Zephaniah 1:10

10 And there hath been in that day, An affirmation of Jehovah, The noise of a cry from the fish-gate, And of a howling from the Second, And of great destruction from the hills.

Zephaniah 1:10 Meaning and Commentary

Zephaniah 1:10

And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord,
&c.] In the day of the Lord's sacrifice, when he shall punish the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem by the Chaldeans; which, as well as what follows, shall surely come to pass, because the Lord has said it; for not one word of his shall pass away, but all be fulfilled: [that there shall be] the noise of a cry from the fish gate;
a gate of the city of Jerusalem so called, which suffered as the rest in the destruction of the city by the Babylonians, and, after the captivity, was rebuilt by the sons of Hassenaah, ( Nehemiah 3:3 ) according to Jerom, it was on the west side of the city, and led to Diospolis and Joppa; and was the nearest road to the Mediterranean sea, or any of the roads to Jerusalem, from whence fish were brought, and brought in by this gate; and very probably the fish market was near it, from whence it had its name; though Cocceius places it in the north corner of the east side of the city, and so was nearer Jordan, the sea of Tiberias, and the city of Tyre, from whence fish might be brought hither, and sold, ( Nehemiah 13:16 ) however, be it where it will, the enemy it seems would attack it, and enter in by it; upon which a hideous cry would be made, either by the assailants, the Chaldeans, at their attack upon it, and entrance through it; or by the inhabitants of it, or that were nearest to it, upon their approach, or both: and an howling from the second;
either from the second gate; and if the fish gate is the same with the first gate, ( Zechariah 14:10 ) then this may be pertinently called the second. Jarchi calls it the bird gate, which was the second to the fish gate. So the Targum,

``from the bird, or the bird gate;''

though some copies of it read, from the tower or high fortress: or else this designs the second wall, and the gate in that which answered to the fish gate; for Jerusalem was encompassed with three walls; the fish gate was in the outermost, and this was in the second, to which the Chaldeans came next, and occasioned a dreadful howling and lamentation in the people that dwelt near it. Kimchi interprets it of the school or university that was in Jerusalem; the same word is rendered the cottage in which Huldah the prophetess lived, ( 2 Kings 22:14 ) and there, by the Targum,

``the house of doctrine or instruction;''

so then the sense is, a grievous outcry would be heard from the university or school of the prophets; the enemy having entered it, and were slaying the students, or seizing them in order to carry them captive: and a great crashing from the hills;
either that were in Jerusalem, as Mount Zion and Moriah, on which the temple stood; or those that were round about it, as Gareb, and Goath, and others; though some interpret this of the houses of nobles that stood in the higher parts of the city, where there would be a shivering, a breaking to pieces, as the word signifies, of doors and windows without, and of furniture within.

Zephaniah 1:10 In-Context

8 And it hath come to pass, In the day of the sacrifice of Jehovah, That I have laid a charge on the heads, And on sons of the king, And on all putting on strange clothing.

9 And I have laid a charge on every one Who is leaping over the threshold in that day, Who are filling the house of their masters [With] violence and deceit.

10 And there hath been in that day, An affirmation of Jehovah, The noise of a cry from the fish-gate, And of a howling from the Second, And of great destruction from the hills.

11 Howl, ye inhabitants of the hollow place, For cut off hath been all the merchant people, Cut off have been all bearing silver.

12 And it hath come to pass, at that time, I search Jerusalem with lights, And I have laid a charge on the men Who are hardened on their preserved things, Who are saying in their heart: Jehovah doth no good, nor doth He evil.