Zephaniah 1.11-The Lord Threatens Judgment Against the Merchants of the City of Jerusalem
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Thursday March 3, 2016
Zephaniah: Zephaniah 1:11-The Lord Threatens Judgment Against the Merchants of the City of Jerusalem
Lesson # 25
Zephaniah 1:11 “Wail, O inhabitants of the Mortar, for all the people of Canaan will be silenced; All who weigh out silver will be cut off.” (NASB95)
“Wail, O inhabitants of the Mortar” is composed of the following: (1) second person masculine plural hiphil imperative form of the verb yālal (יָלַל), “wail” (2) masculine plural qal active participle form of the verb yāšab (יָשַׁב), “O inhabitants of” (3) articular feminine singular form of the proper noun maktēš (מַכְתֵּשׁ), “the Mortar.”
Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the prophet Zephaniah is employing the figure of asyndeton meaning he is not using a connective word between his last prophetic statement in verse 10 and the command which follows it in verse 11.
The purpose of this figure is to express the solemn nature of the command here in verse 11 which is directed at the inhabitants of the city of Jerusalem.
This figure is designed to get the reader to meditate upon this command for the purpose of personal application which would be for the citizens of Jerusalem to repent.
The verb yāšab functions as a substantive participle and means “inhabitants” referring to those Jews who inhabitant the market district of the city of Jerusalem.
The noun maktēš describes a geographical location in or near Jerusalem in King Josiah’s day which was a hollow place or small valley that was inhabited by silver merchants and where economic activity took place in the city.
The verb yālal means “to wail, howl” since it pertains to expressing sorrow audibly and publically and speaks of loud crying and shrill shouting as a noise to express anxiety, sorrow and grief.
Here in Zephaniah 1:11, the word is used with reference to the merchants of Jerusalem being commanded by God to wail because of the impending judgment and disaster He will bring upon them.
The imperative mood of the verb yālal is an imperative of command meaning that with the authority given to him by the God of Israel Himself, Zephaniah is ordering the inhabitants of Jerusalem market district to wail.
“For all the people of Canaan will be silenced” is composed of the following: (1) conjunction kî (כִּי), “for” (2) masculine singular niphal passive perfect form of the verb dāmâ (דָּמָה), “will be silenced” (3) collective singular construct form of the noun kōl (כֹּל), “all” (4) masculine singular construct form of the noun ʿam (עַם), “the people of” (5) feminine singular proper noun kĕnaʿan (כְּנַעַן), “Canaan.”
The conjunction kî means “for, because” since it is functioning as a marker of cause meaning it is introducing a clause which presents the reason for the previous command.
The noun ʿǎm is in the singular and means “people” in the sense of a large group based on various cultural, physical and geographical ties and refers to a large group that is larger than a tribe or clan but smaller than a race.
The proper noun kĕnaʿan usually means “Canaan” in the Old Testament but here in Zephaniah 1:11 it means “trader, merchant” since it pertains to one who buys and sells or barters goods (cf. NIV, TNIV, NET, ESV, LEB, NRSV).
The noun kōl denotes totality and the construct state of this word indicates that it is modifying the noun ʿǎm and this would indicate that “all” of the merchant people in Jerusalem will be silenced.
The verb dāmâ is in the niphal stem and means “to perish, to be ruined, to be destroyed, to be wiped out.”
Therefore, this verb denotes that all the merchants of the city of Jerusalem will be killed by the impending invasion from the north of the city.
The perfect tense of this verb is a perfect of certitude or prophetic perfect which expresses the certainty that all the merchants of the city of Jerusalem will be killed by the Lord by means of an army coming from the north of the city.
“All who weigh out silver will be cut off” is composed of the following: (1) third person plural niphal passive perfect form of the verb kārat (כָּרַת), “will be cut off” (2) collective singular construct form of the noun kōl (כֹּל), “all” (3) masculine plural construct form of the noun nāṭîl (נָטִיל), “weigh out” (4) masculine singular noun kesep (כֶּסֶף), “silver.”
Once again, Zephaniah employs the figure of asyndeton and the purpose of this figure is to express the solemn nature of the prophetic statement to follow.
This figure is designed to get the reader to meditate upon this prophetic statement for the purpose of repentance.
The noun nāṭîl means “trading with, to weigh out, to transact with” since it pertains to a merchant’s transactions, buying, selling and bartering.
The noun kōl denotes totality and the construct state of this word indicates that it is modifying the noun nāṭîl and this would indicate that “all” those who trade in Jerusalem will be killed.
The noun kesep means “silver,” which like gold, is another precious metal capable of being hammered or drawn out thin, and was known to the people of the Bible as early as 3000 B.C.
The verb kārat is in the niphal stem and means “to be violently cut off, to be killed by violence.”
Therefore, it is expressing the idea that those in Jerusalem who trade with silver will be killed violently by the Lord through an army coming from the north.
The perfect tense of this verb kārat is a perfect of certitude or prophetic perfect which describes a future event as if it had already taken place.
It expresses the certainty that all the merchants of the city of Jerusalem will be killed by the Lord by means of an army coming from the north of the city.
Zephaniah 1:11 “All of you who are the market district’s inhabitants wail because all the merchant people will as a certainty be wiped out. All who trade with silver will as a certainty be killed with violence.” (My translation)
The prophet Zephaniah solemnly issues a command to the inhabitants of Jerusalem’s market district in his day.
He commands these people to wail in the sense of expressing their anxiety, sorrow and grief audibly and publically.
He then states the reason for this solemn command, namely that all the merchant people in this district will as a certainty by wiped out, i.e. killed.
Then, the prophet solemnly issues another prophetic statement by asserting that all who trade with silver in Jerusalem will as a certainty be killed with violence.
Zephaniah 1:10 implies that all this will be accomplished by God by means of an army coming from the north of the city.
The context indicates that this will take place during the period the Lord’s sacrificial meal which is mentioned in Zephaniah 1:8 and is described in verses 8-10.
The purpose of all these prophecies was to cause the citizens of Judah and Jerusalem to repent from their sinful conduct and unfaithfulness to their covenant with God.
Like Zephaniah 1:2-10, Zephaniah 1:11 is a conditional prophecy.
The latter served as a warning to those who transacted business in Jerusalem in the sense that it was an announcement of judgment that was conditional rather than an unconditional decree of God.
It obviously implies that the Lord wants them to repent since He could have destroyed them immediately without warning.
The Lord is leaving room open for repentance and this is indicated by the statements recorded in Zephaniah 2:1-3.
God announces judgment in advance so as to afford an opportunity for repentance.
The Lord’s desire was not to kill but rather His will was to forgive and show mercy.
Therefore, this announcement of judgment here in Zephaniah 1:11 was conditional.
Like the prophecies issued in Zephaniah 1:2-10, this prophecy in Zephaniah 1:11 was fulfilled by Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylon three invasions of Jerusalem in 605, 597 and 586 B.C.
This army attacked Jerusalem from the north in fulfillment of this prophecy.
So Zephaniah 1:11 is describing the anguish of the citizens of Jerusalem who lived in the market district during these three invasions.
As we noted in Zephaniah 1:10, God’s destruction of the capital city of the kingdom of Judah would start in the commercial or financial district of the city and not the Temple.
This attack from the north would be against the “Wall Street” of the kingdom of Judah.
The fact that the Lord was threatening to judge severely these merchants or those who transacted business in Jerusalem implies that they were not conducting business in a fashion which was pleasing to Him.
The inference is that they loved money and not Him.
The Lord was judging them for their greed and idolatry because they valued money and possessions more than Him.
They worshipped money rather than God.
Consequently, they will wail over the loss of their money and possessions.
Though addressed to God’s covenant people, Zephaniah 1:11 serves as a warning to church age believers who love money more than God.
In fact, the believer’s stewardship of treasure will also be evaluated by the Lord at the Bema Seat.
The believer also must be a good steward with money.