Note on Zephaniah 3:20 and the LDS hymn, “Praise to the Man”

As part of my daily reading of the Bible, I read the book of Zephaniah, and 3:20 caught my attention. Speaking to His covenant people, God, through the prophet, promises the following:

At that time will I bring you again, even in the time that I gather you; for I will make you a name and a praise among all the people of the earth; when I turn back your captivity before your eyes saith the Lord.

In this verse, the people are promised to inherit a great “name” and be praised among the people of the earth. This reminded me of one of the dumbest anti-Mormon arguments I have encountered, viz. the claim that the LDS hymn, “Praise to the Man” is, ultimately, an act of idolatry, as it is about, not God, but the Prophet Joseph Smith.

That the Bible knows of, and approves of, praise (in some limited sense) being given to mortals and non-deity is seen throughout its pages, such as the predication of the Hebrew verb חוה  or the Greek verb προσκυνεω in the LXX to mortals. A potent example would be 1 Chron 29:20 and King Solomon (emphasis added):

And David said to all the congregation, Now bless the Lord your God. And all the congregation blessed the Lord God of their fathers, and bowed down their heads and worshipped the Lord, and the king.

Within a context of temple sacrifice and worship, the Israelites are commanded by David to “bow down” and “worship” both Yahweh and the king (the Hebrew construction of the sentence (וַיִּשְׁתַּחֲווּ לַיהוָה וְלַמֶּלֶךְ) does not allow for a distinction between what Yahweh receives and what is given to the king.

There are many other instances of this, but let us focus on Isa 45:14 where God promises that the Gentile nations will offer supplication/prayer to Israel:

Thus saith the Lord, The labour of Egypt, and the merchandise of Ethiopia and of the Sabeans, men of statute, shall come over unto thee and they shall be thine; they shall come after thee; in chains they shall come over, and they shall fall down unto thee, and they shall make supplication unto thee, saying Surely God is in thee, and there is none else, there is no God.

Apart from using חוה  /προσκυνεω, the LXX also uses the term προσευχομαι which means “to pray to.” The Latter-day Saint hymn, “Praise to the Man” pales in comparison to such, as prayer is never given to Joseph Smith (in fact, I am pretty sure one would be excommunicated for such if such were given to Joseph Smith, as it would be idolatrous!)

Here are a listing of some other verses that are a propos for this discussion:

Gen 49:8 Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise: thy hand 
shall be in the neck of thine enemies; thy father's children shall bow down 
before thee. 

Deut 26:19 And to make thee high above all nations which he hath made, in 
praise, and in name, and in honour; and that thou mayest be an holy people 
unto the LORD thy God, as he hath spoken. 

Psa 49:18 Though while he lived he blessed his soul: and men will praise 
thee, when thou doest well to thyself. 

Psa 56:4 In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust; I will 
not fear what flesh can do unto me. 

Psa 56:10 In God will I praise his word: in the LORD will I praise his word. 

Prov 27:2 Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth; a stranger, 
and not thine own lips. 

Prov 31:28 Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, 
and he praiseth her. 

Prov 31:30 Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that 
feareth the LORD, she shall be praised. 

Prov 31:31 Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise 
her in the gates. 

Eccl 4:2 Wherefore I praised the dead which are already dead more than the 
living which are yet alive. 

Song 6:9 My dove, my undefiled is but one; she is the only one of her 
mother, she is the choice one of her that bare her.  The daughters saw her, 
and blessed her; yea, the queens and the concubines, and they praised her. 

Isa 62:7 And give him no rest, till he establish, and till he make 

Jerusalem a praise in the earth. 

Jer 13:11 For as the girdle cleaveth to the loins of a man, so have I 
caused to cleave unto me the whole house of Israel and the whole house of 
Judah, saith the LORD; that they might be unto me for a people, and for a 
name, and for a praise, and for a glory: but they would not hear. 

Jer 33:9 And it shall be to me a name of joy, a praise and an honour before 
all the nations of the earth, which shall hear all the good that I do unto 
them: and they shall fear and tremble for all the goodness and for all the 
prosperity that I procure unto it.