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Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Zephaniah 1:7-13

Notice is here given to Judah and Jerusalem that God is coming forth against them, and will be with them shortly; his presence, as a just avenger, his day, the day of his judgment and his wrath, are not far off, Zeph. 1:7. Those that improve not the presence of God with them as a Father, but sin away that presence, may expect his presence with them as a Judge, to call them to an account for the contempt put upon his grace. The day of the Lord will come. Men have their day now, when they take a... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Zephaniah 1:11

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 F17 המכתש "mortarii", Vatablus, Tigurine version; "cavi", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; "loci concavi", Calvin. signifies; which is used both for a hollow place and for a mortar, Judges 15:19 unless it might be so called from such persons dwelling in it, that used... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Zephaniah 1:11

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,... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Zephaniah 1:11

Verse 11 The Prophet addresses the merchants here who inhabited the middle part of the city, and hence thought themselves farther off from all danger and trouble. As then they were concealed as it were in their hiding-places, they thought that no danger was nigh them; and thus security blinded them the more. After having spoken of the king’s palace and of the princes and their servants, Zephaniah now turns his discourse to the merchants. And he calls them the inhabitants of the hollow place,... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Zephaniah 1:1-18

Part I. THE JUDGMENT UPON ALL THE WORLD , AND UPON JUDAH IN PARTICULAR . read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Zephaniah 1:1-18

We learn from ver. 1 that Zephaniah received from the Lord his message to Judah in the days of Josiah, the last of the godly and reforming kings, who, after the gross corruption of the preceding reigns of Manasseh and Amon, restored to a large extent the purity of the worship of God, and was the means of bringing about a certain kind and degree of repentance and amendment in the people. Probably, however, the major part of Zephaniah's prophecy belongs to the early part of Josiah's reign,... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Zephaniah 1:7-13

4. The judgment is described with regard to those whom it will affect, vie. the princes, the traders, the irreligious and profligate. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Zephaniah 1:11

Maktesh; the Mortar; Septuagint, τὴν κατακεκομμένην , "her that is broken down." The word is found in 15:19 of a hollow place in a rock, and it is here used in the sense of "valley," and probably refers to the Tyropoeum, or part of it, the depression that ran down the city, having Aera and Zion on its west side, and Moriah and Ophel on its east, and extended south as far as the pool of Siloam. It does not seem a very appropriate appellation for a lengthy valley like the Tyropceum,... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Zephaniah 1:11

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). The place intended is probably so much of the valley of... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Zephaniah 1:10-11

Zephaniah 1:10-11. In that day there shall be the noise of a cry from the fish- gate Mentioned Nehemiah 3:3. It was opposite to Joppa, according to Jerome, and at the entering of the city from that quarter. The sundry expressions of this verse are intended to describe the cries and shrieks that should arise from all parts of the city, upon the taking of it by the Babylonians. The great crashing from the hills might be intended to signify the noise that should be heard from the palace and... read more

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