13
And he will stretch outוְיֵטhis handיָדוֹagainstעַלthe north,צָפוֹןand destroyוִיאַבֵּדAssyria,אַשּׁוּרand he will makeוְיָשֵׂםNinevehנִינְוֵהa desolation,לִשְׁמָמָהdryצִיָּהas the wilderness.כַּמִּדְבָּר
Zephaniah 2:13
Study it in the app“And he will stretch out his hand against the north, and destroy Assyria, and he will make Nineveh a desolation, dry as the wilderness.”
With the Hebrew beneath
Zephaniah 2:13, word by word
- And he will stretch outיֵטyet
stretch out
To reach out the hand, or set up a tent.
Where else “yet” appears- his handיָדyad
power
Literally "the hand": the strength and control someone has.
Where else “yad” appears- the northצָפוֹןtsafon
north
North.
Where else “tsafon” appears- and destroyיאַבֵּדyabed
destroy
To make someone or something disappear completely.
Where else “yabed” appears- Assyriaאַשּׁוּרashur
Assyria, Asshur
See it on the mapWhere else “ashur” appears- and he will makeיָשֵׂםyasem
make
To turn something into another: "I will turn him into a nation".
Where else “yasem” appears- Ninevehנִינְוֵהninve
Nineveh
See it on the mapWhere else “ninve” appears- a desolationשְׁמָמָהshemama
desolation
Desolation: a land left empty and uncultivated; also horror.
Where else “shemama” appears- dryצִיָּהtsiya
drought, dry land
Dryness; dry land, desert.
Where else “tsiya” appears- as the wildernessמִּדְבָּרmidbar
wilderness
Dry, unfarmed land where flocks graze.
Where else “midbar” appears
Places in this verse
1Assyria
Today: northern Iraq (with parts of Syria, Turkey, Iran)
An empire of northern Mesopotamia along the Tigris River, in present-day Iraq.
Assyria took the northern kingdom of Israel captive (2 Kgs 17:6). God sent Jonah to preach in Nineveh, its capital (Jonah 3:3).
2Nineveh
Today: Nineveh ruins, beside Mosul, Iraq
An Assyrian city on the Tigris River in northern Iraq today, across from present-day Mosul.
Jonah preached there, and the city turned from its evil way (Jonah 3:3-10). Nahum later announced its fall (Nah 1:1).
The context
12“You too, Cushites, they will be pierced by my sword.”
13 · This verse (above)
14And flocks will lie down in her midst, every animal of the nations; both the pelican and the hedgehog will lodge in her capitals; a voice will sing in the window; dryness will be on the threshold; for her cedar work has been laid bare.