Zephaniah 3:6

Webster's Bible (1833)

I have cut off nations. Their battlements are desolate. I have made their streets waste, so that no one passes by. Their cities are destroyed, so that there is no man, so that there is no inhabitant.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

הִכְרַ֣תִּי גוֹיִ֗ם נָשַׁ֙מּוּ֙ פִּנּוֹתָ֔ם הֶחֱרַ֥בְתִּי חֽוּצוֹתָ֖ם מִבְּלִ֣י עוֹבֵ֑ר נִצְדּ֧וּ עָרֵיהֶ֛ם מִבְּלִי־אִ֖ישׁ מֵאֵ֥ין יוֹשֵֽׁב

Transliteration

hikrattî gôyim nāšammû pinnôtām heḥĕrabtî ḥûṣôtām from belî ʿôbēr; niṣdû ʿārêhem from belî-ʾîš from ʾên yôšēb

Grammar Details

• *hikrattî*: hiphil perfect 1st singular - I cut off/destroyed
• *gôyim*: masculine plural noun - nations
• *nāšammû*: niphal perfect 3rd common plural - they were desolated
• *pinnôtām*: feminine plural noun with 3rd masculine plural suffix - their corner towers/strongholds
• *heḥĕrabtî*: hiphil perfect 1st singular - I laid waste
• *ḥûṣôtām*: feminine plural noun with 3rd masculine plural suffix - their streets
• *belî*: negative particle with preposition - without
• *ʿôbēr*: qal participle masculine singular - one passing by
• *niṣdû*: niphal perfect 3rd common plural - they were laid waste/desolated
• *ʿārêhem*: feminine plural noun with 3rd masculine plural suffix - their cities
• *ʾîš*: masculine singular noun - man
• *ʾên*: negative particle - there is not
• *yôšēb*: qal participle masculine singular - inhabitant/one dwelling

Word Meanings

• *hikrattî*: I cut off/destroyed/eliminated
• *gôyim*: nations/peoples/gentiles
• *nāšammû*: were desolated/laid waste/destroyed
• *pinnôtām*: their corner towers/strongholds/battlements
• *heḥĕrabtî*: I laid waste/destroyed/made desolate
• *ḥûṣôtām*: their streets/open places
• *belî*: without/lacking
• *ʿôbēr*: one passing by/traveler
• *niṣdû*: were laid waste/desolated/destroyed
• *ʾîš*: man/person
• *yôšēb*: inhabitant/resident/dweller

Referenced Verses

• Lev 26:31 : 31 I will lay your cities waste, and will bring your sanctuaries to desolation, and I will not take delight in the sweet fragrence of your offerings.
• Isa 10:1-9 : 1 Woe to those who decree unrighteous decrees, and to the writers who write perverseness; 2 to turn aside the needy from justice, and to rob the poor of my people of their right, that widows may be their spoil, and that they may make the fatherless their prey! 3 What will you do in the day of visitation, and in the desolation which shall come from far? to whom will you flee for help? and where will you leave your glory? 4 They shall only bow down under the prisoners, and shall fall under the slain. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. 5 Ho Assyrian, the rod of my anger, the staff in whose hand is my indignation! 6 I will send him against a profane nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets. 7 However he doesn't mean so, neither does his heart think so; but it is in his heart to destroy, and to cut off not a few nations. 8 For he says, Aren't my princes all of them kings? 9 Isn't Calno as Carchemish? Isn't Hamath as Arpad? Isn't Samaria as Damascus? 10 As my hand has found the kingdoms of the idols, whose engraved images did excel them of Jerusalem and of Samaria; 11 shall I not, as I have done to Samaria and her idols, so do to Jerusalem and her idols? 12 Therefore it shall happen that, when the Lord has performed his whole work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks. 13 For he has said, By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom; for I have understanding: and I have removed the bounds of the peoples, and have robbed their treasures, and like a valiant man I have brought down those who sit [on thrones]: 14 and my hand has found as a nest the riches of the peoples; and as one gathers eggs that are forsaken, have I gathered all the earth: and there was none that moved the wing, or that opened the mouth, or chirped. 15 Shall the axe boast itself against him who hews therewith? Shall the saw magnify itself against him who wields it? as if a rod should wield those who lift it up, [or] as if a staff should lift up [him who is] not wood. 16 Therefore will the Lord, Yahweh of Hosts, send among his fat ones leanness; and under his glory there shall be kindled a burning like the burning of fire. 17 The light of Israel will be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame; and it will burn and devour his thorns and his briers in one day. 18 He will consume the glory of his forest, and of his fruitful field, both soul and body: and it shall be as when a standard-bearer faints. 19 The remnant of the trees of his forest shall be few, so that a child may write them. 20 It shall come to pass in that day, that the remnant of Israel, and those who are escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no more again lean on him who struck them, but shall lean on Yahweh, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. 21 A remnant shall return, [even] the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God. 22 For though your people, Israel, be as the sand of the sea, [only] a remnant of them shall return: a destruction [is] determined, overflowing with righteousness. 23 For a full end, and that determined, will the Lord, Yahweh of Hosts, make in the midst of all the earth. 24 Therefore thus says the Lord, Yahweh of Hosts, my people who dwell in Zion, don't be afraid of the Assyrian, though he strike you with the rod, and lift up his staff against you, after the manner of Egypt. 25 For yet a very little while, and the indignation [against you] shall be accomplished, and my anger [shall be directed] to his destruction. 26 Yahweh of Hosts will stir up against him a scourge, as in the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb: and his rod will be over the sea, and he will lift it up after the manner of Egypt. 27 It shall happen in that day, that his burden shall depart from off your shoulder, and his yoke from off your neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed by reason of fatness. 28 He is come to Aiath, he is passed through Migron; at Michmash he lays up his baggage; 29 they are gone over the pass; they have taken up their lodging at Geba; Ramah trembles; Gibeah of Saul is fled. 30 Cry aloud with your voice, daughter of Gallim! listen, Laishah! You poor Anathoth! 31 Madmenah is a fugitive; the inhabitants of Gebim flee for safety. 32 This very day shall he halt at Nob: he shakes his hand at the mountain of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem. 33 Behold, the Lord, Yahweh of Hosts, will lop the boughs with terror: and the high of stature shall be hewn down, and the lofty shall be brought low. 34 He will cut down the thickets of the forest with iron, and Lebanon shall fall by a mighty one.
• Isa 15:1-9 : 1 The burden of Moab. For in a night Ar of Moab is laid waste, [and] brought to nothing; for in a night Kir of Moab is laid waste, [and] brought to nothing. 2 They are gone up to Bayith, and to Dibon, to the high places, to weep: Moab wails over Nebo, and over Medeba; on all their heads is baldness, every beard is cut off. 3 In their streets they gird themselves with sackcloth; on their housetops, and in their broad places, everyone wails, weeping abundantly. 4 Heshbon cries out, and Elealeh; their voice is heard even to Jahaz: therefore the armed men of Moab cry aloud; his soul trembles within him. 5 My heart cries out for Moab; her nobles [flee] to Zoar, to Eglath Shelishiyah: for by the ascent of Luhith with weeping they go up; for in the way of Horonaim they raise up a cry of destruction. 6 For the waters of Nimrim shall be desolate; for the grass is withered away, the tender grass fails, there is no green thing. 7 Therefore the abundance they have gotten, and that which they have laid up, shall they carry away over the brook of the willows. 8 For the cry is gone round about the borders of Moab; the wailing of it to Eglaim, and the wailing of it to Beer-elim. 9 For the waters of Dimon are full of blood; for I will bring yet more on Dimon, a lion on them of Moab that escape, and on the remnant of the land.
• Isa 19:1-9 : 1 The burden of Egypt. Behold, Yahweh rides on a swift cloud, and comes to Egypt: and the idols of Egypt shall tremble at his presence; and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it. 2 I will stir up the Egyptians against the Egyptians: and they shall fight everyone against his brother, and everyone against his neighbor; city against city, [and] kingdom against kingdom. 3 The spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst of it; and I will destroy the counsel of it: and they shall seek to the idols, and to the charmers, and to those who have familiar spirits, and to the wizards. 4 I will give over the Egyptians into the hand of a cruel lord; and a fierce king shall rule over them, says the Lord, Yahweh of Hosts. 5 The waters shall fail from the sea, and the river shall be wasted and become dry. 6 The rivers shall become foul; the streams of Egypt shall be diminished and dried up; the reeds and flags shall wither away. 7 The meadows by the Nile, by the brink of the Nile, and all the sown fields of the Nile, shall become dry, be driven away, and be no more. 8 The fishermen shall lament, and all those who cast angle into the Nile shall mourn, and those who spread nets on the waters shall languish. 9 Moreover those who work in combed flax, and those who weave white cloth, shall be confounded. 10 The pillars [of Egypt] shall be broken in pieces; all those who work for hire [shall be] grieved in soul. 11 The princes of Zoan are utterly foolish; the counsel of the wisest counselors of Pharaoh is become brutish: how do you say to Pharaoh, I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings? 12 Where then are your wise men? and let them tell you now; and let them know what Yahweh of Hosts has purposed concerning Egypt. 13 The princes of Zoan are become fools, the princes of Memphis are deceived; they have caused Egypt to go astray, who are the corner-stone of her tribes. 14 Yahweh has mixed a spirit of perverseness in the midst of her; and they have caused Egypt to go astray in every work of it, as a drunken man staggers in his vomit. 15 Neither shall there be for Egypt any work, which head or tail, palm-branch or rush, may do. 16 In that day shall the Egyptians be like women; and they shall tremble and fear because of the shaking of the hand of Yahweh of Hosts, which he shakes over them. 17 The land of Judah shall become a terror to Egypt; everyone to whom mention is made of it shall be afraid, because of the purpose of Yahweh of Hosts, which he purposes against it. 18 In that day there shall be five cities in the land of Egypt that speak the language of Canaan, and swear to Yahweh of hosts; one shall be called The city of destruction. 19 In that day shall there be an altar to Yahweh in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar at the border of it to Yahweh. 20 It shall be for a sign and for a witness to Yahweh of Hosts in the land of Egypt; for they shall cry to Yahweh because of oppressors, and he will send them a savior, and a defender, and he will deliver them. 21 Yahweh shall be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know Yahweh in that day; yes, they shall worship with sacrifice and offering, and shall vow a vow to Yahweh, and shall perform it. 22 Yahweh will strike Egypt, smiting and healing; and they shall return to Yahweh, and he will be entreated of them, and will heal them. 23 In that day shall there be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria; and the Egyptians shall worship with the Assyrians. 24 In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth; 25 because Yahweh of Hosts has blessed them, saying, Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my inheritance.
• Isa 37:11-13 : 11 Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, by destroying them utterly: and shall you be delivered? 12 Have the gods of the nations delivered them, which my fathers have destroyed, Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden who were in Telassar? 13 Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivvah?
• Isa 37:24-26 : 24 By your servants have you defied the Lord, and have said, With the multitude of my chariots am I come up to the height of the mountains, to the innermost parts of Lebanon; and I will cut down the tall cedars of it, and the choice fir trees of it; and I will enter into its farthest height, the forest of its fruitful field; 25 I have dug and drunk water, and with the sole of my feet will I dry up all the rivers of Egypt. 26 Have you not heard how I have done it long ago, and formed it of ancient times? now have I brought it to pass, that it should be your to lay waste fortified cities into ruinous heaps.
• Isa 37:36 : 36 The angel of Yahweh went forth, and struck in the camp of the Assyrians one hundred and eighty-five thousand; and when men arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies.
• Jer 25:9-9 : 9 behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, says Yahweh, and [I will send] to Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants of it, and against all these nations round about; and I will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and a hissing, and perpetual desolations. 10 Moreover I will take from them the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the lamp. 11 This whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.
• Jer 25:18-26 : 18 [to wit], Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, and the kings of it, and the princes of it, to make them a desolation, an astonishment, a hissing, and a curse, as it is this day; 19 Pharaoh king of Egypt, and his servants, and his princes, and all his people; 20 and all the mixed people, and all the kings of the land of the Uz, and all the kings of the Philistines, and Ashkelon, and Gaza, and Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod; 21 Edom, and Moab, and the children of Ammon; 22 and all the kings of Tyre, and all the kings of Sidon, and the kings of the isle which is beyond the sea; 23 Dedan, and Tema, and Buz, and all who have the corners [of their hair] cut off; 24 and all the kings of Arabia, and all the kings of the mixed people who dwell in the wilderness; 25 and all the kings of Zimri, and all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of the Medes; 26 and all the kings of the north, far and near, one with another; and all the kingdoms of the world, which are on the surface of the earth: and the king of Sheshach shall drink after them.
• Nah 2:1-3 : 1 He who dashes in pieces has come up against you. Keep the fortress! Watch the way! Strengthen your loins! Fortify your power mightily! 2 For Yahweh restores the excellency of Jacob, as the excellency of Israel; for the destroyers have destroyed them, and ruined their vine branches. 3 The shield of his mighty men is made red. The valiant men are in scarlet. The chariots flash with steel in the day of his preparation, and the pine spears are brandished.
• Zeph 2:5 : 5 Woe to the inhabitants of the sea coast, the nation of the Cherethites! The word of Yahweh is against you, Canaan, the land of the Philistines. I will destroy you, that there will be no inhabitant.
• Zech 7:14 : 14 "but I will scatter them with a whirlwind among all the nations which they have not known. Thus the land was desolate after them, so that no man passed through nor returned: for they made the pleasant land desolate."
• 1 Cor 10:6 : 6 Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.
• 1 Cor 10:11 : 11 Now all these things happened to them by way of example, and they were written for our admonition, on whom the ends of the ages have come.