Zephaniah 2.15b-Nineveh Will Become A Desolation and Ridiculed
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Tuesday June 7, 2016
Zephaniah: Zephaniah 2:15b-Nineveh Will Be Desolate and Ridiculed
Lesson # 59
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)
“How she has become a desolation, a resting place for beasts!” is composed of the following: (1) adverb ʾêk (אֵיךְ), “how” (2) third person feminine singular qal active perfect form of the verb hāyâ (הָיָה), “she has become” (3) preposition l (לְ), which is not translated (4) feminine singular noun šĕmāmâ (שְׁמָמָה), “a desolation” (5) masculine singular noun marbēṣ (מַרְבֵּץ), “a resting place” (6) preposition l (לְ), “for” (7) articular masculine singular form of the noun ḥayyâ (חַי), “beasts.”
The adverb ʾêk means “how” since it is functioning as a marker showing a very great, intense degree of circumstance.
It is used here to mark the degree to which Nineveh had fallen in her status among the nations of the earth in Zephaniah’s day and expresses the shock and God’s disapproval for Nineveh as a result of her unrepentant sinful conduct.
The verb hāyâ means “to become” and pertains to entering into a change of state or condition.
Therefore, this verb is indicating that Nineveh will enter into the state of being a desolation.
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.
It is the object of the preposition l which is marking this word as the state or condition that is the result of the action of the verb hāyâ.
Therefore, this prepositional phrase is expressing the desolate state or condition of the city of Nineveh after receiving God’s judgment.
The noun marbēṣ means “resting place, lair, shelter” since it pertains to a covered resting place or sheltered area for wild animals.
Here it speaks of Nineveh becoming a resting place for wild animals rather than human beings after her human inhabitants have been judged by God.
The noun ḥayyâ means “wild animal, wild beast” and is a general term for all types of wild animals.
The word is the object of the preposition l which is a marker of advantage indicating that Nineveh would become a resting place “for the benefit of” wild animals.
“Everyone who passes by her will hiss and wave his hand in contempt” is composed of the following: (1) collective singular construct form of the noun kōl (כֹּל), “everyone” (2) third person masculine singular qal active participle form of the verb ʿābar (עָבַר), “who passes” (3) preposition ʿǎl (עַל), “by” (4) third person feminine singular pronominal suffix hîʾ (הִיא), “her” (5) third person masculine singular qal active imperfect form of the verb šāraq (שָׁרַק), “will hiss” (6) third person masculine singular hiphil active imperfect form of the verb nûaʿ (נוּעַ), “wave” (7) feminine singular construct form of the noun yād (יָד), “hand” (8) third person masculine singular pronominal suffix hû (הוּא) (who), “their.”
The noun kōl means “everyone” and denotes totality speaking of human beings.
The verb ʿābar is in the qal stem and means “to pass, to come to pass” since it is a temporal marker of the passing of a duration of time.
Therefore, this verb speaks of everyone who “passes” by Nineveh’s ruins.
The third person feminine singular pronominal suffix hîʾ means “her” and refers to the city of Nineveh.
It is the object of the preposition ʿǎl, which means “by, near” since it functions as a marker of proximity speaking of people who travel within close proximity of Nineveh after she was judged by God.
The verb šāraq is used in Scripture to describe the reaction displayed by those who pass by the ruins of a once great city or power, either a hiss or a whistle.
Hissing (or whistling) was one of the ways of taunting a defeated foe or an object of derision in the culture of the time.
Here the word is used of people whistling as they pass by the ruins of Nineveh.
The verb nûaʿ means “to shake” since it pertains to a back and forth non-linear movement with one’s fist.
Therefore, this verb nûaʿ speaks of people shaking their fist when traveling by the ruins of Nineveh after she has been judged by God.
Like whistling, shaking one’s fist was one of the ways of taunting a defeated foe or an object of derision in the culture of the time.
Here the word is used of people shaking their fist as they pass by the ruins 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. 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)
In Zephaniah 2:15, the prophet Zephaniah speaks of the desolation of Nineveh from the perspective that it has already taken place by expressing the shock that she has become a desolation and a resting place for wild animals.
This echoes his statements in verse 14.
Interestingly, there is irony in this statement in that one of the principle leisure activities of Assyrian royalty was hunting.
Now, the animals that were hunted by Assyrian royalty are dwelling in their homes.
He then concludes this description of Nineveh by asserting that every person who passes by her after she has been judged by God will hiss and shake their fist at her in contempt.
History records the fulfillment of Zephaniah 2:13-15 since Nineveh was destroyed in 612 B.C. by a Babylonian-Mede coalition.
Nineveh was so completely destroyed that its very location was lost until rediscovered by modern archaeologists during the nineteenth century.
Wiersbe writes “Since the predictions about the destruction of these nations have all come true, isn’t it reasonable to assume that Zephaniah’s other predictions will also be fulfilled? Each of these local invasions and conquests was a precursor of the end times Day of the Lord, which will come upon the whole world. But when the Day of the Lord has run its course, Israel will be delivered, and the Lord will establish His glorious kingdom on the earth. In the last chapter of his prophecy, Zephaniah explains how the Day of the Lord will relate to this promised kingdom.”
Therefore, we can see that Zephaniah 2:13-15 describes the God of Israel as the judge of Assyria and Nineveh her capital city (Zeph. 2; 3:1-7).
He has authority to judge since He is the creator.
The Scriptures teach of God’s status as judge (Psalm 75:7; cf. Psalm 50:6; 76:8-9; Ecclesiastes 11:9; Isaiah 33:22; 66:16; 2 Timothy 4:8; Hebrews 12:23; James 4:12).
God’s judgment is inescapable in that no one can hide from Him (Obadiah 4; cf. Genesis 3:8-9; Job 11:20; Jeremiah 11:11; Amos 9:1-4).
Zephaniah 2:13-15 also describes the God of Israel as sovereign over Assyria and her capital city, Nineveh.
The term “sovereignty” connotes a situation in which a person, from his innate dignity, exercises supreme power, with no areas of his province outside his jurisdiction.
As applied to God, the term “sovereignty” indicates His complete power over all of creation, so that He exercises His will absolutely, without any necessary conditioning by a finite will or wills.
All the announcements of judgments recorded in Zephaniah 2:4-15 which were directed at the Gentile pagan nations surrounding Judah in the seventh century B.C. are implied calls for repentance.
Repentance involves not only a change of attitude but of conduct.
In Zephaniah 2:4-15, God wanted the Gentile pagan nations surrounding Judah to change their attitude and conduct towards Him.
In other words, He wanted them to do a 180 degree turn with regards to their attitude and behavior toward Him.
For these nations repentance would have been a change of attitude and conduct which demonstrates itself in forsaking their false gods and worshipping the God of Israel who is the God of creation.