At this point the Hebrew goes back to the first person, and Good News Translation marks this by the introductory words “The LORD says,” to identify the speaker. The question arises whether verses 17 and 18 continue to speak of the LORD’s judgment on the people of Judah only, or whether they speak of all mankind. The wording is capable of either interpretation, but these verses close an entire section, and it is very much in keeping with Hebrew structure to refer at the end to the same theme as was mentioned at the beginning. In verses 2-3 the theme was universal judgment, and most English translations take that to be the theme again here.
I will bring distress on men, so that they shall walk like the blind: the word here translated distress is a form of the same Hebrew root that occurred in verse 15. Men here means not just males, but “mankind” (Good News Translation). I will bring distress on men may also be rendered as “I will cause people to undergo such disasters (or, terrible difficulties) that….”
They shall walk like the blind: the idea of punishment by the LORD being like blindness is found also in such passages as Deuteronomy 28.29 and Isaiah 59.10. Its meaning is that, when the LORD acts, people will be helpless and unable to find a way of escape. In certain languages the construction “such … that” is difficult to match literally. In such cases one may render this first sentence as “I will cause people everywhere to undergo terrible disasters, and as a result everyone will grope about….” One may also express this as “I will cause mankind to receive terrible disasters until they grope about….”
Because they have sinned against the LORD: the LORD here refers to himself in the third person, but since this is unnatural in English, Good News Translation keeps first-person references throughout the verse. Revised Standard Version and most other English translations follow the Hebrew punctuation of the verse and take this clause with those that preceded. Good News Translation takes it with what follows, but the overall meaning of the verse is hardly affected. Either way, this clause states the cause, and the rest of the verse states the effects arising from it.
Their blood shall be poured out like dust: like dust seems unnatural in English because it does not sound appropriate to compare a liquid with a solid. Good News Translation therefore drops the original comparison and uses another one, “like water.” This is both natural in English and is also found elsewhere in the Old Testament (Psa 79.3). Most important, it conveys the same meaning as the original, namely, worthlessness. But although this is appropriate in English, it may not be so in other languages, especially in areas where water is scarce and precious. Translators should consider carefully what will be appropriate and natural in their own language. Some may find it natural to retain the expression like dust, or perhaps to say “like sand.” In languages which do not use the passive, alternative translation models are the following: “Their enemies will pour out their blood like…” or “Their enemies will cause their blood to flow like….”
And their flesh like dung: the comparison of flesh with rotting waste matter shows that the flesh is the flesh of dead people. Good News Translation makes the meaning clear by dropping the figure of speech and translating in nonfigurative language: “and their dead bodies will lie rotting on the ground.” If a translator has made the previous sentence active, this sentence may be rendered as “and leave their dead bodies to rot on the ground.” It may also be possible to restructure the two sentences together without mentioning an agent, by saying “their blood will flow like dust (or sand, or water), and their dead bodies will lie on the ground and rot.”
Quoted with permission from Clark, David J. & Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on the Book of Zephaniah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1989. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .