The expression שָׂפָה בְרוּרָה
apparently refers to a pure or special speech necessary so that the nations may
all speak a common language, unlike the variety of languages that they speak in
empirical reality or, from the view of tradition, in the aftermath of the tower
of Babel incident. As noted above, the term שָׂפָה
means literally “lip, edge” but it may be used metaphorically for “language”
elsewhere in the Hebrew Bible (see Gen 11:1, 6, 7, 9; Ps 81:6; Ezek 3:5, 6; Isa
33:19; 28:11; 19:18). The term בְּרוּרָה
means “pure, select, elect.” It derives from the root ברר, which refers to the purification or purging of rebels (Ezek
20:38), pure or sincere speech (Job 33:3), pure or polished arrows (Isa 49:2),
testing or proving by G-d (Qoh 3:18), and select men such as brave men (1 Chr
7:40), porters (1 Chr 9:22), musicians (1 Chr 16:41), and even sheep (Neh 5:18).
The range of meanings suggests a special speech, in contrast to the common
languages spoken by the nations, that will enable them to speak together to
YHWH. The term’s associations with purity and purging relate well to a context
that calls for punishment against the nations that renders them fit to approach
G-d. It is noteworthy that the LXX reads the term as γλῶσσαν εἰς γενεάν, “a tongue unto their generation/coming
into being,” which seems to derive בְּרוּרָה from the root ברא,
“to create.” This is apparently a reference to the created state of human
beings and their speech prior to the tower of Babel incident in the eyes of the
LXX translator. (Marvin A. Sweeney, Zephaniah: A Commentary
[Hermeneia—a Critical and Historical Commentary on the Bible; Minneapolis,
Minn.: Fortress Press, 2003], 184)
