Zephaniah 2.15a-Nineveh's Self-Confidence and Arrogant Pride
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Thursday June 2, 2016
Zephaniah: Zephaniah 2:15a-Nineveh’s Self-Confidence and Arrogant Pride
Lesson # 58
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. 15 This is the exultant city which dwells securely, who says in her heart, “I am, and there is no one besides me.” How she has become a desolation, a resting place for beasts! Everyone who passes by her will hiss and wave his hand in contempt. (NASB95)
“This is the exultant city which dwells securely” is composed of the following: (1) demonstrative pronoun zōʾt (זֹאת), “this” (2) articular feminine singular noun ʿîr (עִיר), “the city” (3) articular feminine singular form of the adjective ʿallîz (עַלִּיז), “exultant” (4) articular feminine qal active participle form of the verb yāšab (יָשַׁב), “which dwells” (5) preposition l (לְ), which is not translated (6) masculine singular noun beṭaḥ (בֶּטַח), “securely.”
The demonstrative pronoun zōʾt means “this” and is anaphoric meaning it is pointing back to the description of Nineveh in Zephaniah 2:14 which asserts that this city will be devoid of human beings as a result of God’s judgment.
The noun ʿîr means “city” referring to a population center enclosed by a wall.
The articular construction of this noun is anaphoric meaning that this word refers to the desolate city described in Zephaniah 2:14.
It is modified by the adjective ʿallîz which means “rejoicing, reveling” since the word pertains to a state or great joy and so exultant and speaks of noisy partying and merrymaking.
The articular construction of the adjective indicates that the city of Nineveh was well-known for its rejoicing or revelry.
The verb yāšab means “to inhabit, to live in, to dwell in” since it pertains to being in a place for any period of time usually implying a longer amount of time.
This verb is modified by the preposition l whose object is the masculine singular noun beṭaḥ, which means “confidence, security, safety” since it pertains to the belief or feeling or conviction of safety and security.
It is used of course in relation to the people of Nineveh and their conviction or belief that they were safe and secure.
It expresses their confidence in their seemingly impregnable city in the seventh century B.C. and their military which dominated the Mediterranean and Mesopotamian regions of the world for two centuries.
So in other words, it speaks of the self-confidence of these people.
The preposition l is a marker of manner indicating that the idea expressed by the noun beṭaḥ is the manner in which the people of Nineveh dwelled in the city or lived their lives.
Therefore, this prepositional phrase affirms that the citizens of Nineveh dwelled self-confidently or in a confident manner when Zephaniah published this prophecy.
“Who says in her heart, ‘I am, and there is no one besides me’” is composed of the following: (1) articular masculine singular qal active participle form of the verb ʾāmar (אָמַר), “who says” (2) preposition b (בְּ), “in” (3) masculine singular construct form of the noun lēbāb (לֵבָב), “heart” (4) third person feminine singular pronominal suffix hîʾ (הִיא), “their” (5) first person singular independent personal pronoun ʾǎnî (אֲנִי), “I” (6) conjunction w (וְ), “and” (7) masculine singular construct form of the noun ʾepes (אֶפֶס), “no one” (8) first person singular independent personal pronoun ʾǎnî (אֲנִי), “me” (9) adverb ʿôd (עוֹד), “besides.”
The verb ʾāmar means “to say” with emphasis on the content to follow.
Here the word is used of the people of Nineveh in Zephaniah’s day in the seventh century B.C. speaking in their hearts to themselves.
The word speaks of talking to themselves.
The noun lēbāb refers to the “hearts” of the people of Nineveh in the seventh century B.C. and denotes that aspect of their souls, which circulates their thoughts or mental activity and is where their frame of reference and memory center resides.
It is also the place where their vocabulary and the classification of their thoughts reside as well as the conscience where their norms and standards reside.
It is where their thoughts circulated and was the place where their subconscious resided where various categories of things that shock or impress from adversity, sin, failure or disappointment are located.
Also, it contains their volition, which they used to make their decisions to oppose God.
This noun lēbāb is modified by the third person feminine singular pronominal suffix hîʾ, which means “her” referring to the people of Nineveh living during the seventh century B.C.
This noun is also the object of the preposition b, which is functioning as a marker of location indicating that the hearts of the people of Nineveh was the place where they were saying to themselves that their city was incomparable in relation to other cities of the earth at that time.
The first person singular independent personal pronoun ʾǎnî means “as for me” since it functions as a nominative absolute.
This word is used with reference to Nineveh and specifically her citizens living during the seventh century B.C.
The conjunction w is emphatic meaning it is used to mark with emphasis the declarative statement to follow which the people of Nineveh expressed in their hearts to themselves.
The noun ʾepes speaks of non-existence and expresses the idea that there is no city in existence that is like the city of Nineveh.
It emphatically expresses non-existence indicating that the people of Nineveh said in their hearts that there was absolutely no city on the face of the earth that can be compared to their city.
Once again, we have the first person singular independent personal pronoun ʾǎnî, which means “me” referring to the city of Nineveh but this time the word is used as a marker affirmation and should be rendered “yes, indeed.”
The adverb ʿôd means “no other” and is used in a comparative sense meaning it is comparing the cities of the world to Nineveh in the seventh century B.C.
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. 15 This will be the condition of the city which is well-known for revelry, which dwells self-confidently, who says within her heart, “As for me, absolutely no one compares, yes indeed, no one compares!” How, she has become a desolation, a resting place for wild animals. Everyone who passes by her will hiss and shake their fist. (My translation)
Zephaniah 2:15 completes the prophecy regarding Nineveh which began in Zephaniah 2:13 and begins by affirming the prophecy in Zephaniah 2:14.
Then, the prophet Zephaniah gives us a description of the people of Nineveh in his day and age.
He asserts that the city was well-known in his day for revelry.
We would say that they partied a lot.
He then asserts that the inhabitants of the city were self-confident.
Assyria was the super-power for two centuries and Nineveh was her capital city when Zephaniah penned this prophecy.
It was unthinkable that anyone could defeat Assyria and destroy her beautiful capital city since many were of the conviction that the former could not be defeated on the battlefield and the latter was considered impregnable.
Hannah writes “The city was quite large, having with its suburban areas a circumference of 60 miles and a population of at least 120,000 (cf. comments on Jonah 3:3; 4:11). In addition to an extensive outer wall there was an inner wall with an 8-mile circumference, 50 feet thick and 100 feet high. Between the two walls was enough farmland to support the huge population. Nineveh’s claim (there is none besides me) was no idle boast! For approximately 200 years she was superior in strength to any other city of her time. An attack on the outer wall, begun in 614 B.C. by the Medes and Babylonians, was initially withstood by the Ninevites, but a combination of trickery by the attackers, carelessness by the attacked, and a natural disaster, finally brought victory to the attackers (cf. Nahum 1:10; 2:3–5; 3:11). The great inner wall collapsed because of an unexpected deluge that swelled the Tigris River in a normally dry season of the year and inundated the wall. Thus the city was unexpectedly defeated (cf. Nahum 1:8; 2:6–8; 3:12).”
Zephaniah states that the people said in their hearts to themselves that they were incomparable.
They were of the conviction that there was no city in the world like them.
They were of the conviction that they were superior to the people of others cities in the world.
Thus, this assertion expresses their arrogance as a people.
Consequently, God judged them as a people.
In the Scriptures, pride is a great evil because it involves pretending to a greatness and glory that belongs rightly to God alone.
It is condemned as evil (1 Samuel 15:23; Proverbs 21:4; James 4:16; cf. Mark 7:22-23; Romans 1:29-30; 2 Corinthians 12:20; 2 Timothy 3:1-2; 1 John 2:16).
It is a characteristic of Satan (Ezekiel 28:2; 1 Timothy 3:6; cf. 2 Thessalonians 2:4, the antichrist).