ZEPHANIAH
1. A Kohathite, in the seventh generation from Levi, 1Ch 6:36 .2. A priest, high in the sacred order, during the troublous times of king Zedekiah, who often communicated with Jeremiah by his agency. He was among the captives slain by the king of Babylon at Riblah, 2Ki 25:18-21 Jer 21:1 29:25,29 37:3 52:24-27.3. The ninth in order of the minor prophets, of the tribe of Simeon. He prophesied in the early part of king Josiah’s reign, before the reforms of that good king were instituted, 2Ch 34:3 Zep 1:4-5 .This would fix his date about 630 B. C., and the destruction of Nineveh, foretold in Zep 2:13, occurred in 625 B. C. His prophecy contains two oracles, in three chapters, directed against idolaters in Judah, against surrounding idolatrous nations, and against wicked rulers, priests, and prophets. It closes with cheering promises of gospel blessings. His style and manner are like those of Jeremiah, during whose early years they were contemporary. His subsequent history is unknown.
Fuente: American Tract Society Bible Dictionary
Zephaniah
The ninth of the twelve Minor Prophets of the Canon of the Old Testament; preached and wrote in the second half of the seventh century B.C. He was a contemporary and supporter of the great Prophet Jeremias. His name (Heb. Zephanja, that is “the Lord conceals”, “the Lord protects”) might, on the analogy of Gottfried, be most briefly translated by the words God protect. The only primary source from which we obtain our scanty knowledge of the personality and the rhetorical and literary qualities of Sophonias, is the short book of the Old Testament (containing only three chapters), which bears his name. The scene of his activity was the city of Jerusalem (i, 4-10; iii, 1 sqq.; 14 sqq.).
I. DATE
The date of the Prophet’s activity fell in the reign of King Josias (641-11). Sophonias is one of the few Prophets whose chronology is fixed by a precise date in the introductory verse of the book. Under the two preceding kings, Amon and Manasse, idolatry had been introduced in the most shameful forms (especially the cult of Baal and Astarte) into the Holy City, and with this foreign cult came a foreign culture and a great corruption of morals. Josias, the king with the anointed sceptre, wished to put an end to the horrible devastation in the holy places. One of the most zealous champions and advisers of this reform was Sophonias, and his writing remains one of the most important documents for the understanding of the era of Josias. The Prophet laid the axe at the root of the religious and moral corruption, when, in view of the idolatry which had penetrated even into the sanctuary, he threatened to “destroy out of this place the remnant of Baal, and the names of the . . . priests” (i, 4), and pleaded for a return to the simplicity of their fathers instead of the luxurious foreign clothing which was worn especially in aristocratic circles (i, 8). The age of Sophonias was also a most serious and decisive period, because the lands of Anterior Asia were overrun by foreigners owing to the migration of the Seythians in the last decades of the seventh century, and because Jerusalem, the city of the Prophets, was only a few decades before its downfall (586). The far-seeing watchman on Sion’s battlements saw this catastrophe draw near: “for the day of the Lord is near” is the burden of his preaching (i, 7). “The great day of the Lord is near, it is near and exceeding swift: . . . That day is a day of wrath, a day of tribulation and darkness and obscurity, a day of clouds and whirlwinds” (i, 14-15).
II. CONTENTS
The book of the Prophet naturally contains in its three chapters only a sketch of the fundamental ideas of the preaching of Sophonias. The scheme of the book in its present form is as follows:
(a) i, 2-ii, 3. The threatening of the “day of the Lord”, a Dies irae dies illa of the Old Testament. The judgment of the Lord will descend on Juda and Jerusalem as a punishment for the awful degeneracy in religious life (i, 4-7a); it will extend to all classes of the people (i, 7b-13), and will be attended with all the horrors of a frightful catastrophe (i, 14-18); therefore, do penance and seek the Lord (ii, 1-3).
(b) ii, 4-15. Not only over Jerusalem, but over the whole world (urbi et orbi), over the peoples in all the four regions of the heavens, will the hand of the Lord be stretched–westwards over the Philistines (4-7), eastwards over the Moabites and Ammonites (8-11), southwards over the Ethiopians (12), and northwards over the Assyrians and Ninivites (13-15).
(c) With a special threat (iii, 1-8). The Prophet then turns again to Jerusalem: “Woe to the provoking, and redeemed city. . . She hath not hearkened to the voice, neither hath she received discipline”; the severest reckoning will be required of the aristocrats and the administrators of the law (as the leading classes of the civil community), and of the Prophets and priests, as the directors of public worship.
(d) iii, 9-20. A consolatory prophecy, or prophetic glance at the Kingdom of God of the future, in which all the world, united in one faith and one worship, will turn to one God, and the goods of the Messianic Kingdom, whose capital is the daughter of Sion, will be enjoyed. The universality of the judgment as well as of the redemption is so forcibly expressed in Sophonias that his book may be regarded as the “Catholic Epistle” of the Old Testament.
(e) The last exhortation of Sophonias (iii, 9-20) also has a Messianic colouoring, although not to an extent comparable with Isaias.
III. CHARACTER OF THE PROPHET
Sophonias’ prophecy is not strongly differentiated from other prophecies like that of Amos or Habacuc, it is confined to the range of thought common to all prophectic exhortations: threats of judgment, exhortation to penance, promise of Messianic salvation. For this reason Sophonias might be regarded as the type of Hebrew Prophets and as the final example of the prophetic terminology. He does not seek the glory of an original writer, but borrows freely both ideas and style from the older Prophets (especially Isaias and Jeremias). The resemblances to the Book of Deuteronomy may be explained by the fact that this book, found in the Josian reform, was then the centre of religious interest. The language of Sophonias is vigorous and earnest, as become the seriousness of the period, but is free from the gloomy elegiac tone of Jeremias. In some passages it becomes pathetic and poetic, without however attaining the classical diction or poetical flight of a Nahum or Deutero-Isaias. There is something solemn in the manner in which the Lord is so frequently introduced as the speaker, and the sentence of judgment falls on the silent earth (i, 7). Apart from the few plays on words (cf. especially ii, 4), Sophonias eschews all rhetorical and poetical ornamentation of language. As to the logical and rhythmical build of the various exhortations, he has two strophes of the first sketch (i, 7 and 14) with the same opening (“the day of the Lord is near”), and closes the second sketch with a hymn (ii, 15)–a favourite practice of his prototype, Jeremias. A graduated development of the sentiment to a climax in the scheme is expressed by the fact that the last sketch contains an animated and longer lyrical hymn to Jerusalem (iii, 14 sqq.). In Christian painting Sophonias is represented in two ways; either with the lantern (referring to i, 12: “I will search Jerusalem with lamps”) or clad in a toga and bearing a scroll bearing as text the beginning of the hymn “Give praise, O daughter of Sion” (iii, 14).
IV. CRITICAL PROBLEMS OFFERED BY SOPHONIAS
The question of authorship is authoritatively answered by the introductory verse of the book. Even radical higher critics like Marti acknowledge that no reason exists for doubting that the author of this prophecy is the Sophonias (Zephaniah) mentioned in the title (“Das Dodekapropheton”), Tübingen, 1904, 359). The fact that this Prophet’s name is mentioned nowhere else in the Old Testament does not affect the conclusive force of the first verse of the prophecy. Sophonias is the only Prophet whose genealogy is traced back into the fourth generation. From this has been inferred that the fourth and last ancestor mentioned Ezechias (Hizkiah) is identical with the king of the same name (727-698). In this case, however, the explanatory phrase “King of Judah” would undoubtedly have been put in apposition to the name. Consequently the statement concerning the author of the book in the first part of the introductory verse appears entirely worthy of belief, because the statement concerning the chronology of the book given in the second half of the same verse is confirmed by internal criteria. The descriptions of customs, especially in the first chapter, showing the state of religion and morals at Jerusalem are, in point of fact, a true presentation of conditions during the first years of the reign of King Josias. The worship of the stars upon the flat roofs, mentioned in i, 5, and imitation of the Babylonian worship of the heavens that had become the fashion in Palestine from the reign of Manasses is also mentioned by the contemporary Prophet, Jeremias (xix, 13; xxxii, 29), as a religious disorder of the Josianic era. All this confirms the credibility of the witness of i, 1, concerning authorship of Sophonias.
Critical investigations, as to where the original texts in the Book of Sophonias end and the glosses, revisions of the text, and still later revisions begin, have resulted in a unanimous declaration that the first chapter of the book is the work of Sophonias; the second chapter is regarded as not so genuine, and the third still less so. In separating what are called the secondary layers of the second chapter nearly all the higher critics have come to different conclusions — quot capita, tot sensus. Each individual verse cannot be investigated here as in the detailed analysis of a commentator. However, it may be pointed out in general that the technical plan in the literary construction of the speeches, especially the symmetrical arrangement of the speeches mentioned in section II, and the responses spoken of in section III, forbid any large excisions. The artistic form used in the construction of the prophetic addresses is recognized more and more as an aid to literary criticism.
The passage most frequently considered an addition of a later date is iii, 14-20, because the tone of a herald of salvation here adopted does not agree with that of the prophecies of the threatening judgment of the two earlier chapters. It is, however, the custom of the Prophets after a terrifying warning of the judgments of Jahve to close with a glimpse of the brilliant future of the Kingdom of God, to permit, as it were, the rainbow to follow the thunder-storm. Joel first utters prophetic denunciations which are followed by prophetic consolations (Joel in Vulgate, i-ii, 17; ii, 19-iii); Isaias in ch. i calls Jerusalem a city like Sodom and directly afterwards a city of justice, and Micheas, whose similarity to Sophonias is remarked upon by critics, also allows his threats of judgment to die away in an announcement of salvation. One of the guiding eschatological thoughts of all the Prophets is this: The judgment is only the way of transition to salvation and the consummation of the history of the world will be the salvation of what is left of the seed. For this reason, therefore, Sophonias, iii, 14-20 cannot be rejected. The entire plan of the book seems to be indicated in a small scale in the first address, which closes ii, 1-3, with an exhortation to seek the Lord that is with a consolatory theme directly after the terrible proclamation of the Day of the Lord.
The queries raised by the textual criticism of the Book of Sophonias are far simpler and nearer solution than those connected with the higher criticism. The conditions of the text, with exception of a few doubtful passages, is good and there are few books of the Biblical canon which offer so few points of attack to Biblical hypercriticism as the Book of Sophonias.
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REINKE, Der Prophet Zephanja (Munster, 1868); KNABENBAUER, Comment. In proph. min. (Paris, 1886); VAN HOONACKER, Les douze pet. proph. (Paris, 1908); LIPPL, Das Buch des Proph. Sophon. (Freiburg, 1910), containing (pp. ix-xvi) an excellent bibliography; SCHWALLY, Das Buch Zephanja (Giessen, 1890); SCHULZ, Comment uber den Proph. Zephanja (Hanover, 1892); ADAMS, The Minor Proph. (New York, 1902); DROVER, The Min. Proph. (Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah)(Edinburgh, 1907); the complete commentaries of STRACK-ZOCKLER, NOWACK; MARTI; and G.A. SMITH.
M. FAULHABER Transcribed by Thomas M. Barrett
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume XIVCopyright © 1912 by Robert Appleton CompanyOnline Edition Copyright © 2003 by K. KnightNihil Obstat, July 1, 1912. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., CensorImprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York
Fuente: Catholic Encyclopedia
Zephaniah
(Heb. Tsephanyah’, [in the prolonged form Tsephanya’hu,
, 2Ki 25:18], hidden of Jehovah; Sept. v.r. [in 1 Chronicles] , Vulg. Sophonias), the name of four Hebrews.
1. A Kohathite Levite, son of Tahath and father of Azariah, in the ancestry of the prophet Samuel (q.v.) and of Heman (1Ch 6:36 [Heb. 21]); the same elsewhere (Heb. 21:24 [9]) called URIEL SEE URIEL (q.v.) the father of Uzziah.
2. A prophet of whom we have no information beyond what his book furnishes. In this (Zep 1:1) he is said to have been the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hizkiah, which last is usually regarded as the same with king Hezekiah. If so, he lived B.C. cir. 620. With this agrees the date, of his prophecy there given; namely, in the reign of Josiah. We do not elsewhere, however, read of an such son of Hezekiah as Amariah, and, so far as he record and probability go, Manasseh was his only son. SEE ZEPHANIAH, BOOK OF.
3. The son of Maaseiah (Jer 21:1) and sagan, or second priest, in the reign of Zedekiah. He succeeded Jehoiada (Jer 29:29; Jer 25:26), and was probably a ruler of the Temple, whose office it was, among others, to punish pretenders to the gift of prophecy. In this capacity, he was appealed to by Shenaiah the Nehelamite, in a letter from Babylon, to punish Jeremiah (Jer 29:29). Twice was he sent from Zedekiah to inquire of Jeremiah the issue of the siege of the city by the Chaldaeans (Jer 21:1), and to implore him to intercede for the people (Jer 37:3). On the capture of Jerusalem by Nebuzaradan, he was taken with Seraiah the high-priest and others, and slain at Riblah. (Jer 52:24; Jer 52:27; 2Ki 25:18; 2Ki 25:21). B.C. 588.
4. Father of Josiah 2 (Zec 6:10), and of Hen, according to the reading of the received text of Zec 6:14 as given in the A. V. B.C. ante 519. SEE JOSIAH.
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Zephaniah
Jehovah has concealed, or Jehovah of darkness. (1.) The son of Cushi, and great-grandson of Hezekiah, and the ninth in the order of the minor prophets. He prophesied in the days of Josiah, king of Judah (B.C. 641-610), and was contemporary with Jeremiah, with whom he had much in common. The book of his prophecies consists of:
(a) An introduction (1:1-6), announcing the judgment of the world, and the judgment upon Israel, because of their transgressions.
(b) The description of the judgment (1:7-18).
(c) An exhortation to See k God while there is still time (2:1-3).
(d) The announcement of judgment on the heathen (2:4-15).
(e) The hopeless misery of Jerusalem (3:1-7).
(f) The promise of salvation (3:8-20).
(2.) The son of Maaseiah, the “second priest” in the reign of Zedekiah, often mentioned in Jeremiah as having been sent from the king to inquire (Jer. 21:1) regarding the coming woes which he had denounced, and to entreat the prophet’s intercession that the judgment threatened might be averted (Jer. 29:25, 26, 29; 37:3; 52:24). He, along with some other captive Jews, was put to death by the king of Babylon “at Riblah in the land of Hamath” (2 Kings 25:21).
(3.) A Kohathite ancestor of the prophet Samuel (1 Chr. 6:36).
(4.) The father of Josiah, the priest who dwelt in Jerusalem when Darius issued the decree that the temple should be rebuilt (Zech. 6:10).
Fuente: Easton’s Bible Dictionary
Zephaniah
(“Jehovah hath hidden”) (Psa 27:5; Psa 83:3).
1. Ninth of the minor prophets; “in the days of Josiah,” between 642 and 611 B.C. “Son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hizkiah.” The specification of his father, grandfather, and great grandfather, implies he was sprung from men of note. The omission of the designation “king,” or “king of Judah,” is against the notion that the “Hizkiah” means king Hezekiah (compare Pro 25:1; Isa 38:9). He prophesied in the former part of Josiah’s reign. In Zep 2:13-15 he foretells Nineveh’s fall (625 B.C.), therefore his prophesying was before 625 B.C.; and in Zep 1:4-6 threatens “cutting off” to “the remnant of Baal” and “the name of the (See CHEMARIMS with the priests “; see Hos 10:5 margin, “and them that worship the host of heaven upon the housetops, and them that worship and that swear by the Lord, and that swear by Malcham.”
Fulfilled by Josiah (2Ki 23:4-5). Josiah’s reformation was begun in the 12th year of his reign, and was completed in the 18th. Zephaniah in denouncing the different forms of idolatry paved the way for Josiah’s work, and probably cooperated with the king from the 12th to the 18th year. Jewish tradition says that Zephaniah had as his colleagues Jeremiah, labouring in the thoroughfares and market places, and Huldah the prophetess in the college in Jerusalem. His position among the prophets, and his quotations from Joel, Amos, and Isaiah, indicate the correctness of the date assigned to him in Zep 1:1.
In Zep 1:8, “I will punish the king’s children” must refer to coming judgments on the foreseen idolatries of the younger members of the royal family (Jer 22:19; Jer 39:6; 2Ki 23:31-32-36-37; 2Ch 36:5-6; 2Ki 20:18). Not only the masses, but even princes, should not escape the penalty of idolatry. “The remnant of Baal” (Zep 1:4) implies that Josiah’s reformation was already begun but not completed.
2. “The second priest” or sagan, next to the high priest. Son of Maaseiah. Sent by Zedekiah to consult Jeremiah (Jer 21:1). Succeeded to Jehoiada who was in exile. Appealed to by Shemaiah in a letter from Babylon to punish Jeremiah with imprisonment and the stocks for declaring the captivity would be long (Jer 29:25-26; Jer 29:29). Zephaniah read the letter to Jeremiah. This fact and Shemaiah’s upbraiding Zephaniah for want of zeal against Jeremiah imply that Zephaniah was less prejudiced against Jeremiah than the others. This was the reason for the king’s choosing him as messenger to the prophet (Jer 37:3). Slain by Nebuchadnezzar as an accomplice in Zedekiah’s rebellion (Jer 52:24; Jer 52:27). Jer 52:3. Father of Hen or Josiah (Zec 6:14). Zec 6:4. Ancestor of Samuel and Heman; a Kohathite Levite (1Ch 6:36), called Uriel 1Ch 6:24.
Fuente: Fausset’s Bible Dictionary
ZEPHANIAH
So far as we know, Zephaniah was the first prophet to appear in Judah since Isaiah and Micah, whose work had come to an end seventy years earlier. His preaching marked the beginning of a new era of prophetic activity in Judah, but it was an era that was to end in the destruction of Jerusalem. Among the prophets who followed him were Jeremiah, Nahum and Habakkuk.
Background to the book
For much of the seventy years before Zephaniah, the wicked Manasseh had reigned. After his reign the spiritual condition of Judah was worse than that for which God had destroyed the Canaanites in the time of Joshua. The destruction of Judah appeared to be inevitable (2Ki 21:1-16).
The new era was marked not only by the preaching of Zephaniah, but also by the religious reforms of the new king, Josiah (who had come to the throne in 640 BC). It seems that Zephaniah and Josiah were related (Zep 1:1). Josiahs reforms, which lasted many years, were aimed at removing idolatry and restoring the true worship of God in Jerusalem. (For details of the reforms see 2Ki 22:3-20; 2Ki 23:1-25; 2 Chronicles 34; 2 Chronicles 35.)
Zephaniah saw that the improvements in the external forms of religion, though commendable, were no substitute for true reform in heart and life. The wrong attitudes promoted by Manasseh were so deeply rooted that Josiahs reforms could not remove them (2Ki 23:26-27). As Zephaniah announced Gods judgment on the nation, he urged people to repent of their wrongdoing and come to a true knowledge of God.
Contents of the book
The preaching of Zephaniah was concerned largely with the certainty of Gods judgment on sinners. The violence, cheating and false religion of Manassehs time were still widespread in Jerusalem (1:1-18). But there was hope for those who humbly turned from their sin to the Lord (2:1-3). Examples from the surrounding nations impressed upon the people that evildoers could not escape Gods judgment (2:4-15). Jerusalems sin guaranteed a terrible judgment for the city (3:1-8), though when all the sinners had been destroyed, those who had truly repented would enjoy Gods blessing (3:9-20).
Fuente: Bridgeway Bible Dictionary
Zephaniah
ZEPHANIAH.1. The prophet (see next art.). 2. A Kohathite (1Ch 6:36). 3. Son of Maaseiah the priest in Jerusalem in the time of Zekediah the king and Jeremiah the prophet (Jer 21:1; Jer 29:25; Jer 29:29; Jer 37:3). As next in rank to Seraiah, grandson of Hilkiah (1Ch 6:14), Zeph. is called second priest (2Ki 25:18). On the occasion of the final overthrow of Jerusalem he was put to death at Riblah (Jer 52:24 ff.). 4. The father of one Josiah in Babylon (Zec 6:10; Zec 6:14).
Fuente: Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible
Zephaniah
ZEPHANIAH is the title of the 9th section of the Hebrew collection of prophetic literature, entitled The Twelve Prophets, which was probably compiled in the 3rd cent. b.c. (see Micah [Book of]). Like other sections of this work, it contains both earlier and later materials, though these cannot always be separated from one another with certainty. In the main the Book of Zephaniah consists of a prophecy of judgment delivered by Zephaniah about b.c. 627.
1. The prophet.According to the title of the book (Zep 1:1), Zephaniah prophesied in the reign of Josiah (b.c. 639608). Since the allusions in ch. 1 point to the continuance unchecked of false worships such as those of the host of heaven which had prevailed in Judah under the previous kings Manasseh and Amon, we may infer that Zephaniah prophesied in the earlier part of Josiahs reign, before the Reformation of the year 621, which enforced the laws of Deuteronomy. Two further inferences with regard to Zephaniah are justifiable if, as is probable, the great-great-grandfather of Zephaniah was king Hezekiah (1:1. cf. Expositor, 1900 (July), pp. 7680): (1) Zephaniah was of royal descent; (2) like Jeremiah (Jer 1:6), Zephaniah when he began to prophesy was a young mansay of some 25 years.
2. The book.The Book of Zephaniah ought not to be read as a continuous whole. Ch. 3 is separated from chs. 1, 2 by a very marked break. Chs. 1 and 2 form not improbably a single prophecy, which, however, appears to have been more or less amplified by subsequent editors; certainly in some places, especially at the beginning of ch. 2, it has been rendered obscure by textual corruption. In its present form this prophecy predicts as near at hand a judgment that is to involve the whole world (Zep 1:2 f.; also Zep 1:18, if land should rather be translated earth); and it describes in detail how it will affect Judah (Zep 1:4-17 (18)), Philistia (Zep 2:4-7), Moab and Ammon (Zep 2:8-10), Ethiopia (Zep 2:12) and Assyria (Zep 2:14-15). The ground of judgment in the case of Judah is found in the prevalence of false worship (Zep 1:4-5), of foreign fashions (Zep 1:8 f.) and disregard of Jahweh (Zep 1:12); in the case of Moab and Ammon, in the contemptuous taunts with which they had upbraided Judah (Zep 2:8-10) (such taunts as, according to Ezekiel [Eze 25:1-11], these peoples hurled at the Jews after the Fall of Jerusalem in 586 b.c.); in the case of Assyria, in her presumptuous arrogance and self-confidence (Zep 2:15). According to the general opinion, Zephaniah, like Jeremiah, who was prophesying at the same time, expected the Scythians to be the instruments of this judgment: for at about this time hordes of these barbarians were pouring into Asia. According to Marti, Zephaniahs original prophecy confined itself to a prediction of a destructive invasion by the Scythians, who, coming from the north, would first sweep through Judah, then southwards through Philistia to Ethiopia in the extreme south, and then, turning backwards, would overwhelm the Assyrian empire. The references to Moab and Ammon, and the touches which universalize the judgment, must in this case owe their insertion into Zephaniahs prophecy to later editors. Many also think that the promises in chs. 1, 2 (see chiefly Zep 2:3; Zep 2:7) are later than Zephaniah.
Ch. 3 contains (1) a description of the sins of Jerusalem (Zep 3:1-7); this may be a second denunciation of Zephaniahs, parallel to ch. 1 and particularizing rather different sins, or a prophetic description of Jerusalem at a later date; (2) a description of a universal judgment from which only the godly remnant of Judah will escape (Zep 3:8; Zep 3:11-13; cf. Zep 2:3); (3) a description of the glory of the Jews after Jahweh has delivered them from captivity (Zep 3:14-20). All of ch. 3 may be of post-exilic origin, and the third section can scarcely be pre-exilic. Inserted in the midst of the second section are two verses (Zep 3:9-10) which, like Zep 2:11, predict that Jahweh will be universally worshipped; these also are probably of post-exilic origin.
It seems clear that Zephaniah, like the prophets of the 8th cent. and his own contemporary, Jeremiah, was, primarily, a prophet of judgment to come upon his own people. In this respect he differed from two prophets of the same generationNahum and Habakkuk, both of whom, however, probably prophesied after the Reformation of Josiah. Nahum is entirely concerned with judgment on Assyria; Habakkuk is perplexed by what to Zephaniah might have appeared the fulfilment of his prophecythe present troubles of Judah. Zephaniah marks no new departure in prophetic activity or thought, but by his moral earnestness, and his insistence on the need for single-hearted devotion to the demands of Jahweh for righteousness, he performed for his own generation the service rendered a century earlier by Isaiah, whose influence on his thought and teaching is obvious (cf. particularly Zep 1:14-17 with Isa 2:12 ff.).
Owing more especially to textual corruption, parts of the book, even in the RV [Note: Revised Version.] , are unintelligible: see Driver, Minor Prophets, vol. ii. (Century Bible); G. A. Smith, Book of the Twelve Prophets, vol. ii. pp. 3574 (containing a translation from a critically emended text); see also A. B. Davidsons Commentary on the AV [Note: Authorized Version.] in the Cambridge Bible.
G. B. Gray.
Fuente: Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible
Zephaniah
An eminent prophet, though his writings are small. His name is a compound, from Tzaphan, secret-and Jah, the Lord. And very suited was this name to the prophet; for much of the Lord Jesus is in his prophecy, when opened and explained by God the Holy Ghost. Hence, that Scripture, “the secret of the Lord is with them that fear him, and he will shew them his covenant.” (Psa 25:14)
Fuente: The Poor Mans Concordance and Dictionary to the Sacred Scriptures
Zephaniah
zef-a-na (, cephanyah, , cephanyahu, Yah hath treasured):
(1) The prophet. See ZEPHANIAH, BOOK OF.
(2) A Levite or priest (1Ch 6:36 (Hebrew 6:21)), called in some genealogies Uriel (1Ch 6:24; 1Ch 15:5, 1Ch 15:11).
(3) Judean father or fathers of various contemporaries of Zechariah, the prophet (Zec 6:10, Zec 6:14).
(4) A priest, the second in rank in the days of Jeremiah. He was a leader of the patriotic party which opposed Jeremiah. Nevertheless, he was sent to the prophet as a messenger of King Zedekiah when Nebuchadnezzar was about to attack the city (Jer 21:1) and at other crises (Jer 37:3; compare Jer 29:25, Jer 29:29; 2Ki 25:18). That he continued to adhere to the policy of resistance against Babylonian authority is indicated by the fact that he was among the leaders of Israel taken by Nebuzaradan before the king of Babylon, and killed at Riblah (2Ki 25:18 parallel Jer 52:24).
Fuente: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Zephaniah
Zephaniah, the ninth in order of the Minor Prophets. The name seems to have been a common one among the Jews. Contrary to usual custom, the pedigree of the prophet is traced back for four generations’the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hizkiah,’ As there was at least another Zephaniah, a conspicuous personage at the time of the captivity, the parentage of the prophet may have been recounted so minutely to prevent any reader from confounding the two individuals. The so-called Epiphanius asserts that Zephaniah was of the tribe of Simeon, of the hill Sarabatha. The existence of the prophet is known only from his oracles, and these have no biographical sketches; so that our knowledge of this man of God comprises only the fact and the results of his inspiration. It may be safely inferred, however, that he labored with Josiah in the pious work of reestablishing the worship of Jehovah in the land.
It is recorded (Zephaniah 1) that the word of the Lord came to him ‘in the days of Josiah, the son of Amon, King of Judah.’ We have reason for supposing that he flourished during the earlier portion of Josiah’s reign. In the second chapter (Zep 2:13-15) he foretells the doom of Nineveh, and the fall of that ancient city happened about the eighteenth year of Josiah. In the commencement of his oracles also, he denounces various forms of idolatry, and specially the remnant of Baal. The reformation of Josiah began in the twelfth, and was completed in the eighteenth year of his reign. So thorough was his extirpation of the idolatrous rites and hierarchy which defiled his kingdom, that he burnt down the groves, dismissed the priesthood, threw down the altars, and made dust of the images of Baalim. Zephaniah must have prophesied prior to this religious revolution, while some remains of Baal were yet secreted in the land, or between the twelfth and eighteenth years of the royal reformer. So Hitzig and Movers place him; while Eichhorn, Bertholdt, and Jaeger incline to give him a somewhat later date. At all events, he flourished between the years B.C. 642and B.C. 611; and the portion of his prophecy which refers to the destruction of the Assyrian Empire must have been delivered prior to the year B.C. 625, the year in which Nineveh fell. The publication of these oracles was, therefore, contemporary with a portion of those of Jeremiah, for the word of the Lord came to him in the thirteenth year of the reign of Josiah. Indeed, the Jewish tradition is, that Zephaniah had for his colleagues Jeremiah and the prophetess Huldah, the former fixing his sphere of labor in the thoroughfares and marketplaces, the latter exercising her honorable vocation in the college in Jerusalem.
The book consists of only three chapters. In Zephaniah 1, the sins of the nation are severely reprimanded, and a day of fearful retribution is menaced. The circuit of reference is wider in Zephaniah 2, and the ungodly and persecuting states in the neighborhood of Judaea are also doomed; but in Zephaniah 3, while the prophet inveighs bitterly against Jerusalem and her magnates, he concludes with the cheering prospect of her ultimate settlement and blissful theocratic enjoyment.
The style of this prophet has not the sustained majesty of Isaiah, or the sublime and original energy of Joel: it has no prominent feature of distinction; yet its delineations are graphic, and many of its touches are bold and striking. For example, in the first chapter the prophet groups together in his descriptions of the national idolatry several characteristic exhibitions of its forms and worship. The verses are not tame and prosaic portraiture, but form a series of vivid sketches. The poet seizes on the more strange peculiarities of the heathen worshiputtering denunciations on the remnant of Baal, the worshippers of Chemarimthe star-adorers, the devotees of Malcham, the fanatics who clad themselves in strange apparel, and those who in some superstitious mummery leaped upon the threshold. Not a few verses occur in the course of the prophecy which, in tone and dignity, are not unworthy to be associated with the more distinguished effusions of the Hebrew bards. The language is pure: it has not the classic ease and elegance of the earlier compositions, but it wants the degenerate feebleness and Aramaic corruption of the succeeding era. Zephaniah is not expressly quoted in the New Testament; but clauses and expressions occur which seem to have been formed from his prophecy (Zep 3:9; Rom 15:6, etc.). He was, in fine, as Cyril of Alexandria terms him, ‘a true prophet, and filled with the Holy Ghost, and bringing his oracles from the mouth of God.’
Fuente: Popular Cyclopedia Biblical Literature
Zephaniah
[Zephani’ah]
1. Son of Maaseiah and ‘second’ priest in the reign of Zedekiah; he was carried captive to Nebuchadnezzar and slain at Riblah. 2Ki 25:18; Jer 21:1; Jer 29:25; Jer 29:29; Jer 37:3; Jer 52:24.
2. Son of Tahath, a Kohathite. 1Ch 6:36-37.
3. Son of Cushi, and one of the ‘minor prophets.’ Zep 1:1.
4. Father of Josiah and of Hen. Zec 6:10; Zec 6:14.
Fuente: Concise Bible Dictionary
Zephaniah
H6846
1. A priest in the reign of Zedekiah, king of Judah:
– Sent by the king to Jeremiah with a message soliciting the prophet’s intercession and prayers
Jer 21:1-2
– Shows Jeremiah the false prophet’s letter
Jer 29:25-29
– Taken to Riblah and slain
2Ki 25:18-21; Jer 52:24-27
2. A Kohathite
1Ch 6:36
3. A prophet in the days of Josiah
Zep 1:1
4. Father of Josiah
Zec 6:10; Zec 6:14
Fuente: Nave’s Topical Bible
Zephaniah
Zephaniah (zph’a-n’ah), Jehovah hides. 1. One of the minor prophets, in the days of Josiah. His prophecy was uttered about b.c. 620 to 609. The description of the judgment in ch. 1:14, 15, “The great day of Jehovah is near” (in the Latin version Dies ir, dies illa), has furnished the basis for the sublime hymn of the Middle Ages, the Dies Ir ascribed to Thomas a Celano, and often translated. There are four persons of this name mentioned in the Bible.
Fuente: People’s Dictionary of the Bible
Zephaniah
Zephani’ah. (hidden by Jehovah).
1. The ninth, in order, of the twelve minor prophets. His pedigree is traced to his fourth ancestor, Hezekiah, Zep 1:1, supposed to be the celebrated king of that name. The chief characteristics of this book are the unity and harmony of the composition, the grace, energy and dignity of its style, and the rapid and effective alternations of threats and promises.
The general tone of the last portion is Messianic, but without any specific reference to the person of our Lord. The date of the book is given in the inscription — viz, the reign of Josiah, from 642 to 611 B.C. It is most probable, moreover, that the prophecy was delivered before the eighteenth year of Josiah.
2. The son of Maaseiah, Jer 21:1, and sagan or second priest in the reign of Zedekiah. (B.C. 588). He succeeded Jehoida, Jer 29:25-26, and was probably a ruler of the Temple, whose office it was, among others, to punish pretenders to the gift of prophecy. Jer 29:29 On the capture of Jerusalem, he was taken and slain at Riblah. Jer 52:24; Jer 52:27; 2Ki 25:18; 2Ki 25:21.
3. Father of Josiah, 2, Zec 6:10, and of Hen, according to the reading of the received text of Zec 6:14.
Fuente: Smith’s Bible Dictionary
ZEPHANIAH
a priest in the reign of Zedekiah
2Ki25:18; Jer 21:1; Jer 29:25; Jer 52:24
— the Prophet See Book of Zephaniah
Fuente: Thompson Chain-Reference Bible
Zephaniah
was the son of Cushi, and was probably of a noble family of the tribe of Simeon. He prophesied in the reign of Josiah, about B.C. 630. He denounces the judgments of God against the idolatry and sins of his countrymen, and exhorts them to repentance; he predicts the punishment of the Philistines, Moabites, Ammonites, and Ethiopians, and foretels the destruction of Nineveh; he again inveighs against the corruptions of Jerusalem, and with his threats mixes promises of future favour and prosperity to his people; whose recall from their dispersion shall glorify the name of God throughout the world. The style of Zephaniah is poetical; but it is not distinguished by any peculiar elegance or beauty, though generally animated and impressive.