1. Zephaniah 3:1 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

Why does the prophet use only participles in this verse?

Zephaniah 3:1 (ESV)

1 Woe to her who is rebellious and defiled, the oppressing city!

The words for rebellious, defiled, and oppressing are all participles. That is, they are verbal adjectives; they have certain verbal qualities (tense, voice), and certain adjectival qualities (gender, number, case). In this verse, the prophet uses participles to indicate Judah’s continual practice of wrong actions toward others and toward God as well.1