Zefanya 1:11

1:11 Wail, you who live in the market district, ¹ 

for all the merchants ²  will disappear ³ 

and those who count money ⁴  will be removed. ⁵ 

Zefanya 2:4

Judgment on Surrounding Nations

2:4 Indeed, ⁶  Gaza will be deserted ⁷ 

and Ashkelon will become a heap of ruins. ⁸ 

Invaders will drive away the people of Ashdod by noon, ⁹ 

and Ekron will be overthrown. ¹⁰ 

[1:11]  ¹ tn Heb “in the Mortar.” The Hebrew term מַכְתֵּשׁ (makhtesh, “mortar”) is apparently here the name of a low-lying area where economic activity took place.

[1:11]  ² tn Or perhaps “Canaanites.” Cf. BDB 489 s.v. I and II כְּנַעֲנִי. Translators have rendered the term either as “the merchant people” (KJV, NKJV), “the traders” (NRSV), “merchants” (NEB, NIV), or, alternatively, “the people of Canaan” (NASB).

[1:11]  ³ tn Or “be destroyed.”

[1:11]  ⁴ tn Heb “weigh out silver.”

[1:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “be cut off.” In the Hebrew text of v. 11b the perfect verbal forms emphasize the certainty of the judgment, speaking of it as if it were already accomplished.

[2:4]  ⁶ tn Or “for” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV).

[2:4]  ⁷ tn There is a sound play here in the Hebrew text: the name Gaza (עַזָּה, ’azzah) sounds like the word translated “deserted” (עֲזוּבָה, ’azuvah).

[2:4]  ⁸ tn Or “a desolate place.”

[2:4]  ⁹ tn Heb “[As for] Ashdod, at noon they will drive her away.”

[2:4]  sn The reference to noon may suggest a sudden, quick defeat (see Jer 6:4; 15:8).

[2:4]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “uprooted.” There is a sound play here in the Hebrew text: the name “Ekron” (עֶקְרוֹן, ’eqron) sounds like the word translated “uprooted” (תֵּעָקֵר, te’aqer).