Zephaniah 1:8-11

1:8 “On the day of the Lord’s sacrificial meal,

I will punish the princes ¹  and the king’s sons,

and all who wear foreign styles of clothing. ² 

1:9 On that day I will punish all who leap over the threshold, ³ 

who fill the house of their master ⁴  with wealth taken by violence and deceit. ⁵ 

1:10 On that day,” says the Lord,

“a loud cry will go up ⁶  from the Fish Gate, ⁷ 

wailing from the city’s newer district, ⁸ 

and a loud crash ⁹  from the hills.

1:11 Wail, you who live in the market district, ¹⁰ 

for all the merchants ¹¹  will disappear ¹² 

and those who count money ¹³  will be removed. ¹⁴ 

[1:8]  ¹ tn Or “officials” (NRSV, TEV); NLT “leaders.”

[1:8]  ² sn The very dress of the royal court, foreign styles of clothing, revealed the degree to which Judah had assimilated foreign customs.

[1:9]  ³ sn The point of the statement all who hop over the threshold is unclear. A ritual or superstition associated with the Philistine god Dagon may be in view (see 1 Sam 5:5).

[1:9]  ⁴ tn The referent of “their master” is unclear. The king or a pagan god may be in view.

[1:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “who fill…with violence and deceit.” The expression “violence and deceit” refers metonymically to the wealth taken by oppressive measures.

[1:10]  ⁵ tn The words “will go up” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[1:10]  ⁶ sn The Fish Gate was located on Jerusalem’s north side (cf. 2 Chr 33:14; Neh 3:3; 12:39).

[1:10]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ tn Heb “great breaking.”

[1:11]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ tn Or “be destroyed.”

[1:11]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “weigh out silver.”

[1:11]  ¹¹ 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.