Zephaniah 1:17
in Zephaniah 1I will bring such distress on mankind that they will walk like the blind, because they have sinned against the LORD. Their blood will be poured out like dust and their flesh like dung.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against Jehovah; and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as dung.
KJV
And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the Lord: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung.
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This verse in Zephaniah 1
Commentary
8 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
I will bring distress upon men - I will hem them in, in anguish on all sides. God Himself shall meet them with His terrors, wherever they turn. “I will hem them in, that they may find it so” . That they shall walk like blind men - Utterly bereft of counsel, seeing no more than the blind which way to turn, grasping blindly and franticly at anything, and going on headlong to their own destruction.
This site's exposition
shall walk like blind men
on Zephaniah 1:17-18
Walking like blind men pictures an army stumbling in panic rather than a plague of physical blindness, disoriented because they have sinned against the Lord rather than because any weapon has touched them yet. Blood poured out as dust and flesh as the dung is read by the bench as corpses left unburied and uncounted, the ordinary honor of burial denied by the scale of the slaughter. Neither silver nor gold shall be able to deliver closes the chapter on the same wealth named at the fish gate and Maktesh, the whole land devoured by the fire of his jealousy, and a speedy riddance that Babylon would soon carry out.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 17, 18.) And I will trouble the people, and they shall walk as blind, because they have sinned against the Lord: and their blood shall be poured out like dust, and their bodies like dung; but their silver and gold shall not be able to save them in the day of the Lord's wrath, and all the earth shall be devoured by the fire of his zeal: for he will make a speedy consumption of all the inhabitants of the earth.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 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
And I will bring distress upon men,....
Because they have sinned against the Lord he will deliver them into the hands of cruel enemies, that shall pour out their blood as dust, so profusely, and with as little regret, and their flesh shall be thrown as dung upon the dunghill.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
like blind men--unable to see whither to turn themselves so as to find an escape from existing evils. flesh--Hebrew, "bread"; so the Arabic term for "bread" is used for "flesh" (Mt 26:26).
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
They shall walk like blind men - Be in the most perplexing doubt and uncertainty; and while in this state, have their blood poured out by the sword of their enemies, and their flesh trodden under foot.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַהֲצֵרֹ֣תִי | vahatzeroti | and I will cause distress | H6887 → | |
| לָאָדָ֗ם | laadam | to <the> humankind | H120 → | 551 times |
| וְהָֽלְכוּ֙ | vehalekhu | and they will walk | H1980 → | |
| כַּֽעִוְרִ֔ים | kaivrim | like <the> blind [people] | H5787 → | |
| כִּ֥י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| לַֽיהוָ֖ה | layahweh | to Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| חָטָ֑אוּ | chatau | they have sinned | H2398 → | |
| וְשֻׁפַּ֤ךְ | veshupakh | and it will be poured out | H8210 → | |
| דָּמָם֙ | damam | blood their | H1818 → | |
| כֶּֽעָפָ֔ר | keafar | like <the> dust | H6083 → | |
| וּלְחֻמָ֖ם | ulechumam | and bowel[s] their | H3894 → | |
| כַּגְּלָלִֽים׃ | kagelalim | like <the> dung<s> | H1557 → |
וַהֲצֵרֹ֣תִיand I will cause distress
vahatzerotiH6887 →
לָאָדָ֗םto <the> humankind
laadamH120 →551 times
וְהָֽלְכוּ֙and they will walk
vehalekhuH1980 →
כַּֽעִוְרִ֔יםlike <the> blind [people]
kaivrimH5787 →
כִּ֥יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
לַֽיהוָ֖הto Yahweh
layahwehH3068 →6520 times
חָטָ֑אוּthey have sinned
chatauH2398 →
וְשֻׁפַּ֤ךְand it will be poured out
veshupakhH8210 →
דָּמָם֙blood their
damamH1818 →
כֶּֽעָפָ֔רlike <the> dust
keafarH6083 →
וּלְחֻמָ֖םand bowel[s] their
ulechumamH3894 →
כַּגְּלָלִֽים׃like <the> dung<s>
kagelalimH1557 →
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
Revelation 3:17You say, ‘I am rich; I have grown wealthy and need nothing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked.
it leads to
- Proverbs 13:7
One pretends to be rich, but has nothing; another pretends to be poor, yet has great wealth.
- Romans 7:24
What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?
- Hosea 12:8
And Ephraim boasts: “How rich I have become! I have found wealth for myself. In all my labors, they can find in me no iniquity that is sinful.”
- Revelation 2:9
I know your affliction and your poverty—though you are rich! And I am aware of the slander of those who falsely claim to be Jews, but are in fact a synagogue of Satan.
- Revelation 16:15
“Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who remains awake and clothed, so that he will not go naked and let his shame be exposed.”
- Proverbs 13:7
Through
Matthew 15:14Disregard them! They are blind guides. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”
it leads to
- Luke 6:39
Jesus also told them a parable: “Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit?
- Isaiah 56:10
Israel’s watchmen are blind, they are all oblivious; they are all mute dogs, they cannot bark; they are dreamers lying around, loving to slumber.
- Luke 6:39
Through
Micah 7:13Then the earth will become desolate because of its inhabitants, as the fruit of their deeds.
it leads to
- Isaiah 3:10–11
Tell the righteous it will be well with them, for they will enjoy the fruit of their labor.
- Isaiah 3:10–11
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Zephaniah
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Zephaniah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.