Howl, ye inhabitants of Maktesh, for all the merchant people are cut down; all they that bear silver are 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.
- BSB Wail, O dwellers of the Hollow, for all your merchants will be silenced; all who weigh out silver will be 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 5:1Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.
- Hos 12:7–8He is a merchant, the balances of deceit are in his hand: he loveth to oppress.
- Jer 25:34Howl, ye shepherds, and cry; and wallow yourselves in the ashes, ye principal of the flock: for the days of your slaughter and of your dispersions are accomplished; and ye shall fall like a pleasant vessel.
- Ezek 21:12Cry and howl, son of man: for it shall be upon my people, it shall be upon all the princes of Israel: terrors by reason of the sword shall be upon my people: smite therefore upon thy thigh.
- Hos 9:6For, lo, they are gone because of destruction: Egypt shall gather them up, Memphis shall bury them: the pleasant places for their silver, nettles shall possess them: thorns shall be in their tabernacles.
- Zech 11:2–3Howl, fir tree; for the cedar is fallen; because the mighty are spoiled: howl, O ye oaks of Bashan; for the forest of the vintage is come down.
- John 2:16And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house an house of merchandise.
- Jer 4:8For this gird you with sackcloth, lament and howl: for the fierce anger of the LORD is not turned back from us.
- Rev 18:11–18And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more:
- Neh 3:31–32After him repaired Malchiah the goldsmith’s son unto the place of the Nethinims, and of the merchants, over against the gate Miphkad, and to the going up of the corner.
- Joel 1:13Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests: howl, ye ministers of the altar: come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: for the meat offering and the drink offering is withholden from the house of your God.
- Joel 1:5Awake, ye drunkards, and weep; and howl, all ye drinkers of wine, because of the new wine; for it is 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
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