In effect the term complacent
refers to all who are self-secure. Notably, the prophet characterizes these rebels as complacent
by literally comparing them to wine left too long in a jar; the Hebrew reads, I will visit upon the men who are thickening on their dregs [i.e., of their wine].
In the wine-making process, the fermented wine is supposed to be poured from one vessel to another to separate the wine from the sediment (or the dregs
). If the wine is allowed to remain for too long on the sediment, it will thicken into syrup, and thus be ruined (see Jeremiah 48:11–12, where the image is of wine that is poured off too soon). This image is used in Zephaniah to refer to those who were living indifferently before the Lord, having been secure for so long in their prosperity. Their indifference, says Patterson, is one that goes beyond the smug self-satisfaction suggested by the word complacency to an attitude that has hardened into deliberate disregard for the Lord and His standards.
1
A New Testament reflection on such complacent, and the punishment awaiting them on the day of the Lord, may be found in 2 Peter 3:3–10.
12 At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and I will punish the men who are complacent, those who say in their hearts, ‘The LORD will not do good, nor will he do ill.’