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1 The word of the LORD which came unto Zephaniah the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hizkiah, in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah. 2 I will utterly consume all things from off the land, saith the LORD. 3 I will consume man and beast; I will consume the fowls of the heaven, and the fishes of the sea, and the stumblingblocks with the wicked; and I will cut off man from off the land, saith the LORD. 4 I will also stretch out mine hand upon Judah, and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and I will cut off the remnant of Baal from this place, and the name of the Chemarims with the priests; 5 And them that worship the host of heaven upon the housetops; and them that worship and that swear by the LORD, and that swear by Malcham; 6 And them that are turned back from the LORD; and those that have not sought the LORD, nor inquired for him. 7 Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord GOD: for the day of the LORD is at hand: for the LORD hath prepared a sacrifice, he hath bid his guests. 8 And it shall come to pass in the day of the LORD's sacrifice, that I will punish the princes, and the king's children, and all such as are clothed with strange apparel. 9 In the same day also will I punish all those that leap on the threshold, which fill their masters' houses with violence and deceit. 10 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD, that there shall be the noise of a cry from the fish gate, and an howling from the second, and a great crashing from the hills. 11 Howl, ye inhabitants of Maktesh, for all the merchant people are cut down; all they that bear silver are cut off. 12 And it shall come to pass at that time, that I will search Jerusalem with candles, and punish the men that are settled on their lees: that say in their heart, The LORD will not do good, neither will he do evil. 13 Therefore their goods shall become a booty, and their houses a desolation: they shall also build houses, but not inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, but not drink the wine thereof. 14 The great day of the LORD is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the LORD: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly. 15 That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, 16 A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers. 17 And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the LORD: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung. 18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD's wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.
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[AD 420] Jerome on Zephaniah 1:1
(Chapter I, Verse 1) The word of the Lord that came to Zephaniah, the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah, the son of Ammon, king of Judah. The Septuagint similarly. The Hebrews report that the father or grandfather of any prophet is mentioned in the title, indicating that they themselves were also prophets. Therefore, Amos, one of the twelve prophets, who said, 'I am not a prophet, nor am I the son of a prophet, but I am a herdsman and a gatherer of sycamore fruit' (Amos 7:14), does not have his father's name mentioned in the title. If this is true, Sophonias the prophet, whom we are now attempting to explain, received a prophetic name, so to speak, and was born from the glorious lineage of his ancestors; for he had Chusi as his father, Godolias as his grandfather, Amarias as his great-grandfather, and Ezechias as his great-great-grandfather: and he himself completed such a team of horses as the last charioteer. Some have translated the name Sophonias as "watchtower," others as "hidden by the Lord." Therefore, whether it is interpreted as a watchtower or as hidden by the Lord, both meanings apply to the prophet. For it is said also to Ezekiel: Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel (Ezek. III, 17). And in another place: The Lord does nothing unless he reveals his secret to his servants, the prophets. And the title of the ninth psalm is interpreted as for the hidden things of the son. Therefore, this prophet, who was in the watchtower and stationed on high, and knew the mysteries of the Lord, was the son of Cush (which is interpreted as humility, or my Ethiopian, about whom we will discuss later), and he also had a grandfather named Godoliah, who is called the greatness of the Lord, and a great-grandfather named Amariah, who also turns into the word of the Lord: and a great-great-grandfather named Hezekiah, which means the strength of the Lord. About the strength of the Lord, the word of the Lord was born. And from the word of the Lord, the magnitude of the Lord was born. And from the magnitude of the Lord, humility was born, so that when someone reaches perfection, they may say: I am not worthy to be called an apostle (I Corinthians 9). And that in the Psalms: Lord, my heart is not exalted, nor are my eyes lofty (Psalm 130:1). Up until now, we have stumbled like one in a downward slide, and running on level ground, in what Chusi, even my Ethiopian, interprets. For after so many virtues, how can the name of the Ethiopian sound in praise? And indeed, if the Scripture had said 'Chus', that is, Ethiopian, the question seemed unsolvable; for Chus was born of Cham. But in what he says, 'Chusi', that is, my Ethiopian, it seems to sound a mystery: that he who was once an Ethiopian, turned to repentance (according to what is said: 'Ethiopia shall stretch out her hands to God' (Ps. 68:32)). And in another place (Ps. 71, 9): Ethiopians shall fall before him. Let the bride say in the Song of Songs: I am black, but beautiful, O daughters of Jerusalem (Song of Songs 1, 4). We also read in Jeremiah that Abdimelech, an Ethiopian eunuch, pleased God (Jer. 38). And in the Acts of the Apostles, we learn that the Ethiopian eunuch of the queen Candace had such a devotion to the Scriptures and the Law of God that he would read them in his chariot, and came to Jerusalem to worship the Lord in his temple (Acts 8, 9). Where such faith is crowned with fitting reward, and Philip the evangelist is sent to him, and immediately he is taught, believes, is baptized, and is saved. And not only is he a eunuch, but with the additional descriptor of man, he is an Ethiopian eunuch. For because he was a eunuch for Christ's sake, and had castrated himself for the sake of the kingdom of heaven, therefore he had not lost the label of man. And rightly also does Zephaniah, like the son of Cush, that is, the Ethiopian, in the later books write of the repentance of the Ethiopians: Through the rivers, he says, of Ethiopia, they shall bring my offerings from there. This is about the genealogy of Zephaniah, who prophesied in the days of Josiah. However, the days are also called of Elijah those who were enlightened by him: just as the days of Josiah, who had risen to the Lord (for Josiah means the lifting up of the Lord) and he was a righteous man. The history also writes about his praises, as well as the Chronicles and the Book of Kings (2 Kings 23 and 2 Chronicles 34). And he had a father named Ammon and a grandfather named Manasseh (2 Kings 21). We read that Manasseh, after many crimes and after the captivity in Babylon, repented and obtained the mercy of the Lord, who turned him to better things. And because of his faith, by which he believed in God, he called his son ἐπώνυμον, that is, Ammon: since Ammon () means faith. At the same time, consider that the ten tribes, that is, the kings of Israel, are not mentioned above, but only the kings of Judah. For indeed, the ten tribes had been taken into captivity by the Assyrians under King Hezekiah, the father of Manasseh (2 Kings 17). This is in the prologue and in the title of the book of Zephaniah, concerning the generation and time. Now let us see what the prophecy itself contains.

Source: Commentary on Zephaniah
[AD 1781] Richard Challoner on Zephaniah 1:1
SOPHONIAS, whose name, saith St. Jerome, signifies The Watchman of the Lord, or The hidden of the Lord, prophesied in the beginning of the reign of Josias. He was a native of Sarabatha, and of the tribe of Simeon, according to the more general opinion. He prophesied the punishments of the Jews, for their idolatry and other crimes; also the punishments that were to come on divers nations; the coming of Christ, the conversion of the Gentiles, the blindness of the Jews, and their conversion towards the end of the world.
[AD 420] Jerome on Zephaniah 1:2-3
(Verse 2, 3.) Gathering I will gather all from the face of the earth, says the Lord, gathering man and beast, gathering the birds of the sky, and the fish of the sea: and the ruins of the wicked will be, and I will destroy men from the face of the earth, says the Lord. LXX: They will fail from the face of the earth, says the Lord: man and beast will fail: the birds of the sky and the fish of the sea will fail ÷ and the wicked will be weakened, and I will remove the unjust from the face of the earth, says the Lord. What we have placed in the Septuagint, and the wicked will be weakened, was added from Theodotion's translation: for which Symmachus interpreted, and the stumbling blocks with the wicked, so that it is understood, will be gathered, or will fail. But the fifth edition, the weakness will fail with the wicked. Therefore, following our custom, we must first relate the history, and afterwards debate about the higher things. For it is beyond doubt that the final kingdom of the two tribes, which were called Judah and Benjamin, was under Josiah. For, with him being killed, his sons who later reigned and his grandsons should not be believed to have ruled so much as to have been mocked by the Egyptian king and the Chaldeans and various captivities and tortures. Therefore, because the people were able to excuse themselves in the face of wicked kings and say, 'We want to serve God, but we are prohibited by the kings,' a just king is given, who zealously seeks the zeal of the Lord, and yet the people persist in the worship of idols. Thus, a just cause for anger is brought forth by the Lord, and the destruction of Jerusalem and the captivity of Judah and the victory of Nebuchadnezzar are prophesied. And the Lord said through the prophet: I will no longer show mercy; instead I will consume everything on the face of the earth: no man, no beast, no bird, no fish of the sea will remain. For even the animals feel the anger of the Lord; and with cities destroyed and people killed, a desolation and scarcity of beasts, birds, and fish also occurs, as witness is Illyricum, witness is Thrace, witness is where I was born, a land where everything, except the sky and the earth and the growing thorns, and the thickets of the forests, has perished. However, as the prophet says, this will happen because there was an excessive multitude of the wicked. Therefore, the wicked will fall and people will be scattered, and there will be desolation upon the face of the earth. But we can also understand this as referring to the end of the world: both humans, animals, birds, fish of the sea, and everything will fail and weaken, and the wicked will be weakened, and iniquity will be removed from the face of the earth. And if we want to understand something deeper (because it is also said in the Septuagint, 'Defection will fail from the face of the earth'), we can take the defection in a positive sense according to this: 'And Abraham died in a good old age, an old man and full of days, and was gathered to his people' (Genesis 25:8), and we see how those who are of the descendants of Isaac and Jacob fulfill this by defection from the world, in accordance with the command: 'For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ' (Philippians 3:20). But if someone opposes this which we have accepted in a positive way, let him perish by defection from the face of the earth, that which is written about Ishmael: These are the years of the life of Ishmael, one hundred and thirty-seven, and he died in defection, and he was assigned to his own tribe (Gen. XXV, 17): we will first respond to him that Ishmael is the son of Abraham, and he received gifts and portions from his father, according to his measure: then, it is absolutely written, he died in defection, and it is not added (as it is written about Abraham) in a good old age, an old man and full of days, and he was assigned to his people. Concerning Isaac: Now the days of Isaac's life were one hundred and eighty-five years. And Isaac grew weak and died, and he was gathered to his people, an old man and full of days (Genesis 35:28-29). Also concerning Jacob: And Jacob ceased commanding his sons, and drawing up his feet onto the bed, he grew weak and was gathered to his people (Genesis 49:33). From this we understand that there is a difference between simply growing weak and having many virtues together with weakness. But what he had first said in a general way, let man fall away from the face of the earth; afterwards scripture divided it into parts, let man fall away, and let the beasts, let the birds of the sky fall away, and let the fish of the sea. There are four things which are commanded to fall away, first rational man, then the three things which are subject to man, the beasts, and the birds, and the fish which I think are also mentioned in the eighth psalm: Also the animals of the field, the birds of the sky and the fish of the sea, which travel the paths of the sea (Psalm VIII, 8). But that which he first said, he separated all the sheep and cattle, as if they were the principal of the livestock, and he did not want to count the remaining livestock with them. Let man fail, let the livestock fail, let the birds of the sky fail, let the fish fail; and he did not say, let the beasts fail, let the reptiles of the earth fail. For these should not fail, but perish; but let those things fail which can have correction. How the feminine qualities of Sarah failed, and Abraham is commanded to listen to whatever Sarah commands. Who fails as a human, if he despises human things, and does not die anymore as a human, and listens: I said, you are gods. Another fails as an animal, who, when ascending to higher things, is not accused in prophetic speech: Man, when he was in honor, did not understand, he was compared to foolish animals, and became like them. He departs like the fleeting heaven, who makes wings for himself like an eagle, and returns to the house of his rich teacher, leaving all poverty behind (Prov. XXIII). He departs like a fish of the sea, who, caught in the nets of the Lord, is separated from the good fishes (Matt. XIII). When these things are done according to the commandment of the Lord, the wicked will be weakened, not having as much strength as before. And the unjust will be removed, not said to be killed, but removed, so that, having been converted to better things, from impiety and injustice, they may begin to be what they were not before: pious and just. This is according to allegory. For we must also include the interpretation of the Ancients. Now it will be in the reader's discretion whether they wish to convey severity or clemency in what has been said.

Source: Commentary on Zephaniah
[AD 1781] Richard Challoner on Zephaniah 1:2
Gathering, I will gather: That is, I will assuredly take away, and wholly consume, either by captivity, or death, both men and beasts out of this land.
[AD 420] Jerome on Zephaniah 1:4-6
(Verse 4 and following) And I will stretch out my hand over Judah and over all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and I will destroy from this place the remnants of Baal, and the names of the idolatrous priests together with the priests, and those who worship on the rooftops the host of heaven, and those who worship and swear by the Lord, and swear by Melchom; and those who turn away from the Lord, and those who have not sought the Lord or inquired of him. LXX: And I will stretch out my hand over Judah, and over all who dwell in Jerusalem, and I will remove from this place the names of the Baals, and the names of the priests with the priests, and those who worship on the rooftops the host of heaven, and those who swear by the Lord, and swear by their king, and those who turn away from the Lord, and those who do not seek the Lord, and those who do not retain the Lord. After the downfall of the impious and the removal of the wicked from the face of the earth, consequently, regarding Judah and Jerusalem, it is said in the person of the Lord: 'And I will stretch out my hand over Judah and over all the inhabitants of Jerusalem' (for the stretching out of the hand indicates the gesture of striking); 'and I will destroy from this place the remnants of Baal' (not that the names of the Baals according to the Septuagint are to be completely eradicated, but rather that the worshippers of Baal, who remained few in number from the slaughter of the enemies in Judah and Jerusalem, are to be removed). The names of the priests, as well as the temple attendants, were also mentioned. Judas and Benjamin had fallen into such great impiety that they set up a statue of Baal in the Temple of the Lord, as Ezekiel writes and the fourth book of Kings shows. This statue, which the Lord calls the image of jealousy, and the idols in the same sanctuary were worshipped both by priests and the Lord (Ezekiel VIII). Hence, the priests of the idols were specifically called not priests, but 'temple attendants' or fanatics, which in Hebrew is called Acchumarim (4 Kings X and XVII). So the Lord will remove from Jerusalem the judges and priests who once served him, as well as those who worshiped the army of heaven—the sun and the moon and the stars—and those who swore allegiance to the Lord but also worshiped Molech, the detestable idol of the Ammonites. The Lord will sweep them away and erase even the memory of them from Israel. He will destroy the leftovers of Baal worship and the names of the pagan priests. Those who worship on the rooftops, those who swear oaths by the Lord and also by Molech, those who turn back from following the Lord and neither seek nor ask for his guidance will be cut off as well. But the people of Israel turn their backs on the Lord, abandoning his worship and swearing by Melchom, and worshiping the host of heaven and bowing down to the idol of the Sidonians, Baal. So far the meaning of the story has been explained; now let us consider the moral sense. Because of the Lord who came from the tribe of Judah, and because of Jerusalem where Judas reigned, that is, the Lord and Savior, let us say that when wickedness has multiplied and the love of many has grown cold, and when the Lord comes, faith will be rare on earth to the extent that God's chosen ones will even be tested (Matthew 24, Luke 18). Then the Lord will stretch out his hand in punishment for sins upon Judas, who seems to confess the name of the Lord, and upon Jerusalem, the Church which has received its name from peace, and will remove the names of the Baals from the Church, which is interpreted in higher things. But the Lord will take away the names of empty glory and false admiration, which are found in the Church, in which, according to James, a golden ring is honored, and the poor is despised, when at the coming of the judge and senator, and in the common gathering of all the rich, the whole people rise up, and the holy poor is not even given a place to stand among the ranks of the powerful, and their privileges are not granted; but also the names of the priests with the priests who applaud themselves in vain in the name of bishop, and in the dignity of the presbytery, and not in work (James 2). Where he particularly says, that the works of the priests with other priests are not necessary, but only for show they assume false titles of dignity, and by evil works they destroy their own names, and those who worship the celestial host above the roofs, who rise up against the knowledge of God; and everything that is done in the world, they falsely claim to possess knowledge about, and they attribute it to the movements of the stars and the rising and setting, and they follow the errors of the mathematicians, and those who worship the Lord and Melchom, who think they can serve both the world and the Lord, and satisfy two masters, God and mammon: they, while claiming to be soldiers of Christ, bind themselves to worldly affairs, and offer the same image to God and Caesar, and although they claim to be priests of Christ, they consecrate their sons to Melchom, that is, to their king (2 Timothy 2). For they are right who have a king for a man, who have lost the Lord as their king, and who turn away from the Lord through wicked works, and do not seek him, holding onto their sins as they flee. But if anyone wishes to understand this according to the interpretation of the names of Judah and Jerusalem upon the soul of each person, he will not err, that the Lord may take away all that we have said, either at the consummation of the world, or at the departure of each individual, when they will hear: 'Fool, tonight your soul will be taken from you.' (Luke 12) And may He stretch out His hand upon him who does not confess the Lord, and upon him who boasts of having the sense of peace, so as to remove and destroy from such Jerusalem all pride, and false worship of God, and errors of doctrines, and servitude to God and the world alike, and through daily sins, turning away from the Lord and neglecting God.

Source: Commentary on Zephaniah
[AD 1781] Richard Challoner on Zephaniah 1:4
The wardens: Viz., of the temples of the idols. AEdituos, in Hebrew, the Chemarims, that is, such as kindle the fires, or burn incense.
[AD 1781] Richard Challoner on Zephaniah 1:5
Melchom: The idol of the Ammonites.
[AD 420] Jerome on Zephaniah 1:7
(Verse 7.) Be silent before the face of the Lord God, for the day of the Lord is near, for the Lord has prepared a sacrifice; He has sanctified His called ones. LXX: Fear before the face of the Lord God, for the day of the Lord is near, for the Lord has prepared His victim; He has sanctified His called ones. Because the LXX translated 'fear,' and we have put 'be silent,' in Hebrew it is an interjection of commanding silence, which is often used by the Comedians; but it is also commanded absolutely for all to be silent, because the day of the Lord is coming. But let us understand the day of the Lord as the day of captivity and vengeance upon the sinful people, and the destruction of Jerusalem, and the sanctification of those whom He has dedicated to be killed, according to what is said in Jeremiah: Sanctify them in the day of their slaughter (Jeremiah 12:3). And the meaning is: The predicted captivity will come upon the wicked people. It is now near. Under the reign of King Josiah, the prophecy is fulfilled: with him being killed, fear the face of the Lord God, for the day of the Lord is near, for the Lord has prepared His sacrifice, and sanctified His called ones. The whole devastation comes, from which also in Ezekiel: The end comes, he says, the end comes (Ezek. VII, 2), and so on. This sacrifice pleases me, these offerings I have sanctified. However, what he says can be understood as sanctifying his chosen ones, and even accepting those from Babylon whom he calls as his own servants for the vengeance of his people, avenging his injustice. I have called, he says, my servant Nebuchadnezzar (Jer. XXV, 9). And in the same volume, he not only calls him his servant, but also a dove: From the face of the sword a dove (Ibid., 30). Furthermore, according to the allegory, because the face of the Lord is upon those who do evil, to wipe their memory from the earth, and the day of judgment is near (for in comparison to eternity, the time of this world is brief), or the end of each individual: let everyone fear and be silent, lest the face of the Lord (of which the saint says (Ps. IV, 7): The light of your face, Lord, is shining upon us) consume the hay, straw, and wood of sins. For the Lord has prepared His sacrifice, the entire mystery of Leviticus, when through fire and the pouring out of blood, and the true offering, the saved ones will be made well and the called ones will be sanctified. Some of us understand the day of the Lord and His sacrifice, and the sanctification of the called ones, in the coming of the Savior, when the Lamb was sacrificed and the apostles and others who were called through them were sanctified in His blood.

Source: Commentary on Zephaniah
[AD 420] Jerome on Zephaniah 1:8-9
(Verse 8, 9.) And it shall come to pass on the day of the Lord's sacrifice, that I will punish the princes and the king's sons, and all who are clothed with foreign apparel. And I will punish everyone who arrogantly enters over the threshold on that day, those who fill the house of the Lord their God with iniquity and deceit. LXX: And it shall come to pass on the day of the Lord's sacrifice, that I will avenge the princes and the king's household, and all who are clothed with foreign garments; and I will avenge openly all who are in the vestibules on that day, those who fill the house of the Lord their God with impiety and deceit. In the captivity of Judah, when the whole people were to be sacrificed, the Lord will visit, both upon the princes who drank wine in the morning, and upon the sons of the king, or upon all of the royal lineage, or certainly upon the sons of Josiah, whom we read were either killed or captured, and upon all who were clothed in foreign garments, that is, those who worshiped idols. And upon all who proudly enter over the threshold on that day, that is, against the arrogant, who with a certain arrogance and a brow of dignity ascend the steps of the temple and the threshold of the sanctuary. Moreover, because in that place where we have interpreted, above the threshold, can be understood according to the Hebrew, those who leap over the threshold; and this is to be understood historically, I will vindicate against those who, according to the first book of Kings, do not trample upon the threshold of idols, but serve superstitions, who have filled the house (or temple) of their Lord God not only with the worship of idols, but also with iniquity and wickedness and every kind of lie, so that, along with the error of religion, iniquity is also joined to deception, directed both at those who are subject and at their neighbors. But because we have once explained it both literally and tropologically: The Lord will visit in the advent and passion of the Savior, that is, on the day of the offering of His Son above the high priests and priests of the Jewish people, and above the royal house. For until that time, the kings of Judah from the line of David persevered, according to the prophecy of Jacob: The ruler shall not fail from Judah, nor the leader from his thighs, until the one comes to whom it is reserved, and He shall be the expectation of the nations (Gen. XLIX, 10). For the host of the Lord has been taken away from the Jews. And above all, he says, those who are clothed in foreign garments, those who have departed from the protection and clothing of God, and who have covered themselves with their own error. And I will take vengeance upon all those who are clearly in the vestibules, that is, those who have left the temple of God: and although they should be inside, they have gone outside because of their sins, and have departed from the Church of God, filling His temple with impiety and deceit. This should be understood at the first coming of the Savior. However, since we have already explained about the end of the world and the day of judgment, which all interpret as the day of the Lord, we must know that during that time the Lord will visit the rulers and the shepherds who consume the milk of the sheep and shear the wool, but do not care about the flock's welfare. He will also visit the sons of the king who boast of being Christians and claim to be the children of Christ the King, and all those who are clothed in the garments of others. The clothing of the king's sons and princes, is Christ (or, We have received Christ), which we receive in baptism, according to that: Put on the Lord Jesus Christ (Rom. XIII, 14). And: Put on the bowels of mercy, goodness, humility, meekness, patience (Col. III, 12), and so on. In which it is commanded that we put on the new heavenly man, according to our Creator, and cast off the clothing of the old man with his works (Ephes. IV). Therefore, when we should be clothed with such garments, we are clothed with cruelty instead of mercy; with impatience instead of patience; with injustice instead of justice. And, to say it once, with vices instead of virtues; that is, with Antichrist instead of Christ. Thus it is said of this kind of man: 'He has put on cursing as his garment' (Psalm 109:18). The Lord will also vindicate clearly in His coming, even over those who should be in the Church with good works, but have abandoned themselves to wicked behavior, and are given over to Satan in the vestibules, no, not even in the vestibules, but before the vestibules, which is more significantly said in Greek as 'on the porches.' And he will judge above all those who fill the Church with various injustices and sins, with impieties and lies, and mix blood with blood. And if we desire to accept this upon the souls of each individual, let us understand reasonings (Alexander adds 'and perceptions'), that is, thoughts and senses, and the soul itself, which should be the dwelling place of the king. And according to the previous explanation, let us also refer the foreign garments and everything that follows to each believer, who, although they should have been clothed with Christ and always dwell within, have covered themselves with the various garments of sins and, having departed from the Church, that is, the congregation of the saints, have filled the temple of their body with wickedness and deceit.

Source: Commentary on Zephaniah
[AD 420] Jerome on Zephaniah 1:10
(Verse 10.) And it shall come to pass in that day, says the Lord, there shall be a voice of crying from the fish gate, and a wailing from the Second Quarter, and a great crashing from the hills. LXX: And it shall come to pass in that day, says the Lord, there shall be a voice of crying from the gate of the mourners, and a wailing from the Second Quarter, and a great crashing from the hills. In the day of the sacrifice of the Lord, when he stretches out his hand over Judah and over all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the enemy army surrounds them, there shall be a voice of crying from the fish gate and a wailing from the Second Quarter, and a great crashing from the hills. They called it the Fish Gate, which leads to Diospolis and Joppa, and it was closer to the sea than all the roads to Jerusalem, as Ezra also relates: They built the Fish Gate, the sons of Assena, they covered it and set up doors, bolts, and bars (2 Nehemiah 3:3). But what he says, and the wailing from the second, signifies the gate of the second wall in the same region, as it is also written in the book of Kings: Then went Hilkiah the high priest, and Ahikam, and Achbor, and Shaphan, and Asaiah, to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe, who dwelt in Jerusalem in the second (2 Kings 22:14). But great contrition speaks from the hills of the mind of Zion and the higher part of the city: for when the higher and fortified parts of the city were occupied, it is easier to descend the slope. But if we want to accept that day which the Lord threatens, the day of judgment as mentioned above, at that time when the Ancient of Days will be seated, and the books will be opened, and the conscience of each person will be laid bare, then the voice of the cry of those repenting will be fulfilled from the gate (Dan. VII). For the first gate of the eyes will be the one through which sins will be presented before our eyes, and all the splendor and image of ancient crimes and vices and excesses will be brought forth into the open. Then that which is written will be true: Behold the man and his works before his face. Therefore, conscience will torment him, and after he has been struck with remorse and cried out at the first gate of the eyes, he will also howl at the second one, which we can understand with our ears. For through these very senses, by which vices had crept in, their punishment will be felt, when we see what we have done and, being instructed by words, listening to the entire order of sins, we will be compelled to wail, and in us whatever had been exalted will be crushed, and because of our blindness and deaf ears, it was unknown to us. Or certainly, when lofty words and erudition coming from on high crush and break us, and are fulfilled in action: I groaned with the groaning of my heart (Ps. 39:9), so that the sacrifice of a broken spirit may be pleasing to God (Ps. 50); in us, who are humans, and have not committed such great sins to be compared to mountains, the hills are broken. However, in the devil and his angels, the heights of the mountains will be crushed. Many believe, according to the history that we have recounted to the times of the Babylonians, that this should be understood as referring to the first coming of the Savior, when because of excessive sins and the clamor of the people: 'His blood be on us and on our children' (Matt. XXVII, 25), Jerusalem was surrounded by an army and consumed by a crowd of mocking children, namely Vespasian and Titus, the two bears (IV Kings II). Indeed, this understanding is more in line with our faith, but in such a way that we know it can also be consistent with the previous history, or at least be a type of the second and perfect destruction of Jerusalem. Moreover, it must also be noted (for the proverb () clearly means in Hebrew not the gate of those who wound, but the gate of the fish) allegorically, that the gate of the fish is in Jerusalem, through which good fish are brought in, having been separated from the bad, and they mourn while the others enter who remained outside. Certainly, at the end of the world and in the consummation, those who did not observe their baptism will mourn from the first gate of fishes; those who did not perform worthy penance will mourn from the second; there will be great sorrow over the hills, which were not bent down for sins to submit their necks and bewail their crimes. Through these two gates, the gate of baptism and the gate of penance, one enters or returns to Jerusalem, that is, to the Church of God.

Source: Commentary on Zephaniah
[AD 1781] Richard Challoner on Zephaniah 1:10
The Second: A part of the city so called.
[AD 420] Jerome on Zephaniah 1:11
(Verse 11.) Ululate, inhabitants of the ball: all the people of Canaan are silent. LXX: Mourn, you who inhabit the broken one: for all the people of Canaan are compared. The ball which is called Machtes in Hebrew, and is reversed by Aquila, εἰς τὸν ὅλμον, must be read with a long syllable first, not a short one, so that we do not think of a sphere, but of an elongated one, so that we know it is said about the ball in which grains are pounded, a concave vessel, suitable for the use of physicians, in which ptisanae are usually prepared. Someone may say that they understand what 'pila' means, but they want to know why it is mentioned in the present context. Because once there was a description of a captured city, and it is said: 'The voice of shouting comes from the Gate of Fish, and the howl from the Second, and great destruction from the hills.' Now the same order of description is maintained, and it is said about the howling of those who live in the Valley of Siloe. And Scripture beautifully did not say those who live in the valley, those who live in the gorge, but those who live in the pila, because indeed just as grains are crushed by a beam striking from above, so an army will rush out from the Gate of Fish, and the Second Gate, and the hills against you. But the people of Canaan he called the people of Judah, according to what we read in Daniel: The seed of Canaan and not of Judah (Dan. XIII, 56); and to Jerusalem: Your father was an Amorite, and your mother a Hittite (Ezek. XVI, 3); and in another place: Canaan is in your hand, the scale of iniquity (Hosea XII, 7). And if we want to weave a moral interpretation according to both translations, those who dwell in the deepest depths of sin are rightly stirred to howling and lamentation, and those immersed in the lowest depths of their crimes say: I am stuck in the mud of the deep, and there is no substance, they say (Ps. LXVIII, 2). And it is added: you who dwell in the shattered, that is, a soul wounded by many iniquities, or the Church, which is torn by schisms and heresies, and laments over each wound and mourns the children who have been killed. But what it says: 'The whole population of Canaan has become silent, or rather their blasphemy has ceased on the day of judgment' signifies that their mouths, which they have raised up to the skies, and their tongues, which reach down to the earth, will be silenced for eternity. And because Jerusalem has sinned, and therefore has been thrown into turmoil, the people are called Canaan, which means 'commotion'. For it cannot be said: 'He has set my feet upon a rock' (Psalm 39:3), but instead he is uncertain and always in motion. Therefore, even the holy man Noah, after he awoke from his sleep, placed a curse on Canaan, saying: 'Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be to his brothers' (Genesis 9:25). Not only are sinners likened to Canaan, but according to the quality and diversity of sin, one is likened to Pharaoh, another to the giant Nimrod. And conversely, through good works and virtues, since the paths of virtues are different, one person takes on the spirit of Abraham, another of Moses, another of Elijah; therefore, it is said by the Apostle: Be zealous for better gifts (1 Corinthians 12:31). But whoever is perfect, according to that perfection which human condition can attain, is marked by the likeness of God.


They all perished, wrapped in silver. LXX: They all perished, those who trusted in wealth. They said to themselves, 'We have such great riches that we consider ourselves wrapped up and protected by them.' Or at least according to the LXX, those who were lifted up in pride and despised the poor were destroyed by anger. Consider also that it does not say 'those who trusted in wealth will perish,' but rather, even now, before the day of punishment comes to them, in their very pride and constant thoughts of their treasures, they have already perished and fallen. But whoever understands this, I think he does not desire riches enough, in which they will not perish, but have perished who have been proud. Nor indeed should it be estimated that only those who have been proud of silver have perished, but according to this definition, he who boasts in the nobility of his race will also perish. He who boasts in dignities will perish; he who is inflated will perish; he who boasts in the strength of his body will perish. He who is softened by the weakness of women, nourishes his hair, plucks his hairs, polishes his skin, and gazes at himself in the mirror, which is properly the passion and madness of women, will perish. But if anyone wants to be exalted and boast with holy pride, let them be exalted with the apostles, when they are worthy to suffer insult for the name of Jesus Christ, let them boast with the Apostle, who rejoiced in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces patience, and patience produces hope, and hope does not disappoint (Rom. 5).

Source: Commentary on Zephaniah
[AD 1781] Richard Challoner on Zephaniah 1:11
The Morter: Maktesh. A valley in or near Jerusalem

The people of Chanaan: So he calls the Jews, from their following the wicked ways of the Chanaanites.
[AD 420] Jerome on Zephaniah 1:12
The Lord Jesus went into Jerusalem, into the temple. And when he had looked around upon all things, then, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve. The Lord went into Jerusalem and into the temple. He went in, and, having entered, what does he do? He looks about at everything. In the temple of the Jews he was looking for a place to rest his head and found none. “He had looked around upon all things.” Why did it say, “He had looked around upon all that was there”? He was looking for the priests; he wanted to be with them, but he could not find them. He always had regard for priests. So he surveyed all that was about him, almost as though he were searching with a lantern; so says the prophet Zephaniah: “I will explore Jerusalem with lamps.” In this same way, the Lord too looked around at everything with the light of a lamp. He was searching in the temple, but he did not find what he wanted. When it was already evening, he was still exploring everything; he was looking around upon all things. Even though his search was unfruitful, nevertheless, as long as there was light, he remained in the temple; but when evening had come, when the shades of ignorance had darkened the temple of the Jews, when it was the evening hour, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve. The Savior searched; the apostles searched; in the temple they found nothing, so they left it.

Source: HOMILIES ON MARK 82
[AD 420] Jerome on Zephaniah 1:12
(Verse 12.) And it will be in that time, I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and I will visit those who are fixed in their filth; those who say in their hearts, the Lord will not do good, nor will he do evil. LXX: And it will be on that day, I will search Jerusalem with a lamp, and I will avenge against those who despise their guards, and say in their hearts, the Lord will not do good, nor will he do evil. In the time and day of the captivity of Jerusalem by the Babylonians or by the Romans (because they have forsaken the law of the Lord, and acted impiously towards the Lord their Creator), the Lord will search with a lamp all the hidden things of Jerusalem, and he will not allow any to escape unpunished. We read Joseph's histories, and there we find written about sewers, and caves, and caverns, and tombs, where princes and kings and powerful men and priests had hidden themselves in fear of death. And I will visit, he says, upon those who trust in their bodies, and in their strengths, which he scornfully calls filth or sins, in which they have been completely immersed: those who, rejecting providence, have said that neither a good nor an evil God is the author: that is, that he does not render good to the good, nor evil to the evil: but that all things are ruled by chance and carried by uncertain fate. But in the consummation of the world, because it is understood as the day of the Lord, the Lord will search Jerusalem, that is, his Church, with a lamp: and he will avenge himself upon the contemptuous men, who did not want to keep their guard, that is, they despised the commandments of the Lord, and, moreover, by reasoning, they sinned, saying, they blasphemed in their hearts: that doing good would be of no avail, nor would doing evil be harmful, because God would neither reward the good works, nor punish the evil. But rightly so, Jerusalem, that is, the Church (which was previously called Jebus, which is said to be trampled), when it was trampled by the Gentiles and was a mockery of demons, was called Jebus, and after the peace of the Lord began to dwell in it, and it became a place of peace, it took the name Jerusalem. Therefore, in the last times, which we have often mentioned, with increased wickedness, love will grow cold, and the light of the sun will withdraw from Jerusalem, and there will be such devastation that even the chosen ones of God will have difficulty being saved (Matthew 24): then the Lord will scrutinize all vices in Jerusalem with the lantern of his word and reason, and he will bring them to light, and even idle words will be judged and avenged, not in sinners (for they could obtain forgiveness for their sin), but in the contemptuous, of whom it is said in Habakkuk: Look at the contemptuous and behold (Habakkuk 1:5); and in another place: Why do you not look at the contemptuous? And then: But the arrogant, contemptuous man, the proud man, and so on. Above all, there will be revenge upon those who have not kept the Lord's commandments, and they say in their hearts: The Lord will not do good, and he will not do evil: not because God does evil, but because punishment seems evil to those who suffer it. Likewise, a bad surgeon's scalpel will be, because it cuts wounds and amputates rotten flesh. And a bad father, beating his son to correct him, and a bad teacher, admonishing his student to educate him: For every discipline at the present moment does not seem to be a joy, but a sorrow: afterwards, however, it will yield peaceful fruit to those who have been educated by it (Hebrews XII, 11).

Source: Commentary on Zephaniah
[AD 1781] Richard Challoner on Zephaniah 1:12
Settled on their lees: That is, the wealthy, and such as live at their ease, resting upon their riches, like wine upon the lees.
[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on Zephaniah 1:13-14
But since these are light as perceived by the sense, which are said in Moses to have come into existence on the fourth day, they are not the true light because they enlighten the things on the earth. The Savior, on the other hand, is the light of the spiritual world because he shines on those who are rational and intellectual, that their mind may see its proper visions. Now I mean he is the light of those rational souls which are in the sensible world, of which the Savior teaches us that he is the Maker, being, perhaps its directing and principal part, and, so to speak, the sun of the great Day of the Lord.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 1:161
[AD 258] Cyprian on Zephaniah 1:13-14
The lust of possessions and money are not to be sought for. In Solomon, in Ecclesiastes: “He that loves silver shall not be satisfied with silver.” Also in Proverbs: “He who holds back the corn is cursed among the people; but blessing is on the head of him that communicates it.” Also in Isaiah: “Woe to them who join house to house, and lay field to field, that they may take away something from their neighbor. Will you dwell alone upon the earth?” Also, in Zephaniah: “They shall build houses, and shall not dwell in them; and they shall appoint vineyards, and shall not drink the wine of them, because the Day of the Lord is near.” Also in the Gospel according to Luke: “For what does it profit a man to make a gain of the whole world, but that he should lose himself?”

Source: Treatise XII. Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews, TESTIMONIES AGAINST THE JEWS 12:3.61
[AD 420] Jerome on Zephaniah 1:13-14
(Verse 13, 14.) And their strength shall be for plunder, and their houses for desolation. And they shall build houses, but not inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, but not drink their wine. The great day of the Lord is near, it is near and hastens quickly. LXX: And their strength shall be for robbery, and their houses shall be destroyed. And they shall build houses, but shall not live in them; and they shall plant vineyards, but shall not drink their wine, for the great day of the Lord is near; it is near and hastens quickly. It is evident that, according to both captivities, their entire army has been cut down and their houses have been destroyed, and the fields and vineyards have been laid waste: and no longer will God delay his patience towards them. But when they spoke to the prophets, they said, this will be in the time to come, and for many days, a great and exceedingly swift day of the Lord will come upon them. According to the interpretation, however, when the time of judgment comes, whether for the death of each individual or the departure from the world: then all their strength will be turned to ruin, so that what was once strong and lifted up against the Lord will become weak and broken, turned to something better. Just as if someone were to rob the strength of a bandit, a pirate, and a thief, and render them weak, their weakness benefits them: for their weakened limbs, which they were previously not using well, will cease from evil work. And that which follows: 'And their houses become a desert,' many in the Church are building Zion in blood, and Jerusalem in iniquity, to whom such houses being destroyed benefits. Let us read Leviticus, where it is commanded to destroy a leprous house (Lev. 14). And because leprosy remains and spreads, its stones and wood and all dust are commanded to be thrown outside the city into an unclean place. But also in the beginning of Jeremiah, something such is written, 'Behold, I have given my words in your mouth: behold, I have set you this day over the nations and over the kingdoms: to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to build, and to plant' (Jeremiah 1:9-10). The wicked construction is destroyed so that later a good construction may be built: the unjust plantation is uprooted so that a righteous plantation may be placed nearby. And in Solomon we read: It is better to dwell under the open sky than in a disputed house with iniquity, and in a new house (Prov. 21:9). As if God, therefore, brought ruin upon the homes of those who were fixed in their own filth and said in their hearts: The Lord will not do good, nor will he do evil. He does not allow them to dwell in leprous and impure houses, nor does he allow them to drink wine from the vines they have planted. For if they had planted the vine of Sorek and the chosen vineyard, they would have drunk their wine and become intoxicated with the patriarch Noah and Joseph at noon (Gen. 9 and 43). But because they said: The Lord will not do good, nor will he do evil (Deut. 32:32-33), and their vineyard was the vineyard of Sodom, and their offspring was from Gomorrah, their grapes were grapes of gall, and their clusters were bitter, their wine was the fury of dragons and the incurable madness of asps (Jer. 9:23), therefore they planted vineyards and will not drink their wine. And mystically it is said of Sodom and Gomorrah, that all their plantation perished. For if they had remained in what they had begun, so as to be as it were the paradise of God, and had not ended in evil, so as to be as it were the land of Egypt, their plantation would certainly have remained. Such a thing and that sounds above the Egyptians in the Psalms: He destroyed their vineyards with hail, and their mulberry trees with frost. (Ps. LXXVII, 47). Indeed, as a most merciful God, He killed and overturned all the Egyptian plantation and little trees, which have blood-like fruits rooted in Egypt, so that those who planted evilly may not drink and eat from them. The day of the Lord is near and very swift, to which no one can resist: it is near either because of eternity, since nothing is long to it, or because of the magnitude of punishment, since to the one who endures, the punishment that is to be inflicted never seems far away. Whether near, as we have said, when we depart from the world, and the death of each person will bring about the end of the world; and not only near, but also very swift, as the speed of his coming is shown in the fact that it is added, very swift.

Source: Commentary on Zephaniah
[AD 585] Cassiodorus on Zephaniah 1:13-14
With reference to that day the prophet Amos says, “Woe to them that desire the Day of the Lord. To what end is this Day of the Lord for you? The day itself is darkness and not light.” The prophet Zephaniah says the same thing: “The voice of the Day of the Lord is grim and bitter.” That is why the penitent now introduced before us earnestly supplicates in the ordered divisions of his prayer that he may not be convicted for his deeds on that day of judgment. What is more beneficial and farsighted for the person who could have no hope in his own deserts because of the sins which he has committed than to decide to pray to God’s fatherly love while in this world, where there is opportunity for repentance?

Source: EXPOSITION OF THE PSALMS 6:1
[AD 420] Jerome on Zephaniah 1:15-16
(Verse 15, 16.) The voice of the day of the Lord is bitter: there the strong shall be troubled: the day of wrath, that day shall be a day of tribulation and distress, a day of calamity and wretchedness, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and whirlwinds, a day of the trumpet and the cry against fortified cities, and against the high corners. LXX: The voice of the day of the Lord is bitter and harshly appointed: there the strong shall be troubled: the day of wrath, that day shall be a day of tribulation and necessity, a day of wretchedness and perdition, a day of darkness and whirlwinds, a day of clouds and gloominess, a day of the trumpet and the cry against fortified cities, and against the high corners. According to the above, either take from the Babylonian captivity or from the extreme sufferings they endured from the Romans, over which the Lord wept for Jerusalem, saying: Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to you (Matthew 23:37), and so on. Truly, a preferred vengeance has been sought from the blood of Abel the just to the blood of Zechariah, whom they killed between the temple and the altar (2 Chronicles 24); and finally, concerning the Son of God, saying: His blood be on us and on our children, they experienced a bitter day, because they had provoked the Lord to bitterness; a day appointed by the Lord, on which not just anyone, but the strongest men are humbled, and wrath will come upon them in the end. For often, indeed, they had endured the anger of the Lord before, but that anger had not been the consummation and end (Matthew 27:25). Why now is it necessary to describe the great calamities they endured in each captivity, and how those who rejected the light of the Lord were cast into darkness and gloom, and those who refused to listen to the trumpets of the solemn days heard the clamor (or clangor) of warriors? But as for the fortified cities and high corners of Judea, which have been completely destroyed, I think that it is a judgment of the eyes rather than the ears: especially for us who now live in this province, we can see, we can prove what has been written. We can hardly see small traces of ruins in once great cities. In Shiloh, where the tabernacle and the ark of the Lord's Covenant were, we can barely see the foundations of the altar. That city of Gibeah, Saul's city, is completely destroyed to its foundations (Joshua 18). Ramah and Bethoron and the other noble cities built by Solomon are now just small villages. Let us read Josephus and the prophecy of Zephaniah, and we will see his ((Al. we will see)) history: and this is not only about the captivity, but until the present day, the treacherous colonizers, after killing the servants and finally the Son of God, except for mourning, are prohibited from entering Jerusalem, and in order to be allowed to mourn the ruin of their city, they buy it at a price, those who once bought the blood of Christ now buy their own tears: and not even their weeping is free for them. Do you see on the day when Jerusalem was captured and demolished by the Romans, the mournful people coming together, the decrepit old women and men covered in rags and years, demonstrating the anger of the Lord in their bodies and appearance? The crowd of miserable people gathers, and with the Lord's shining and radiant resurrection, with the flag of the cross also shining from the Mount of Olives, they lament the ruins of their temple, the miserable people, and yet it is not to be pitied: still there are tears on their cheeks, and livid arms, and scattered hair, and a soldier demands his reward, so that they may be allowed to weep more; and does anyone doubt, when they see these things, about the day of tribulation and distress, the day of calamity and misery, the day of darkness and gloom, the day of clouds and whirlwinds, the day of the trumpet and clangor? For they have trumpets even in mourning, and, according to the prophecy, the voice of solemnity has turned into lamentation. They wail over the ashes of the Sanctuary, and over the destroyed altar, and over once fortified cities, and over the lofty corners of the temple, from which they once cast James, the brother of the Lord. These things have been said about the captivity of the Jews. Furthermore, if we apply the day of the Lord, as mentioned above, to the end of the world or to the end of each person's life, the interpretation will be clear, that the voice of the day of the Lord is bitter, full of necessity and anger, and the strong will be troubled there, for even the holy ones will be saved, but as if through fire. That day will be a day of tribulation, distress, and calamity, a day of misery when they will declare: Woe to us, for we have become miserable. It will be a day of darkness: For everyone who does evil hates the light and does not come to the light (John 3:20); and it is necessary that those who hate the light will be enveloped in darkness. It will be a day of fog and whirlwind; for the storm of the Lord will come upon them, and the sound of the trumpet, as the Apostle indicates, saying: In the last trumpet (1 Corinthians 15:52). For there will be a day of trumpet and the sound of shouting over fortified cities, which they had built for themselves in the multitude of sins, just as Cain had. And over the high corners, wicked works and those deviating from the straight path of the Lord (or deviating from the straight path). Therefore, the hypocrites, the Pharisees, are also accused by the Savior, because they pray in the street corners (Matthew VI). For the straight and narrow path that leads to paradise is narrow and difficult, and it leads to life. But the path is narrow and crooked, wide, and spacious, which leads to death (Matt. VII). At the same time, amidst the words of the severity of the Lord, perceive His mercy, that for this reason the days are bitter, and the days of wrath, and the days of tribulation, and the days of trumpet and clamor, so that poorly fortified cities and perverse angles may be destroyed.

Source: Commentary on Zephaniah
[AD 604] Gregory the Dialogist on Zephaniah 1:15-16
But let them hear how the prophet Zephaniah holds out over them the power of divine rebuke, saying, “Behold, the Day of the Lord comes, great and horrible, the day of wrath, that day; a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of cloud and whirlwind, a day of trumpet and clamor, upon all fenced cities, and upon all lofty corners.” For what is expressed by fenced cities but minds suspected and surrounded ever with a fallacious defense; minds which, as often as their fault is attacked, suffer not the darts of truth to reach them? And what is signified by lofty corners (a wall being always double in corners) but insincere hearts; which, while they shun the simplicity of truth, are in a manner doubled back on themselves in the crookedness of duplicity, and, what is worse, from their fault of insincerity lift themselves in their thoughts with the pride of prudence? Therefore the Day of the Lord comes full of vengeance and rebuke upon fenced cities and lofty corners, because the wrath of the last judgment both destroys human hearts that have been closed by defenses against the truth and unfolds such as have been folded up in duplicities. For then the fenced cities fall. For souls that God has not penetrated will be damned. Then the lofty corners tumble, because hearts which erect themselves in the prudence of insincerity are prostrated by the sentence of righteousness.

Source: PASTORAL CARE 11
[AD 420] Jerome on Zephaniah 1:17-18
(Verse 17, 18.) And I will trouble the people, and they shall walk as blind, because they have sinned against the Lord: and their blood shall be poured out like dust, and their bodies like dung; but their silver and gold shall not be able to save them in the day of the Lord's wrath, and all the earth shall be devoured by the fire of his zeal: for he will make a speedy consumption of all the inhabitants of the earth. LXX: And I will trouble the people, and they shall walk as blind, because they have sinned against the Lord, and he shall pour out their blood like dust, and their flesh like the dung of oxen; and their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord's anger, and all the earth shall be consumed by the fire of his zeal: for he will make a speedy and complete destruction upon all the inhabitants of the earth. It is not difficult to say, according to the previous meaning, that Jerusalem, which endured because of the cross of the Lord, has suffered: for the visitation of the Lord has departed from it, and all men in Judea have been troubled, and because of the greatness of the affliction they have walked like blind men, not knowing what to do. And they have suffered this because they have sinned against the Lord, that is, against the Son of God. For because they have shed the blood of the prophets and the blood of Christ, their blood has been poured out like the earth in the whole region, and their bodies have remained unburied, like dung upon the face of the earth. Those who amassed great wealth through excessive greed, hoarding silver and gold, were unable to free themselves from the wrath of the Lord on the day of judgment. For the fire of the Lord's zeal burned against them and consumed the entire province. And there was no respite in their midst, for forty-two years after the crucifixion of the Lord, Jerusalem was surrounded by an army and its downfall came swiftly, not only for Jerusalem but also for all the inhabitants of the land of Judaea. But in the end, whether of the world or of each individual, all men who remained as men will be troubled, and the dead will be like men. And they will walk as blind, for they have lost the light of virtues, and they will not have a place for repentance: and they will suffer these things because they have sinned against the Lord. For if the Lord is justice, truth, holiness, and other virtues, whoever has acted unjustly, lied, and pursued vice and sins, has sinned against the Lord. But what follows, 'And their blood will be poured out like the earth, and their bodies like the dung of bulls,' seems absurd, that in the resurrection of the dead and in the consummation of the world and judgement, we should say that blood is poured out and bodies lie like dung. Therefore, what is said to Noah, 'And I will require the blood of your lives from the hand of every beast, and from the hand of man, and from the hand of his brother I will require the life of man, who sheds the blood of man: by man shall his blood be shed' (Gen. IX, 5, 6), it is ridiculous to believe this in the resurrection, and it cannot hold true in this life. For how many have shed blood, and their blood has not been shed? And others have killed a man with poison or hanging, and yet when the man is dead, no blood has been shed? Therefore, how is the Lord going to shed their blood in vengeance when the one who kills has not shed blood? Therefore, the blood of man, which is the vital principle by which he is nourished, sustained, and lives, must be understood: whoever sheds it, either through scandal or perverse doctrine, will be poured out by him on the day of judgment, that is, what he seemed to have as vital, he will be forced to lose. According to this kind of blood, and flesh is understood, of which Isaiah says: All flesh is grass (Isa. XL, 6). And in Genesis the Lord said: My spirit shall not remain in these men, because they are flesh (Gen. VI, 3). And the Apostle, speaking of both: Flesh and blood cannot possess the kingdom of God: neither will corruption inherit incorruption of God (Al. God is silent) (I Cor. XV, 50). Therefore, on the day of consummation, whether general or specific, all blood that has been shed will cry out to the Lord, and it will appear in the midst, and the works of blood and earthly things will lie as dust and filth, and the rich, with their silver and gold, will not be able to free themselves on the day of wrath, with him who is dying hearing: Fool, this night your soul will be taken from you; and what you have prepared, whose will it be (Luke XII, 20)? Not that we deny that the rich can be saved from death by gold and silver; for the redemption of a man's soul is his own wealth (Prov. XIII, 8); but rather that they cannot be saved at that time when they must forsake their riches out of necessity. For all the earth and everything that is earthly will be devoured by the zeal of the Lord. And when he says 'zeal,' understand that he is still speaking of one who loves the Lord. For if he did not love the human soul, he would never be zealous for it; and, in the likeness of a husband, he would avenge the sin of his wife, whom he would not be angry with if he did not love her. And the Lord will do this with haste for all the inhabitants of the earth, those who have completely devoted themselves to the earth and are not strangers or foreigners, as the righteous one who speaks: I am a stranger in the land, and a foreigner like all my ancestors (Ps. XXXVIII, 13). And again, elsewhere, not wanting to dwell any longer in the tent of the flesh, he testifies with tearful voice, saying: Woe is me, for my journey has been prolonged (Ps. CXIX, 5). For we who are in this body's tabernacle, groan and lament: Miserable wretch that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death? (Rom. VII, 24)?

Source: Commentary on Zephaniah
[AD 215] Clement of Alexandria on Zephaniah 1:18
I am weary and vexed at enumerating the multitude of ornaments, and I am compelled to wonder how those who bear such a burden are not worried to death. O foolish trouble! O silly craze for display! They squander meretriciously wealth on what is disgraceful and in their love for ostentation disfigure God’s gifts, emulating the art of the evil one. The rich man hoarding up in his barns and saying to himself, “You have many goods laid up for many years; eat, drink be merry,” the Lord in the Gospels plainly called “fool.” “For this night they shall take your soul; whose then shall those things which you have prepared be?” Apelles, the painter, seeing one of his pupils painting a figure loaded with gold color to represent Helen, said to him, “Boy, being incapable of painting her beautiful, you have made her rich.” Such Helens are the ladies of the present day, not truly beautiful but richly got up. To these the Spirit prophesies by Zephaniah: “And their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the Day of the Lord’s anger.” But for those women who have been trained under Christ, it is suitable to adorn themselves not with gold but with the Word, through whom alone the gold comes to light.

Source: CHRIST THE EDUCATOR 2:13