Zephaniah 1:15
in Zephaniah 1That day will be a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of destruction and desolation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness,
KJV
That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness,
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This verse in Zephaniah 1
Commentary
9 notes on this verse(Verse 15, 16.) The voice of the day of the Lord is bitter: there the strong shall be troubled: the day of wrath, that day shall be a day of tribulation and distress, a day of calamity and wretchedness, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and whirlwinds, a day of the trumpet and the cry against fortified cities, and against the high corners.
This site's exposition
and hasteth greatly
on Zephaniah 1:14-16
The great day of the Lord is near doubles its own word for emphasis, near, it is near, and the mighty man, the professional soldier who should fear nothing, is the one heard crying bitterly, since no strength turns this day aside. Verse 15's sevenfold list, wrath, trouble, distress, wasteness, desolation, darkness, gloominess, piles synonym on synonym rather than adding new information, the repetition itself built to overwhelm, and this list supplied much of the Latin vocabulary of the medieval Dies Irae hymn, a reception the bench notes without claiming the hymn as commentary on the verse. The trumpet and alarm against fenced cities and high towers in verse 16 name the very defenses Judah trusted in as the day's specific targets.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
A commentator
Gregory the DialogistThe Book of Pastoral Rule, Part 3 (Admonition 12) · Written before 604.
proposed
But let them hear how the prophet Zephaniah holds out over them the power of divine rebuke, saying, Behold the day of the Lord cometh, great and horrible, the day of wrath, that day; a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of cloud and whirlwind, a day of trumpet and clangour, upon all fenced cities, and upon all lofty corners. For what is expressed by fenced cities but minds suspected, and surrounded ever with a fallacious defence; minds which, as often as their fault is attacked, suffer not the darts of truth to reach them? And what is signified by lofty corners (a wall being always double in corners) but insincere hearts; which, while they shun the simplicity of truth, are in a manner doubled back upon themselves in the crookedness of duplicity, and, what is worse, from their very fault of insincerity lift themselves in their thoughts with the pride of prudence? Therefore the day of the Lord comes full of vengeance and rebuke upon fenced cities and upon lofty corners, because the wrath of the last judgment both destroys human hearts that have been closed by defences against the truth, and unfolds such as have been folded up in duplicities. For then the fenced cities fall, because souls which God has not penetrated will be damned. Then the lofty corners tumble, because hearts which erect themselves in the prudence of insincerity are prostrated by the sentence of righteousness.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
It will be a day of trouble and distress to the sinners; they shall be in pain, and shall see no ways of easing or helping themselves. The miseries of the damned are summed up (perhaps with reference to this) in the indignation and wrath of God, which are the cause, and the tribulation and anguish of the sinner's soul, which are the effect, Rom. ii.
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
That day is a day of wrath,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
A day of wrath - In which all the wrath of Almighty God, which evil angels and evil men have treasured to them for that day, shall be poured out: “the” day of wrath, because then they shall be brought face to face before the presence of God, but thenceforth they shall be cast out of it forever. A day of trouble and distress - Both words express, how anguish shall narrow and hem them in; so that there shall be no escape; above them, God displeased; below, the flames of Hell; around, devils to drag them away, and Angels casting them forth “in bundles to burn them;” without, “the books” which shall be opened;” and within, conscience leaving them no escape.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
wasteness . . . desolation--The Hebrew terms by their similarity of sounds, Shoah, Umeshoah, express the dreary monotony of desolation (see on Na 2:10).
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
That day is a day of wrath - See Isa 22:5 (note); Jer 30:7 (note); Joe 2:2 (note), Joe 2:11 (note); Amo 5:18 (note); Zep 1:18 (note), and the notes there. From the fourteenth to the sixteenth verse inclusive there is a most beautiful amplification of the disasters that were coming on Jerusalem; the invasion, incursion, attack, carnage, confusion, horrible din occasioned by the sound of the trumpet, the cries of the people, and the shrieks and groans of the dying, are pointed out with great force and mighty effect.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
wherein the mighty man cries bitterly The mighty man will cry out with a bitter voice.
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
16 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| י֥וֹם | yom | [will be] a day of | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| עֶבְרָ֖ה | ʾevrah | fury | H5678 → | |
| הַיּ֣וֹם | haiyom | the day | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| הַה֑וּא | hahu' | <the> that | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| י֧וֹם | yom | a day of | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| צָרָ֣ה | tzarah | trouble | H6869 → | |
| וּמְצוּקָ֗ה | umetzukah | and distress | H4691 → | |
| י֤וֹם | yom | a day of | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| שֹׁאָה֙ | shoah | devastation | H7722 → | |
| וּמְשׁוֹאָ֔ה | umeshoah | and desolation | H4875 → | |
| י֥וֹם | yom | a day of | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| חֹ֙שֶׁךְ֙ | choshekh | darkness | H2822 → | |
| וַאֲפֵלָ֔ה | vaafelah | and gloom | H653 → | |
| י֥וֹם | yom | a day of | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| עָנָ֖ן | ʾanan | cloud | H6051 → | |
| וַעֲרָפֶֽל׃ | vaarafel | and thick darkness | H6205 → |
י֥וֹם[will be] a day of
yomH3117 →2304 times
עֶבְרָ֖הfury
ʾevrahH5678 →
הַיּ֣וֹםthe day
haiyomH3117 →2304 times
הַה֑וּא<the> that
hahu'H1931 →1879 times
י֧וֹםa day of
yomH3117 →2304 times
צָרָ֣הtrouble
tzarahH6869 →
וּמְצוּקָ֗הand distress
umetzukahH4691 →
י֤וֹםa day of
yomH3117 →2304 times
שֹׁאָה֙devastation
shoahH7722 →
וּמְשׁוֹאָ֔הand desolation
umeshoahH4875 →
י֥וֹםa day of
yomH3117 →2304 times
חֹ֙שֶׁךְ֙darkness
choshekhH2822 →
וַאֲפֵלָ֔הand gloom
vaafelahH653 →
י֥וֹםa day of
yomH3117 →2304 times
עָנָ֖ןcloud
ʾananH6051 →
וַעֲרָפֶֽל׃and thick darkness
vaarafelH6205 →
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
Jeremiah 30:7How awful that day will be! None will be like it! It is the time of Jacob’s distress, but he will be saved out of it.
it leads to
- Daniel 12:1
“At that time Michael, the great prince who stands watch over your people, will rise up. There will be a time of distress, the likes of which will not have occurred from the beginning…
- Malachi 4:1
“For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace, when all the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble; the day is coming when I will set them ablaze,” says the LORD of…
- Zechariah 14:1–2
Behold, a day of the LORD is coming when your plunder will be divided in your presence.
- Daniel 9:12
You have carried out the words spoken against us and against our rulers by bringing upon us a great disaster. For under all of heaven, nothing has ever been done like what has been…
- Matthew 24:21–22
For at that time there will be great tribulation, unmatched from the beginning of the world until now, and never to be seen again.
- Daniel 12:1
Through
Revelation 6:17For the great day of Their wrath has come, and who is able to withstand it?”
it leads to
- Malachi 3:2
But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He will be like a refiner’s fire, like a launderer’s soap.
- Psalms 76:7
You alone are to be feared. When You are angry, who can stand before You?
- Joel 2:11
The LORD raises His voice in the presence of His army. Indeed, His camp is very large, for mighty are those who obey His command. For the Day of the LORD is great and…
- Malachi 3:2
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies3
On this verse
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About Zephaniah
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Carl Friedrich Keil, The Twelve Minor Prophets; Edward Bouverie Pusey, The Minor Prophets: A Commentary; Gregory the Dialogist, The Book of Pastoral Rule, Part 3 (Admonition 12); 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.