Zephaniah - Introduction

He must have flourished in the earlier part of Josiah's reign. In Zephaniah 2:13-15 B.C.; and in Zephaniah 1:4 specially that of Baal. Now Josiah's reformation began in the twelfth and was completed in the eighteenth year of his reign. Zephaniah, therefore, in denouncing Baal worship, co-operated with that good king in his efforts, and so must have prophesied somewhere between the twelfth and eighteenth years of his reign. The silence of the historical books is no argument against this, as it would equally apply against Jeremiah's prophetical existence at the same time. Jewish tradition says that Zephaniah had for his colleagues Jeremiah, whose sphere of labor was the thoroughfares and market places, and Huldah the prophetess, who exercised her vocation in the college in Jerusalem. The prophecy begins with the nation's sin and the fearful retribution coming at the hands of the Chaldeans. These are not mentioned by name, as in Jeremiah; for the prophecies of the latter, being nearer the fulfilment, become more explicit than those of an earlier date. The second chapter dooms the persecuting states in the neighborhood as well as Judea itself. The third chapter denounces Jerusalem, but concludes with the promise of her joyful re-establishment in the theocracy.

The style, though not generally sublime, is graphic and vivid in details (compare Zephaniah 1:4-12 Aramaisms. There are occasional coincidences with former prophets (compare Zephaniah 2:14 Zephaniah 2:15 Zephaniah 3:10 Zephaniah 2:8 Zephaniah 1:5 Zephaniah 1:12 the phraseology of Hebrew prophetic poetry being the common language of the inspired brotherhood. The New Testament, at Romans 15:6 to refer to Zephaniah 3:9