Discovery BoxZephaniah 1:9 
Context1:9 On that day I will punish all who leap over the threshold, 1
who fill the house of their master 2 with wealth taken by violence and deceit. 3
Zephaniah 2:10-11
Context2:10 This is how they will be repaid for their arrogance, 4
for they taunted and verbally harassed 5 the people of the Lord who commands armies.
2:11 The Lord will terrify them, 6
for 7 he will weaken 8 all the gods of the earth.
All the distant nations will worship the Lord in their own lands. 9
Zephaniah 3:3
Context3:3 Her princes 10 are as fierce as roaring lions; 11
her rulers 12 are as hungry as wolves in the desert, 13
who completely devour their prey by morning. 14
1 sn The point of the statement all who hop over the threshold is unclear. A ritual or superstition associated with the Philistine god Dagon may be in view (see 1 Sam 5:5).
2 tn The referent of “their master” is unclear. The king or a pagan god may be in view.
3 tn Heb “who fill…with violence and deceit.” The expression “violence and deceit” refers metonymically to the wealth taken by oppressive measures.
4 tn Heb “this is for them in place of their arrogance.”
5 tn Heb “made great [their mouth?] against” (cf. the last phrase of v. 8).
6 tn Heb “will be awesome over [or, “against”] them.”
7 tn Or “certainly.”
8 tn The meaning of this rare Hebrew word is unclear. If the meaning is indeed “weaken,” then this line may be referring to the reduction of these gods’ territory through conquest (see Adele Berlin, Zephaniah [AB 25A], 110-11). Cf. NEB “reduce to beggary”; NASB “starve”; NIV “when he destroys”; NRSV “shrivel.”
9 tn Heb “and all the coastlands of the nations will worship [or, “bow down”] to him, each from his own place.”
10 tn Or “officials.”
11 tn Heb “her princes in her midst are roaring lions.” The metaphor has been translated as a simile (“as fierce as”) for clarity.
12 tn Traditionally “judges.”
13 tn Heb “her judges [are] wolves of the evening,” that is, wolves that prowl at night. The translation assumes an emendation to עֲרָבָה (’aravah, “desert”). For a discussion of this and other options, see Adele Berlin, Zephaniah (AB 25A), 128. The metaphor has been translated as a simile (“as hungry as”) for clarity.
14 tn Heb “they do not gnaw [a bone] at morning.” The precise meaning of the line is unclear. The statement may mean these wolves devour their prey so completely that not even a bone is left to gnaw by the time morning arrives. For a discussion of this and other options, see Adele Berlin, Zephaniah (AB 25A), 129.
