Zephaniah 2:13

KJV1611 – Modern English

And he will stretch out his hand against the north, and destroy Assyria; and will make Nineveh a desolation, and dry like a wilderness.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

וְיֵ֤ט יָדוֹ֙ עַל־צָפ֔וֹן וִֽיאַבֵּ֖ד אֶת־אַשּׁ֑וּר וְיָשֵׂ֤ם אֶת־נִֽינְוֵה֙ לִשְׁמָמָ֔ה צִיָּ֖ה כַּמִּדְבָּֽר׃

Transliteration

And-yēṭ yādô ʿal-ṣāp̄ôn wîʾabbēd ʾeth-ʾaššûr wəyāśēm ʾeth-nînəwēh lišəmāmâ ṣiyyâ kammidbar

Grammar Details

• *yēṭ*: qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular with waw consecutive - and he will stretch out
• *yādô*: noun, feminine singular with 3rd person masculine singular suffix - his hand
• *ʿal-ṣāp̄ôn*: preposition + noun, feminine singular - against north
• *wîʾabbēd*: piel imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular with waw consecutive - and he will destroy
• *ʾeth-ʾaššûr*: direct object marker + proper noun - Assyria
• *wəyāśēm*: qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular with waw consecutive - and he will make
• *ʾeth-nînəwēh*: direct object marker + proper noun - Nineveh
• *lišəmāmâ*: preposition + noun, feminine singular - for desolation
• *ṣiyyâ*: noun, feminine singular - dry/parched region
• *kammidbar*: preposition + definite article + noun, masculine singular - like the wilderness

Word Meanings

• *yēṭ yādô*: stretch out his hand/extend his hand
• *ʿal-ṣāp̄ôn*: against the north/against the northern kingdom
• *wîʾabbēd*: and destroy/and cause to perish
• *lišəmāmâ*: for desolation/for waste/for horror
• *ṣiyyâ*: dry land/parched ground/drought

Other Translations

• Linguistic Bible Translation from Source Texts

  He will stretch out His hand against the north and destroy Assyria, leaving Nineveh utterly desolate, as dry as the desert.

• King James Version 1769 (Standard Version)

  And he will stretch out his hand against the north, and destroy Assyria; and will make Nineveh a desolation, and dry like a wilderness.

• American Standard Version with Strong's Numbers

  And he will stretch out his hand against the north, and destroy Assyria, and will make Nineveh a desolation, and dry like the wilderness.

• King James Version with Strong's Numbers

  And he will stretch out his hand against the north, and destroy Assyria; and will make Nineveh a desolation, and dry like a wilderness.

• Coverdale Bible (1535)

  Yee he shall stretch out his honde ouer the north, and destroye Assur. As for Niniue, he shal make it desolate, drye and waist.

• Geneva Bible (1560)

  And he wil stretch out his hand against the North, and destroy Asshur, and will make Nineueh desolate, and waste like a wildernesse.

• Bishops' Bible (1568)

  Yea he shall stretch out his hande ouer the north, and destroy Assur: As for Niniue he shall make it desolate, drye, and waste.

• Authorized King James Version (1611)

  And he will stretch out his hand against the north, and destroy Assyria; and will make Nineveh a desolation, [and] dry like a wilderness.

• Webster's Bible (1833)

  He will stretch out his hand against the north, destroy Assyria, and will make Nineveh a desolation, and dry like the wilderness.

• Young's Literal Translation (1862/1898)

  And He stretcheth His hand against the north, And doth destroy Asshur, And he setteth Nineveh for a desolation, A dry land like a wilderness.

• American Standard Version (1901)

  And he will stretch out his hand against the north, and destroy Assyria, and will make Nineveh a desolation, and dry like the wilderness.

• American Standard Version (1901)

  And he will stretch out his hand against the north, and destroy Assyria, and will make Nineveh a desolation, and dry like the wilderness.

• Bible in Basic English (1941)

  And his hand will be stretched out against the north, for the destruction of Assyria; and he will make Nineveh unpeopled and dry like the waste land.

• World English Bible (2000)

  He will stretch out his hand against the north, destroy Assyria, and will make Nineveh a desolation, as dry as the wilderness.

• NET Bible® (New English Translation)

  The LORD will attack the north and destroy Assyria. He will make Nineveh a heap of ruins; it will be as barren as the desert.

Referenced Verses

• Nah 3:7 : 7 And it shall come to pass, that all who look upon you will flee from you, and say, Nineveh is laid waste: who will mourn for her? From where shall I seek comforters for you?
• Isa 10:12 : 12 Therefore, it shall come to pass, that when the Lord has performed all his work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the proud heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks.
• Isa 10:16 : 16 Therefore the Lord, the Lord of hosts, shall send among his fat ones leanness; and under his glory, he shall kindle a burning like the burning of a fire.
• Nah 1:1 : 1 The burden of Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite.
• Nah 2:10-11 : 10 She is empty, and void, and waste: and the heart melts, and the knees strike together, and much pain is in all loins, and the faces of them all gather paleness. 11 Where is the dwelling of the lions, and the feeding place of the young lions, where the lion, even the old lion, walked, and the lion's cub, and none made them afraid?
• Ps 83:8-9 : 8 Assyria also has joined with them: they have helped the children of Lot. Selah. 9 Do to them as to the Midianites; as to Sisera, as to Jabin, at the brook of Kishon:
• Isa 11:11 : 11 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, who are left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.
• Ezek 31:3-9 : 3 Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon with beautiful branches, and with a sheltering canopy, and of high stature; and its top was among the thick boughs. 4 The waters made it great, the deep set it up on high with its rivers running around its plants, and sent out its little rivers to all the trees of the field. 5 Therefore its height was exalted above all the trees of the field, and its boughs were multiplied, and its branches became long because of the multitude of waters as it spread out. 6 All the birds of heaven made their nests in its boughs, and under its branches all the beasts of the field gave birth to their young, and under its shadow all great nations dwelt. 7 Thus it was beautiful in its greatness, in the length of its branches, for its root was by great waters. 8 The cedars in the garden of God could not hide it; the fir trees were not like its boughs, and the chestnut trees were not like its branches; nor any tree in the garden of God was like it in beauty. 9 I made it beautiful by the multitude of its branches, so that all the trees of Eden, that were in the garden of God, envied it. 10 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD; Because you have lifted yourself up in height, and it has set its top among the thick boughs, and its heart is lifted up in its height; 11 I have therefore delivered it into the hand of the mighty one of the nations; he shall surely deal with it: I have driven it out for its wickedness. 12 And strangers, the terrible of the nations, have cut it off and have left it; on the mountains and in all the valleys its branches have fallen, and its boughs are broken by all the rivers of the land; and all the peoples of the earth have gone down from its shadow and have left it. 13 On its ruin all the birds of the heavens will dwell, and all the beasts of the field will be on its branches: 14 So that none of all the trees by the waters exalt themselves for their height, nor set their top among the thick boughs, nor any tree stand up to its height, all that drink water; for they are all delivered to death, to the lower parts of the earth, in the midst of the children of men, with those who go down to the pit. 15 Thus says the Lord GOD; In the day when it went down to the grave I caused a mourning: I covered the deep for it, and I restrained its floods, and the great waters were stopped: and I caused Lebanon to mourn for it, and all the trees of the field fainted for it. 16 I made the nations to shake at the sound of its fall, when I cast it down to hell with those who descend into the pit: and all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, shall be comforted in the lower parts of the earth. 17 They also went down into hell with it to those who are slain with the sword; and those who were its arm, who dwelt under its shadow in the midst of the nations. 18 Who are you thus like in glory and in greatness among the trees of Eden? Yet you shall be brought down with the trees of Eden to the lower parts of the earth; you shall lie in the midst of the uncircumcised with those who are slain by the sword. This is Pharaoh and all his multitude, says the Lord GOD.
• Mic 5:6 : 6 And they shall waste the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod at its entrances; thus shall he deliver us from the Assyrian, when he comes into our land and when he treads within our borders.
• Nah 3:15 : 15 There the fire shall devour you; the sword shall cut you off, it shall eat you up like the locust: make yourself many like the locust, make yourself many like the swarming locusts.
• Nah 3:18-19 : 18 Your shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria: your nobles shall dwell in the dust: your people are scattered upon the mountains, and no one gathers them. 19 There is no healing for your bruise; your wound is grievous: all that hear the report of you shall clap their hands over you: for upon whom has not your wickedness passed continually?
• Zech 10:10-11 : 10 I will bring them back out of the land of Egypt and gather them out of Assyria, and I will bring them into the land of Gilead and Lebanon, until no place can be found for them. 11 And he shall pass through the sea with affliction, and strike the waves in the sea, and all the deeps of the river shall dry up. And the pride of Assyria shall be brought down, and the scepter of Egypt shall depart.