Zephaniah 1

10. fish gate--( 2 Chronicles 33:14 , Nehemiah 3:3 , 12:39 ). Situated on the east of the lower city, north of the sheep gate [MAURER]: near the stronghold of David in Milo, between Zion and the lower city, towards the west [JEROME]. This verse describes the state of the city when it was besieged by Nebuchadnezzar. It was through the fish gate that he entered the city. It received its name from the fish market which was near it. Through it passed those who used to bring fish from the lake of Tiberias and Jordan. It answers to what is now called the Damascus gate [HENDERSON].
the second--namely, the gate which was second in dignity [CALVIN]. Or, the second or lower part of the city. Appropriately, the fish gate, or extreme end of the lower part of the city, first resounds with the cries of the citizens as the foe approaches; then, as he advances further, that part of the city itself, namely, its inner part; lastly, when the foe is actually come and has burst in, the hills, the higher ones, especially Zion and Moriah, on which the upper city and temple were founded [MAURER]. The second, or lower city, answers to Akra, north of Zion, and separated from it by the valley of Tyropoeon running down to the pool of Siloam [HENDERSON]. The Hebrew is translated "college," 2 Kings 22:14 ; so VATABLUS would translate here.
hills--not here those outside, but those within the walls: Zion, Moriah, and Ophel.

11. Maktesh--rather, "the mortar," a name applied to the valley of Siloam from its hollow shape [JEROME]. The valley between Zion and Mount Olivet, at the eastern extremity of Mount Moriah, where the merchants dwelt. Zechariah 14:21 , "The Canaanite," namely, merchant [Chaldee Version]. The Tyropoeon (that is, cheese-makers') valley below Mount Akra [ROSENMULLER]. Better Jerusalem itself, so called as lying in the midst of hills ( Isaiah 22:1 , Jeremiah 21:13 ) and as doomed to be the scene of its people being destroyed as corn or drugs are pounded in a mortar ( Proverbs 27:22 ) [MAURER]. Compare the similar image of a "pot" ( Ezekiel 24:3 Ezekiel 24:6 ). The reason for the destruction is subjoined, namely, its merchant people's greediness of gain.
all the merchant people--literally, the "Canaanite people": irony: all the merchant people of Jerusalem are very Canaanites in greed for
all . . . that bear silver--loading themselves with that which will prove but a burden ( Habakkuk 2:6 ).

12. search . . . with candles--or lamps; so as to leave no dark corner in it wherein sin can escape the punishment, of which the Chaldeans are My instruments (compare Zephaniah 1:13 , Luke 15:8 ).
settled on their lees--"hardened" or crusted; image from the crust formed at the bottom of wines long left undisturbed ( Jeremiah 48:11 ). The effect of wealthy undisturbed ease ("lees") on the ungodly is hardening: they become stupidly secure (compare Psalms 55:19 , Amos 6:1 ).
Lord will not do good . . . evil--They deny that God regards human affairs, or renders good to the good; or evil to the evil, but that all things go haphazard ( Psalms 10:4 , Malachi 2:17 ).

13. Therefore their goods shall become a booty, &c.--Fulfilling the prophecy in Deuteronomy 28:30 Deuteronomy 28:39 (compare Amos 5:11 ).

14. voice of . . . day of . . . Lord--that is, Jehovah ushering in that day with a roar of vengeance against the guilty ( Jeremiah 25:30 , Amos 1:2 ). They who will not now heed ( Zephaniah 1:12 ) His voice by His prophets, must heed it when uttered by the avenging foe.
mighty . . . shall cry . . . bitterly--in hopeless despair; the might on which Jerusalem now prides itself, shall then fail utterly.

15. wasteness . . . desolation--The Hebrew terms by their similarity of sounds, Shoah, Umeshoah, express the dreary monotony

16. the trumpet--namely, of the besieging enemy ( Amos 2:2 ).
alarm--the war shout [MAURER].
towers--literally "angles"; for city walls used not to be built in a direct line, but with sinuous curves and angles, so that besiegers advancing might be assailed not only in front, but on both sides, caught as it were in a cul-de-sac; towers were built especially at the angles. So TACITUS describes the walls of Jerusalem [Histories, 5.11.7].

17. like blind men--unable to see whither to turn themselves so as to find an escape from existing evils.
flesh--Hebrew, "bread"; so the Arabic term for "bread" is used for "flesh" ( Matthew 26:26 ).

18. Neither . . . silver nor . . . gold shall . . . deliver them, &c.--( Proverbs 11:4 ).
fire of his jealousy--( Ezekiel 38:19 ); His wrath jealous for His honor consuming the guilty like fire.
make even a speedy riddance of all--rather, a "consummation" (complete destruction: "full end," Jeremiah 46:28 , Ezekiel 11:13 ) "altogether sudden" [MAURER]. "A consumption, and that a sudden one" [CALVIN].