Maktesh
“Mortar or deep hollow”
Summary
Maktesh, meaning 'the mortar,' was a quarter of Jerusalem inhabited by merchants, mentioned by Zephaniah in his prophecy of judgment against Judah.
☩Location and Character
Maktesh is mentioned once in Scripture, when Zephaniah calls upon its inhabitants to 'howl' because 'all the merchant people are cut down.' The name means 'mortar' and probably refers to the hollowed-out shape of the terrain, like a mortar used for grinding. Most authorities place it in the northern part of Jerusalem, possibly the hollow portion of the Tyropoeon valley where foreign merchants congregated, or another depression further west where bazaars were located.
☩Interpretations
Various interpretations have been offered. Some scholars identify it as the 'Phoenician quarter' where Canaanite traders resided, following the custom in Oriental cities of assigning specific districts to foreign merchants. The Targum associates it with the Kidron valley. Others suggest that the entire city of Jerusalem is poetically compared to a mortar in which its people would be pounded as punishment for their sins—just as Jerusalem is called 'the valley of vision' and compared to a pot in Ezekiel's prophecy.
Related Verses1 mention
Zephaniah· 1 verse
References
- 1.John McClintock and James Strong, "Maktesh," in Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature, vol. V (Harper & Brothers, 1867–1887).
- 2.James Orr (ed.), "Maktesh, The," in International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, vol. III (Howard-Severance Company, 1915).
- 3.F. N. Peloubet & M. A. Peloubet (ed.), "Maktesh," in Smith's Bible Dictionary (Porter & Coates, 1884).
- 4.Andrew Robert Fausset, "Maktesh," in The Englishman's Critical and Expository Bible Cyclopædia (Hodder & Stoughton, 1878).