Exegesis and Exposition of zephaniah 3: 17-18
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| Zephaniah 3:17 “The Lord your God is in your midst, a victorious warrior. He will exult over you with joy, He will be quiet in His love, He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy.” (NASB95)
“A victorious warrior” is composed of the following: (1) masculine singular noun gibbôr (גִּבּוֹר), “a warrior” (2) masculine singular hiphil active imperfect form of the verb yāšaʿ (יָשַׁע), “victorious.” The noun gibbôr means “warrior, mighty warrior, valiant soldier” since the word pertains to a mighty hero who distinguishes himself in war or combat and is very capable of defense or attack. Here it is used of the Lord, the God of Israel and describes Him as a valiant, brave and courageous soldier or warrior. It refers to a military hero or in other words, one who distinguishes himself in combat. The verb yāšaʿ does not mean “victorious” but rather in the hiphil stem it means “to save, to rescue, to deliver.” It can refer to saving or delivering or rescuing someone in a spiritual sense or in a physical sense such as from an enemy or some great danger. Here it is used with regards to the Lord Jesus Christ, the God of Israel and is used in a physical sense speaking of Him delivering those who trust in Him from an army or enemies seeking to destroy those who trust in Him. Now, the fact that the word is modifying the noun gibbôr, “mighty warrior” which speaks of someone who distinguishes Himself in combat or war would strongly suggest that the word is used of deliverance from one’s enemies or great physical danger. Thus, it is referring to the fact that Jesus Christ will physically deliver Jerusalem and the remnant of Israel from great physical danger because of their enemies seeking to destroy them rather than referring to the spiritual deliverance He provides sinners through faith in Himself. The hiphil stem of this verb yāšaʿ is intransitive since it does not take a direct object and describes the subject as exhibiting a particular state. Here it expresses the idea of the Lord, the God of Israel exhibiting the state of being a person who can deliver from one’s enemies or mortal danger. The imperfect conjugation of this verb is a potential imperfect meaning it expresses the ability to do or be something. Here it expresses the idea of the Lord, God of Israel possesses the inherent ability because of His character and nature to deliver people from their enemies or mortal danger. It is also can be interpreted as an iterative or customary imperfect expressing characteristic action. This would mean that the Lord, the God of Israel is characterized as being able to deliver or rescue or save a person or persons from an enemy and mortal danger. Therefore, in Zephaniah 3:17, these two words are describing the Lord Jesus Christ as being a warrior who is characterized as being able to cause the deliver from mortal danger and one’s enemies. In context, Zephaniah is prophesying of the millennial reign of Christ when the Lord will dwell bodily in Jerusalem and will rule over Israel and the entire world. He will be known as a warrior who can deliver from mortal danger and one’s enemies because of His great military heroics which He will accomplish at His Second Advent. At that time, He will kill the Antichrist and the false prophet and defeat the tribulational armies and imprison Satan and the fallen angels for a thousand years, all of which are attempting to destroy Israel during the tribulation portion of the seventieth week of Daniel. Therefore, these two words describe the Lord Jesus Christ as one who is characterized as having the ability to deliver from one’s enemies and life and death situations. The Lord Will Exult over Jerusalem with Joy Download 360 Kb. Share with your friends:
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