{"id":78881,"date":"2020-08-16T16:53:19","date_gmt":"2020-08-16T13:53:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=78881"},"modified":"2020-08-16T16:53:19","modified_gmt":"2020-08-16T13:53:19","slug":"they-do-all-this-and-still-only-perhaps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/they-do-all-this-and-still-only-perhaps\/","title":{"rendered":"They Do All This –\u00a0And Still (only) Perhaps!?"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[],"acf":{"old_id":"78881","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":73524,"related_cahpter":"547","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"Searching for shelter in the coming storm\r\n\r\n","content":"

Having described the upcoming horror of the day of the Lord to his listeners, Zephaniah now reveals to them what they must do in order to have a chance of survival:<\/span><\/p>\n

Gather together, gather, O nation without shame, Before the day the decree is born\u2014 The day flies by like chaff\u2014 Before the fierce anger Of the LORD overtakes you, Before the day of anger Of the LORD overtakes you. Seek the LORD, All you humble of the land Who have fulfilled His law; Seek righteousness, Seek humility. Perhaps you will find shelter On the day of the LORD\u2019s anger\u201d (verses 1-3).<\/span><\/p>\n

Zephaniah hopes that the fear that he has aroused among his listeners in chapter 1, describing the horror of the quickly approaching “day of the Lord”, will become the springboard for meaningful change. He uses imagery taken from the procedure for separating straw from chaff, i.e., taking good from bad. The command to gather is repeated with a variation on the same word (<\/span>hitkosheshu va\u2019koshu<\/span><\/em>), which is related to the word for straw (<\/span>kash<\/span><\/em>). In verse 2, he warns the people against being like the chaff, the worthless part of the harvest that is easily and quickly blown away.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Zephaniah\u2019s metaphor for the upcoming judgment is the act of winnowing: Just as the one throws the straw left from the threshing into the wind to divide the straw from the chaff, so too, when the wind of judgment will blow through the nation, the people will be separated into the righteous (straw) and the wicked (chaff).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The command to gather (<\/span>hitkosheshu va\u2019koshu<\/span><\/em>) is repeated, first in the reflexive form and then in the imperative. With regard to this repetition, Radak quotes the following rabbinic homily:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSeek out your blemishes and then seek out the blemishes of others, and eradicate them. And so the sages said from this verse, \u201cDecorate [<\/span>make honest<\/span><\/em>] yourself, and then decorate [<\/span>make honest<\/span><\/em>] others\u201d (Bava Batra 60b).<\/span><\/p>\n

At the same time, Zephaniah makes no guarantees that his listeners will survive, even if they repent and act with humility and righteousness. Amos stated that if the people \u201cHate evil and love good, and establish justice in the gate; <\/span>perhaps<\/em> the Lord God of Hosts will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph\u201d (5:15). Zephaniah is similarly noncommittal. Since the decree of \u201cthe day of the Lord\u201d had already begun, there is no chance of it being completely recalled or annulled. The best that Zephaniah can offer his listeners is that if they repent, they will be able to find some form of shelter during the upcoming storm. The Talmud relates how this verse (Zephaniah 2:3) caused R. Ami to break down into tears: \u201cR. Ami would cry when he reached this verse, saying, \u201cThey will do of this [be humble and righteous], and still, \u2018Perhaps?!\u2019\u201d (Chagiga 4b).<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","image":{"ID":78882,"id":78882,"title":"zeph2-rain","filename":"zeph2-rain.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zeph2-rain.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/they-do-all-this-and-still-only-perhaps\/zeph2-rain\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"zeph2-rain","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":78881,"date":"2020-08-16 13:52:47","modified":"2020-12-16 09:09:59","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1280,"height":1920,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zeph2-rain-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zeph2-rain-200x300.jpg","medium-width":200,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zeph2-rain-683x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":683,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zeph2-rain-683x1024.jpg","large-width":683,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zeph2-rain.jpg","1536x1536-width":1024,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zeph2-rain.jpg","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":1920,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zeph2-rain-800x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zeph2-rain-280x420.jpg","home_baner-width":280,"home_baner-height":420}},"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"They Do All This -\u00a0And Still (only) Perhaps!?","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"Searching for shelter in the coming storm","preview_embedded":"","preview_image":{"ID":78882,"id":78882,"title":"zeph2-rain","filename":"zeph2-rain.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zeph2-rain.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/they-do-all-this-and-still-only-perhaps\/zeph2-rain\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"zeph2-rain","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":78881,"date":"2020-08-16 13:52:47","modified":"2020-12-16 09:09:59","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1280,"height":1920,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zeph2-rain-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zeph2-rain-200x300.jpg","medium-width":200,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zeph2-rain-683x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":683,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zeph2-rain-683x1024.jpg","large-width":683,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zeph2-rain.jpg","1536x1536-width":1024,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zeph2-rain.jpg","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":1920,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zeph2-rain-800x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zeph2-rain-280x420.jpg","home_baner-width":280,"home_baner-height":420}},"preview_video":"","external_link":"","link_for_pay":false,"tile_gallery_items":false,"credits":""},"alternate_tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"","hide_media":false},"tile_group":{"preview_image_url":false,"main_caption":"","sub_caption":"","":null,"popup_package_extra_content":"","read_time":""},"home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo":{"seo_title":"","seo_description":"","seo_default_title":"","seo_default_description":""},"links":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78881"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78881"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78881\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":78883,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78881\/revisions\/78883"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78881"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78881"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78881"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}