Zephaniah 1:17

17 et tribulabo homines et ambulabunt ut caeci quia Domino peccaverunt et effundetur sanguis eorum sicut humus et corpus eorum sicut stercora

Zephaniah 1:17 Meaning and Commentary

Zephaniah 1:17

And I will bring distress upon men
Not upon men in general, but particularly on the men of Judea, and inhabitants of Jerusalem; and especially those that were in the fenced cities and high towers; and who might think themselves safe and secure; but, being besieged, should be distressed with famine and pestilence, and with the enemy; and more especially when stormed, and a breach made, and the enemy just entering: that they shall walk like blind men;
not knowing which way to go, where to turn themselves, what methods to take, or course to steer, no more than a blind man. The phrase is expressive of their being at their wits' ends, void of all thought and consultation: because they have sinned against the Lord;
and therefore he gives them up, not only into the hand of the enemy, but unto an infatuation of spirit, and a judicial blindness of mind: and their blood shall be poured out as dust;
in great quantities, like that, without any regard to it, without showing any mercy, and as if it was of no more value than the dust of the earth. The Targum is,

``their blood shall be poured out into the dust;''
or on it, and be drunk up by it: and their flesh as the dung;
or their carcasses, as the same paraphrase; that is, their dead bodies shall lie unburied, and rot, and putrefy, and shall be cast upon fields like dung, to fatten them. The word for "flesh", in the Hebrew language, signifies bread or food; because dead bodies are food for worms; but in the Arabic language, as Aben Ezra and Jarchi observe, it signifies "flesh".

Zephaniah 1:17 In-Context

15 dies irae dies illa dies tribulationis et angustiae dies calamitatis et miseriae dies tenebrarum et caliginis dies nebulae et turbinis
16 dies tubae et clangoris super civitates munitas et super angulos excelsos
17 et tribulabo homines et ambulabunt ut caeci quia Domino peccaverunt et effundetur sanguis eorum sicut humus et corpus eorum sicut stercora
18 sed et argentum eorum et aurum eorum non poterit liberare eos in die irae Domini in igne zeli eius devorabitur omnis terra quia consummationem cum festinatione faciet cunctis habitantibus terram
The Latin Vulgate is in the public domain.