Zephaniah 2:11

NET Bible® (New English Translation)

The LORD will terrify them, for he will weaken all the gods of the earth. All the distant nations will worship the LORD in their own lands.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

נוֹרָ֤א יְהוָה֙ עֲלֵיהֶ֔ם כִּ֣י רָזָ֔ה אֵ֖ת כָּל־אֱלֹהֵ֣י הָאָ֑רֶץ וְיִשְׁתַּֽחֲווּ־לוֹ֙ אִ֣ישׁ מִמְּקוֹמ֔וֹ כֹּ֖ל אִיֵּ֥י הַגּוֹיִֽם׃

Transliteration

nôrāʾ YHWH ʿălêhem kî rāzâ ʾēth kol-ʾĕlōhê hāʾāreṣ wəyištaḥăwû-lô ʾîš mimməqômô kōl ʾiyyê haggôyîm

Grammar Details

• *nôrāʾ*: niphal participle, masculine singular - fearful/terrible
• *ʿălêhem*: preposition + 3rd person masculine plural suffix - against them
• *kî*: conjunction - for/because/when
• *rāzâ*: qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular - he has famished/made lean
• *ʾēth*: direct object marker
• *kol-ʾĕlōhê*: construct chain: noun + masculine plural construct - all gods of
• *hāʾāreṣ*: noun, feminine singular with definite article - the earth/land
• *wəyištaḥăwû-lô*: hishtaphel imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural + preposition + 3rd person masculine singular suffix - and they will bow down to him
• *ʾîš*: noun, masculine singular - man/each one
• *mimməqômô*: preposition + noun, masculine singular with 3rd person masculine singular suffix - from his place
• *kōl*: noun, masculine singular construct - all of
• *ʾiyyê*: noun, masculine plural construct - islands/coastlands of
• *haggôyîm*: noun, masculine plural with definite article - the nations

Word Meanings

• *nôrāʾ*: fearful/terrible/awesome
• *rāzâ*: famished/made lean/brought to nothing
• *ʾĕlōhê*: gods/deities/divine beings
• *wəyištaḥăwû-lô*: they will bow down to him/they will worship him
• *ʾiyyê*: islands/coastlands/distant shores

Referenced Verses

• Ps 72:8-9 : 8 May he rule from sea to sea, and from the Euphrates River to the ends of the earth! 9 Before him the coastlands will bow down, and his enemies will lick the dust. 10 The kings of Tarshish and the coastlands will offer gifts; the kings of Sheba and Seba will bring tribute. 11 All kings will bow down to him; all nations will serve him.
• Gen 10:5 : 5 From these the coastlands of the nations were separated into their lands, every one according to its language, according to their families, by their nations.
• Deut 32:38 : 38 who ate the best of their sacrifices, and drank the wine of their drink offerings? Let them rise and help you; let them be your refuge!
• Ps 2:8-9 : 8 Ask me, and I will give you the nations as your inheritance, the ends of the earth as your personal property. 9 You will break them with an iron scepter; you will smash them like a potter’s jar!’” 10 So now, you kings, do what is wise; you rulers of the earth, submit to correction! 11 Serve the LORD in fear! Repent in terror! 12 Give sincere homage! Otherwise he will be angry, and you will die because of your behavior, when his anger quickly ignites. How blessed are all who take shelter in him!
• Ps 22:27-30 : 27 Let all the people of the earth acknowledge the LORD and turn to him! Let all the nations worship you! 28 For the LORD is king and rules over the nations. 29 All of the thriving people of the earth will join the celebration and worship; all those who are descending into the grave will bow before him, including those who cannot preserve their lives. 30 A whole generation will serve him; they will tell the next generation about the Lord.
• Ps 72:17 : 17 May his fame endure! May his dynasty last as long as the sun remains in the sky! May they use his name when they formulate their blessings! May all nations consider him to be favored by God!
• Ps 86:9 : 9 All the nations, whom you created, will come and worship you, O Lord. They will honor your name.
• Ps 97:6-8 : 6 The sky declares his justice, and all the nations see his splendor. 7 All who worship idols are ashamed, those who boast about worthless idols. All the gods bow down before him. 8 Zion hears and rejoices, the towns of Judah are happy, because of your judgments, O LORD.
• Ps 117:1-2 : 1 Praise the LORD, all you nations! Applaud him, all you foreigners! 2 For his loyal love towers over us, and the LORD’s faithfulness endures. Praise the LORD!
• Ps 138:4 : 4 Let all the kings of the earth give thanks to you, O LORD, when they hear the words you speak.
• Isa 2:2-4 : 2 In the future the mountain of the LORD’s temple will endure as the most important of mountains, and will be the most prominent of hills. All the nations will stream to it, 3 many peoples will come and say,“Come, let us go up to the LORD’s mountain, to the temple of the God of Jacob, so he can teach us his requirements, and we can follow his standards.” For Zion will be the center for moral instruction; the LORD’s message will issue from Jerusalem. 4 He will judge disputes between nations; he will settle cases for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nations will not take up the sword against other nations, and they will no longer train for war.
• Isa 11:9-9 : 9 They will no longer injure or destroy on my entire royal mountain. For there will be universal submission to the LORD’s sovereignty, just as the waters completely cover the sea. 10 Israel is Reclaimed and Reunited At that time a root from Jesse will stand like a signal flag for the nations. Nations will look to him for guidance, and his residence will be majestic.
• Isa 24:14-16 : 14 They lift their voices and shout joyfully; they praise the majesty of the LORD in the west. 15 So in the east extol the LORD, along the seacoasts extol the fame of the LORD God of Israel. 16 From the ends of the earth we hear songs– the Just One is majestic. But I say,“I’m wasting away! I’m wasting away! I’m doomed! Deceivers deceive, deceivers thoroughly deceive!”
• Isa 42:4 : 4 He will not grow dim or be crushed before establishing justice on the earth; the coastlands will wait in anticipation for his decrees.”
• Isa 42:10 : 10 Sing to the LORD a brand new song! Praise him from the horizon of the earth, you who go down to the sea, and everything that lives in it, you coastlands and those who live there!
• Isa 49:1 : 1 Ideal Israel Delivers the Exiles Listen to me, you coastlands! Pay attention, you people who live far away! The LORD summoned me from birth; he commissioned me when my mother brought me into the world.
• Hos 2:17 : 17 For I will remove the names of the Baal idols from your lips, so that you will never again utter their names!”
• Joel 2:11 : 11 The voice of the LORD thunders as he leads his army. Indeed, his warriors are innumerable; Surely his command is carried out! Yes, the day of the LORD is awesome and very terrifying– who can survive it?
• Mic 4:1-3 : 1 Better Days Ahead for Jerusalem In the future the LORD’s Temple Mount will be the most important mountain of all; it will be more prominent than other hills. People will stream to it. 2 Many nations will come, saying,“Come on! Let’s go up to the LORD’s mountain, to the temple of Jacob’s God, so he can teach us his ways and we can live by his laws.” For instruction will proceed from Zion, the LORD’s message from Jerusalem. 3 He will arbitrate between many peoples and settle disputes between many distant nations. They will beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nations will not use weapons against other nations, and they will no longer train for war.
• Zeph 1:4 : 4 “I will attack Judah and all who live in Jerusalem. I will remove from this place every trace of Baal worship, as well as the very memory of the pagan priests.
• Zeph 3:9 : 9 Know for sure that I will then enable the nations to give me acceptable praise. All of them will invoke the LORD’s name when they pray, and will worship him in unison.
• Zech 2:11 : 11 “Many nations will join themselves to the LORD on the day of salvation, and they will also be my people. Indeed, I will settle in the midst of you all.” Then you will know that the LORD of Heaven’s Armies has sent me to you.
• Zech 8:20 : 20 The LORD of Heaven’s Armies says,‘It will someday come to pass that people– residents of many cities– will come.
• Zech 8:23 : 23 The LORD of Heaven’s Armies says,‘In those days ten people from all languages and nations will grasp hold of– indeed, grab– the robe of one Jew and say,“Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.”’”
• Zech 13:2 : 2 And also on that day,” says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies,“I will remove the names of the idols from the land and they will never again be remembered. Moreover, I will remove the prophets and the unclean spirit from the land.
• Zech 14:9-9 : 9 The LORD will then be king over all the earth. In that day the LORD will be seen as one with a single name. 10 All the land will change and become like the rift valley from Geba to Rimmon, south of Jerusalem; and Jerusalem will be raised up and will stay in its own place from the Benjamin Gate to the site of the First Gate and on to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the royal winepresses. 11 And people will settle there, and there will no longer be the threat of divine extermination– Jerusalem will dwell in security. 12 But this will be the nature of the plague with which the LORD will strike all the nations that have fought against Jerusalem: Their flesh will decay while they stand on their feet, their eyes will rot away in their sockets, and their tongues will dissolve in their mouths. 13 On that day there will be great confusion from the LORD among them; they will seize each other and attack one another violently. 14 Moreover, Judah will fight at Jerusalem, and the wealth of all the surrounding nations will be gathered up– gold, silver, and clothing in great abundance. 15 This is the kind of plague that will devastate horses, mules, camels, donkeys, and all the other animals in those camps. 16 Then all who survive from all the nations that came to attack Jerusalem will go up annually to worship the King, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, and to observe the Feast of Shelters. 17 But if any of the nations anywhere on earth refuse to go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, they will get no rain. 18 If the Egyptians will not do so, they will get no rain– instead there will be the kind of plague which the LORD inflicts on any nations that do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Shelters. 19 This will be the punishment of Egypt and of all nations that do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Shelters. 20 On that day the bells of the horses will bear the inscription“HOLY TO THE LORD.” The cooking pots in the LORD’s temple will be as holy as the bowls in front of the altar. 21 Every cooking pot in Jerusalem and Judah will become holy in the sight of the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, so that all who offer sacrifices may come and use some of them to boil their sacrifices in them. On that day there will no longer be a Canaanite in the house of the LORD of Heaven’s Armies.
• Mal 1:11 : 11 For from the east to the west my name will be great among the nations. Incense and pure offerings will be offered in my name everywhere, for my name will be great among the nations,” says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies.
• John 4:21-23 : 21 Jesus said to her,“Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You people worship what you do not know. We worship what we know, because salvation is from the Jews. 23 But a time is coming– and now is here– when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such people to be his worshipers.
• 1 Tim 2:8 : 8 So I want the men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or dispute.
• Rev 11:15 : 15 The Seventh Trumpet Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven saying:“The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever.”