Zephaniah 2.8-The Lord Indicts the People of Moab and Ammon For Their Ill Treatment of the People of Judah
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Tuesday April 26, 2016
Zephaniah: Zephaniah 2:8-The Lord Indicts the People of Moab and Ammon For Their Contemptuous Treatment of the People of Judah
Lesson # 47
Zephaniah 2:8 “I have heard the taunting of Moab and the revilings of the sons of Ammon, with which they have taunted My people and become arrogant against their territory.” (NASB95)
“Taunting” is the noun ḥerpâ (חֶרְפָּה), which pertains to the act of speaking words which harm and insult another person or persons and denotes open disrespect for a person.
The people of Moab were descendants of Moab who was the son of Abraham’s nephew Lot.
Moab was the product of an incestuous sexual union between Lot and his eldest daughter (Gen. 19:37).
They lived on the geographical plateau east of the Dead Sea, south of the Arnon River, north of the Zered River and west of the Arabian desert.
The people of Ammon were located to the area east of the Jordan River.
Ammon is named for those individuals who were descendants of the younger son of Moab and one of his daughters.
The older son was “Moab” and the younger son was “Ben-ammi” who Genesis 19:38 describes as the progenitor of “the sons of Ammon.”
“Revilings” is the noun giddûp (גִּדּוּף), which pertains to a sarcastic challenge or insult of a person or persons and denotes aggravation by deriding or mocking or criticizing someone and the emphasis with this word is of verbally abusing with sarcastic insults.
The Ammonites were regarded as relatives of the Israelites who were commanded to treat them kindly (Deut. 2:19) and they occupied the territory of the Zamzummim between the Arnon and Jabbok rivers (Deut. 2:20-21, 37; 3:11).
Later, part of this territory was taken from them by the Amorites and they were confined to an area to the east of the Jabbok (Num. 21:24; Deut. 2:37; Josh. 12:2; 13:10, 25; Jdg. 11:13, 22).
“They have taunted My people” is composed of the following: (1) third person plural piel active perfect form of the verb ḥārap (חָרַף), “they have taunted” (2) object marker ʾēt (אֵת), which is not translated (3) masculine singular construct form of the noun ʿam (עַם), “people” (4) first person singular independent personal pronoun ʾǎnî (אֲנִי), “my.”
The verb ḥārap is in the piel stem and means “to treat with contempt” since it pertains to treating someone publically with contempt by reproaching them in a jeering, sarcastic, abusive manner and denotes speaking words which harm another and speak evil of another person or persons.
So this word also speaks of verbally abusing someone with emphasis upon speaking evil of someone and slandering them and thus showing a lack of respect for them.
The noun ʿǎm is in the singular and means “people” in the sense of a large group based on various cultural, physical and geographical ties and refers to a large group that is larger than a tribe or clan but smaller than a race.
The construct state of this noun means it is governing the word which follows it and is expressing a genitive relation with this word which is the first person singular independent personal pronoun ʾǎnî, “my” which refers of course to the Lord, the God of Israel.
The genitive relation is possession expressing the covenant relationship between God and the people of Judah.
“Become arrogant against their territory” advances upon and intensifies the previous statement that the people of Ammon and Moab showed public contempt for the people of Judah.
Therefore, the advancement and intensification is that not only did the people of Ammon and Moab show public contempt for the people of Judah but they in fact triumphed over the land of the people of Judah.
“Become arrogant against their territory” is composed of the following: (1) third person masculine plural hiphil active imperfect form of the verb gādal (גָּדַל), “become arrogant” (2) preposition ʿal (עַל), “against” (3) masculine singular construct form of the noun gĕbûl (גְּבוּל), “territory” (4) third person masculine plural form of the pronominal suffix hēmâ (־הֵמָה), “their.”
The verb gādal is in the hiphil stem and means “to triumph” since it pertains to conquering an enemy so as to be victorious over them.
Here it speaks of the people of Ammon and Moab conquering the land of Judah.
The noun gĕbûl means “territory” since it pertains to a land region as a governmental administrative area, as a smaller unit of the whole of a nation’s land.
Here it is referring to the land of the kingdom of Judah.
The third person masculine plural form of the pronominal suffix hēmâ means “their” referring God’s people and specifically the people of Judah who possessed a covenant relationship with God through faith in Him.
The noun gĕbûl is the object of the preposition ʿal, which means “over” since it is functioning as a marker of the object over which someone exercises authority or control indicating that the people of Ammon and Moab triumphed “over” the territory or land of the people of Judah.
Zephaniah 2:8 “I heard public insults from Moab’s people as well as sarcastic insults from Ammon’s citizens. They showed public contempt for My people. Indeed, they triumphed over their territory.” (My translation)
Zephaniah 2:8 continues a section of the book of Zephaniah which records prophetic declarations and assertions which are directed against the pagan Gentile neighbors of the kingdom of Judah.
In Zephaniah 2:5, the prophet declares that the Cretan nation residing on the Mediterranean coastal plans will experience disaster.
The second prophecy in this verse was directed at the Philistines who resided in the land of Canaan in Zephaniah’s day.
Zephaniah quotes God as stating that He will surely kill each and every one of the Philistines inhabiting this land.
Then, in verse 6, the prophet Zephaniah presents the result of the Lord destroying these two nations, namely that the Mediterranean coastal plains will be pasture lands, dwelling places and sheep pens for those who are shepherds.
He then identifies in verse 7 who these shepherds are and they will be the remnant of the kingdom of Judah which survives the Babylonian exile.
God declares that this remnant will be shepherds by the sea and will dwell in the houses of the Philistine city, Ashkelon and they will recline in these homes during the evening because the Lord their God will care for them.
In fact, the Lord asserts that He will prosper them.
Now, here in verse 9, Zephaniah is quoting God directly again.
The Lord pronounces an indictment against the people of Moab and the citizens of Ammon.
The former publically insulted His people Judah and the latter sarcastically insulted God’s people.
Both groups showed public contempt for His people, the kingdom of Judah who possessed a covenant relationship with Him through faith in Him.
Both groups triumphed over the land of the people of Judah.
Verse 9 is a prophecy which had yet to be fulfilled in Zephaniah’s day.
It was fulfilled during the Babylonian invasions in 605, 597 and 586 B.C.
In fact, 2 Kings 24:2 records that the people of Moab and the citizens of Ammon joined forces with the Babylonians in 605 B.C. to conquer and destroy the land of the Judah during the days of Jehoiakim.
However, eventually Babylon conquered both groups.
The fall of Jerusalem caused the people of Moab and Ammon to exult over her and the people of Judah.
They both humiliated the people of Judah.
God was not pleased with their gloating over the demise of Jerusalem and the people of Judah.
In fact, He was not pleased because both Moab and Ammon were related to the people of Judah through Abraham’s nephew Lot (Gen. 19:36-38).
They were often in conflict with Israel during the united kingdom and after the split into northern and southern kingdoms.
They resisted the Israelites attempt to move into Canaan (Num. 22-25) and consequently, God judged these two nations.
In fact, the Lord kept alive a remnant of Judah but not so with the people of Ammon and Moab.
He wiped out Ammon and Moab like Sodom and Gomorrah in that He did not leave a remnant of the nations.
The prophet Isaiah prophesied against Moab in Isaiah 15-16 and so did the prophet Jeremiah (Jeremiah 48) and Ezekiel (Ezekiel 25:8-11).
Amos prophesied against Moab in Amos 2:1-3.
Jeremiah also prophesied against Ammon in Jeremiah 49:1-22 and so did Ezekiel in Ezekiel 25:1-14.
Amos prophesied against Amon in Amos 1:13-15.
Zephaniah 2:9-10 predicts that Moab will be like Sodom and Ammon like Gomorrah and this was fulfilled in history.
