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MAKTESH
(Makʹtesh) [a mortar].
Apparently a section of Jerusalem near the Fish Gate and the second quarter. At the time of Judah’s calamity the inhabitants of Maktesh were foretold to howl, since commercial activities would cease there.—Zeph. 1:1, 2, 10, 11.
The Hebrew word makh·teshʹ refers to a “mortar” (Prov. 27:22) or a “mortar-shaped hollow” (Judg. 15:19) and, therefore, some translations use “Mortar” instead of “Maktesh” as a proper name. (AT, JB, RS) The Targum identifies Maktesh with the Kidron Valley, the deep ravine along Jerusalem’s eastern wall. But this valley is not in the vicinity of the more westerly “Fish Gate” and the “second quarter.” For this reason Maktesh is generally thought to denote a part of the Central (or Tyropean) Valley, perhaps its upper portion.
