The Philistines (Zephaniah 2:4-7).
‘For Gaza will be forsaken, and Ashkelon a desolation.
They will drive out Ashdod at noonday, and Ekron will be rooted up.
Woe to the inhabitants of the sea coast, the nation of the Cherethites.
The word of YHWH is against you, O Canaan, the land of the Philistines.
“I will destroy you so that there will be no inhabitant.” '
The Philistines (Cherethites) who dwell on the sea coast of Canaan are to be annihilated. Their great cities, Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod and Ekron are to be desolated and emptied of inhabitants (Gath had already been destroyed - 2 Chronicles 26:6). For YHWH has spoken His word against them. He has passed judgment on them for their sinfulness, and for their attitude towards His people (Ezekiel 25:15; Isaiah 9:12). This judgment is a constant theme of the prophets (Isaiah 11:14; Jeremiah 25:17-20; Jeremiah 47:1; Jeremiah 47:4; Ezekiel 25:16; Amos 1:8; Amos 6:2; Zechariah 9:6), and indicates YHWH's universal sovereignty.
‘At noonday' may be intended to suggest ‘at the height of their glory'. For ‘in the evening' is when they have become a desolation (Zephaniah 2:7).
The Philistines originally came from Crete (Cherethites) (see 1 Samuel 30:14; Ezekiel 25:16). They had had trading posts there since the time of Abraham, but had come over in large numbers in 1200 BC, not long after Israel's invasion of Canaan, and had established themselves in a confederation of five cities in the coastal plain of Canaan. In the early days they had caused much trouble to Israel, until finally defeated by David. As Israel declined they once again became fiercely independent. Gath had previously been destroyed (2 Chronicles 26:6; Jeremiah 47:1) and now the same fate was to befall the other four.
Nebuchadnezzar's seizing of Ashkelon in 604 BC is reported in the Babylonian records known as the Babylonian Chronicle.
‘And the sea coast will be pastures,
With shelters for shepherds and folds for the flocks.
And the coast will be for the remnant of the house of Judah,
They will feed their flocks on it.
In the houses of Ashkelon they will lie down in the evening,
For YHWH their God will visit them and bring again their captivity.'
The vivid description of well populated Philistia becoming simply a place for sheep, and its cities mainly being replaced by shelters for shepherds and folds for their flocks, brings home the enormity of what is to happen.
There may be an intended contrast here between the noonday (the hot part of the day is an unusual time for battle) in Zephaniah 2:4 and the evening, indicating the passage of time.
The idea is that finally the sea coast ‘in the evening' (line 5), will become Israel's as part of the promised land. Once the ‘day' is past evening will come. They will dwell there and feed their flocks, and the Philistine cities will be available for their use. This is confirmation that Israel will finally be restored to an even bigger and better land, and that the Philistines will finally ‘disappear'.