

The setting makes the reversal sharper. Zephaniah opens with one of the most comprehensive judgment oracles in the prophets, announcing a sweeping away of everything from the face of the earth, and it is Zephaniah who supplies the dies irae imagery of 1:14-16. Chapter 3 turns, and verse 17 is the turn's furthest point.

Two phrases carry interpretive weight. A mighty one who will save is gibbor yoshia, warrior language, so the tenderness is predicated of a fighter rather than substituted for strength. And he will rest in his love renders a Hebrew phrase that reads literally as he will be silent in his love, which some versions render as quieting or as no longer rebuking. The Septuagint read it differently again. The manuscript tradition is not uniform here, and a page that claims certainty about the clause is claiming more than the evidence gives; what is not in doubt is the surrounding joy.

The structural point is that the verse belongs to a promise of restoration after judgment rather than instead of it. Zephaniah does not soften chapter 1 to reach chapter 3. He holds both.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word.

Quoted in

Concepts:

Notes

Your annotations.

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

  • ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
  • WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
  • KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
  • YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.