Zephaniah 1:11

Zephaniah 1:11

9 In the same day I will punish
All those who ^aleap over the threshold,
Who fill their masters’ houses with violence and deceit.

10 “And there shall be on that day,” says the Lord,
“The sound of a mournful cry from ^athe Fish Gate,
A wailing from the Second Quarter,
And a loud crashing from the hills.

11 ^aWail, you inhabitants of¹ Maktesh!
For all the merchant people are cut down;
All those who handle money are cut off.

12 “And it shall come to pass at that time
That I will search Jerusalem with lamps,
And punish the men
Who are ^asettled in complacency,
^bWho say in their heart,
‘The Lord will not do good,
Nor will He do evil.’

13 Therefore their goods shall become booty,
And their houses a desolation;
They shall build houses, but not inhabit them;
They shall plant vineyards, but ^anot drink their wine.”

Commentaries:

Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown

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Maktesh—rather, "the mortar," a name applied to the valley of Siloam from its hollow shape [JEROME]. The valley between Zion and Mount Olivet, at the eastern extremity of Mount Moriah, where the merchants dwelt. Zechariah 14:21, "The Canaanite," namely, merchant [Chaldee Version]. The Tyropœon (that is, cheese-makers') valley below Mount Akra [ROSENMULLER]. Better Jerusalem itself, so called as lying in the midst of hills (Isaiah 22:1; Jeremiah 21:13) and as doomed to be the scene of its people being destroyed as corn or drugs are pounded in a mortar (Proverbs 27:22) [MAURER]. Compare the similar image of a "pot" (Ezekiel 24:3, Ezekiel 24:6). The reason for the destruction is subjoined, namely, its merchant people's greediness of gain.

all the merchant people—literally, the "Canaanite people": irony: all the merchant people of Jerusalem are very Canaanites in greed for gain and in idolatries (see on Hosea 12:7).

all . . . that bear silver—loading themselves with that which will prove but a burden (Habakkuk 2:6).

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