PILA, a City of Palestine. Ululate habitatores Zeph. i. 11. מכתשMachtes.Pilæ. In the Hebrew ‘tis habitatores Machtes, or Inhabitants of Maktesh, of the Jaw-tooth, or of the Mortar. Maktesh is put for a Jaw-bone in the History of Samson, Judg. xv. 14.where it is said, that this Hero drank Water that God caus’d to come forth from a Jaw-bone, or from a Rock that had some Resemblance to it. The Place where this happened preserved the Name of Lechi or of Maktesh; and it is very probable, that it is to this Place that Zephaniah addresses these Words, Howl, ye Inhabitants of Maktesh. Ye Philistines or Inhabitants of Maktesh, your Destruction is at Hand. See what we have already said upon the Article of LECHI.
Sanct. Tir. Riber. &c.Other Interpreters think, that Maktesh in this Place of Zephaniah, stands for the City of Jerusalem, which in a figurative Sense is call’d The Mortar, in which those were to be bray’d and beaten to Powder, that should be found in it, when it was taken by Nebuchadnezzar.
Hieron. in Sophron.St. Jerome seems to think, that Maktesh was a certain Quarter of the City Jerusalem, near the Fountain Siloam. This Place might be called the Mortar, because of its Depth. The Rabbi Solomon explains it of Tiberias, because it was situated in the deepest Valley of the Country. The Chaldee understands it of the Valley of Kidron.