Skip to content

Passage Research

Zephaniah 2 — Sermon Preparation

Below is a research summary for Zephaniah 2, drawn from openly licensed scholarly databases — original-language morphology, classic sermons from the church fathers through the Puritans, and ancient geography data.

15
verses
222 / 138
Hebrew words / lemmas
12
classic sermon excerpts
4
preachers & commentators

Zephaniah 2 in the Hebrew

Distinctive vocabulary of this chapter, based on original-language morphology.

Hebrew Transliteration Strong's Count Glosses
גּוֹי gôwy H1471 5 nation, a Gentile
שְׁמָמָה shᵉmâmâh H8077 3 devastation, astonishment
חֶבֶל chebel H2256 3 rope, line
בָּקַשׁ bâqash H1245 3 search, strive after
קָשַׁשׁ qâshash H7197 2 forage for straw, stubble
אַשְׁקְלוֹן ʼAshqᵉlôwn H831 2 Ashkelon
חַי chay H2416 3 alive, raw

How preachers through history handled this text

12 public-domain excerpts on Zephaniah 2, from the church fathers to the Puritans.

Calvin 7 Matthew Henry 3 Spurgeon 1 John Wesley 1

“Those are really in a woful condition who have the word of the Lord against them, for no word of his shall fall to the ground. God will restore his people to their rights, though long kept from them. It has been the common lot of God's people, in all ages, to be reproached and reviled. God shall be worshipped, not only by all Israel, and the strangers who join them, but by the heathen. Remote nations must be reckoned with for the wrongs done to God's people. The sufferings of the insolent and haughty in prosperity, are unpitied and unlamented. …”

— Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible (Concise), on Zephaniah 2:4–30 (Public Domain)

Places in the text

Based on ancient-geography data

  • Assyria — Zeph 2:13
  • Nineveh — Zeph 2:13
  • Ashdod — Zeph 2:4
  • Ashkelon — Zeph 2:4
  • Ekron — Zeph 2:4
  • Gaza — Zeph 2:4

Need the complete sermon prep report on this passage?

Greek exegesis, historical background, current scholarship, sermon outlines, illustrations — a complete PDF report on Zephaniah 2, delivered in 45 minutes.