Woe to you inhabitants of the seacoast, you nation of the Cherethites!: Good News Translation puts the two parts of the sentence in the opposite order so as to identify the people by name (“Philistines”) before giving the description of where they live. The Cherethites were a clan among the Philistines and here stand for the whole nation, which Good News Translation calls by its better-known name. It was from among the Cherethites that some of King David’s bodyguard had been drawn (2 Sam 8.18). The Philistine area was the southern part of the coast of Palestine, to the west and southwest of Judah.

This sentence in Hebrew has the form of an exclamation, which is kept in Revised Standard Version. Good News Translation changes this to a statement, which is more natural in English. Translators should use whatever form is appropriate to the situation in their own language. In some languages translators may wish to restructure this first sentence and say “People of Philistia, you who live along the edge of the sea, you are doomed!” For other ways to translate Woe (“doomed”), see the comments on Nahum 3.1 or Habakkuk 2.6.

The word of the LORD is against you: this means “The LORD’s verdict (or, decision) about you is unfavorable.” Good News Translation has made the sentence more personal, with the LORD as subject: “The LORD has passed sentence on you.” The expression “passed sentence” has legal overtones in English which are not present in the Hebrew but which fit the setting quite well. “Passed sentence” may also be rendered “has condemned you,” “decided how you will be punished,” or “decided how he will punish you.”

Since the Philistines have been mentioned by name in the earlier part of the verse, Good News Translation does not repeat the name here. Thus the Revised Standard Version expression Canaan, land of the Philistines is all included in the “you” of Good News Translation. Nowhere else in the Old Testament is the land described in this way, and some modern English versions make a change in the traditional Hebrew text here (see Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible, New English Bible). However, the Philistine areas are included within Canaan in Joshua 13.2, and so it seems unnecessary to make any change. The Philistines probably came originally from Crete (see New American Bible for this verse, and compare Amos 9.7), but linguistically and culturally they were largely assimilated to the Canaanites.

I will destroy you till no inhabitant is left: the verdict which the LORD has passed is in the first person in Hebrew, but Good News Translation puts it into the third person to bring it into line with the rest of the paragraph, and so to improve the English style. Thus Good News Translation has “He will destroy you, and not one of you will be left.” One may also join these two clauses and say “He will destroy every single one of you.” For other ways to translate destroy, see the comments on Nahum 1.9.

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 .