Zephaniah 2.14-Zephaniah Predicts Nineveh Will Be Populated By Wild Animals Rather Than Human Beings
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Wednesday June 1, 2016
Zephaniah: Zephaniah 2:14-Zephaniah Predicts Nineveh Will Be Populated by Wild Animals Rather Than Human Beings
Lesson # 57
Zephaniah 2:13 And He will stretch out His hand against the north and destroy Assyria, and He will make Nineveh a desolation, parched like the wilderness. 14 Flocks will lie down in her midst, all beasts which range in herds; Both the pelican and the hedgehog will lodge in the tops of her pillars; Birds will sing in the window, desolation will be on the threshold; For He has laid bare the cedar work. (NASB95)
“Flocks will lie down in her midst” is composed of the following: (1) conjunction w (וְ), which is not translated (2) third person masculine plural qal active perfect form of the verb rābaṣ (רָבַץ), “will lie down” (3) preposition b (בְּ), “in” (4) masculine singular construct form of the noun tāwek (תָּוֶךְ), “midst” (5) third person feminine singular pronominal suffix hîʾ (הִיא), “her” (6) masculine plural noun ʿēder (עֵדֶר), “flocks.”
The conjunction w is a marker of result meaning that it is introducing a series of prophetic statements which present the result of the previous prophetic declaration recorded at the end of Zephaniah 2:13 which asserts that the God of Israel will make Nineveh a desolation, a dry land like the desert.
The noun ʿēder means “flocks and herds” since this word pertains to flocks of sheep and herds of cattle.
The verb rābaṣ means “to lie down” since it pertains to being in a reclining position and therefore, denotes that flocks of sheep and herds of cattle “will lie down” in the city of Nineveh as a result of the God of Israel judging the human population of the city and removing their presence from her.
The noun tāwek means “midst, middle, center” since it pertains to a space within an area, which is determined to be in the middle in relationship to other objects or positions around it.
The noun tāwek is the object of the preposition b, which means “in”’ since it is functioning as a marker of location which indicates that these flocks and herds will lie down “in the midst” of Nineveh.
“All beasts which range in herds” is composed of the following: (1) collective singular construct form of the noun kōl (כֹּל), “all” (2) feminine singular construct form of the noun ḥayyâ (חַיָּה), “beasts which range in herds” (3) masculine singular noun gôy (גּוֹי), “beasts which range in herds.”
The noun kōl denotes totality and is used in a distributive sense to express the wide variety of wild animals which will populate the city of Nineveh as a result of God removing her human population as a result of His judgment.
The noun ḥayyâ means “wild animal, wild beast” and is a general term for all types of wild animals and the noun gôy means “type” or “kind” since it pertains to a type of animal and here it is used in relation to wild animals.
“Both the pelican and the hedgehog will lodge in the tops of her pillars” is composed of the following: (1) adverb gam (גַּם), “both” (2) feminine singular noun qāʾat (קָאַת), “the pelican” (3) adverb gam (גַּם), “and” (4) masculine singular noun qippōd (קִפֹּד), “hedgehog” (5) preposition b (בְּ), “in” (6) masculine plural construct form of the noun kaptôr (כַּפְתּוֹר), “the tops of pillars” (7) third person feminine singular pronominal suffix hîʾ (הִיא), “her” (8) third person masculine plural qal active imperfect form of the verb lîn (לִין), “will lodge.”
The noun qāʾat is the name of a species of desert bird.
Some argue that the word speaks of a “pelican” in this context but that is highly unlikely since Nineveh will be devoid of a water supply that will make it uninhabitable for this type of animal.
Most expositors believe that it is referring to a “desert owl” here in Zephaniah 2:14 and this would appear to be the best interpretation since they would be inclined to live in the tops of the pillars of an abandoned city.
The noun qippōd is often interpreted as referring to the “screech owl” by most of the modern English translations (LEB, NIV, TNIV, NLT, HCSB) and contemporary scholars.
This makes the most sense of the context since they are described as lodging in the support pillars of Nineveh, which an owl would do.
Some translate the word “hedgehog” or “porcupine” but as Patterson writes “such an identification is difficult on the basis of the words associated with swampland in Isa. 14:23 and with the list of birds in Isa. 34:11.”
The verb lîn is in the qal stem and means “to live” since it pertains to occupying a space during both the day and nighttime.
The noun kaptôr is in the plural and means “support pillars” since the word pertains to the top of an upright shaft as a building support to a building structure.
“Birds will sing in the window” is composed of the following: (1) masculine singular form of the noun qôl (קוֹל), which is not translated (2) third person masculine singular polel active imperfect form of the verb šîr (שִׁיר), “will sing” (3) preposition b (בְּ), “in” (4) articular masculine singular noun ḥallôn (חַלּוֹן), “the window.”
The noun qôl means “sound” since it pertains to any type of noise which breaks the sound waves and so enters the perception of hearing and here it refers to the sound produced by owls at night.
The verb šîr does not mean “to sing” but rather “to hoot” since it is used in relation to the sound owls make at night.
“Desolation will be on the threshold” is composed of the following: (1) masculine singular noun ḥōreb (חֹרֶב), “desolation” (2) preposition b (בְּ), “on” (3) articular masculine singular noun sap (סַף), “the threshold.”
The noun ḥōreb means “rubble” since it pertains to broken fragments resulting from the decay or destruction of a building.
The noun sap means “threshold” since the word pertains to a construction as part of a house holding a door to the house wall as an entryway to a building.
“For He has laid bare the cedar work” is composed of the following: (1) conjunction kî (כִּי), “for” (2) feminine singular noun ʾarzâ (אַרְזָה), “the cedar work” (3) third person masculine singular piel active perfect form of the verb ʿārâ (עָרָה), “He has laid bare.”
The conjunction kî means “even” since it is introducing an addition to the previous statement that rubble will be strewn on the thresholds of the buildings of Nineveh which is out of the ordinary or unexpected.
The noun ʾarzâ means “cedar work” since it pertains to finished cedar for construction.
The verb ʿārâ is in the piel stem and means “to be exposed, to lay bare, to expose to the elements” since it pertains to having no covering on an object or person, with the implication or vulnerability, destruction or causing low status or humiliation.
The third person masculine singular form of this verb means “He” since it is referring to the God of Israel and therefore, this verb expresses the fact that God will expose to the elements the cedar work of the buildings of Nineveh.
Zephaniah 2:13 Likewise, He will stretch out His hand against the north, specifically, He will cause the Assyrian people to be destroyed. Indeed, He will make Nineveh a desolation, a dry land like the desert. 14 Consequently, flocks and herds will lie down in her midst, each and every type of wild animal. Also, the desert owl as well as the screech owl will roost on her support pillars. There will be a sound of repeated hooting in the window, rubble on the threshold. He will even expose the cedar work to the elements. (Author’s translation)
Zephaniah 2:14 contains a shocking prophetic description of the city of Nineveh as a result of the God of Israel judging her.
The first description is the direct result of the previous prophetic declaration recorded at the end of Zephaniah 2:13 which asserts that the God of Israel will make Nineveh a desolation, a dry land like the desert.
In Zephaniah 2:14, the prophet Zephaniah predicts that as a result of this judgment of the city, flocks and herds will lie down in the middle of Nineveh as well as every kind of wild animal.
He also goes on to predict that the desert owl as well as the screech owl will roost on her support pillars.
In conjunction with this, there will be a sound of repeated hooting in the windows of the buildings of Nineveh and rubble will cover the thresholds of these buildings.
Lastly, Zephaniah asserts that God will expose the cedar work of these buildings to the elements.
This cedar work was used for the elaborate wall and ceiling coverings of these buildings.
This would be shocking to the reader in Zephaniah’s day that the beautiful elaborate wall and ceiling coverings of the various buildings of Nineveh will be exposed to the elements by God since she was thought to be impregnable.
The once beautiful city would be destroyed, abandoned and left in ruins as a result of God judging the human population of this city for their unrepentant sinful lives.
Those living in Zephaniah’s day in the seventh century B.C. would find this absolutely incredible because she was considered the greatest city in the Ancient Near East at the time.
Therefore, Zephaniah 2:14 is predicting that Nineveh will be abandoned and destroyed as a direct result of this city being made a desolation or in other words, God will remove the human population from this city as a result of His judgment.
This description in Zephaniah 2:14 makes clear that Nineveh would be completely destroyed and abandoned and left in ruins as a result of the God of Israel judging her for her unrepentant sinful behavior.
History records the fulfillment of Zephaniah 2:13-14 since Nineveh was destroyed in 612 B.C. by the Babylonians.
Nineveh was so completely destroyed that its very location was lost until rediscovered by modern archaeologists during the nineteenth century.