Zephaniah 2

1–2

Struggle, my beloved, for the time is near and the days have been shortened. There is no father who instructs his children, there is no child who obeys his father; good virgins are no longer; the holy fathers have died on all sides; the mothers and the widows are no longer, and we have become like orphans; the humble are crushed underfoot; and blows are showered upon the head of the poor. Therefore there is little to hold back the wrath of God from grieving us, with no one to console us. All this has befallen us because we have not practiced mortification.

Instructions 49

1–2

(Chapter 2, verses 1, 2.) Come together, gather, o unlovable nation: before the command gives birth, like passing dust, to the day: before the wrath of the fury of the Lord comes upon you, before the anger of the indignation of the Lord comes upon you. LXX: Gather and collect, o unlearned nation: before you become like a passing flower of the day: before the wrath of the Lord comes upon you: before the day of the anger of the fury of the Lord comes upon you. After the description of the evils that are to come on the Lord's day (according to the double exposition of captivity which we mentioned above), the people are called to repentance and it is said to them: Come together and gather, or as it is written in the Septuagint, be gathered, that is, be united by the bond of love (according to the Apostle): an unlovable people, who are unworthy of God's love, or an unlearned people, of whom it is said in Deuteronomy: A foolish and senseless people (Deut. XXXII, 6). And in Jeremiah: You have struck your children without cause; you have not received discipline (Jer. II, 30), before what has been prophesied comes to pass, before the prescribed command takes effect (which will come as easily as dust blown by), before the fury of the Lord is fulfilled upon you. At the same time, behold the mercy of God: it was enough for the wise to have described the onslaught of the impending evils; but because He does not want to impose punishment, but only to frighten those who will suffer, He himself prompts them to repentance, so that He does not do what He has threatened. But in general, the entire multitude of believers, and those who are called the people of God, gathers in the Church, and it is said to them: Come together in the Church, join us with love and peace, O uninstructed people, who do not want to receive God's discipline, nor have knowledge of His commandments; but you delight in the riches and physical well-being and beauty of this world, and also in the pleasures of the flesh, which pass away like a flower that withers in a single day. Therefore I say to you, come together, unite, so that when the time of judgment comes and all your glory has passed away, you may be willing to repent, when there is no longer a place for repentance, but only for punishment. Someone may ask, how can this be understood as each person passes from the world? Therefore, it is said to each individual: O you, who are occupied with the affairs of the world, running in different directions, return to the Church of the saints and join yourself to their life and community, which you see pleases God, and gather the scattered parts of your soul, which do not cohere with each other, into the unity of wisdom, and cling to its embrace, and listen in a mystic way: Take courage, weak hands; strengthen your feeble knees (Isaiah 40:7); do not boast in the good things of the flesh and its fleeting beauty; for all flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flower of the grass. The hay withers and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever. We can use this chapter for a time: if ever we see someone dedicated to worldly honors and amassing wealth, coming to the Church rarely or never, we can say to him, gather and join the people of God, you who do not hear the Lord's commandments, before your glory passes away, before the day of the Lord's wrath comes upon you.

Commentary on Zephaniah

1–2

One of the prophets rightly spoke of this relation to those who had fallen into negligence: “Be gathered again and tied back together, you undisciplined nation, before you become like the flower that passes away.” A disciple can also be said to “attach” himself to a teacher in terms of a love of study, and we too can attach ourselves to one another not in one fashion only but in many. In short, when someone assists another in a task, should we not consider that he has been conjoined by will to the one who receives his assistance? It seems to us that this is exactly what these innovators mean by conjunction. You must have heard how they stupidly maintain that God the Word assumed a man, as if he were a different Son to himself, and then proposed him as a kind of assistant to his designs so that he underwent the trial and death, came to life again, rose up to heaven, and even sat upon the throne of the ineffable Godhead? With arguments such as these have they not completely and utterly proven that this man is altogether different from the true and natural son?

On the Unity of Christ

3–4

(Verse 3, 4) Seek the Lord, all you meek of the earth, who have practiced His judgment; seek justice, seek meekness, perhaps you shall be hidden in the day of the Lord's fury. For Gaza shall be deserted, and Ashkelon shall become a desolation. Ashdod shall be driven out at noon, and Ekron shall be uprooted. LXX: Seek the Lord, all you lowly of the earth; do justice, seek righteousness, and answer it, that you may be protected in the day of the Lord's wrath. For Gaza shall be plundered, and Ashkelon shall become a desolation; and Ashdod shall be cast out at noon, and Ekron shall be uprooted. He is called humble of the earth, who, not by humility, which signifies virtue, but by sins, has been humiliated, and cannot say with Christ: Learn from me, for I am gentle and humble of heart (Matt. XI, 29). For everyone who humbles himself will be exalted. And in another place, a sermon is directed to the saint: the greater you are, the more humble yourself, and you will find favor before God (Eccl. III). But he who is humiliated by sins, and burdened with the consciousness of offenses, and says: Like a heavy burden, burdens are upon me (Psalm XXXVII, 5), must hear: Come to me all you who labor and are burdened, and I will refresh you (Matt. XI, 28). Let this saying be in the beginning according to the 70 interpreters. However, according to the Hebrew, there is another sense. For it is said to the saints: O you, who keep my commandments, who are placed in the land, and knowing that everyone who humbles himself will be exalted, you have imitated my meekness, and you have acted in judgment, seek the Lord in your meekness. And if you want to know who this Lord is, seek the just, seek the meek: For the Father has given all judgment to the Son (John 5:22), who will judge justly. And since you are gentle, seek a gentle one, so that whatever is lacking in your gentleness may be fulfilled by the one who is the source of gentleness. But I say this to you: If you hide on the day of the Lord's fury, that is, if you are able to escape the wrath of the coming day and the captivity that is to be inflicted by either Nebuchadnezzar or the Romans on the people of Judah, because you have sought the Lord and have acted justly. But if they doubt (others say) who have made his judgments, saying (others say). If you wonder how you will hide on the day of the Lord's wrath, what will happen to the sinners? For such a great devastation will come to the land of Judah, and such a high-ranking Babylonian army will ascend here, that even the most powerful cities of the Philistines, which have always resisted you in fair combat, will be captured. Gaza will be destroyed, and Ascalon will be reduced to a wasteland, and Ashdod, not by theft but by war, that is, by open light and victory, will be taken captive; and Ekron, which means uprooting, will endure what it signifies in its name, that is, it will be uprooted. This is according to the literal and Hebrew truth. According to the Septuagint, however, it is commanded to the humble of the earth, of whom it was said above, that they should work for justice and seek righteousness, which I believe is none other than Christ. And because everyone who seeks will find (Mat. VII, 8), what they have found, let them respond to others, that is, let them teach others: for hidden wisdom and a treasure not appearing, what usefulness is there in both (Eccl. XX, 32)? And this, he says, I command you, that on the day of the Lord's wrath you may be protected, either at the end of the world or at the departure of each one from the world, for Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, and Ekron will suffer different punishments: for Gaza means his strength. Therefore, all those who applaud themselves in bodily strength and worldly power, and say with the devil, by my own strength I will do it, will be plundered on the day of the Lord's wrath, and brought to nothing. Ascalon also, which is called weighted or murderous fire, when the day of the Lord's anger comes, will experience the measure of its wickedness, and by the same weight with which it operated, it will be depressed. And because it burned to shed blood, and scandalized many souls, and it was fulfilled in it: The Lord will abhor the bloodthirsty and deceitful man (Psalm 5:7), it will not be plundered like Gaza, but reduced to solitude, it will be consumed by the fires of Gehenna until it turns to dust. And also Azotus, which in Hebrew is called Esdod, and in our language means the fire of generation, will be laid waste by bright light. For it burned with desire, and was consumed by the fire of generation. And because all who commit adultery are like an oven whose hearts are burning (Hosea VII), and are wounded by burning arrows, not in darkness, not in hidden judgment; but at noon, that is, when the saints receive full clarity, they will be cast into darkness, and will not have the fellowship of the saints. But Accaron, which is interpreted as sterility or eradication, because it has produced no fruit and by the perversity of its teaching has eradicated many, it itself will also be eradicated. But all these various things understand in the vices and sins of the souls, and because what each one's work is like will be tested by the fire of judgment on the day (I Cor. III).

Commentary on Zephaniah

5–7

(Verse 5-7.) Woe to those who dwell by the sea, the nation of the lost: the word of the Lord is against you, O Canaan, land of the Philistines; and I will destroy you so that there will be no inhabitant. And the sea coast shall be pastures, with shelters for shepherds and folds for flocks. And the remnant of the house of Judah shall possess it; they shall feed on it. In the houses of Ashkelon they shall lie down at evening; for the Lord their God will visit them and restore their fortunes. LXX: Woe to those who inhabit the edge of the sea, strangers from Crete! The word of the Lord is against you, O Canaan, land of the foreigners; and I will destroy you, and there will be a pasture for flocks in Crete, and a sheepfold for herds. And the edge of the sea shall belong to the remnant of the house of Judah; they shall feed their flocks in the houses of Ashkelon; in the afternoon they shall rest, for the Lord their God will visit them and turn back their captivity. As for the history, it is not difficult to interpret, because in the previous statements it was said: Gaza will be destroyed (or deserted), and Ascalon will be turned into a desert: Ashdod will be cast out to the south, and Ekron will be uprooted. With these four great cities of Palestine named, now it is evident that the Lord's discourse is directed towards the province itself, and a woe is pronounced on it: Woe to those who dwell by the sea, when the Babylonian comes; for even those who dwell near the sea will perish and be taken away. But it is doubted by no one that the land of the Palestinians is the land of Canaan. And I will destroy you, he says, so that there will be no inhabitant: and you will come to such a great devastation, that you rejoiced in the destruction of Judaea, so that all your well-fortified cities will become grazing grounds for shepherds. And after the Lord has visited his people, and has caused them to return under Zerubbabel and Joshua, and they have built the temple and rebuilt Jerusalem, you will be so uncultivated, and will be covered with thorns and nettles, that shepherds will rest from the remnants of the Jews in Ashkelon in the afternoon, and make their flocks lie down in the once noble city, and this will happen because the Lord will visit his people, and will turn away their captivity, whether it has happened or not, God will see. For our purpose now is not to weave a true history, but to communicate to our own people what we have learned from the Hebrews. However, the spiritual sense and translation of the LXX is difficult to understand, especially because there are discrepancies in interpretation. For where we have translated, nation of the lost, they said, strangers of the Cretans: and what is written in Hebrew as GoiChorethim (), they read as Goi, meaning nation, and Gar, meaning stranger: and for Chorethim, which means lost, they thought it was the name of the island of Crete. Finally, both Aquila and the fifth edition were translated, ἔθνος ὀλέθριον: And Theodotio ἔθνος ὀλεθρίας: Symmachus also ἔθνος ὀλεθρευόμενον, which all together with our interpretation make. Again, where we have said, And the cord of the sea will be the pasture of the shepherds, and all the interpreters agree with this translation, it is written in the LXX: And Crete will be the pasture of the flock, and the sheepfold. Therefore, comparing spiritual things to spiritual things, and holding onto the path once begun of the Vulgate edition, we search if we have read the name of Crete elsewhere in the Holy Scriptures. And, if I am not mistaken, it is quite clear: Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons. This testimony is true. (Tit. I, 12, 13). They are unstable and easily deceived, carried away by every wind of doctrine, by human trickery, by their cunning in deceitful scheming. Instead of living in the land of confession, which is Judea, they preferred to be foreigners, those Cretans who are constantly battered by the varying waves of the sea and resonate with the sound of the Cretan lyre. According to the Apostle, they are like a tinkling cymbal. (I Cor. XIII, 1). And because the Cretans are foreigners, therefore the word of God, that is, admonition, is directed towards them: and they are called the land of Canaan, always in agitation, always in motion, and the land of the Gentiles: for they are alienated from God, they are tossed to and fro in the cable of the sea, and are situated in the region of Crete. Therefore, the word of God is directed towards them, either at the consummation and end of the world, or daily by ecclesiastical men, and those who are able to say with the apostle: Do you seek a proof of Christ speaking in me? (2 Corinthians 13:3) So that they may be driven out of Crete, and perish from their former dwellings, and that region which previously contained a lost flock, may begin to be the sheepfold of Christ; and let Judas, that is, true confession, dwell in the ropes of the sea. And when the world has now begun to be evening, and out of many who are called, few are chosen, and those who are now called the remnant of the house of Judah, may feed those who were first fed in the sea, and in Crete, and in falsehood: they will turn aside into the houses of Ashkelon, that is, where previously the fire of the devil and the blood of the slain flowed: for Ashkelon is interpreted as the murderous fire. And this will happen because the Lord will visit His people, and those who were easily captured by the sophisms of heretics, like those coming out of captivity, will overcome their adversaries and dwell in their own tabernacles. However, what is read in the Septuagint, 'From the face of the sons of Judah,' we have marked with an obelus, for it is not found in the Hebrew or in any other interpreter, and it disturbs the context and meaning of the chapter: not that it would be difficult in some way to weave in the sentence even with this included; but once we have decided on the truth of the interpretation, we choose the judgement of a more learned reader rather than the opinion of the common people.

Commentary on Zephaniah

8–11

(Ver. 8 onwards) I have heard the reproach of Moab and the blasphemies of the sons of Ammon, who have reproached my people and magnified themselves against their borders. Therefore, as I live, says the Lord God (God remains silent), the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Moab shall be like Sodom, and the sons of Ammon like Gomorrah, a land of thorns and salt pits, and a desolation forever. The remnant of my people shall plunder them; the survivors of my nation shall possess them. This will happen to them because of their pride, for they have blasphemed and exalted themselves above the people of the Lord of hosts. The Lord will be terrible against them; He will destroy all the gods of the earth, and men from their places will worship Him, even all the coastlands of the nations. I have heard the reproach of Moab, and the insults of the people of Ammon, with which they have reproached My people and exalted themselves against their borders. Therefore, as I live, says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, surely Moab shall be like Sodom, and the people of Ammon like Gomorrah, a possession of nettles and salt pits, and a perpetual desolation. The remnant of My people shall plunder them, and the remainder of My nation shall possess them. This shall be their lot in return for their pride, because they have reproached and exalted themselves against the Lord of hosts. The Lord will be known to them; He will destroy all the gods of the nations on the earth, and men from their places will worship Him, even all the coastlands of the nations. Except for the prophet Daniel, who frequently sees visions of four kingdoms and explains their differences using various images (Dan. VIII), Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel also do this, so that after seeing the vision of Judah against the other nations surrounding it, they prophesy and proclaim what will happen to them according to the specific events, and they dwell on the description of these events for a longer time. Now the prophet Zephaniah does the same, although briefly, in the same manner. For against the Philistines, against whom the previous threat has been made, he says, 'Gaza shall be destroyed, and Ascalon shall be turned into a desert, Ashdod shall be driven away to the south, and Accaron shall be uprooted.' Now a prophecy is woven against Moab and the sons of Ammon, or as it has been added in the Septuagint, against Damascus, which is called Aram in Isaiah (Chapter 17), because they, who had offered aid to Nebuchadnezzar, devastated Judah, trampled on its sanctuary, and even destroyed the temple, and having subjugated the people of Israel, they blasphemed the Lord. Indeed, Nebuchadnezzar and the Chaldeans, after destroying the cities of the Jews, oppressed other nations, and so it happened that those who had insulted the people of God were themselves pressed by the same distress of evils, and held captive Judah, whom they thought they had subjected. Therefore, before the captivity came under King Josiah, while Jerusalem and the temple were still standing, a prophecy is directed against the insolent, so that the evils that once afflicted the people of God would be alleviated by the evils of other nations. I heard, he said, the reproach of Moab, which is now called Areopolis, and the blasphemies of the sons of Ammon, which itself is also called the second city of Arabia after Bosra Philadelphia: in which they reproached my people, and having expelled the Jews, they extended their borders in their land. Therefore, because they blasphemed me and reproached my people, I, the Lord of hosts, who am able to fulfill what I threaten, and the God of Israel, who myself suffer injury among my people, will make Moab like Sodom, and the sons of Ammon like Gomorrah. We find such visions in Isaiah and Jeremiah, and we will find the same things that we now read here. The dryness of thorns and heaps of salt, and a desert forever, for which I do not know why the Seventy translated Damascus as uprooted and abandoned, unless I am mistaken, deceived by the ambiguity of the word: for the dryness that is said in Hebrew Mamasac (), if the first letter Mem is changed and Dalath is taken, has the same remaining letters as Damascus, and can be read instead of the previous word Damasec. But it is asked how these cities, that is, Moab and the sons of Ammon, were reduced to Sodom and Gomorrah, and as dry as thorns and heaps of salt, they will not be built again forever? And indeed, there is no difficulty in explaining that they were laid waste like Sodom and Gomorrah. However, what follows: They will be deserted forever, we interpret either as the destruction of their kingdom (because they were later overthrown by the Chaldeans and lost their kingdom, and then were either attacked by the Antiochians or the Ptolemies, and finally submitted their necks to the Roman Empire), or certainly it must be taken exceedingly: for Lolam signifies both eternity and age: from which it can be understood as referring to one age, or for some time, or one generation. And those who remain from the people of Israel shall be devastated, and they shall possess the blasphemous aid once of the Chaldeans. But this shall happen to them because of their pride, for they have blasphemed and magnified themselves against the people of the Lord of hosts, who will be terrible over them, and his terror will not destroy the proud. He will not shed the blood of blasphemers, but he will destroy and weaken all their idols, so that those who were previously held by error and did not feel the blessings of the Lord, pressed by the necessity of evils, may know that idols are of no use and may each worship him from his own place, all the islands of the nations. So far according to the Hebrew. Now let us turn to the Septuagint interpreters, and let us compel the Jews, who only follow the history, to explain to us when Moab and the sons of Ammon became like Sodom and Gomorrah, and like a heap of ruins, and deserted forever; they should show the sulphurous rains, the vineyards, the land turned into ashes and dust, the sea that once was a well of salt, now called the Dead Sea, flooded: when the Jews plundered them, when the remaining Israelite nations possessed them. But what is the indignation of the Lord against blasphemy and insults? Not against Moab and Ammon, but against the whole earth, so that every person from their own place may worship Him, all the islands of the nations? What is more, He grants more favor to those who blaspheme, so that they may turn from error to salvation. But if they wish to say that after the return from Babylon these nations were subject to the people of Israel, first we will demand the authority of the Scriptures, from which they can prove this: then, when they are unable to demonstrate it, we will grant them that it happened as they say: that it was the justice of God to blaspheme the ancestors and reproach the forefathers, and then repay it to the grandchildren. Since certainly that statement, which was previously said in the Law, that the sins of the fathers will be visited upon the children in the third and fourth generation (Exodus 20), is dissolved by Ezekiel: 'As I live,' says the Lord, 'this parable shall no longer be spoken; but the soul that sins, it shall die' (Ezekiel 18:20). And at the same time, observe that it is a parable that has been spoken, and it does not mean what the words on the surface suggest. But if it is unjust to impute to grandchildren the sins of their grandfather that they have committed, how much more unjust is it for the folly of the Jews to hope for this to happen at the end of the world, when it is not their Christ, as they suppose; but the Antichrist that is to come. For whenever they are pressed in history, so that they may teach that what has been said is completed, they immediately leap to future times of Christ, and they promise and say to themselves after many centuries all the things that they cannot explain, and that Moab, and the sons of Ammon, and Egypt, and the Philistines, and Edom, which now insult the Jews, will be punished at that time. Let us therefore ask them why God punishes these nations in particular, and not the entire world in which the Jews have been scattered far and wide. For if Moab deserves rebuke, insulting the Jews, and the sons of Ammon and the other nations around, why isn't Gaul rebuked? why doesn't he threaten Britain? why is Spain exempt from punishment? for what reason is nothing said about Italy? why is Africa silent? and to say it once, when the whole world holds the Jews captive, why do only the nations that are around it commit so much wickedness, to the point that they are particularly named? Now, as for what we said before, that Damascus is not named in Hebrew either by the Prophet, or by any of the other Prophets anywhere when predicting what will happen to the Gentiles, we will also prove from the very order of the Scripture. For in connection with the words: 'I have heard the reproach of Moab, and the blasphemies of the children of Ammon', he adds immediately afterwards: 'because Moab will be as Sodom, and the sons of Ammon as Gomorrah.' Therefore, what follows: 'And Damascus, deserted, like a heap of grain, should have sent something from Damascus, as he had said about two nations: Moab will be like Sodom, and the sons of Ammon like Gomorrah, whose sins he had already mentioned: thus he would have described the insults or blasphemies of the Damascenes, so that it would appear fitting to inflict punishment afterwards. But even this itself that is said: 'Like a heap of grain', which in Greek is said ὡς θιμωνία ἁλὸς, we think were translated by the LXX as ἁλὸς, that is, of salt; but by the uneducated, who mistook θιμωνίαν, that is, a heap of grain or produce, for ἁλὸς, adding the two letters ω and ν, as if to indicate the abundance of produce, ἅλωνος, that is, of a threshing floor, was used. It is said about the variety and error of interpretation, and about the difficulty of history. However, the learned man compares spiritual things with spiritual things, and does not seek the things that are below, but the things that are above, and with Christ rises from the underworld, and taking off the old man, puts on the new, he will bring accusations against the teachers of the contrary doctrines of the Church, who themselves also seem to be of the lineage of Abraham, and to have escaped the fire of Sodom and Gomorrah, and to dwell in the city of Segor. But because their generation is in darkness, and they cannot see the light of truth (for they have turned away from God the Father, which is interpreted from the names Lot and Moab), and they have ceased to be the sons of God (which is called my people), and they have stood still in a dark cave conceived from incestuous marriages: therefore, even to this day, insulting the simplicity of the children of Judah, they desire to magnify their possession beyond its boundaries, of which it is said in Proverbs: Do not move the everlasting boundaries, which your fathers have set (Prov. XXII, 28). See heretics in dialectics, applauding themselves in rhetoric and in all the dogmas of sophisms, despising the simplicity of the Church, and considering it unworthy of their mysteries, which they have imagined as idols for themselves, and mocking them as worthless. And you do not seek out what are the reproaches of Moab and the insults of the sons of Ammon, in which they reproached the people of God. Therefore, the Lord swore by Himself, saying: As I live, says the Lord. And beautifully to distinguish the dead gods, who are called idols, God of Israel speaks of Himself as living, that is, the God of the people who see Him: and thus these nations, that is, Moab and the sons of Ammon, of whom we have spoken above, are blaspheming. They will be like Sodom and Gomorrah, not because they come from Sodom and Gomorrah, but because they blaspheme the people of God and act against Israel. They will be reckoned as Sodom and Gomorrah, and they will be destroyed in the same way as those cities were destroyed before, having no trace of strength and life. It is no wonder if we understand this about heretics, since they are considered like Sodom and Gomorrah, as it is also said to the ecclesiastics who did not observe God's commandments and have departed from his precepts, through Isaiah: Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom, and give ear to the law of the Lord, you people of Gomorrah (Isaiah 1:10). And to the elders desiring to corrupt the chastity of the Church under the guise of Susanna, Daniel says: This is the judgment of God: the seed of Canaan, and not of Judah (Daniel 13). And so that you may know that whenever Sodom and Gomorrah and Egypt are mentioned, it is not about those provinces that we see with our eyes, but about other spiritual things that the prophetic discourse warns us about: read in the Apocalypse of John: The place in which the Lord was crucified is spiritually called Sodom and Egypt (Rev. XI, 8). Therefore, if Jerusalem, in which the Lord was crucified, is spiritually called Sodom and Egypt, why should not, on the other hand, Egypt and Sodom and Gomorrah, if they have done the works of Jerusalem and the land of Judah, be transferred to the land of the Lord's inheritance? Finally, David was not of the priests, nor was he allowed to eat the showbread (I Sam. 21), but because his works were increasing one by one, and Saul's persecution was advancing his virtues, therefore in his flight he doesn't hesitate, suddenly he becomes a high priest, and he receives the showbread, and he does not violate God's command. We have said all of this because Moab will be like Sodom, and the sons of Ammon like Gomorrah. Damascus, which also means 'drinking blood' or 'blood shed,' will be abandoned by God's mercy, like a heap of salt. For since its ruler is King Aretha, and the people of Damascus want to kill Paul, and he is let down through the wall in a basket (Acts 9), it is not said to Damascus: You are the salt of the earth; nor is that called salt, which is always offered in sacrifices, but rather that which is tasteless and about which it is written in the Gospel: But if salt has lost its taste, with what shall it be salted? It is useless, neither for the earth, nor for the dung heap; but it is thrown out, so that it may be trampled underfoot by men (Matthew 5, 13). And so Moab, and Ammon, and Damascus, who prepared themselves against the knowledge of the Lord, and blasphemed the people of God, and said many insults against him, and wanted to extend their boundaries in the land of the Church, and possess the people of God, they will be deserted and destroyed, and the remaining people of God, that is, the men educated in the Holy Scriptures, will plunder them, and the remaining of the Lord's people will possess them, and this will be their disgrace, because they reproached and magnified themselves against the Almighty Lord. See the mercy, see the compassion of the Lord: His boundaries are insulted, He is blasphemed, His territories are plundered. And what does He do? He sends to the remnants of His people, of whom we have spoken, to divide those who blaspheme against Him, and to lead them into His possession. For it is much better for a fool to serve the wise, and for his foolishness to be corrected by the wisdom of the Lord, than for him to be abandoned to his own foolishness. Therefore, the almighty Lord will come, and He will be more clearly revealed to those who now do not know Him, whom they are ignorant of. And He will destroy all doctrines, that is, their gods, and the idols of the various nations, so that when the statues, which they had composed in their own understanding, are demolished, the nations may turn to the Lord, and each one may worship Him in his own place whom they did not know before.

Commentary on Zephaniah

Despite all this, they still could not raise up a temple and restore the place in which they would be allowed to observe all these rituals according to the law. For the power of Christ, the power which founded the church, has also destroyed that place. The prophet foretold that Christ would come and that he would do these things, even though he would not come until after the captivity.

Demonstrations Against the Pagans 17:5

Let us, however, speak also of the churches as islands. Moreover, Scripture says in another place, “Many islands are converted to me.” Would you know that churches are called islands? The prophet Isaiah says in the name of the Lord, “Speak to the inhabitants of this isle.” “Let the many isles be glad.” Even as islands have been set in the midst of the sea, churches have been established in the midst of this world, and they are beaten and buffeted by different waves of persecution. Truly these islands are lashed by waves every day, but they are not submerged. They are in the midst of the sea, to be sure, but they have Christ as their foundation, Christ who cannot be moved.

Homilies on the Psalms 24

And neither will you believe that it was foretold that these nations would come to some place of God, as it has been said, “To you the Gentiles shall come from the ends of the earth.” Understand, if you can, that it is to the God of the Christians, who is supreme and the true God, that the people of these nations come, not by walking but by believing. For this same announcement has been made in these words by another prophet: “The Lord shall be terrible upon them and shall consume all the gods of the earth, and they shall adore him every man from his place, all the islands of the Gentiles.” One says, “To you the Gentiles shall come from the ends of the earth”; the other, “They shall adore him every man from his own place.” Therefore they will not be required to withdraw from their own place in coming to him, because they will find him in whom they believe in their own hearts.

On Faith in Things Unseen 4

For a long time … the demons kept silent in their own temples concerning the things that would come to pass, although because of the utterances of the prophets they could not have been unaware of them. When, later, the events began to draw near, they wished, as it were, to foretell them, so that they might not be deemed ignorant and vanquished. Nevertheless, not to mention other instances for the present, long ago there had been foretold and recorded that which the prophet Zephaniah says: “The Lord shall prevail against them and shall cast out all the gods of the Gentiles of the earth. And they shall adore him every man from his own place, all the islands of the Gentiles.” Possibly those gods who were worshiped in the temples of the Gentiles did not believe that those events would occur to them and consequently did not wish them to be noised abroad through their own seers and diviners.

On the Divination of Demons 7

12–15

(Verse 12 and following) But even you, Ethiopians, will be killed by my sword: and he will stretch out his hand over the North, and will destroy Assyria: and he will make a beautiful place desolate, and like a deserted wilderness. And flocks will lie down in the midst of it: all the beasts of the nations, and the pelican, and the hedgehog will dwell in its thresholds: the voice of the singer in the window, the raven on the top. For I will weaken its strength. This is the glorious city, dwelling in confidence, which said in her heart: I am, and there is no other besides me: how has she become a dwelling place of beasts in the wilderness? Everyone who passes by it will hiss and shake his hand. LXX: And you, Ethiopians, wounded by my sword will be; and I will stretch out my hand over the North and destroy Assyria, and make Nineveh a desolation, a dry and desolate land. And flocks will graze in its midst, and all the beasts of the earth; and chameleons and hedgehogs will lie down in its folds, and the beasts will cry out in their dens, and the ravens at its gates: for its height is like a cedar; this is the city devoted to evil, which dwells in hope and says in its heart: I am, and there is none after me; how has it become a pasture for beasts? Everyone who passes through it will hiss and shake their hands. The Jews interpret this whole chapter and the two preceding ones against the Philistines, Moab, and the sons of Ammon, referring to the coming of Christ, whom they believe will come at the end of the world to rebuild Jerusalem and deliver his people from the hand of the nations by which they are held captive. And this is what is meant by what is said: 'And men shall worship him, every man from his place, even all the isles of the heathen.' But not only the nations mentioned above, but also the Ethiopians and Assyrians and the city of Nineveh at that time must be laid waste and become a habitation for all the beasts of the earth, or as it is written in Hebrew, 'all the beasts of the nations.' From this, they believe it is intended to signify all the nations that will overthrow Nineveh. And because Nineveh, which means ‘beautiful,’ in the present place is referred to as beautiful in relation to Babylon. And everything that follows: the pelican and the hedgehog will dwell in its thresholds, and so on, rather applies to Babylon, of which the same desolation is predicted in Isaiah. And on the contrary, others assert that it is clearly about Assyria, of which it was already said: It will stretch out its hand against the north, and it will destroy Assyria, and it will make Nineveh a desolation. According to Al. Post, the Assyrians are better understood as being associated with Nineveh rather than Babylon, which is a city of the Chaldeans. And when he says that the Onocrotalus and the Hedgehog are signs of solitude, it should be understood as signs of judgment. There are two kinds of Onocrotalus: one that is aquatic, and another that is associated with solitude. And when he says the singing voice in the window, it can be understood as either demons or the voices of various birds that are known to inhabit deserted cities. Furthermore, both we and the Seventy similarly translated: 'Corvus' is placed on the threshold in Hebrew, which, according to the differences in reading (), is understood either as drought, or sword, or raven. Therefore, the Eagle, others interpreted as sword or drought. And after its overthrow, as if mocking its ruin, the prophetic speech says: 'This is the glorious city, dwelling in confidence, which said in its heart: I am, and besides me there is no other; how has it become a dwelling place of beasts in the desert?' Anyone who passes by it will hiss and shake his hand. According to what we have said above, either true beasts will dwell in the deserted city, or the varied multitude of nations is certainly indicated under the form of beasts. But if anyone asks how this prophecy applies to the time of Nebuchadnezzar according to the history: let him read the histories about the Ethiopians and Assyrians, to whom the Medes and Persians did nothing, and he will see that the Assyrians and Ethiopians were also subject to the Medes, and that Cyrus had a kingdom, and the power of Cyrus, and everything that has followed thereafter. Let these words be said in Hebrew. However, if we observe in all the Scriptures that the Ethiopians are called those who are deeply sunk in vices, according to what we read in Jeremiah: 'Can the Ethiopian change his skin?' (Jer. XIII, 23). With the Ethiopians turned to better things, there will be hope for anyone who wishes to repent, that they will not be excluded from salvation. Hence, the previously defiled soul, and stained with the filth of sins, says: 'I am black' (Cant. I, 4). And afterwards, at the end of the Song of Songs, it is written about the same, now purified and washed through repentance: Who is she who ascends, all white? (Song of Songs 8:5); Moses also, that is, the Law of the Lord in a spiritual sense, took an Ethiopian woman from the nations as his wife (Exodus 2); and Mary, that is, the synagogue of the Jews, and Aaron, that is, the carnal priesthood, not according to the order of Melchizedek, murmured against the Law, but in vain. For immediately the synagogue is struck with leprosy, and cast out outside the camp, for the entire time, while Moses himself is praying, it is brought back into the camp. For the hand of Ethiopia had already reached God (Psalm 68). Therefore, the divine word now threatens those who cling to sins and forget the filth of their offenses, who do not want to turn to better things and wash away their dark color. And it threatens them with a sword, which I think is written about in Genesis: He placed Cherubim and a flaming sword, which turned to guard the way of the tree of life. And in Isaiah: He will bring forth a great and holy sword against the twisted serpent dragon, and he will kill him on that day (Isa. XXVII, 1, sec. LXX). And he says that they should be wounded or killed with a sword, so that, fearing punishment, they may imitate Nineveh, and repent (Jonah III), and not endure what the Lord threatens. Indeed, this is also the prophecy of Jeremiah: I will speak, he says, concerning the nation and the kingdom, and I will remove and destroy them: and if they repent, then I will also repent of all the evils that I have spoken to do to them (Jer. XVIII, 7, 8). And so, in order that you may know, for this reason the Lord now threatens the Ethiopians with a sword, so that he may turn them to better things. He introduces this in a little while in this very book about the Ethiopians: Beyond the rivers of Ethiopia, my dispersed sons will bring me an offering. (Below III, 10) Or, as it is found in the Septuagint: From the borders of the rivers of Ethiopia, I will receive my dispersed ones, and they will offer sacrifices to me. After this, the Lord does not speak as before; but the prophetic spirit speaks about him: And he will stretch out his hand over the north, and he will destroy Assyria. (Jer. I, 14). The North wind, of which Jeremiah wrote: ‘Out of the north evil shall break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land.’ And of which Solomon speaks: ‘The north wind bringeth forth rain; so doth a backbiting tongue, (Prov. 25:23). Therefore God stretches out His hand to inflict punishment, so that both the North wind may feel its penalties, and those who dwell in its land, to which the black horses hasten, concerning which it is said: ‘There were (or, in which were) black horses, and they went into the north country’ (Zech. 6:6). And beautifully, he who moves his feet and withdraws from the East, of whom the same prophet says, Behold a man, his name is the Orient (Ibid., 12), and he looks towards the West, immediately goes to the North, which is not on the right, but is called the right by name. And this is understood both literally, so that whoever stands in the East and turns towards the West, has the North on his right, which they call the right because those who are refreshed by its breath, which is only called the right by name, but in reality and in deed it is rather on the left. But after the Lord has extended His hand over the North, He will also destroy Assyria, which is interpreted as 'the one who directs', which many think means 'the one who directs', but it is false: for 'the one who directs' is said to be the one who accuses and convicts. And since the devil himself is an enemy and an avenger, and he himself suggests sins, and then accuses sinners of their sins, therefore he is called 'the one who directs'. I believe this to be the prince of the Assyrians, who dwells in the North, and has Nineveh as his capital, and he says in Isaiah: With strength I will act, and with wisdom I will remove the boundaries of nations, and I will plunder their powers (Isaiah 10, LXX). Moreover, what follows about the destruction of Nineveh seems to me to be understood according to what is written either in the prophet Jonah or in Nahum. In Jonah, indeed, we interpret Nineveh, that is, the beautiful city that repented at the preaching of Jonah, that is, the dove, as the Church gathered from the Gentiles. But indeed, we have ordered intelligence upon the world. And of the world, it is not difficult to interpret and say that when the Ethiopians have been wounded by the sword of the Lord and have stretched out their hand upon the north, and have destroyed the Assyrian prince of the world, then the world itself shall perish with its prince, and be reduced to the greatest solitude, and be miserable to no one, but all shall hiss and wave their hands at its ruin. But on first appearance the Church seems blasphemous because it is destined to become impassable and deserted, and beasts will inhabit it, and afterwards it is insultingly said to it: This is a city given over to evil, which dwelt in hope, which said in its heart: I am, and there is no other besides me, how is it made into a wilderness, a pasture for beasts? But anyone who considers that saying of the Apostle in which it is said: In the last times there will be times of great evil, and people will be lovers of themselves, greedy, arrogant, proud, blasphemous, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, wicked, without affection, without peace, accusers, unrestrained, cruel, hating good, traitorous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God: having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power (2 Timothy 3:1, following). Moreover, this is also written in the Gospel, that because of the increase of wickedness, the love of many will grow cold, so much so that during that time it will be fulfilled: Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, do you think he will find faith on earth? (Matthew 24:12) It will not be surprising that the Church will be severely devastated at the end, when the Antichrist reigns, and will be reduced to desolation, handed over to beasts, and will suffer all the things that the prophet now describes. For if God spared not the natural branches on account of unbelief, perhaps He broke them off, and set rivers in the desert, and fountains in the thirsty land, turning fruitful land into salt, because of the wickedness of its inhabitants; why did He not on the contrary do the same to those concerning whom He had said: He turned the desert into pools of water, and the dry land into fountains of water, and made the hungry dwell there; and the rest, and those whom He had grafted from the wild olive tree into the good olive tree, if they, being forgetful of the benefit, have departed from their Creator and worshipped Assyria, may He overturn and lead them back to the same thirst in which they were before? Although it can generally be understood in the coming of the Antichrist, or in the end of the world: nevertheless, it can be understood daily in those who pretend to be of the Church of God, and deny it by their works, and are hearers of the law, and not doers, who vainly boast of being beautiful, while they dwell in them, namely, a multitude of vices, and brute animals serving the body, and all the beasts of the earth, which devour their hearts, and chameleons which do not have one color; but are changed by various sins, now by greed, now by luxury, now by cruelty, now by lust, now by sadness, now by joy, in moments. And in their mangers there will be hedgehogs, a spiky and thorny animal, and it will wound whatever it touches. And the animals will lie in their burrows, that is, in their hearts, and unclean birds will be in their gates, either in their mouths or in their ears, so that they may always speak or hear evil. After this it is brought forth and said: therefore the Church will suffer or has already suffered these things, because it has lifted itself up in pride and has raised its peak like a cedar, given over to wicked deeds, and yet promising itself future happiness, despising others in its heart, thinking that there is no one besides itself, and saying: I am, and there is no other besides me: so how has the pasture of the beasts become a wilderness? For where the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit formerly dwelt, and the angels presided over their ministries, then the beasts will dwell, of whom the prophet also laments, saying: Do not deliver the soul confessing to you to the beasts (Ps. LXXIII, 19). Everyone who passes through it will hiss and move their hands. But if we understand this about the angels, we will interpret it thus: when the angels pass through it, and do not remain in it as they used to do before, they will be amazed and astonished: and they will not support it, and they will not sustain it as it falls with their hand, but they will lift up their hands and pass through it. Certainly, when they raise their hands with a hiss, and they will crackle like mourners in the manner of lamenting. But if we want to understand this about the devil and his angels, who also devastated the vineyard that had been transferred from Egypt: we will say that, by the soul from which Christ has departed, which was previously the temple of God and has ceased to be, the serpent passes through it and hisses, and vomits the poison of malice; and not only does it do this, but it also moves its works, which are figuratively called hands. So that you do not think that we have named it ‘snake’ just for the sake of it, understand violently, as it were, the hands of the snake in the work. Take the testimony of Solomon: Death and life are in the hands of the tongue (Prov. XVIII, 21). We have said these things, serving as best we could the allegorical interpretation. But if someone finds something more plausible and reasonable than what we have discussed, let the authority of that reader prevail.

Commentary on Zephaniah

Some from the circle of your friendship go out with a madeup face; they wear a bandeau around their face; they put this black thing over their eyes under pretext of illness; they have numberless rings attached to their handkerchief, and on their belt, fringes that flap behind them, like calves frisking about in an enclosure. Often they bathe quite naked without necessity; they wear soft shoes on their feet—“she went out taking pride in the desires of her soul”—they mince along in the assembly; they accost their friend with a boisterous laugh, like the noise of thorny twigs cracking under a cooking pot. They build themselves alcoves; they adopt customs of the crows and vultures of the world, making themselves comparable to them in their food: dead meat and rotted venison.

Some from the circle of your friendship go out with a made-up face; they wear a bandeau around their face; they put this black thing over their eyes under pretext of illness; they have numberless rings attached to their handkerchief, and on their belt, fringes that flap behind them, like calves frisking about in an enclosure. Often they bathe quite naked without necessity; they wear soft shoes on their feet—“she went out taking pride in the desires of her soul”—they mince along in the assembly; they accost their friend with a boisterous laugh, like the noise of thorny twigs cracking under a cooking pot. They build themselves alcoves; they adopt customs of the crows and vultures of the world, making themselves comparable to them in their food: dead meat and rotted venison.

Instructions 7:10