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| - The superscription of the Book of Zephaniah attributes its authorship to “Zephaniah son of Cushi son of Gedaliah son of Amariah son of Hezekiah, in the days of King Josiah son of Amon of Judah” (1:1, NRSV). All that is known of Zephaniah comes from the text. The superscription of the book is lengthier than most and contains two features. The name Cushi, Zephaniah’s father, means ‘Ethiopian’. In a society where genealogy was considered extremely important because of God's covenant with Abraham and his descendants, the author may have felt compelled to establish his Hebrew lineage. In fact, this lineage is traced back to Hezekiah, who was king of Judah. The author of Zephaniah does not shrink from condemning the Cushites or Ethiopians. Chapter 2:12 contains a succinct but unequivocal message
- Zephaniah is one of the minor prophets, written during the time that Josiah was king of Judah, c. 630 BC. The book warns of God's coming judgement against Judah and neighboring nations unless they repented of idolatry. Although Jerusalem would be destroyed, in time it would be rebuilt and populated by a righteous people.
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| abstract
| - Zephaniah is one of the minor prophets, written during the time that Josiah was king of Judah, c. 630 BC. The book warns of God's coming judgement against Judah and neighboring nations unless they repented of idolatry. Although Jerusalem would be destroyed, in time it would be rebuilt and populated by a righteous people. All of these prophecies have been fulfilled. Although Josiah did institute religious reforms, Judah and its neighbors were conquered by Babylon c. 597 BC, when Jeconiah was king of Judah. Jerusalem and the Temple were destroyed eleven years later. However, Babylon was in turn conquered by Persia c. 539 BC, and King Cyrus the Great of Persia allowed the Jewish people to return to Judah and rebuild the temple c. 537 BC.
- The superscription of the Book of Zephaniah attributes its authorship to “Zephaniah son of Cushi son of Gedaliah son of Amariah son of Hezekiah, in the days of King Josiah son of Amon of Judah” (1:1, NRSV). All that is known of Zephaniah comes from the text. The superscription of the book is lengthier than most and contains two features. The name Cushi, Zephaniah’s father, means ‘Ethiopian’. In a society where genealogy was considered extremely important because of God's covenant with Abraham and his descendants, the author may have felt compelled to establish his Hebrew lineage. In fact, this lineage is traced back to Hezekiah, who was king of Judah. The author of Zephaniah does not shrink from condemning the Cushites or Ethiopians. Chapter 2:12 contains a succinct but unequivocal message: “You also, O Ethiopians, / Shall be killed by my sword.” Zephaniah’s familial connection with King Hezekiah may have also legitimized his harsh indictment of the royal city in 3:1-7. As with many of the other prophets, there is no external evidence to directly associate composition of the book with a prophet by the name of Zephaniah. Some scholars believe that much of the material does not date from the days of King Josiah (ca. 640-609 BCE), but is actually post-monarchic. Three general possibilities are that a person, possibly named Zephaniah, prophesied the words of the book of Zephaniah; the general message of a Josianic prophet is conveyed through the book of Zephaniah; or the name could have been employed, either during the monarchic or post-monarchic period, as a ‘speaking voice’, possibly for rhetorical purposes. Although it is possible that a post-monarchic author assumed the persona of a monarchic prophet to add credibility to his message, there is no evidence to support such a claim. The prophetic book of the Bible attributed to Zephaniah occurs ninth among the twelve minor prophets, preceded by Habakkuk and followed by Haggai. Zephaniah (or Tzfanya, Sophonias, צפניה, Ẓəfanya, Ṣəp̄anyāh) means 'the Lord conceals', 'the Lord protects' or, possibly, 'God of darkness'.
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