Exegesis and Exposition of zephaniah 3: 17-18
Zephaniah 3:18 “I will gather those who grieve about the appointed feasts— They came from you
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| Zephaniah 3:18 “I will gather those who grieve about the appointed feasts— They came from you, O Zion; The reproach of exile is a burden on them.” (NASB95)
“I will gather those who grieve about the appointed feasts” is composed of the following: (1) masculine plural construct niphal passive participle form of the verb yāgâ (יָגָה), “those who grieve” (2) preposition min (מִן), “about” (3) masculine singular noun môʿēd (מוֹעֵד), “the appointed feasts” (4) first person singular qal active perfect form of the verb ʾāsap (אָסַף), “I will gather.” The writer is once again employing the figure of asyndeton. This time he uses this figure to emphasize the prophetic declaration contained in Zephaniah 3:18 for the purpose of causing the reader to make an application, which would be repentance. The verb yāgâ is in the niphal stem and means “to be grieved” since the word pertains to a feeling or attitude of emotional sorrow and pain. It speaks of mental anguish resulting from affliction or adversity of some sort. The word refers to mental anguish that results from being distressed or tormented. The reason for this grief or mental anguish is expressed by the prepositional phrase mimmôʿēd (מִמּוֹעֵ֛ד), “about the appointed feasts.” The noun môʿēd means “appointed feast” since the word pertains to a festival that occurs at an appointed time. It speaks of a festival of celebration and/or worship with emphasis that this is a time appointed by an authority which may include festive meals and offerings to God. Here in Zephaniah 3:18 the word refers to the seven great feasts of Israel which God commanded the nation of Israel in the Mosaic Law to observe in order to worship Him with each feast to be observed during a specific day or days in the Jewish calendar. The noun môʿēd is the object of the preposition min which means “because of” since the word is functioning as a marker of cause expressing the reason for the faithful believers in Israel suffering mental anguish. Therefore, the verb yāgâ and this prepositional phrase express the idea that the faithful believers in Israel suffered mental anguish because of the loss of their appointed feasts or because they could no longer worship the Lord during the seven great feasts of Israel. The niphal stem of this verb is a passive niphal meaning that the subject is acted upon by an expressed or unexpressed agency. Here the expressed agency is the seven great feasts which God commanded the nation of Israel to observe in order to worship Him. The subject would be the faithful Jews who were exiled to Babylon in the seventh and sixth centuries B.C. as well as those who will be force to leave Israel and will be dispersed throughout the world during the seventieth week of Daniel because of the persecution precipitated by the Antichrist. Therefore, this stem indicates that these faithful Jews living during these two distinct time periods will receive the action of being grieved because of no longer being able to worship God during these appointed feasts. The participle form of this verb functions as a substantive participle and thus should be rendered with a relative pronoun clause “those who have been grieved” or “those who have suffered mental anguish.” The verb ʾāsap is in the qal stem and means “to gather” since the word in this context pertains to a collection or mass moving to one place. The first person singular form of this verb is referring of course to the God of Israel. This verb is modified by the preposition min (מִן), and the second person feminine singular pronominal suffix ʾat (אַתְּ). This prepositional phrase is not modifying the third person plural qal active perfect form of the verb hāyâ (הָיָה), “they came” as interpreted by the NASB95. This is indicated by the fact that this prepositional phrase syntactically is modifying verb ʾāsap as indicated by the fact that it stands apposite to this verb rather than hāyâ which stands before. The second person feminine singular pronominal suffix ʾat (אַתְּ) means “you” referring to the faithful remnant of Israel. It is the object of the preposition min which means “namely” since it is functioning in an explicative sense. This preposition is indicating that the second person feminine singular pronominal suffix ʾat is identifying specifically who are those suffering mental anguish because of not being able to worship God during the seven great feasts of Israel. Therefore, the verb ʾāsap and this prepositional phrase express the idea that those who have suffered mental anguish because of not being able to worship God during the seven great feasts of Israel, namely the remnant of Israel, will be gathered by God. Burden and Reproach Download 360 Kb. Share with your friends:
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