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 

Zephaniah 1:16

1:16 a day of trumpet blasts ¹⁰  and battle cries. ¹¹ 

Judgment will fall on ¹²  the fortified cities and the high corner towers.

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

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

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”).

⁴ tn Heb “great breaking.”

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.

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).

⁷ tn Or “be destroyed.”

⁸ tn Heb “weigh out silver.”

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.

¹⁰ tn Heb “a ram’s horn.” By metonymy the Hebrew text mentions the trumpet (“ram’s horn”) in place of the sound it produces (“trumpet blasts”).

¹¹ sn This description of the day of the Lord consists of an initial reference to anger, followed by four pairs of synonyms. The joining of synonyms in this way emphasizes the degree of the characteristic being described. The first two pairs focus on the distress and ruin that judgment will bring; the second two pairs picture this day of judgment as being very dark (darkness) and exceedingly overcast (gloom). The description concludes with the pairing of two familiar battle sounds, the blast on the ram’s horn (trumpet blasts) and the war cries of the warriors (battle cries).

¹² tn Heb “against.” The words “judgment will fall” are supplied in the translation for clarification.