What Does Zephaniah 2:14 Mean in the King James?
And flocks shall lie down in the midst of her, all the beasts of the nations: both the cormorant and the bittern shall lodge in the upper lintels of it; their voice shall sing in the windows; desolation shall be in the thresholds: for he shall uncover the cedar work.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
A city that seems permanent can be emptied until wild creatures occupy its high places and its cedar stands exposed.
THE MEANING
Human order gives way: flocks settle in the city’s center, wild creatures lodge above, and their calls fill its windows. Desolation occupies the thresholds while the cedar beneath the grandeur is laid bare. The city’s space remains, but the life that once claimed it is gone.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that strong walls, high places, and costly materials can secure permanence dissolves here: the same halls can shelter wild creatures, and the cedar can be exposed.
THE ROOT
עֵרָה
ʿērāh
GROWS FROM
ערה
To lay bare, empty out, or pour out.
The verb translated “uncover” also means to empty out or pour out. The city is exposed through depletion: its buildings remain, but their human possession has drained away, leaving the cedar and the wild occupancy visible together.
ALSO GROWS
empty: To empty a pitcher into a trough.
The same root names the removal of contents; here the city is left emptied of its human life.
poured out: To pour out a life unto death.
This use reveals the root’s other sense: what is laid bare is exposed as what filled it is poured out.
THE PATTERN
When human order is emptied from a place, a different life takes up residence in the space it claimed.
But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there.Therefore the wild beasts of the desert with the wild beasts of the islands shall dwell there, and the owls shall dwell therein: and it shall be no more inhabited for ever; neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation.And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.THE THREAD
Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.The verb rendered “uncover” here is the same root used for “poured out” in Isaiah. The shared word lets exposure and outpouring echo together, while the verses hold distinct scenes.
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