Zephaniah 1:10-11

1:10 On that day,” says the Lord,

“a loud cry will go up ¹  from the Fish Gate, ² 

wailing from the city’s newer district, ³ 

and a loud crash ⁴  from the hills.

1:11 Wail, you who live in the market district, ⁵ 

for all the merchants ⁶  will disappear ⁷ 

and those who count money ⁸  will be removed. ⁹ 

[1:10]  ¹ tn The words “will go up” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[1:10]  ² sn The Fish Gate was located on Jerusalem’s north side (cf. 2 Chr 33:14; Neh 3:3; 12:39).

[1:10]  ³ tn Heb “from the second area.” This may refer to an area northwest of the temple where the rich lived (see Adele Berlin, Zephaniah [AB 25A], 86; cf. NASB, NRSV “the Second Quarter”; NIV “the New Quarter”).

[1:10]  ⁴ tn Heb “great breaking.”

[1:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “in the Mortar.” The Hebrew term מַכְתֵּשׁ (makhtesh, “mortar”) is apparently here the name of a low-lying area where economic activity took place.

[1:11]  ⁶ tn Or perhaps “Canaanites.” Cf. BDB 489 s.v. I and II כְּנַעֲנִי. Translators have rendered the term either as “the merchant people” (KJV, NKJV), “the traders” (NRSV), “merchants” (NEB, NIV), or, alternatively, “the people of Canaan” (NASB).

[1:11]  ⁷ tn Or “be destroyed.”

[1:11]  ⁸ tn Heb “weigh out silver.”

[1:11]  ⁹ tn Heb “be cut off.” In the Hebrew text of v. 11b the perfect verbal forms emphasize the certainty of the judgment, speaking of it as if it were already accomplished.