Zephaniah 1.3a-The Lord Will Cause the Destruction of the Human Race, Animal, Bird Kingdoms and Aquatic Life
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Thursday January 28, 2016
Zephaniah: Zephaniah 1:3a-The Lord Will Cause the Destruction of the Human Race, Animal, Bird Kingdoms and Aquatic Life
Lesson # 10
Zephaniah 1:1 The word of the LORD which came to Zephaniah son of Cushi, son of Gedaliah, son of Amariah, son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah son of Amon, king of Judah: 2 “I will completely remove all things from the face of the earth,” declares the LORD. 3 “I will remove man and beast; I will remove the birds of the sky and the fish of the sea, and the ruins along with the wicked; And I will cut off man from the face of the earth,” declares the LORD.” (NASB95)
“I will remove man and beast” is composed of the following: (1) first person singular hifʿîl active participle form of the verb sûp (סוּף), “I will remove” (2) masculine singular noun ʾādām (אָדָם), “man” (3) conjunction w (וְ), “and” (4) feminine singular noun bĕhēmâ (בְּהֵמָה), “beast.”
Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the prophet Zephaniah employs the figure of asyndeton meaning he is not using a connective word between his previous prophet statement and the one to follow.
The purpose of this figure is to express the solemn nature of this prophetic statement here in Zephaniah 1:3.
As was the case in Zephaniah 1:2, the verb sûp here in Zephaniah 1:3 literally means “to bring to an end.”
However, in verses 1 and 2 it means “to cause to be destroyed.”
As we noted in our study of verse 2, it is used in the Old Testament in contexts where divine judgment is imminent and such is the case in Zephaniah 1:2 and 3.
Therefore, this word expresses the fact that the Lord “will cause” both mankind and the animal kingdom “to be destroyed.”
This verb is used in a prophetic statement which is poetic hyperbole expressing the finality and decisiveness of God’s judgment of both mankind and the animal kingdom.
Thus, this verb does not speak of the annihilation of both the human race and the animal kingdom.
The verb sûp is in the hifʿîl or hiphil stem which is causative which indicates that the Lord as the subject of this verb will cause both mankind and the animal kingdom, to be destroyed or in other words to die.
The participle form of this verb is for imminent action indicating that the Lord is “about to” cause both mankind and the animal kingdom to be destroyed.
The noun ʾā∙ḏām is used in the generic sense meaning, “humankind, human race, mankind” since it pertains to a class of being created by God without regard to gender with emphasis as a class of creature, which is distinct from the animal and bird kingdoms and all aquatic and plant life as well as the angelic race.
The noun bĕhēmâ is employed in a generic sense for the “animal kingdom” since it pertains a class of living four-footed beings created by God that are not human or angels and are distinguished from the bird kingdom and all aquatic life.
It refers to a particular category of living creature that is four footed and whose habitat is on land as opposed to the other two classes of living creatures that exist either in the air, the birds (Gn. 1:20-23; 6:7) or in the sea (marine life in Gen. 1:20-23).
“I will remove the birds of the sky and the fish of the sea” is composed of the following: (1) first person singular hifʿîl active participle form of the verb sûp (סוּף), “I will remove” (2) masculine singular construct form of the noun ʿôp (עוֹף), “the birds” (3) articular masculine plural dual noun šāmayim (שְׁמַיִן), “the sky” (4) conjunction w (וְ), “and” (5) masculine plural construct form of the noun dāg (דָּג), “the fish” (6) articular masculine singular form of the noun yām (יָם), “of the sea.”
Once again, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the prophet Zephaniah is utilizing the figure of asyndeton meaning he is not using a connective word between his first prophetic statement here in verse 3 and the one to follow.
The purpose of this figure is to express the solemn nature of this second prophetic statement here in Zephaniah 1:3.
As was the case the first time it was employed here in Zephaniah 1:3, the verb sûp here in this second prophetic statement means “to cause to be destroyed.”
Therefore, this word expresses the fact that the Lord “will cause” marine or aquatic life “to be destroyed.”
This verb is used again in a prophetic statement which is poetic hyperbole expressing the finality and decisiveness of God’s judgment of marine life.
Thus, this verb does not speak of the annihilation of all marine life.
The verb sûp is again in the hifʿîl or hiphil stem which is causative which indicates that the Lord as the subject of this verb will cause marine life to be destroyed or in other words to die.
The participle form of this verb is for imminent action indicating that the Lord is “about to” cause marine life to be destroyed.
The masculine singular collective noun ʿôp refers to the bird kingdom since it pertains to all types of flying animals.
The dual noun šāmayim means “heavens” referring to the earth’s atmosphere, i.e. the expanse of space that contains oxygen and seems to be over the earth like a dome since it is used in relation to the place where the bird kingdom flies.
The noun dāḡ means “marine life” or “aquatic life” since it pertains to a class of animal that lives in a body of water and is a generic term and thus does not refer to a particular species or size of fish.
The noun yām refers to the various bodies of water on planet earth in contrast to land which would include ponds, lakes, rivers and oceans.
Zephaniah 1:3 “I am about to cause the human race as well as the animal kingdom to be destroyed. I am about to cause the birds belonging to the earth’s atmosphere as well as aquatic life belonging to the various bodies of water to be destroyed likewise the wicked who produce their idolatrous obstacles. Yes, I will bring about the violent execution of the human race residing on the face of the earth,” declares the Lord. (Author’s translation)
The Lord, the God of Israel, through the prophet Zephaniah solemnly issues three more prophetic statements which are in addition to the prophetic statement recorded in Zephaniah 1:2.
The first prophetic statement that appears in verse 3 asserts that the Lord is about to cause the human race as well as the animal kingdom to be destroyed.
The language of this first prophetic declaration in Zephaniah 1:3 expresses the fact that this destruction is imminent.
The second prophetic statement here in Zephaniah 1:3 is solemn as well asserting that the Lord is about to cause the bird kingdom as well as all aquatic life on earth to be destroyed likewise the wicked who produce their idolatrous obstacles.
The language of this second prophetic statement expresses the fact that this destruction is imminent.
This prophetic statement is poetic hyperbole as well as expressing the finality and decisiveness of God’s judgment of marine life.
It does not speak of the annihilation of all marine life.
Obviously the object of God’s wrath are human beings and not the animals on the earth or the fish in the various bodies of water on the earth or the bird kingdom.
Thus, why are the animal and bird kingdoms and aquatic life suffering this divine judgment along with members of the human race?
They suffer this judgment along with the human race since they are under the authority of the human race.
Genesis 1:26 teaches that the Lord gave Adam and Eve dominion over the bird and animal kingdoms and aquatic life on earth.
Thus, when they sinned against God and were judged these lower creations suffered as well.
Romans 8:19-22 teaches that every creature in creation eagerly awaits the Second Advent of Jesus Christ when the sons of God will be revealed to both men and angels.
The curse placed upon the earth and its creatures will be lifted when the Last Adam, Jesus Christ establishes His millennial reign on the earth at His Second Advent.
Wiersbe writes “God gave man dominion over the fish, the fowls, and the beasts (1:28; Ps. 8:7–8), but man lost that dominion when Adam disobeyed God. However, through Jesus Christ, man’s lost dominion will one day be restored (Heb. 2:5–9).”