1. Zephaniah 2:8 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

What is significant about the use of the word “taunts”?

Zephaniah 2:8 (ESV)

8 “I have heard the taunts of Moab and the revilings of the Ammonites, how they have taunted my people and made boasts against their territory.

Three times in Zephaniah 2:8 and Zephaniah 2:10 the root word for “taunt” (הרף) is used to indicate the verbal attacks of Moab and Ammon on Judah. It appears twice as a verb (vv. 8, 10) and once as a noun (v. 8). The word stands for taunting, insulting remarks.