Zephaniah 2:15

“This is the rejoicing city that dwelt carelessly, etc.] Once exceeding populous, and the inhabitants full of mirth and gaiety, abounding with wealth and riches, and indulging themselves in all carnal delights and pleasures; and, being well fortified, thought themselves out of all danger, and were careless and unconcerned, not fearing any enemy that should attack them; imagining their city was impregnable and invincible: these are the words of the prophet, concluding his prophecy concerning the destruction of this city, and having, by a spirit of prophecy, a foresight of its ruin and desolation; or of passengers, and what they should say when they saw it lie in its ruins: that said in her…”

“Nothing then seemed more improbable than that the capital of so vast an empire, a city sixty miles in compass, with walls one hundred feet high, and so thick that three chariots could go abreast on them, and with fifteen hundred towers, should be so totally destroyed that its site is with difficulty discovered. Yet so it is, as the prophet foretold. there is none beside me--This peculiar phrase, expressing self-gratulation as if peerless, is plainly adopted from Isa 47:8. The later prophets, when the spirit of prophecy was on the verge of departing, leaned more on the predictions of their predecessors. hiss--in astonishment at a desolation so great and sudden (Kg1 9:8); also in derision (Job…”

“This utter desolation is “the rejoicing city” (so unlike is it, that there is need to point out that it is the same); this is she, who was full of joy, exulting exceedingly, but in herself, not in God; “that dwelt carelessly,” literally, “securely,” and so carelessly; saying “Peace and safety” 1 Thessalonians 5:3, as though no evil would come upon her, and so perishing more certainly and miserably (see Judges 18:27) “That said in her heart,” this was her inmost feeling, the moving cause of all her deeds; “I am and there is none beside me;” literally , “and there is no I beside,” claiming the very attribute of God (as the world does) of self-existence, as if it alone were “I,” and others, in…”

“This - So the prophet triumphs over her. There is none - None like me, or that can contend with me. Next: Zephaniah Chapter 3”

“2:15 utter ruin: The doom was so certain and irreversible (see Nah 1:14; 2:13; 3:19) that Zephaniah saw no future for Assyria or its capital. So complete was Nineveh’s devastation that the Greek historian Xenophon once passed by its ruins unaware that it was there. • laugh . . . shake a defiant fist: Those who suffered under Assyria’s cruel empire would be glad seeing its demise.”

“the rejoicing: Isa 10:12-14, Isa 22:2, Isa 47:7; Rev 18:7-10 I am: Isa 47:8; Eze 28:2, Eze 28:9, Eze 29:3 how is: Isa 14:4, Isa 14:5; Lam 1:1, Lam 2:1; Rev 18:10-19 every: Kg1 9:7, Kg1 9:8; Job 27:23; Psa 52:6, Psa 52:7; Lam 2:15; Eze 27:36; Nah 3:19; Mat 27:39 Next: Zephaniah Chapter 3”