Zephaniah 1:16

Hebrew (Westminster Leningrad Codex)

English Translation

a day of the trumpet and alarm, against the fortified cities, and against the high battlements.

World English Bible · Public Domain

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הַפִּנּ֥וֹת

pinnâh

H6438

“the · corners”

Particle, Definite Article + Noun, Common, Feminine, Plural, Absolute

Appears 29× in the Hebrew Bible
First appears at Exodus 27:2

Full BDB Definition

Origin: from H6434

TWOT: 1783a

corner - corner (of square objects) - corner (of ruler or chief - figuratively)

About this verse

These counts appear in no published source. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged text and Lemma’s own curated glosses. What Lemma adds →

9: words
8: distinct lemmas
Prophets: section

Shared distinctive vocabulary

הַפִּנּ֥וֹת corner H6438 occurs in 29 verses of the Hebrew Bible. Also found in:

Grammatical profile

5 nouns
2 adjectives
2 prepositions

Repetition

A word recurs within this verse — often emphatic in Hebrew:

עַ֚ל upon H5921 ×2

Hebrew & Septuagint length

In English translation the verse runs 16 words from the Hebrew and 16 from the Septuagint (LXX English) — the same length.

A rough comparison of the two English renderings, which tokenize alike — not a word-level alignment.

Word counts can differ between the Hebrew and the Greek without any difference in meaning — e.g. the Hebrew direct-object marker אֵת has no separate Greek word, and Greek often adds the article ὁ.

In the original languages it is 9 Hebrew tokens and 15 Greek tokens — but the two are counted differently (Hebrew bundles its prefixes and suffixes into one token; the Greek is in lemma form), so that isn’t a like-for-like length.

Cross-references

Topical passages linked to Zephaniah 1:16 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

Isaiah 2:12–15 For there will be a day of Yahweh of Hosts for all that is proud and haughty, And for all that is lifted up; And it shall be brought low:
Isaiah 32:14 For the palace shall be forsaken; the populous city shall be deserted; the hill and the watch-tower shall be for dens forever, a joy of wild donkeys, a pasture of flocks;
Hosea 8:1 "Put the trumpet to your lips! Something like an eagle is over Yahweh's house, Because they have broken my covenant, And rebelled against my law.
Amos 3:6 Does the trumpet alarm sound in a city, Without the people being afraid? Does evil happen to a city, And Yahweh hasn't done it?
Psalms 48:12–13 Walk about Zion, and go around her. Number its towers;
Isaiah 59:10 We grope for the wall like the blind; yes, we grope as those who have no eyes: we stumble at noonday as in the twilight; among those who are lusty we are as dead men.
Jeremiah 4:19–20 My anguish, my anguish! I am pained at my very heart; my heart is disquieted in me; I can't hold my peace; because you have heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war.
Hosea 5:8 "Blow the cornet in Gibeah, And the trumpet in Ramah! Sound a battle cry at Beth Aven, behind you, Benjamin!

Jeremiah 6:1 Flee for safety, you children of Benjamin, out of the midst of Jerusalem, and blow the trumpet in Tekoa, and raise up a signal on Beth Haccherem; for evil looks forth from the north, and a great destruction.
Jeremiah 8:16 The snorting of his horses is heard from Dan: at the sound of the neighing of his strong ones the whole land trembles; for they are come, and have devoured the land and all that is in it; the city and those who dwell therein.
Habakkuk 1:6–10 For, behold, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, that march through the breadth of the earth, to possess dwelling places that are not theirs.
Habakkuk 3:6 He stood, and shook the earth. He looked, and made the nations tremble. The ancient mountains were crumbled. The age-old hills collapsed. His ways are eternal.

Cross-references courtesy of OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).

Hebrew and Greek witnesses Masoretic Hebrew ↔ Greek Septuagint

The same verse in the two great witnesses to the Old Testament, shown verse-for-verse.

These are two independent witnesses, not word-aligned to each other, and the Septuagint is shown in lemma (dictionary) form.

Hebrew Zephaniah 1:16 Masoretic · Westminster Leningrad Codex

י֥וֹם שׁוֹפָ֖ר וּתְרוּעָ֑ה עַ֚ל הֶעָרִ֣ים הַבְּצֻר֔וֹת וְעַ֖ל הַפִּנּ֥וֹת הַגְּבֹהֽוֹת

a day of the trumpet and alarm, against the fortified cities, and against the high battlements.

World English Bible · Public Domain

Greek LXX Zephaniah 1:16 Septuagint · lemma form

ἡμέρα σάλπιγξ καί κραυγή ἐπί ὁ πόλις ὁ ὀχυρός καί ἐπί ὁ γωνία ὁ ὑψηλός

a day of the trumpet and cry against the strong cities, and against the high towers.

LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) · Public Domain

On this verse, The Pulpit Commentary discusses the Septuagint’s reading. Read the note in Commentary ↓

Hebrew: Westminster Leningrad Codex (CC BY 4.0). Greek: Septuagint (public domain); English from LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) (Public Domain). How the Septuagint differs from the Hebrew →

Targum (Aramaic paraphrase)

The Targum is the ancient Jewish Aramaic paraphrase of the Hebrew Scriptures — an interpretive translation, not the Hebrew text itself. Onkelos (literal) and Pseudo-Jonathan (expansive) render the Torah, and Jonathan the Prophets. Coverage is partial: where no permissively-licensed English translation exists for a verse, only the Aramaic is shown. This is verse-level text, not a word-by-word alignment to the Hebrew.

Targum Jonathan Prophets (Joshua–Malachi)

יוֹם שׁוֹפָרָא וְיַבָּבָא עַל קִרְוַיָא כְרִיכָתָא וְעַל רָמָתָא מְנַטְלָתָא:

(no public-domain English translation for this verse)

Targum Jonathan — Aramaic: “Mikraot Gedolot” (public domain). English: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “London "Chaldee Paraphrase," 1871” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.

Commentary

Notes on Zephaniah 1:16 from classic Christian and Jewish commentators (each source and its license shown beneath its notes). The classic Christian expositions comment on the surrounding passage and are grouped to its opening verse, so a note may address several verses; the Jewish commentaries on the Tanakh (Rashi and others) are per-verse, so they appear only where the commentator wrote on this verse.

Lemma curates 59 commentaries, every one of them public domain or Creative Commons licensed, each selected and text-cleaned for this edition rather than reprinted as found. About our sources →

Trapp's Complete Commentary

John Trapp

Zep 1:16 A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers.

Ver. 16. A day of the trumpet] With its horrid taratantara and alarm; not of those that shout and praise God, neither with a noise of joy and triumph, as Num 23:21 Psa 67:5 Ezr 3:11-12; but of those that shout with broken sounds in the day of battle, as Amo 1:14, in classico, in a war trumpet with a vociferation and horrible howling, such as the Turks to this day make when they storm a city.

Against the fenced cities, and against the high towers] Wherein ye trust, but in vain. These high towers were built at the corners of the walls. Hence the Hebrew text here hath it, Against the high corners. Great men and such as bear up the weight of the commonwealth are sometimes called by this name, 1Sa 14:38. Draw ye near hither, all ye chief of the people: Heb. All ye corners. See the like Zec 10:4 Jdg 20:2. Neither men nor means were ever true to those that trusted them. Our help is in the name of the Lord, that strong tower whereto the righteous run and are safe, Pro 18:10.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown

the trumpet--namely, of the besieging enemy (Amo 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].

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(16) Alarm.—Better, war cry.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne

16. Besides the supernatural terrors of the judgment there is the hostile assault which the supernatural terrors accompany.

A day of the trumpet and alarm] The “trumpet” was blown amidst the attack (Jdg_7:19), as now martial music accompanies the advance. Amo_2:2, “Moab shall die with tumult, with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet.” The word “alarm” here is that rendered “shouting,” Amo_1:14; Amo_2:2, in accordance with its literal sense “to arms!” (Ital. all’ arme). The “shouting” (terû‘ah), originally that of battle (Jer_4:19), became in later and more peaceful times the shout of the glad worshippers on the feast days (Ezr_3:11-13).

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

John Gill's Exposition

A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, &c.] The trumpet of the enemy, sounding the alarm of war against the fenced cities of Judea, which were taken before Jerusalem; calling and gathering the soldiers together, and animating them to the assault of them; and blowing them in a way of triumph; and as expressive of victory, having got possession of them: and against the high towers; or "corners" F24; towers being usually built corner-wise, and full of corners, and on the corners of walls of cities; sometimes these signify princes, magistrates, and great men, ( Zechariah 10:4 ) . FOOTNOTES: F24 (twnp) "pinnas", Montanus, Castalio; "angulos", Junius & Tremellius, Burkius.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible

A day of the trumpet and alarm - o that is, of the loud blast of the trumpet, which sounds alarm and causes it. The word is especially the shrill loud noise of the trumpet (for sacred purposes in Israel itself, as ruling all the movements of the tabernacle and accompanying their feasts); then also of the “battle cry.” They had not listened to the voice of the trumpet, as it called them to holy service; now they shall hear “the voice of the Archangel and the trump of God” 1Th 4:16.

Against the high towers - Literally, “corners” , and so “corner-towers.” This peculiarity describes Jerusalem, whose walls “were made artificially standing in a line curved inwards, so that the flanks of assailants might be exposed.” By this same name Jdg 20:2; 1Sa 14:38; Isa 19:13; Zec 10:4 are called the mighty men and chiefs of the people, who, humanly speaking, hold it together and support it; on these chiefs in rebellion against God, whether devils or evil men, shall punishment greatly fall.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary

Trumpet, when Nachao came and deposed Joachas.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Matthew Poole's English Annotations

The trumpet; God’s trumpet calling the Chaldeans, the Chaldeans’ trumpet also gathering together their troops.

Alarm, threatening and affrighting, against the fenced cities of Judah.

The high towers; stately palaces and strong munitions, fortified with high towers, built at the angles of walls, and therefore the Hebrew calls them high corners; it may mean also the great men, which, as corners well built are the strength and beauty of a wall, so they of a state, Jdg 20:2; Zec 10:4.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

The Pulpit Commentary

A day of the trumpet and alarm. "Alarm" means "the sound of alarm." Among the Jews trumpets were used to announce the festivals, (Num_29:1) and to give the signal for battle or of the approach of an enemy. (Jer_4:5, 19 Eze_33:4) Here it is the signal of destruction. (Amo_2:2) The fenced cities. The strongest fortresses shall feel the irresistible attack. (Mic_5:11) The high towers. These are the turrets built at the angles of the walls for the better defence of the city, and to annoy the besiegers. (Zep_3:6) LXX, epi taav tav , "upon the lofty angles;" Vulgate, super angulos excelsos. Others take the words to mean "the battlements" on the walls. Henderson quotes Taeitus"s description of the later walls of Jerusalem, "Duos colles immensum editos claudebant muri per artem obliqui aut introrsus sinuati, ut latera oppugnantium ad ictus patescerent" ("Hist.," 5:11).

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Lesson kit

Teaching starters — assembled from the data on this page, not authored interpretation. Every prompt links to the verse data it draws on. Edit before teaching.

Zephaniah, in the Prophets, opens this verse with 9 words (8 distinct Hebrew lemmas). Its most distinctive word is pinnâh (“corner”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

What does “corner” (pinnâh) contribute to the verse as a whole?
Exodus 27:2 shares the word «corner» with this verse. How do the two illuminate each other?
“upon” occurs 2× in this one verse. What is the effect of the repetition?
The translations on this page render this verse differently — a whole-verse word diff, not a word-by-word alignment. What might account for the different wordings?
Reading how Trapp's Complete Commentary and Jamieson, Fausset & Brown read this verse, where do the two commentators agree and where do they part?

Things to notice

This verse counts 9 Hebrew ↔ 15 Greek words.
These translations choose different wording for 10 words in this verse.
“upon” occurs 2× in this single verse.
8 distinct Hebrew lemmas span 9 words in this verse.