The Mortar

MORTAR, THE (מַכְתֵּ֑שׁ, mortar, a hollow stone, used for pounding, braying grain). In Zephaniah 1:11, a place, prob. in Jerusalem, since it is named after the Fish Gate and the Second Quarter (RSV, ASVmg., KJV, ASV text, MAKTESH). Since the location of the Fish Gate and the Second Quarter is disputed, the site of the Mortar cannot be fixed. It might have been so named because it was a hollow place in shape like a mortar; or a section where grinders of grain worked.