In Hebrew verse 5 continues the sentence begun in verse 4. Revised Standard Version keeps the Hebrew sentence structure, but Good News Translation, as mentioned above, repeats “I will destroy” here to begin a new sentence and so produce a more natural structure in English. Many translators will wish to do likewise.
People would easily be able to go on the roofs of their houses, because in Palestine house roofs were normally flat. In cultures where houses do not have flat roofs, a footnote or a note in the word list will be helpful. It will be preferable in many languages to translate this clause as “goes up on the roof of a house and worships,” similar to Good News Translation. The objects of their worship are called in Revised Standard Version the host of the heavens, which follows the form of the Hebrew expression. The plain meaning of this phrase is made explicit by Good News Translation with “the sun, the moon, and the stars.” However, in many languages translators may wish to use more general expressions similar to the Hebrew; for example, “the heavenly bodies.” One advantage of going onto the roof to worship these heavenly objects was that from there the worshiper had a clear and unbroken view of his so-called gods in the sky.
The second half of verse 5 deals with people whose loyalties are divided between the LORD and other gods. On the one hand they bow down and swear to the LORD, and on the other hand they also swear by Milcom. Swear in this context has nothing to do with using bad language. To swear to or by a god meant to partake in the worship of that god. The meaning is well expressed in Good News Translation as “who worship me and swear loyalty to me” and “take oaths in the name of the god Molech.” The clause swear to the LORD (“swear loyalty to me”) may be expressed as “promise that they will be loyal to me,” or even “give a strong promise that they will serve me faithfully.”
The LORD is the speaker in verses 4-6 but refers to himself in the third person as the LORD once in verse 5 and twice in verse 6. Since this is unnatural in English, Good News Translation translates as “me” on all three occasions. Many translators will wish to do the same.
The actual name of the false god here is somewhat uncertain. The consonants of the Hebrew text are mlkm, and in the Hebrew manuscripts the vowels added give the word malkam, which means “their king.” This wording is followed in the King James Version and Revised Version and is taken as a proper name, Malcham (King James Version) or Malcam (Revised Version). Ancient translations, however, gave different vowels to the consonants mlkm and translated as “Milcom,” the god of the Ammonites. This is the wording followed by Revised Standard Version, Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible, New English Bible, Bible en français courant, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, and the 1976 printing of Good News Translation. Another and more common form of this name is “Molech,” as found in the 1979 printing of Good News Translation, and in New International Version. This is probably formed by writing the consonants mlk with the vowels of the Hebrew word bosheth “shame,” thus dishonoring a false god. The reason Good News Translation now prefers the form “Molech” is that there are several other references to the worship of Molech in Judah in the period when Zephaniah was alive, such as 2 Kings 23.10; Jeremiah 32.35. The majority of modern versions retain the form Milcom. Whichever form of the name is used, the meaning of the verse remains the same, being a reference to the worship of a false god.
Quoted with permission from Clark, David J. & Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on the Book of Zephaniah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1989. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .