A remnant
can be a piece of wood left over from making idols (Isaiah 44:17) or a people who have survived a catastrophe, having passed through God’s judgment (1 Chronicles 4:43; Isaiah 37:4; Jeremiah 25:20). In this text the reference would be to the latter, though the prophet does not further identify this remnant. At the very least they are the humble
that have sought the Lord
as described earlier (Zephaniah 2:3).1 With this remark, the prophet shows that God would always preserve some seed, from which he would raise up a new people, and it is this people that would be the object of God’s love and care. This was to encourage the faithful to entertain hope, so that their own small number might not terrify them;… for when [God] would visit the whole coast of the sea and other regions, he would provide there for the Jews a safe habitation and refuge.
2
7 The seacoast shall become the possession of the remnant of the house of Judah, on which they shall graze, and in the houses of Ashkelon they shall lie down at evening. For the LORD their God will be mindful of them and restore their fortunes.