1. Zephaniah 1:7 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

What lies behind the English “Lord GOD”?

Zephaniah 1:7 (ESV)

7 Be silent before the Lord GOD! For the day of the LORD is near; the LORD has prepared a sacrifice and consecrated his guests.

The Hebrew is more literally Lord Lord, that is, adonai Yahweh (אֲדֹנָי יְהוִה). It combines the Hebrew title for lord (adonai) and the divine personal name (Yahweh). This is customarily rendered in English as Lord God, or Sovereign Lord (NIV). It points to God as the omnipotent ruler and supreme God (see Deuteronomy 10:17). Here in Zephaniah 1:7, its usage implies that those who are gathered before the almighty Lord should await him in silence and hear his pronouncements with due respect.1 For he is the true Lord, not Baal. And Yahweh as true master was about to show the impotence of the Baal, who was really no master at all. The last remnants of Baalism would be cut off. Therefore Judah and Jerusalem should be silent.’2