Zephaniah 2:3

Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the earth,.... Or "of the land", of the land of Judea.

Seek ye the LORD, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the LORD's anger.

Seek ye the Lord; turn to him with sound and true repentance, pray for pardon, engage in new obedience, inquire in the law what is your duty, and do it; fear, worship, depend on the Lord alone. All ye meek; ye humble ones, who have not hardened yourselves with the stubborn, proud, idolatrous hypocrites, but have trembled at the word of the Lord. Of the earth; of Judea, which is here spoken of, as . Which have wrought his judgment; obeyed his precepts; so doth the Scripture express obedience to the law of God by doing judgment, . Seek righteousness; inquire and know the righteousness which God commandeth, which you ought to persist in, and continue ye in it. Seek meekness; carry it humbly towards God, and patiently under his corrections; so wait on the just and merciful God. It may be: this is sufficient to raise hope; if it be not sure, if it be hard, yet it is not impossible. Ye shall be hid; under the wing of Divine protecting Providence kept safe from, or in, these troubles they shall be either averted or abated.

Zephaniah 2:3 Seek ye the LORD, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the LORD’ S anger.Ver. 3. Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the earth] Here the prophet turneth himself to the better sort; for upon those hypocritical halters aforementioned he had but lost his sweet words; he did but wash a blackamoor. We read not in Scripture of any hypocrite’ s conversion; and what wonder? for whereas after sin conversion is left as a means to cure all other sinners, what means to recover him who hath converted conversion itself into sin? This made our Saviour say to his disciples concerning the Pharisees, those cankered hypocrites, "Let them alone," Matthew 15:14, and himself weary of wasting words upon them, called to the multitude and said, "hear ye and understand," Zephaniah 2:10. In like sort this prophet here, "Seek ye the Lord"; for it is past time of day with them to seek him; therefore they shall go with their flocks and their herds to seek the Lord, but they shall not find him; he hath withdrawn himself from them, Hosea 5:6. Concerning seeking the Lord see. All ye meek of the earth] This is the character, the distinctive note of a true Christian; who, as he is sure to be afflicted (affliction and meekness grow both upon the same root in the holy tongue), so by affliction he is meekened and mortified, his flesh is crucified with the affections and lusts; and so he is fitted to seek the Lord, to lie at his feet and say, Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth. These meek and lowly ones (ταπεινοι, Septuag.) are they whom God will teach, Psalms 25:9, beautify, Psalms 149:4, solace, Isaiah 29:19; Isaiah 61:1, save: God will save the humble person, Job 22:29. Now meekness and humility are a pair of twin sisters, never asunder ( Sorores collactaneae) sisters nourished at the same breast. See how they go coupled, Matthew 11:29, and the Seventy render this text, all the lowly of the earth, that are as low as the earth in your own eyes and esteem (ταπεινος, quasi, εδαφεινος, solo aequatus). Which have wrought his judgment] i.e. Have been doing at it, qui fecistis praecepta etsi non prefecistis, who aim at perfection though ye cannot attain to it, who think upon his commandments to do them, Psalms 103:18, having respect to them all, and wishing well to the work, Psalms 118:5-6, which God graciously accepteth as a working his judgment, and yet would have you to abound more and more. Wherefore, Seek righteousness, seek meekness] i.e. Further measures of holiness and degrees of grace.

(3) Wrought his judgment.—Or, rather, executed His sentence—acted in compliance with His revealed will by refraining from the sins above specified.

Verse 3. Ye meek of the earth] ענוי anavey, ye oppressed and humbled of the land. It may be ye shall be hid] The sword has not a commission against you. Ask God, and he will be a refuge to you from the storm and from the tempest.

3. all ye meek of the earth] Though the exhortation to seek the Lord (Amos 5:6; Isaiah 55:6) be addressed specially to the prophet’s own people of Judah, there is no necessity for rendering, meek of the land. The “meek” are those humble before Jehovah, cf. Zephaniah 3:12; they are further described as those that do His judgment or ordinance, that is, obey in life the statutes of the Lord. They are exhorted to renew, or to continue more importunately, their seeking of the Lord in face of the approaching day of trouble. It may be ye shall be hid] The figure is that of finding refuge from a storm passing over, or a foe sweeping past. Isaiah 26:20, “Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers; hide thyself for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast”; Job 14:13, “Oh that thou wouldst hide me in Sheòl, that thou wouldst keep me secret until thy wrath be past.” Even amidst what looks like absolute certainty of the divine judgment, the prophets cannot renounce the idea of the possibility of the people’s repenting and averting the impending wrath; cf. Jeremiah 7:5-7; Jeremiah 26:3; Jeremiah 36:3; Jeremiah 36:5; Amos 5:6; Amos 5:15.

Seek ye the Lord - He had exhorted sinners to penitence; he now calls the righteous to persevere and increase more and more.

TO , Zephaniah 2:1-3.As the Book of Zephaniah is arranged now, Zephaniah 2:1-3, is connected closely with Zephaniah 2:4-15.