Lectionary Calendar
Tuesday, May 13th, 2025
the Fourth Week after Easter
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Read the Bible

New Revised Standard

Zephaniah 1:11

The inhabitants of the Mortar wail, for all the traders have perished; all who weigh out silver are cut off.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Maktesh;   War;   Scofield Reference Index - Day (of Jehovah);  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Maktesh;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Fish;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Canaanites;   Maktesh;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Lehi;   Maktesh;   Zephaniah, the Book of;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Canaan, History and Religion of;   History;   Maktesh;   Mortar;   Zephaniah, Book of;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Canaanites;   Maktesh;   Nations;   Zephaniah (1);   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Canaanitish;   Day of Judgment;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Maktesh ;   Zephaniah, Prophecy of;   Smith Bible Dictionary - Mak'tesh;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Bear;   Canaan;   Maktesh, the;   Trade;   Zephaniah, Book of;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Canaanites, the;   Commerce;   Jerusalem;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Wail, you residents of the Hollow,for all the merchants will be silenced;all those loaded with silver will be cut off.
Hebrew Names Version
Wail, you inhabitants of Makhtesh, for all the people of Kana`an are undone! All those who were laden with silver are cut off.
King James Version (1611)
Howle yee inhabitants of Maktesh, for all the merchant people are cut downe: all they that beare siluer are cut off.
King James Version
Howl, ye inhabitants of Maktesh, for all the merchant people are cut down; all they that bear silver are cut off.
English Standard Version
Wail, O inhabitants of the Mortar! For all the traders are no more; all who weigh out silver are cut off.
New American Standard Bible
"Wail, you inhabitants of the Mortar, Because all the people of Canaan will be destroyed; All who weigh out silver will be eliminated.
New Century Version
Cry, you people living in the market area, because all the merchants will be dead; all the silver traders will be gone.
Amplified Bible
"Wail [in anguish], you inhabitants of the Mortar (Valley of Siloam), For all the merchants of Canaan will be silenced and destroyed; All who weigh out silver will be cut off.
Geneva Bible (1587)
Howle ye inhabitants of the lowe place: for the companie of the marchants is destroyed: all they that beare siluer, are cut off.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
"Wail, O inhabitants of the Mortar, For all the people of Canaan will be silenced; All who weigh out silver will be cut off.
Legacy Standard Bible
Wail, O inhabitants of the Mortar,For all the people of Canaan will be silenced;All who weigh out silver will be cut off.
Berean Standard Bible
Wail, O dwellers of the Hollow, for all your merchants will be silenced; all who weigh out silver will be cut off.
Contemporary English Version
Everyone in Lower Hollow will mourn loudly, because merchants and money changers will be wiped out.
Complete Jewish Bible
Wail, you who live down in the hollow, because all the merchants are destroyed, all who trade with silver are ruined.
Darby Translation
Howl, ye inhabitants of Maktesh; for all the people of Canaan are cut down, all they that are laden with silver are cut off.
Easy-to-Read Version
You people living in the lower part of town will cry, because all the traders and rich merchants will be destroyed.
George Lamsa Translation
Wail, O inhabitants of Maktesh, for all the people of Canaan are confounded; all those who bear silver are cut off.
Good News Translation
Wail and cry when you hear this, you that live in the lower part of the city, because all the merchants will be dead!
Lexham English Bible
The inhabitants of the Mortar shall wail, for all the traders have perished; all who trade with silver have been cut off.
Literal Translation
Howl, those living in Maktesh, for all the people of Canaan have perished; all those carrying silver are cut off.
American Standard Version
Wail, ye inhabitants of Maktesh; for all the people of Canaan are undone; all they that were laden with silver are cut off.
Bible in Basic English
Because of the downfall of all the people of Canaan: all those who were weighted down with silver have been cut off.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
Wail, ye inhabitants of Maktesh, for all the merchant people are undone; all they that were laden with silver are cut off.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
Howle ye that dwel in the lowe places, for al the marchaunt people are destroyed, and all they that were laden with siluer, are rooted out.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
Lament, ye that inhabit the city that has been broken down, for all the people has become like Chanaan; and all that were exalted by silver have been utterly destroyed.
English Revised Version
Howl, ye inhabitants of Maktesh, for all the people of Canaan are undone: all they that were laden with sliver are cut off.
World English Bible
Wail, you inhabitants of Maktesh, for all the people of Canaan are undone! All those who were laden with silver are cut off.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Yelle ye, dwelleris of Pila; al the puple of Canaan was stille togidere, alle men wlappid in siluer perischiden.
Update Bible Version
Wail, you inhabitants of Maktesh; for all the people of Canaan are undone; all those that were laden with silver are cut off.
Webster's Bible Translation
Howl, ye inhabitants of Maktesh, for all the merchant people are cut down; all they that bear silver are cut off.
New English Translation
Wail, you who live in the market district, for all the merchants will disappear and those who count money will be removed.
New King James Version
Wail, you inhabitants of Maktesh! [fn] For all the merchant people are cut down;All those who handle money are cut off.
New Living Translation
Wail in sorrow, all you who live in the market area, for all the merchants and traders will be destroyed.
New Life Bible
Cry in a loud voice, you people who live in the part of the city where people buy and sell. For all the traders of Canaan will be destroyed. All who weigh out silver will be cut off.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Howl, ye inhabitants of the lower city, - because destroyed are all the people of traffic, cut off are all they who were laden with silver.
Douay-Rheims Bible
Howl, ye inhabitants of the Morter. All the people of Chanaan is hush, all are cut off that were wrapped up in silver.
Revised Standard Version
Wail, O inhabitants of the Mortar! For all the traders are no more; all who weigh out silver are cut off.
Young's Literal Translation
Howl, ye inhabitants of the hollow place, For cut off hath been all the merchant people, Cut off have been all bearing silver.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Howle ye that dwel in the myll, for all the marchaunt people are gone, and all they that were laden with syluer, are roted out.

Contextual Overview

7 Be silent before the Lord God ! For the day of the Lord is at hand; the Lord has prepared a sacrifice, he has consecrated his guests. 8 And on the day of the Lord 's sacrifice I will punish the officials and the king's sons and all who dress themselves in foreign attire. 9 On that day I will punish all who leap over the threshold, who fill their master's house with violence and fraud. 10 On that day, says the Lord , a cry will be heard from the Fish Gate, a wail from the Second Quarter, a loud crash from the hills. 11 The inhabitants of the Mortar wail, for all the traders have perished; all who weigh out silver are cut off. 12 At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and I will punish the people who rest complacently on their dregs, those who say in their hearts, "The Lord will not do good, nor will he do harm." 13 Their wealth shall be plundered, and their houses laid waste. Though they build houses, they shall not inhabit them; though they plant vineyards, they shall not drink wine from them.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Howl: Jeremiah 4:8, Jeremiah 25:34, Ezekiel 21:12, Joel 1:5, Joel 1:13, Zechariah 11:2, Zechariah 11:3, James 5:1

all the: Nehemiah 3:31, Nehemiah 3:32, Hosea 12:7, Hosea 12:8, John 2:16, Revelation 18:11-18

Reciprocal: Jeremiah 18:22 - a cry Jeremiah 30:5 - a voice Jeremiah 47:2 - then the Ezekiel 30:2 - Howl Zephaniah 1:18 - their silver Revelation 2:23 - and all

Cross-References

Genesis 1:9
And God said, "Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear." And it was so.
Genesis 1:13
And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.
Genesis 1:14
And God said, "Let there be lights in the dome of the sky to separate the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years,
Genesis 1:16
God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars.
Genesis 1:17
God set them in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth,
Genesis 1:20
And God said, "Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the dome of the sky."
Genesis 1:29
God said, "See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food.
Genesis 2:5
when no plant of the field was yet in the earth and no herb of the field had yet sprung up—for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was no one to till the ground;
Genesis 2:9
Out of the ground the Lord God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Genesis 2:16
And the Lord God commanded the man, "You may freely eat of every tree of the garden;

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Howl, ye inhabitants of Maktesh,.... The name of a street in Jerusalem, as Aben Ezra; perhaps it lay low in the hollow of the city, and in the form of a mortar, from whence it might have its name, as the word q signifies; which is used both for a hollow place and for a mortar, Judges 15:19 unless it might be so called from such persons dwelling in it, that used mortars for spice, and other things. The Targum is,

"howl, all ye that dwell in the valley of Kidron;''

and Jerom thinks the valley of Siloah is intended, which is the same; which, Adrichomius r says, was broad, deep, and dark, and surrounded the temple in manner of a foss, or ditch; and was disposed in the form of a mortar, called in Hebrew "machtes"; in Latin, "pila"; in which merchants and tradesmen of all kinds dwelt. It is thought by others to be the same which Josephus s calls "the valley of the cheese mongers", which lay between the two hills Zion and Acra. The reason of their howling is,

for all the merchant people are cut down; either cut to pieces by the sword of the enemy, and become silent, as the word t sometimes signifies, and the Vulgate Latin version here renders it; become so by death, and laid in the silent grave, and no more concerned in merchandise; or else stripped of all their wealth and goods by the enemy, and so cut down, broke, and become bankrupt, and could trade no more. The word for merchant signifies a Canaanite; and the Targum paraphrases it thus,

"for all the people are broken, whose works are like the works of the people of the land of Canaan:''

all they that bear silver are cut off; that have large quantities of it, and carry it to market to buy goods with it as merchants; these shall be cut off, and so a great loss to trade, and a cause of howling and lamentation; or such that wear it in their garments, embroidered with it; or rather in their purses, who are loaded with this thick clay, abound with it. The Targum is,

"all that are rich in substance shall be destroyed.''

q המכתש "mortarii", Vatablus, Tigurine version; "cavi", Junius Tremellius, Piscator "loci concavi", Calvin. r Theatrum Terrae Sanctae, p. 163. s De Bello Jud. l. 5. c. 4. sect. 1. t נדמה "conticuit", V. L. "in silentium redactus est", Drusius.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Howl, ye inhabitants of Maktesh - Literally, “Mortar” , “in which,” Jerome says, “corn is pounded; a hollow vessel, and fit for the use of medical men, in which properly ptisans are wont to be beaten (or made). Striking is it, that Scripture saith not, ‘who dwell in the valley or in the alley,’ but who “dwell in the mortar,” because as corn, when the pestle striketh, is bruised, so the army of the enemy shall rush down upon you” (Jerome). The place intended is probably so much of the valley of the Tyropoeon, which intersected Jerusalem from north to south, as was enclosed by the second wall, on the north, and the first wall on the south. The valley “extended as far as the fountain of Siloam,” and united with the valley of Jehoshaphat a little below Ophel. It was “full of houses,” and, from its name as well as from its situation, it was probably the scene of petty merchandise, where the occasions in which men could and did break the law and offend God, were the more continual, because they entered into their daily life, and were a part of it. The sound of the pestle was continually heard there; another sound should thereafter be heard, when they should not bruise, but be themselves bruised. The name “Maktesh” was probably chosen to express how their false hopes, grounded on the presence of God’s temple among them while by their sins they profaned it, should be turned into true fears. They had been and thought themselves “Mikdash,” “a holy place,. sanctuary;” they should be Maktesh , wherein all should be utterly bruised in pieces.

Jerome: “Whoso considereth the calamities of that siege, and how the city was pressed and hemmed in, will feel how aptly he calls them “the inhabitants of a mortar;” for, as grains of corn are brought together into a mortar, to the end that, when the pestle descendeth, being unable to fly off, they may be bruised, so the people flowing together, out of all the countries of Judaea, was narrowed in by a sudden siege, and through the savage cruelty of the above leaders of the sedition, was unutterably tortured from within, more than by the enemy without.”

For all the merchant people are cut down - (Literally, “the people of Canaan”) that is Ch.: “they who in deeds are like the people of Canaan,” according to that , “Thou art of Canaan and not of Judah,” and, “Thy father is an Amorite and thy mother a Hittite” . So our Lord says to the reprobate Jews, “Ye are of your father the devil” John 8:44.

All they that bear silver are cut off - (Literally, “all laden with”). The silver, wherewith they lade themselves, being gotten amiss, is a load upon them, weighing them down until they are destroyed.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Zephaniah 1:11. MakteshCalmet says this signifies a mortar, or a rock in form of a mortar, and was the name of a quarter of Jerusalem where they hulled rice, corn, &c., according to St. Jerome. Some think the city of Jerusalem is meant, where the inhabitants should be beat and pounded to death as grain is pounded in a mortar.

Newcome translates it, the lower city, and considers it the valley in Jerusalem, which divided the upper from the lower city.

They that bear silver — The merchants, moneychangers, usurers, rich men.


 
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