the trumpet and alarm = an alarming trumpet. Figure of speech Hendiadys = a trumpet, yea, a trumpet [call] "to arms"! Compare Zephaniah 2:2 . towers. Hebrew corners. Put by Figure of speech Metonymy (of Adjunct), App-6 , for the towers usually fixed there. read more
"The great day of Jehovah is near, it is near and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of Jehovah; the mighty man crieth there, bitterly."The blatant and persistent sins of the chosen people were "the voice" that proclaimed the near approach of judgment; and, if it was true of ancient Judah, is it not also true that when the same wickedness is rampant in the whole world that such is "the voice" of the approaching final Judgment of all men? Of course it is."We live in times when these... read more
"That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness."The Vulgate rendition of the first two phrases is Dies Irae, Dies Illa, the title and opening line of the famous mediaeval hymn by Thomas of Celano, sung by churches all over the world as a solemn Requiem. The translation of the hymn is itself an appropriate commentary on this whole passage:"Day of wrath! O day of mourning!See... read more
"A day of the trumpet and alarm, against the fortified cities, and against the high battlements."All of the places of human security will be useless in the day of God's judgment, whether in a local and specific judgment like that which came upon Judah forty years after Zephaniah, or in the day of great terror that is prophesied to conclude human habitation of the earth. The only true security is in the knowledge and service of God. read more
Zephaniah 1:14. Even the voice of the day of the Lord— For the message of the day of the Lord shall be bitter: The mighty man shall howl upon it. Houbigant. See 2 Kings 21:14; 2 Kings 21:26. read more
Zephaniah 1:15. Of wasteness— Calamity or tumult. Zephaniah 1:17. Their flesh] Their carcases. REFLECTIONS.—1st, We have, 1. An account of the inspired penman of this prophesy, Zephaniah, whose ancestors for four generations prior to him are mentioned, probably as men of distinguished note; and some have thought him of the blood-royal, and a descendant from Hezekiah, king of Judah, the same word in the original as Hizkiah. He lived in the best times, even in the reforming reign of Josiah; and... read more
14. voice of . . . day of . . . Lord—that is, Jehovah ushering in that day with a roar of vengeance against the guilty (Jeremiah 25:30; Amos 1:2). They who will not now heed (Zephaniah 1:12) His voice by His prophets, must heed it when uttered by the avenging foe. mighty . . . shall cry . . . bitterly—in hopeless despair; the might on which Jerusalem now prides itself, shall then fail utterly. read more
15. wasteness . . . desolation—The Hebrew terms by their similarity of sounds, Shoah, Umeshoah, express the dreary monotony of desolation (see on :-). read more
16. the trumpet—namely, of the besieging enemy (Amos 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]. read more
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E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Zephaniah 1:15
wrath. trouble, &c. Note the Figure of speech Synonymia ( App-6 ). read more