In | Zephaniah and Human Sacrifice

Human sacrifice was a problem in Israel just as it was for her neighbors (2 Kings 21:6; 2 Chronicles 28:1-3; Jeremiah 7:30-31). In this passage, God is in effect saying, “If you want human sacrifice, I’ll give you human sacrifice. It won’t be children; it will be the princes and those who invest their wealth in silver, gold and the accoutrements of foreign religion and culture.” 

Beyond the explicit reference to sacrifice in this passage, Zephaniah uses sacrificial imagery to drive the point home. The blood of princes will be “poured out like dust” and their “entrails like dung.” All will be burned in the fire of YHWH’s jealousy. 

This language reflects the bloody ordeal of ritual sacrifice on the altar. Because the people won’t give Him the kind of sacrifice He’s looking for, God will turn their most corrupt impulses against them and make of them a “terrifying” end. This is part of the silence and wailing the people will have to endure before they become a praise to YHWH and join Him again in song.