Zephaniah 2.9b-The God of Israel Declares He Will Destroy the People of Moab and Ammon Like Sodom and Gomorrah
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Thursday April 28, 2016
Zephaniah: Zephaniah 2:9b-The God of Israel Declares He Will Destroy the People of Moab and Ammon Like Sodom and Gomorrah
Lesson # 49
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. 9 Therefore, as I live,” declares the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, “surely Moab will be like Sodom and the sons of Ammon like Gomorrah— A place possessed by nettles and salt pits, and a perpetual desolation. The remnant of My people will plunder them and the remainder of My nation will inherit them.” (NASB95)
“Surely Moab will be like Sodom and the sons of Ammon like Gomorrah” is composed of the following: (1) conjunction kî (כִּי), “surely” (2) feminine singular proper noun môʾāb (מוֹאָב), “Moab” (3) marker of comparison k (ךְּ־), “like” (4) masculine singular proper noun sĕdōm (סְדֹם), “Sodom” (5) third person feminine singular qal active imperfect form of the verb hāyâ (הָיָה), “will be” (6) conjunction w (וְ), “and” (7) masculine plural construct form of the noun bēn (בֵּן), “the sons of” (8) feminine singular proper noun ʿammôn (עַמּוֹן), “Ammon” (9) marker of comparison k (ךְּ־), “like” (10) feminine singular proper noun ʿămōrâ (עֲמֹרָה), “Gomorrah.”
The conjunction kî means “surely, indeed” since it is functioning as a marker of emphasis and thus it is used here to mark with emphasis the Lord’s prophetic declaration that the people of Moab will become like the people of Sodom and the people of Ammon like the people of Gomorrah.
The word is stressing with the reader the God of Israel’s intent to inflict punishment on these two groups of people so that they are no longer existent.
It emphasizes how angry God is with these two groups of people and which anger is legitimate since these two groups are related by blood to Israel and Judah and were unrepentant about their treatment to their blood relatives.
The proper noun môʾāb refers to the 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 word contains the figure of metonymy where the nation of Moab is put for its people.
The verb hāyâ means “to be” in the sense of existing in a particular state or condition.
Here it is used in relation to the people of Moab indicating that they will “exist in the state of being” like the people of Sodom.
The proper noun sĕdōm means “Sodom” which refers to a city that was located in the east at the south end of the Dead Sea.
It is the object of the preposition k which means “like” since it is a marker of comparison meaning it is comparing the destruction of the people of Moab with the destruction of the people of Sodom by God.
The noun bēn means “citizens” since it not only designates a group of people who are descended racially or biologically from Moab, the oldest son of Lot and his oldest daughter but also emphasizes their national identity.
The proper noun ʿammôn means “Ammon” referring of course to the people who were descendants of the younger son of Lot 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.”
They were located to the area east of the Jordan River and were regarded as relatives of the Israelites who were commanded to treat them kindly (Deut. 2:19).
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).
The proper noun ʿămōrâ means “Gomorrah” which refers to a city which like Sodom was located east or southeast of the Dead Sea.
It is also the object of the preposition k, which again means “like” since it is functioning as a marker of comparison as before.
Here it is marking a comparison between the destruction of the people of Ammon with the destruction of the people of Gomorrah by God.
“A place possessed by nettles and salt pits, and a perpetual desolation” is composed of the following: (1) masculine singular construct form of the noun mimšāq (מִמְשָׁק), “a place” (2) masculine singular noun ḥārûl (חָרוּל), “by nettles” (3) conjunction w (וְ), “and” (4) masculine singular construct form of the noun mikre (מִכְרֶה), “pits” (5) masculine singular noun melaḥ (מֶלַח), “salt” (6) conjunction w (וְ), “and” (7) feminine singular noun šĕmāmâ (שְׁמָמָה), “a desolation” (8) preposition ʿad (עַד), “perpetual” (9) masculine singular nounʿôlām (עוֹלָם), “perpetual.”
At this point in Zephaniah 2:9, the writer is using the figure of asyndeton in order to express the solemn nature of the prophetic declaration to follow that Moab and Ammon will be a place possessed by weeds and salt pits and a desolation forever.
It expresses the Lord’s determination to destroy these two nations if they don’t repent of their behavior to Judah.
The noun mimšāq means “place” since it pertains to an area of space or a geographical location implying ownership of that space by a particular group of people and here it is used of the geographical locations of both the people of Moab and Ammon.
The noun ḥārûl means “kind of weed, weed” since it pertains to a wild plant that becomes undergrowth in an area once domestic.
Many have suggested different types of weeds such as chickpea or chickweed, wild artichoke.
However, the specific species is not known but a specific one may have been in mind with this word when used by Zephaniah.
We do know that the growth of such a weed was associated with abandonment.
Here in Zephaniah 2:9, this word expresses the fact that both Moab and Ammon will be destroyed and abandoned by its people.
The noun mikre means “pit” since it pertains to an excavated cavity in the ground or a sizeable hole in the ground.
The noun melaḥ means “salt” since it pertains to a white crystallized substance used to season and preserve food.
It refers to an abundant element of the earth, namely sodium chloride, with a feature of impeding growth of plants when sown in the ground.
This time the conjunction w is an emphatic marker or a marker of specification meaning that it is introducing a phrase which identifies specifically what the previous description of Moab and Ammon implies.
The noun šĕmāmâ means “desolation” since the word pertains to a state of utter ruin often relating to uninhabitable land as a sparsely populated area.
Here it refers to the geographcal locations of Moab and Ammon being devastated and destroyed as a result of an invading army plundering them.
The noun ʿôlām means “forever” since it pertains to an unlimited duration of time with emphasis upon the future and is the object of the preposition ʿad which is an emphatic marker since it emphasizes the length of “forever.”
Zephaniah 2:9 “Consequently, I existing eternally, the Lord ruling over the armies, the God ruling over and in a relationship with Israel declares: Moab’s people will be like Sodom’s people likewise Ammon’s citizens like Gomorrah’s people. A place overrun by weeds as well as salt pits, indeed, a desolation forever and ever!” (My translation)
In Zephaniah 2:9, after providing three descriptions of Himself by identifying Himself as existing eternally and as the Lord ruling over the armies as the God ruling over and in a relationship with Israel, God makes a declaration.
He asserts that in emphatic terms that the people of Moab will be like the people of Sodom likewise the citizens of Ammon like the people of Gomorrah.
So the Lord is comparing the destruction of the people of Ammon and Moab with that of Sodom and Gomorrah.
Genesis 19:12-29 records the total and complete destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah which is totally devoid today of inhabitants and is a desolation.
Therefore, God is asserting that He will do to Moab and Ammon what He did to Sodom and Gomorrah if the people of Moab and Ammon do not repent.
This prophecy in Zephaniah 2:9 regarding Moab and Ammon has been fulfilled in history.
The nation of Jordan occupies today what was the land of the Moabites and Ammonites and it is desolate country.
It became a desolate place after Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylon destroyed both places in 605, 597 and 586 B.C. and in fact, the nations of Moab and Ammon no longer exist today.
These nations have been wiped off the face of the earth just like the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah.
Larry Lee Walker writes “To this day many rockstrewn ruins of ancient villages in the regions of ancient Moab and Ammon bear mute testimony to the truth of the prophet’s words: ‘a wasteland forever.’”
After this emphatic declaration, the God of Israel makes another solemn declaration, namely that Moab and Ammon will be overrun by weeds and salt pits.
In fact, they will be a desolation forever and ever.