Zephaniah 1:11
in Zephaniah 1Wail, O dwellers of the Hollow, for all your merchants will be silenced; all who weigh out silver will be cut off.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Wail, ye inhabitants of Maktesh; for all the people of Canaan are undone; all they that were laden with silver are cut off.
KJV
Howl, ye inhabitants of Maktesh, for all the merchant people are cut down; all they that bear silver are cut off.
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This verse in Zephaniah 1
Commentary
7 notes on this verse(Verse 11.) Ululate, inhabitants of the ball: all the people of Canaan are silent. LXX: Mourn, you who inhabit the broken one: for all the people of Canaan are compared.
This site's exposition
a cry from the fish gate
on Zephaniah 1:10-11
The noise moves geographically through Jerusalem's own map, the fish gate on the north side, the second quarter inside it, and the hills where the city's wealthier districts stood, so the invasion is heard advancing street by street rather than described from a distance. Maktesh, meaning a mortar or hollow, names the merchants' quarter in the lower market, and the pun the bench notes is exact, the city built like a mortar for grinding is about to be ground itself. All they that bear silver are cut off ties the coming judgment to the very trade the district was built for, wealth offering no shelter from the day.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
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, Jdg 15:19 unless it might be so called from such persons dwelling in it, that used mortars for spice, and other things.
5 And them that worship the host of heaven upon the housetops; and them that worship and that swear by the L ORD , and that swear by Malcham; 6 And them that are turned back from the L ORD ; and those that have not sought the L ORD , nor enquired for him.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:88%@v5-6
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
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).
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
The valley between Zion and Mount Olivet, at the eastern extremity of Mount Moriah, where the merchants dwelt. Zec 14:21, "The Canaanite," namely, merchant [Chaldee Version]. The Tyropœon (that is, cheese-makers') valley below Mount Akra [ROSENMULLER].
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-curly-quotes
Maktesh - Calmet 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, etc., 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.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
you inhabitants of Maktesh The Kidron Valley, which is as deep as a mortar. This is according to Targum Jonathan. from the fish gate This is Acre, situated in the bosom of the sea, where many fish are caught.
2 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
from the fish gate Jonathan renders: from the gate of the fish; there was a gate in Jerusalem called by that name.
I will search Jerusalem with candles I will judge their iniquities strictly.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
12 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הֵילִ֖ילוּ | heililu | wail | H3213 → | |
| יֹשְׁבֵ֣י | yoshevei | O inhabitants of | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| הַמַּכְתֵּ֑שׁ | hamakhtesh | the Mortar | H4389 → | |
| כִּ֤י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| נִדְמָה֙ | nidmah | it will be destroyed | H1820 → | |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| עַ֣ם | ʾam | [the] people of | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| כְּנַ֔עַן | kenaan | Canaan | H3667 → | |
| נִכְרְת֖וּ | nikhretu | they will be cut off | H3772 → | 288 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| נְטִ֥ילֵי | netilei | [the] weighers of | H5187 → | |
| כָֽסֶף׃ | khasef | silver | H3701 → |
הֵילִ֖ילוּwail
heililuH3213 →
יֹשְׁבֵ֣יO inhabitants of
yosheveiH3427 →1079 times
הַמַּכְתֵּ֑שׁthe Mortar
hamakhteshH4389 →
כִּ֤יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
נִדְמָה֙it will be destroyed
nidmahH1820 →
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
עַ֣ם[the] people of
ʾamH5971 →1873 times
כְּנַ֔עַןCanaan
kenaanH3667 →
נִכְרְת֖וּthey will be cut off
nikhretuH3772 →288 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
נְטִ֥ילֵי[the] weighers of
netileiH5187 →
כָֽסֶף׃silver
khasefH3701 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
James 5:1Come now, you who are rich, weep and wail over the misery to come upon you.
it leads to
- Proverbs 11:28
He who trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will thrive like foliage.
- 1 Timothy 6:9–10
Those who want to be rich, however, fall into temptation and become ensnared by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction.
- Proverbs 11:4
Riches are worthless in the day of wrath, but righteousness brings deliverance from death.
- James 1:11
For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its flower falls and its beauty is lost. So too, the rich man will fade away in the midst of his pursuits.
- Luke 12:16–21
Then He told them a parable: “The ground of a certain rich man produced an abundance.
- Proverbs 11:28
Through
Hosea 9:6For even if they flee destruction, Egypt will gather them and Memphis will bury them. Their precious silver will be taken over by thistles, and thorns will overrun their tents.
it leads to
- Hosea 10:8
The high places of Aven will be destroyed—it is the sin of Israel; thorns and thistles will overgrow their altars. Then they will say to the mountains, “Cover us!” and to the hills, “Fall…
- Isaiah 5:6
I will make it a wasteland, neither pruned nor cultivated, and thorns and briers will grow up. I will command the clouds that rain shall not fall on it.”
- Hosea 10:8
Through
Jeremiah 25:34Wail, you shepherds, and cry out; roll in the dust, you leaders of the flock. For the days of your slaughter have come; you will fall and be shattered like fine pottery.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 6:26
O daughter of my people, dress yourselves in sackcloth and roll in ashes. Mourn with bitter wailing, as you would for an only son, for suddenly the destroyer will come upon us.
- Jeremiah 6:26
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Zephaniah
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Carl Friedrich Keil, The Twelve Minor Prophets; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Zephaniah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.