Zephaniah 1:16
in Zephaniah 1a day of horn blast and battle cry against the fortified cities, and against the high corner towers.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
a day of the trumpet and alarm, against the fortified cities, and against the high battlements.
KJV
A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers.
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This verse in Zephaniah 1
Commentary
7 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 Awakening2 voices
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
A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
A day of the trumpet and alarm - o that is, of the loud blast of the trumpet, which sounds alarm and causes it. The word is especially the shrill loud noise of the trumpet (for sacred purposes in Israel itself, as ruling all the movements of the tabernacle and accompanying their feasts); then also of the “battle cry.” They had not listened to the voice of the trumpet, as it called them to holy service; now they shall hear “the voice of the Archangel and the trump of God” 1Th 4:
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
the trumpet--namely, of the besieging enemy (Am 2:2). alarm--the war shout [MAURER]. towers--literally, "angles"; for city walls used not to be built in a direct line, but with sinuous curves and angles, so that besiegers advancing might be assailed not only in front, but on both sides, caught as it were in a cul-de-sac; towers were built especially at the angles.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
The words behind it
9 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 | a day of | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| שׁוֹפָ֖ר | shofar | trumpet | H7782 → | |
| וּתְרוּעָ֑ה | uteruah | and battle-cry | H8643 → | |
| עַ֚ל | ʾal | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| הֶעָרִ֣ים | hearim | the cities | H5892 → | 1090 times |
| הַבְּצֻר֔וֹת | habetzurot | <the> fortified | H1219 → | |
| וְעַ֖ל | veal | and on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| הַפִּנּ֥וֹת | hapinot | the corners | H6438 → | |
| הַגְּבֹהֽוֹת׃ | hagevohot | <the> high | H1364 → |
י֥וֹםa day of
yomH3117 →2304 times
שׁוֹפָ֖רtrumpet
shofarH7782 →
וּתְרוּעָ֑הand battle-cry
uteruahH8643 →
עַ֚לon
ʾalH5921 →5755 times
הֶעָרִ֣יםthe cities
hearimH5892 →1090 times
הַבְּצֻר֔וֹת<the> fortified
habetzurotH1219 →
וְעַ֖לand on
vealH5921 →5755 times
הַפִּנּ֥וֹתthe corners
hapinotH6438 →
הַגְּבֹהֽוֹת׃<the> high
hagevohotH1364 →
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
Amos 3:6If a ram’s horn sounds in a city, do the people not tremble? If calamity comes to a city, has not the LORD caused it?
it leads to
- Isaiah 45:7
I form the light and create the darkness; I bring prosperity and create calamity. I, the LORD, do all these things.
- Isaiah 14:24–27
The LORD of Hosts has sworn: “Surely, as I have planned, so will it be; as I have purposed, so will it stand.
- Genesis 50:20
As for you, what you intended against me for evil, God intended for good, in order to accomplish a day like this—to preserve the lives of many people.
- 2 Corinthians 5:11
Therefore, since we know what it means to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men. What we are is clear to God, and I hope it is clear to your conscience as well.
- Jeremiah 10:7
Who would not fear You, O King of nations? This is Your due. For among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms, there is none like You.
- Isaiah 45:7
Through
Hosea 8:1Put the ram’s horn to your lips! An eagle looms over the house of the LORD, because the people have transgressed My covenant and rebelled against My law.
it leads to
- Hosea 6:7
But they, like Adam, have transgressed the covenant; there they were unfaithful to Me.
- Deuteronomy 28:49
The LORD will bring a nation from afar, from the ends of the earth, to swoop down upon you like an eagle—a nation whose language you will not understand,
- Hosea 6:7
Through
Hosea 5:8Blow the ram’s horn in Gibeah, the trumpet in Ramah; raise the battle cry in Beth-aven: Lead on, O Benjamin!
it leads to
- Hosea 4:15
Though you prostitute yourself, O Israel, may Judah avoid such guilt! Do not journey to Gilgal, do not go up to Beth-aven, and do not swear on oath, ‘As surely as the LORD lives!’
- Hosea 4:15
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies3
On this verse
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About Zephaniah
This page draws on 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.