Zephaniah 1:10

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.

Zephaniah 1:14

1:14 The Lord’s great day of judgment ⁵  is almost here;

it is approaching very rapidly!

There will be a bitter sound on the Lord’s day of judgment;

at that time warriors will cry out in battle. ⁶ 

Zephaniah 3:2

3:2 She is disobedient; ⁷ 

she refuses correction. ⁸ 

She does not trust the Lord;

she does not seek the advice of ⁹  her God.

[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.”

[1:14]  ⁵ tn Heb “The great day of the Lord.” The words “of judgment” are supplied in the translation here and later in this verse for clarity. See the note on the expression “day of judgment” in v. 7.

[1:14]  ⁶ tn Heb “the sound of the day of the Lord, bitter [is] one crying out there, a warrior.” The present translation does four things: (1) It takes מַר (mar, “bitter”) with what precedes (contrary to the accentuation of the MT). (2) It understands the participle צָרַח (tsarakh, “cry out in battle”) as verbal with “warrior” as its subject. (3) It takes שָׁם (sham, “there”) in a temporal sense, meaning “then, at that time.” (4) It understands “warrior” as collective.

[3:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “she does not hear a voice” Refusing to listen is equated with disobedience.

[3:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “she does not receive correction.” The Hebrew phrase, when negated, refers elsewhere to rejecting verbal advice (Jer 17:23; 32:33; 35:13) and refusing to learn from experience (Jer 2:30; 5:3).

[3:2]  ¹¹ tn Heb “draw near to.” The present translation assumes that the expression “draw near to” refers to seeking God’s will (see 1 Sam 14:36).