Zephaniah 1:17

Young's Literal Translation (1862/1898)

And I have sent distress to men, And they have walked as the blind, For against Jehovah they have sinned, And poured out is their blood as dust, And their flesh `is' as dung.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

וַהֲצֵרֹ֣תִי לָאָדָ֗ם וְהָֽלְכוּ֙ כַּֽעִוְרִ֔ים כִּ֥י לַֽיהוָ֖ה חָטָ֑אוּ וְשֻׁפַּ֤ךְ דָּמָם֙ כֶּֽעָפָ֔ר וּלְחֻמָ֖ם כַּגְּלָלִֽים׃

Transliteration

wahăṣērōṯî lāʾāḏām wəhāləḵû kaʿiwrîm, kî la-YHWH ḥāṭāʾû; wəšuppaḵ dāmām keʿāp̄ār ûləḥumām kaggəlālîm.

Grammar Details

• *wahăṣērōṯî*: conjunction + hiphil perfect, 1st person singular - and I will bring distress
• *lāʾāḏām*: preposition + noun, masculine singular with definite article - to mankind
• *wəhāləḵû*: conjunction + qal perfect, 3rd person plural - and they will walk
• *kaʿiwrîm*: preposition + noun, masculine plural - like blind men
• *kî*: conjunction - because
• *la-YHWH*: preposition + divine name - against YHWH
• *ḥāṭāʾû*: qal perfect, 3rd person plural - they have sinned
• *wəšuppaḵ*: conjunction + pual perfect, 3rd person masculine singular - and will be poured out
• *dāmām*: noun, masculine singular with 3rd person masculine plural suffix - their blood
• *keʿāp̄ār*: preposition + noun, masculine singular - like dust
• *ûləḥumām*: conjunction + noun, masculine singular with 3rd person masculine plural suffix - and their flesh
• *kaggəlālîm*: preposition + noun, masculine plural with definite article - like dung

Word Meanings

• *wahăṣērōṯî*: and I will bring distress/cause distress/make narrow
• *kaʿiwrîm*: like blind men/as the blind
• *ḥāṭāʾû*: they have sinned/transgressed/offended
• *wəšuppaḵ*: and will be poured out/spilled
• *keʿāp̄ār*: like dust/dirt/powder
• *ûləḥumām*: and their flesh/internal organs/body
• *kaggəlālîm*: like dung/excrement/refuse

Referenced Verses

• Ps 83:10 : 10 They were destroyed at Endor, They were dung for the ground!
• Isa 24:5-6 : 5 And the land hath been defiled under its inhabitants, Because they have transgressed laws, They have changed a statute, They have made void a covenant age-during. 6 Therefore a curse hath consumed the land, And the inhabitants in it are become desolate, Therefore consumed have been inhabitants of the land, And few men have been left.
• Isa 29:10 : 10 For poured out on you hath Jehovah a spirit of deep sleep, And He closeth your eyes -- the prophets, And your heads -- the seers -- He covered.
• Isa 50:1 : 1 Thus said Jehovah: `Where `is' this -- the bill of your mother's divorce, Whom I sent away? Or to which of My creditors have I sold you? Lo, for your iniquities ye have been sold, And for your transgressions Hath your mother been sent away.
• Isa 59:9-9 : 9 Therefore hath judgment been far from us, And righteousness reacheth us not, We wait for light, and lo, darkness, For brightness -- in thick darkness we go, 10 We feel like the blind `for' the wall, Yea, as without eyes we feel, We have stumbled at noon as at twilight, In desolate places as the dead.
• Isa 59:12-15 : 12 For our transgressions have been multiplied before Thee, And our sins have testified against us, For our transgressions `are' with us, And our iniquities -- we have known them. 13 Transgressing, and lying against Jehovah, And removing from after our God, Speaking oppression and apostacy, Conceiving and uttering from the heart Words of falsehood. 14 And removed backward is judgment, And righteousness afar off standeth, For truth hath been feeble in the street, And straightforwardness is not able to enter, 15 And the truth is lacking, And whoso is turning aside from evil, Is making himself a spoil. And Jehovah seeth, and it is evil in His eyes, That there is no judgment.
• Jer 2:17 : 17 Dost thou not do this to thyself? `By' thy forsaking Jehovah thy God, At the time He is leading thee in the way?
• Jer 2:19 : 19 Instruct thee doth thy wickedness, And thy backslidings reprove thee, Know and see that an evil and a bitter thing `Is' thy forsaking Jehovah thy God, And My fear not being on thee, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah of Hosts.
• Jer 4:18 : 18 Thy way and thy doings have done these to thee, This `is' thy vexation, for `it is' bitter, For it hath struck unto thy heart.
• Jer 9:21-22 : 21 For death hath come up into our windows, It hath come into our palaces, To cut off the suckling from without, Young men from the broad places. 22 Speak thus -- an affirmation of Jehovah, And fallen hath the carcase of man, As dung on the face of the field, And as a handful after the reaper, And there is none gathering.
• Jer 10:18 : 18 For thus said Jehovah: Lo, I am slinging out the inhabitants of the land at this time, And have been an adversary to them, So that they are found out.
• Jer 15:3 : 3 And I have appointed over them four kinds, an affirmation of Jehovah, The sword to slay, and the dogs to drag, And the fowl of the heavens, And the beast of the earth, to consume and to devour.
• Jer 16:4-6 : 4 Of painful deaths they die, They are not lamented, nor are they buried, For dung on the face of the ground they are, And by sword and by famine are consumed, And their carcase hath been for food To the fowl of the heavens, And to the beast of the earth. 5 For thus said Jehovah: Do not enter the house of a mourning-feast, Nor go to lament nor bemoan for them, For I have removed My peace from this people, An affirmation of Jehovah, The kindness and the mercies. 6 And died have great and small in this land, They are not buried, and none lament for them, Nor doth any cut himself, nor become bald for them.
• Jer 18:21 : 21 Therefore, give up their sons to famine, And cause them to run on the sides of the sword, And their wives are bereaved and widows, And their men are slain by death, Their young men smitten by sword in battle,
• Lam 1:8 : 8 A sin hath Jerusalem sinned, Therefore impure she hath become, All who honoured her have esteemed her lightly, For they have seen her nakedness, Yea, she herself hath sighed and turneth backward.
• Lam 1:14 : 14 Bound hath been the yoke of my transgressions by His hand, They are wrapped together, They have gone up on my neck, He hath caused my power to stumble, The Lord hath given me into hands, I am not able to rise.
• Lam 1:18 : 18 Righteous is Jehovah, For His mouth I have provoked. Hear, I pray you, all ye peoples, and see my pain, My virgins and my young men have gone into captivity.
• Lam 2:21 : 21 Lain on the earth `in' out-places have young and old, My virgins and my young men have fallen by the sword, Thou hast slain in a day of Thine anger, Thou hast slaughtered -- Thou hast not pitied.
• Lam 4:13-15 : 13 Because of the sins of her prophets, The iniquities of her priests, Who are shedding in her midst the blood of the righteous, 14 They have wandered naked in out-places, They have been polluted with blood, Without `any' being able to touch their clothing, 15 `Turn aside -- unclean,' they called to them, `Turn aside, turn aside, touch not,' For they fled -- yea, they have wandered, They have said among nations: `They do not add to sojourn.'
• Lam 5:16-17 : 16 Fallen hath the crown `from' our head, Wo `is' now to us, for we have sinned. 17 For this hath our heart been sick, For these have our eyes been dim.
• Ezek 22:25-31 : 25 A conspiracy of its prophets `is' in its midst, as a roaring lion tearing prey; The soul they have devoured, Wealth and glory they have taken, Its widows have multiplied in its midst. 26 Its priests have wronged My law, And they pollute My holy things, Between holy and common they have not made separation, And between the unclean and the clean they have not made known, And from my sabbaths they have hidden their eyes, And I am pierced in their midst. 27 Its princes in its midst `are' as wolves, Tearing prey, to shed blood, to destroy souls, For the sake of gaining dishonest gain. 28 And its prophets have daubed for them with chalk, Seeing a vain thing, and divining for them a lie, Saying, `Thus said the Lord Jehovah:' And Jehovah hath not spoken. 29 The people of the land have used oppression, And have taken plunder violently away, And humble and needy have oppressed, And the sojourner oppressed -- without judgment. 30 And I seek of them a man making a fence, And standing in the breach before Me, In behalf of the land -- not to destroy it, And I have not found. 31 And I pour out on them mine indignation, By fire of My wrath I have consumed them, Their way on their own head I have put, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah!'
• Dan 9:5-9 : 5 we have sinned, and done perversely, and done wickedly, and rebelled, to turn aside from Thy commands, and from Thy judgments: 6 and we have not hearkened unto Thy servants, the prophets, who have spoken in Thy name unto our kings, our heads, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. 7 `To Thee, O Lord, `is' the righteousness, and to us the shame of face, as `at' this day, to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, who are near, and who are far off, in all the lands whither Thou hast driven them, in their trespass that they have trespassed against Thee. 8 `O Lord, to us `is' the shame of face, to our kings, to our heads, and to our fathers, in that we have sinned against Thee. 9 `To the Lord our God `are' the mercies and the forgivenesses, for we have rebelled against Him, 10 and have not hearkened to the voice of Jehovah our God, to walk in His laws, that He hath set before us by the hand of His servants the prophets; 11 and all Israel have transgressed Thy law, to turn aside so as not to hearken to Thy voice; and poured on us is the execration, and the oath, that is written in the law of Moses, servant of God, because we have sinned against Him. 12 `And He confirmeth His words that He hath spoken against us, and against our judges who have judged us, to bring in upon us great evil, in that it hath not been done under the whole heavens as it hath been done in Jerusalem, 13 as it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil hath come upon us, and we have not appeased the face of Jehovah our God to turn back from our iniquities, and to act wisely in Thy truth. 14 And Jehovah doth watch for the evil, and bringeth it upon us, for righteous `is' Jehovah our God concerning all His works that He hath done, and we have not hearkened to His voice. 15 And now, O Lord our God, who hast brought forth Thy people from the land of Egypt by a strong hand, and dost make for Thee a name as at this day, we have sinned, we have done wickedly. 16 `O Lord, according to all Thy righteous acts, let turn back, I pray Thee, Thine anger and Thy fury from Thy city Jerusalem, Thy holy mount, for by our sins, and by the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Thy people `are' for a reproach to all our neighbours; 17 and now, hearken, O our God, unto the prayer of Thy servant, and unto his supplication, and cause Thy face to shine on Thy sanctuary that `is' desolate, for the Lord's sake. 18 `Incline, O my God, Thine ear, and hear, open Thine eyes and see our desolations, and the city on which Thy name is called; for not for our righteous acts are we causing our supplications to fall before Thee, but for Thy mercies that `are' many. 19 O lord, hear, O Lord, forgive; O Lord, attend and do; do not delay, for Thine own sake, O my God, for Thy name is called on Thy city, and on Thy people.'
• Amos 4:10 : 10 I have sent among you pestilence by the way of Egypt, I have slain by sword your choice ones, With your captive horses, And I cause the stink of your camps to come up -- even into your nostrils, And ye have not turned back unto Me, An affirmation of Jehovah.
• Mic 3:9-9 : 9 Hear this, I pray you, heads of the house of Jacob, And ye judges of the house of Israel, Who are making judgment abominable, And all uprightness do pervert. 10 Building up Zion with blood, And Jerusalem with iniquity. 11 Her heads for a bribe do judge, And her priests for hire do teach, And her prophets for silver divine, And on Jehovah they lean, saying, `Is not Jehovah in our midst? Evil doth not come in upon us.' 12 Therefore, for your sake, Zion is ploughed a field, and Jerusalem is heaps, And the mount of the house `is' for high places of a forest!
• Mic 7:13 : 13 And the land hath been for a desolation, Because of its inhabitants, Because of the fruit of their doings.
• Matt 15:14 : 14 let them alone, guides they are -- blind of blind; and if blind may guide blind, both into a ditch shall fall.'
• John 9:40-41 : 40 And those of the Pharisees who were with him heard these things, and they said to him, `Are we also blind?' 41 Jesus said to them, `If ye were blind, ye were not having had sin, but now ye say -- We see, therefore doth your sin remain.
• Rom 11:7 : 7 What then? What Israel doth seek after, this it did not obtain, and the chosen did obtain, and the rest were hardened,
• Rom 11:25 : 25 For I do not wish you to be ignorant, brethren, of this secret -- that ye may not be wise in your own conceits -- that hardness in part to Israel hath happened till the fulness of the nations may come in;
• 2 Cor 4:4 : 4 in whom the god of this age did blind the minds of the unbelieving, that there doth not shine forth to them the enlightening of the good news of the glory of the Christ, who is the image of God;
• 2 Pet 1:9 : 9 for he with whom these things are not present is blind, dim-sighted, having become forgetful of the cleansing of his old sins;
• 1 John 2:11 : 11 and he who is hating his brother, in the darkness he is, and in the darkness he doth walk, and he hath not known whither he doth go, because the darkness did blind his eyes.
• Rev 3:17 : 17 because thou sayest -- I am rich, and have grown rich, and have need of nothing, and hast not known that thou art the wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked,
• Deut 28:28-29 : 28 `Jehovah doth smite thee with madness, and with blindness, and with astonishment of heart; 29 and thou hast been gropling at noon, as the blind gropeth in darkness; and thou dost not cause thy ways to prosper; and thou hast been only oppressed and plundered all the days, and there is no saviour.
• 2 Kgs 9:33-37 : 33 And he saith, `Let her go;' and they let her go, and `some' of her blood is sprinkled on the wall, and on the horses, and he treadeth her down. 34 And he cometh in, and eateth, and drinketh, and saith, `Look after, I pray you, this cursed one, and bury her, for she `is' a king's daughter.' 35 And they go to bury her, and have not found of her except the skull, and the feet, and the palms of the hands. 36 And they turn back, and declare to him, and he saith, `The word of Jehovah it `is', that He spake by the hand of this servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, In the portion of Jezreel do the dogs eat the flesh of Jezebel, 37 and the carcase of Jezebel hath been as dung on the face of the field in the portion of Jezreel, that they say not, This `is' Jezebel.'
• Ps 79:2-3 : 2 They gave the dead bodies of Thy servants Food for the fowls of the heavens, The flesh of Thy saints For the wild beast of the earth. 3 They have shed their blood As water round about Jerusalem, And there is none burying.