Wail, O dwellers of the Hollow, for all your merchants will be silenced; all who weigh out silver will be cut off.
Parallel translations
- WEB Wail, you inhabitants of Maktesh, for all the people of Canaan are undone! All those who were loaded with silver are cut off.
- KJV Howl, ye inhabitants of Maktesh, for all the merchant people are cut down; all they that bear silver are cut off.
- NKJV Wail, you inhabitants of Maktesh! For all the merchant people are cut down; All those who handle money are cut off.
- NASB “Wail, you inhabitants of the Mortar, Because all the people of Canaan will be destroyed; All who weigh out silver will be eliminated.
- NLT Wail in sorrow, all you who live in the market area, for all the merchants and traders will be destroyed.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The merchant district is called to wail because its traders and silver-laden wealthy are wiped out. It matters because riches gained apart from God offer no protection in the day of judgment.
Overview
Maktesh was likely a market hollow in Jerusalem; 'people of Canaan' here means merchants or traders. The cutting off of those 'loaded with silver' shows that commercial prosperity cannot shield the unrepentant. This warns against trusting wealth, anticipating Jesus' teaching about storing treasure where it truly lasts.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Jas 5:1Come now, you who are rich, weep and wail over the misery to come upon you.
- Hos 12:7–8A merchant loves to defraud with dishonest scales in his hands.
- Jer 25:34Wail, you shepherds, and cry out; roll in the dust, you leaders of the flock. For the days of your slaughter have come; you will fall and be shattered like fine pottery.
- Ezek 21:12Cry out and wail, O son of man, for the sword is wielded against My people; it is against all the princes of Israel! They are tossed to the sword with My people; therefore strike your thigh.
- Hos 9:6For even if they flee destruction, Egypt will gather them and Memphis will bury them. Their precious silver will be taken over by thistles, and thorns will overrun their tents.
- Zech 11:2–3Wail, O cypress, for the cedar has fallen; the majestic trees are ruined! Wail, O oaks of Bashan, for the dense forest has been cut down!
- John 2:16To those selling doves He said, “Get these out of here! How dare you turn My Father’s house into a marketplace!”
- Jer 4:8So put on sackcloth, mourn and wail, for the fierce anger of the LORD has not turned away from us.”
- Rev 18:11–18And the merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her, because there is no one left to buy their cargo—
- Neh 3:31–32Next to him, Malchijah, one of the goldsmiths, made repairs as far as the house of the temple servants and the merchants, opposite the Inspection Gate, and as far as the upper room above the corner.
- Joel 1:13Put on sackcloth and lament, O priests; wail, O ministers of the altar. Come, spend the night in sackcloth, O ministers of my God, because the grain and drink offerings are withheld from the house of your God.
- Joel 1:5Wake up, you drunkards, and weep; wail, all you drinkers of wine, because of the sweet wine, for it has been cut off from your mouth.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The day of the LORD gives way to the promise that God himself will be in the midst of his people, rejoicing over them with singing — fulfilled in the saving presence of Christ.
How Zephaniah 1:11 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.