Zephaniah was the great-great-grandson (i.e., fourth in line of descent) of a man called in the A.V. Hiskiah, who was probably the king Hezekiah. Usually a prophet’s genealogy is not carried beyond his father, but if for any reason it was thought desirable to carry it further back, the obvious stopping point would be some man of note whose descent was a matter of common knowledge. However, as the number four plays such a large part in the plan of development of the prophecy there is possibly here an additional reason for giving his ancestors to the fourth generation.
The prophet’s name appears to mean “Hidden by God,” probably in the sense of being treasured or protected by God. That his message was delivered in the reign of Josiah, king of Judah, we are told in the very first verse, but without any details as to the particular year of his thirty-one years’ reign. Certainly it would be before the eighteenth year of the reign in which we are told Josiah effected a very complete, though temporary, reform of the national religion.1 An earlier partial reform had taken place in the 12th year of this same reign, and thus there seems good reason to suppose that the words of Zephaniah were God’s answer to the desire of Josiah to “seek after the God of David his father.”2 Perhaps too, Zephaniah was one of the guiding spirits in the move to repair the house of God, which resulted in the discovery there of the Book of the Law, which in turn provoked Josiah to yet further zeal for reformation. The phrase “remnant of Baal” (1:4) certainly does suggest a previous partial reformation which would confirm our suggestion of a date between the 12th and 18th years of Josiah’s reign.
It is worth while noticing in this connection the words of the prophetess Huldah.3 It is usually assumed that throughout she is referring to the words of the Book of the Law read before the king by Shaphan. Certainly this is true with regard to verses 24-25, but verse 27 appears to have reference rather to particular words proclaimed “against this place” which does not tally with the more general denunciations of the Law. Is it not therefore likely that Huldah is referring in verse 27 to the specific prophecy of Zephaniah “against this place and the inhabitants thereof,” as she puts it, the fulfilment of which she is now deputed by God to declare postponed owing to the reformation effected by Josiah? “Postponed” we say, for, as God foresaw, the following kings rapidly led Judah into a state of degradation surpassing that from which Josiah, under Zephaniah’s influence, had rescued them.
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Author: G. Wilson
Keywords: Zephaniah, Prophet Zephaniah, Prophecy of Zephaniah, Book of Zephaniah
Bible reference(s): Zephaniah 1
Source: “The Book of Zephaniah,” The Testimony, Vol. 18, Nos. 215-6, November & December 1948, pp. 363-8, 404-10.
Page indexed by: inWORD Bible Software.