PROPHET IN THE DAYS OF JOSIAH (ZEPHANIAH 1:1) · TWO KINGDOMS

Zephaniah. He proclaimed “the great day of the LORD” on Judah and the nations, and a humble remnant who would sing.

SCRIPTURE CALLS

Prophet

ERA

Two kingdoms 930–586 BC

IN THE DAYS OF

Josiah

BOOK

Zephaniah

HOW THE WORD CAME

The book opens with the word of the LORD coming to him, and gives his line back four generations: son of Cushi, son of Gedaliah, son of Amariah, son of Hizkiah.

THE CALL

How the word came

  • The book opens with the word of the LORD coming to him, and gives his line back four generations: son of Cushi, son of Gedaliah, son of Amariah, son of Hizkiah. Whether Hizkiah is King Hezekiah is an open question (below). Zephaniah 1:1
  • Much of the book speaks in the LORD's own voice (“I will utterly consume”, “I will search Jerusalem with candles”). Zephaniah 1:2 Zephaniah 1:12

BEFORE THE KINGS

Before Josiah

KING OF JUDAH

Josiah

THE MESSAGE

The word in its main themes

The day of the LORD is near

“The great day of the LORD is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly”

Zephaniah 1:14 (KJV) →

“That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress”

Zephaniah 1:15 (KJV) →

Against the worship in Jerusalem

“I will search Jerusalem with candles, and punish the men that are settled on their lees: that say in their heart, The LORD will not do good, neither will he do evil.”

Zephaniah 1:12 (KJV) →

Seek the LORD, ye meek

“Seek ye the LORD, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the LORD’s anger.”

Zephaniah 2:3 (KJV) →

The nations around, and Nineveh

Jerusalem's leaders

A remnant, and singing

“The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.”

Zephaniah 3:17 (KJV) →

THE WORD TO …

To whom the word was spoken

TO JUDAH AND JERUSALEM

“I will also stretch out mine hand upon Judah, and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem”

Zephaniah 1:4 (KJV) →

TO THE PHILISTINES

“Woe unto the inhabitants of the sea coast, the nation of the Cherethites!”

Zephaniah 2:5 (KJV) →

TO MOAB AND AMMON

“Surely Moab shall be as Sodom, and the children of Ammon as Gomorrah”

Zephaniah 2:9 (KJV) →

TO THE ETHIOPIANS

“Ye Ethiopians also, ye shall be slain by my sword.”

Zephaniah 2:12 (KJV) →

TO ASSYRIA AND NINEVEH

“This is the rejoicing city that dwelt carelessly, that said in her heart, I am, and there is none beside me”

Zephaniah 2:15 (KJV) →

TO THE DAUGHTER OF ZION

“Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel; be glad and rejoice with all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem.”

Zephaniah 3:14 (KJV) →

THE BOOK

The book of Zephaniah

  • 1 Heading Zephaniah 1:1
  • 2 The day of the LORD on Judah Zephaniah 1:2–2:3
  • 3 Against the nations Zephaniah 2:4–15
  • 4 Woe to Jerusalem Zephaniah 3:1–8
  • 5 A pure language, a remnant, a song Zephaniah 3:9–20

HOW THE STORY ENDS

Scripture says, tradition says

SCRIPTURE SAYS

  • From the textScripture says nothing of him beyond the first verse of his book. Zephaniah 1:1

TRADITION SAYS

No tradition is recorded here.

OPEN QUESTIONS

Where readers have differed

Yes, the king

Ibn Ezra, as reported by the Jewish Encyclopedia (1904); Keil (1868); G. A. Smith (1898)

Keil reasons that a line traced back four generations points to a well-known ancestor: Hezekiah “must have been a celebrated man, and that in all probability the king of that name is intended.” Smith: “Zephaniah's great-great-grandfather Hezekiah was in all probability the king.” Zephaniah 1:1 [12][45][43]

Possible but not certain

A. B. Davidson (1896); S. R. Driver (1891)

Davidson: “The royal descent of Zephaniah, though not certain, is supported by plausible grounds.” Driver only reports that “it is supposed by some” that the king is meant.[46][3]

No

Abravanel, as reported by the Jewish Encyclopedia (1904)

The Jewish Encyclopedia says that Abravanel “rejected this identification.”[43]

IN SCRIPTURE

Every passage

CHAPTERS · 3

Zephaniah 1 Zephaniah 2 Zephaniah 3

PASSAGES · 1

Zephaniah 1:1–3:20

WHAT SCRIPTURE DOES NOT SAY

  • Scripture gives no call, no story and no death for Zephaniah; all it tells of him is in Zephaniah 1:1.
  • He is a different man from Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest of Zedekiah's day (Jer 21:1; 2 Kgs 25:18).
  • The New Testament does not quote Zephaniah by name.

SOURCES

Where this page comes from

  • L. C. L. Brenton (tr.), The Septuagint Version of the Old Testament, translated into English (1844), Jeremiah in the Greek order: chs. 34:2 (Heb. 27:2, no verse 1), 35:1 (Heb. 28:1), 36:24 (Heb. 29:24), 46:1–18 (Heb. 39, verses 4–13 absent); read in the site's Brenton text (data/text/lxxe).
  • L. C. L. Brenton (tr.), The Septuagint Version of the Old Testament and Apocrypha (1851), the opening sentence of Lamentations (checked against the 1879 Bagster scan).
  • S. R. Driver, An Introduction to the Literature of the Old Testament (1891), pp. 239–240 (Jer 10:11), 248, 253–254 (the Greek text of Jeremiah), 298–299 (Obadiah), 314–315 (Nahum), 317–319 (Habakkuk, Zephaniah), 432–435 (Lamentations).
  • C. F. Keil, tr. D. Patrick, The Prophecies of Jeremiah, vol. 1 (Keil and Delitzsch) (1874), Introduction, pp. 31–35 (the Greek text; Graf 1862 quoted); scan of the 1880 printing.
  • C. F. Keil, tr. J. Kennedy, The Prophecies of Jeremiah, vol. 2, with The Lamentations (Keil and Delitzsch) (1874), Introduction to Lamentations, pp. 349–350.
  • C. F. Keil, tr. D. Patrick, The Prophecies of Jeremiah (Keil and Delitzsch) (1874), note on Jer 25:11 (read on Bible Hub).
  • C. F. Keil, tr. D. Patrick, The Prophecies of Jeremiah (Keil and Delitzsch) (1874), note on Jer 27:1 (read on Bible Hub).
  • C. F. Keil, tr. M. G. Easton, Biblical Commentary on the Book of Daniel (Keil and Delitzsch) (1872), note on Dan 9:2, reporting Ewald (read on Bible Hub).
  • C. F. Keil, tr. J. Martin, The Twelve Minor Prophets (Keil and Delitzsch) (1868), Introduction to Obadiah (read on Bible Hub).
  • C. F. Keil, tr. J. Martin, The Twelve Minor Prophets (Keil and Delitzsch) (1868), Introduction to Nahum, quoting Vitringa (read on Bible Hub).
  • C. F. Keil, tr. J. Martin, The Twelve Minor Prophets (Keil and Delitzsch) (1868), Introduction to Habakkuk (read on Bible Hub).
  • C. F. Keil, tr. J. Martin, The Twelve Minor Prophets (Keil and Delitzsch) (1868), Introduction to Zephaniah (read on Bible Hub).
  • G. C. Workman, The Text of Jeremiah (1889), pp. 117–118, 222–223.
  • A. W. Streane, The Double Text of Jeremiah (1896), p. 13.
  • A. W. Streane, The Book of the Prophet Jeremiah, together with the Lamentations (Cambridge Bible) (1881), p. 172 (note on 25:11).
  • A. W. Streane, Jeremiah and Lamentations (Cambridge Bible, revised edition) (1913), note on Jer 27:1 (read on Bible Hub).
  • A. W. Streane, Jeremiah and Lamentations (Cambridge Bible, revised edition) (1913), introductory note to Jer 39, reporting Giesebrecht, Duhm and Cornill (read on Bible Hub).
  • A. S. Peake, Jeremiah and Lamentations, vol. 2 (The Century Bible) (1910), p. 13 (note on 25:11).
  • M. Faulhaber, "Jeremias", Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 8 (1910), the text of the book; the tradition of his death (online text).
  • M. G. Easton, Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897), entry "Jeremiah, Book of" (read on Bible Hub).
  • C. von Orelli, "Jeremiah", International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia (1915), his death (online text; not checked against a scan of the printed edition; read on Bible Hub).
  • R. S. Hess, Review of E. Tov, The Text-Critical Use of the Septuagint in Biblical Research, 3rd ed. (2015), Denver Journal (facts only) (2017), on 4QJer b and 4QJer d and the shorter Greek edition.
  • C. J. Ellicott (ed.), A Bible Commentary for English Readers (c. 1878–1884), note on Jer 25:11 (read on Bible Hub).
  • C. J. Ellicott (ed.), A Bible Commentary for English Readers (c. 1878–1884), note on Jer 27:1 (read on Bible Hub).
  • C. J. Ellicott (ed.), A Bible Commentary for English Readers (c. 1878–1884), note on Jer 40:1 (read on Bible Hub).
  • C. J. Ellicott (ed.), A Bible Commentary for English Readers (c. 1878–1884), note on Matt 27:9 (read on Bible Hub).
  • H. D. M. Spence and J. S. Exell (eds.), The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1897), note on Jer 25:11 (read on Bible Hub).
  • H. D. M. Spence and J. S. Exell (eds.), The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1897), note on Jer 40:1 (read on Bible Hub).
  • H. D. M. Spence and J. S. Exell (eds.), The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1897), note on Zech 1:12 (read on Bible Hub).
  • John Gill, An Exposition of the Old Testament (1748–1763), note on Jer 27:1 (read on Bible Hub).
  • John Gill, An Exposition of the New Testament (1746–1748), note on Matt 27:9 (read on Bible Hub).
  • Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826), note on Matt 27:9 (read on Bible Hub).
  • R. Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and D. Brown, A Commentary, Critical and Explanatory, on the Whole Bible (1871), note on Matt 27:9, quoting John Lightfoot's Horae Hebraicae (read on Bible Hub).
  • Augustine, tr. S. D. F. Salmond, The Harmony of the Gospels (NPNF First Series, vol. 6) (1888), 3.7.29–31.
  • M. B. Riddle (ed.), Editor's note to Augustine, Harmony of the Gospels 3.7 (NPNF First Series, vol. 6) (1888), note 1344 in the CCEL text.
  • M. L. Rodkinson (tr.), New Edition of the Babylonian Talmud: Tract Baba Bathra (1902), pp. 44–45 (Baba Bathra 14b–15a: the order of the prophets; who wrote which books).
  • I. H. Hall (tr.), "The Lives of the Prophets", Journal of the Society of Biblical Literature and Exegesis 7 (1887), pp. 36–37 (Jeremiah), from a Syriac manuscript ascribed to Epiphanius of Cyprus.
  • Tertullian, tr. S. Thelwall, Scorpiace (ANF vol. 3) (1885), ch. 8.
  • Jerome, tr. W. H. Fremantle, Against Jovinianus (NPNF Second Series, vol. 6) (1893), 2.37.
  • J. Rendel Harris, The Rest of the Words of Baruch: A Christian Apocalypse of the Year 136 A.D. (1889), pp. 21, 24.
  • E. G. Hirsch, V. Ryssel, S. Schechter and L. Ginzberg, "Jeremiah", Jewish Encyclopedia, vol. 7 (1904), biblical data; in rabbinical literature (Seder Olam 26); the Christian legend.
  • M. Seligsohn, "Seder 'Olam Rabbah", Jewish Encyclopedia, vol. 11 (1905), authorship; the dates it gives the prophets.
  • Jewish Encyclopedia, "Hezekiah", Jewish Encyclopedia, vol. 6 (1904), §2 (Zephaniah's ancestor; Ibn Ezra and Abravanel).
  • Origen, tr. F. Crombie, A Letter to Africanus (ANF vol. 4) (1885), sections 7–8.
  • G. A. Smith, The Book of the Twelve Prophets, vol. 2 (The Expositor's Bible) (1898), pp. 41, 47 (Zephaniah), 78, 85 (Nahum), 167, 171 (Obadiah), 193 (Zechariah's seventy years).
  • A. B. Davidson, The Books of Nahum, Habakkuk and Zephaniah (Cambridge Bible) (1896), pp. 12–13 (Elkosh; date of Nahum), 45–46, 49, 53 (Habakkuk), 96–97 (Zephaniah).
  • E. B. Pusey, The Minor Prophets, with a Commentary (first published 1860–77; London printing of 1883) (1883), Introduction to Obadiah, pp. 227–229.
  • C. J. Gadd, The Fall of Nineveh: the newly discovered Babylonian Chronicle, No. 21,901, in the British Museum (1923), pp. 15–16, 40–41 (reverse, lines 38–45).
  • D. D. Luckenbill, Ancient Records of Assyria and Babylonia, vol. 2 (1927), §§776–778, pp. 295–296 (the Rassam Cylinder on Ni', Thebes).
  • T. Witton Davies, in R. H. Charles (ed.), The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament, vol. 1 (1913), pp. 655–656 (Bel and the Dragon: date; verses 33–39).

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