On that day: In many languages it will be helpful to repeat this phrase at the beginning of verses 9 and 10, as Revised Standard Version does (compare also “At that time” in verse 12).
The expression every one who leaps over the threshold is of uncertain meaning. It has usually been interpreted in the light of 1 Sam 5.4-5 as a practice associated with pagan religion (compare New International Version “all who avoid stepping on the threshold”). In this sense it has some parallels in other parts of the world. Good News Translation follows this understanding and makes it explicit by saying “all who worship like pagans.” “Pagans” may be expressed in many languages as “people who worship false gods.”
However, there are other possible interpretations. One interpretation takes threshold to refer to the homes of the poor and thus pictures the servants of the rich rushing madly into the homes of the poor in order to rob them. This understanding fits well with the second half of the verse.
A third possibility is that the word translated threshold in Revised Standard Version actually means a raised platform on which the king’s throne stood, and that the word translated leaps means “climbs.” This understanding seems to be behind the Jerusalem Bible rendering “all those who are near the throne.”
New English Bible also interprets threshold to mean a raised platform but takes it to refer to a part of the temple where the altar was situated (“the temple terrace”). The word for leaps is taken to refer to dancing, and the whole clause is translated “all who dance on the temple terrace.” This is a reference to pagan worship, as in the interpretation followed by Good News Translation.
The way in which the second half of the verse is to be understood depends on the way in which the first part was taken. Their master’s house may refer to the royal palace which the wicked officials fill with goods acquired by violence and fraud. The Good News Translation footnote gives as an alternative “the temple of their god,” understanding “master” to refer not to the king but to a pagan god. New English Bible and Bible en français courant show the same two possibilities, giving “their master’s house” in the text and the alternative in a footnote. Jerusalem Bible follows the same interpretation but gives no footnote for an alternative; it shows that it understands “master” to refer to the king by translating house as “palace” (compare Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch). New International Version, on the other hand, gives only the second possibility and says “who fill the temple of their gods with violence and deceit.” On the whole “their master’s house” seems the more probable interpretation.
The abstract nouns violence and fraud refer to acts of beating people up or killing them, and acts of stealing by deception or cheating. The phrase with violence and fraud is somewhat ambiguous. To speak of filling a house with violence and fraud may mean that crimes of violence and cheating take place in the house. This is probably the meaning intended by New English Bible, “who fill their master’s house with crimes of violence and fraud.” However, it seems more likely that the Hebrew refers to filling the master’s house with goods obtained as a result of crimes of violence and fraud. Good News Translation accepts this interpretation and makes it explicit with “who steal and kill in order to fill their master’s house with loot.” Note that Good News Translation has reversed the order of violence and fraud by putting “steal” before “kill.” This is because killing is a more serious crime and so makes a more effective climax in English. Another translation model can be based on Bible en français courant, “all those who fill their master’s house with riches acquired through (crimes of) deception and violence.”
Some scholars regard verses 8 and 9 as an example of a chiasmus, that is, a structure of the pattern “a-b-b-a.” With this understanding, the first part of verse 8 goes with the second part of verse 9, and the second half of verse 8 goes with the first half of verse 9. This has the advantage of closely linking the two clauses that deal with foreign customs. It also takes the last part of verse 9, the part about violent behavior, to be a description of the court officials mentioned at the beginning of verse 8. This view is the one behind Moffatt: “8 I will punish the officials and the royal house, who by their violence and fraud enrich the palace; 9 I will punish all who leap across the threshold, and all arrayed in foreign garb.”
A chiasmus is a common feature of Hebrew writing, and it seems quite likely that verses 8 and 9 are indeed an example of it. If translators wish to adjust the order of the clauses to bring together those which are related in theme, they should number the verses at the beginning as “8-9” rather than change the order of clauses, as Moffatt did, without indicating what they have done.
It is not certain whether the text in these verses is speaking of two groups of people, (a) violent officials and (b) those who indulge in pagan worship, or whether the officials are the same people who adopt pagan ways. On the whole, the latter seems more probable, since in prophetic writings it is often those who turn away from the LORD who also turn to violence. A possible alternative translation model for verses 8 and 9 (similar to Moffatt‘s) is:
• On that day when I cause my people to be slaughtered, I will punish the officials and the king’s family members who steal and kill in order to fill their master’s house with things they have taken by force. I will punish them because they follow the customs of foreigners and worship like those who honor false gods.
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 .