Jin Hee Han
The book of Zephaniah introduces the prophet as the son of Cushi, suggesting an African connection (Bennett 1996, 659), whose lineage includes King Hezekiah of Judah (Zeph. 1:1). The historical background is set in the late seventh century, probably before Josiah’s Deuteronomic reform, which removed the kind of religious practices that Zephaniah berated. One of the twelve Minor Prophets, Zephaniah follows Nahum and Habakkuk. The rationale behind the order of the Twelve is not transparent, but Nahum’s condemnation of Nineveh and Habakkuk’s search for God’s justice and grace form a suggestive backdrop to the prophecy of Zephaniah, who announces divine judgment for all nations and salvation for the faithful remnant of Israel. The book is made of the following sections: oracles of doom and destruction (1:2–13); the great day of YHWH (1:14–18); repentance and redemption (2:1–3); oracles against the nations (2:4–15); the remnant of Israel (3:1–13); and the celebration of YHWH rejoicing over the divine work of salvation (3:14–20).
Zephaniah 1:2–13: Doom and Destruction
THE TEXT IN ITS ANCIENT CONTEXT
The prophet sounds an alarm setting forth God’s announcement of the total devastation of the world in Zeph. 1:2. The catastrophe will clear away both humans and animals, for corruption has become so extensive as to leave no living thing untouched (1:3). It is going to be even more sweeping than Noah’s flood, which did not include the fish of the sea (see Gen. 6:7). The prophet identifies the primary basis of judgment as Judah’s worship of other gods. The NRSV translates Zeph. 1:3 as God causing the wicked to stumble, but the original Hebrew actually envisions divine judgment removing “the stumbling blocks along with the wicked” (author’s own translation). The prophetic catalog of venerated objects that incurred God’s wrath in Judah and Jerusalem includes the Canaanite god Baal, idols, the host of the heaven (referring to the stars), and the Ammonite god Milcom (1:4–5). Zephaniah 1:5b adds another offense: the duplicity of conflating the worship of God with that of Milcom, which may be another name of the deity Molech, who is associated with child sacrifice (see Lev. 18:21; 20:2–5). The honoring of Milcom, whose Hebrew (malkām in Zeph. 1:5) can be translated “their king,” may also suggest idolatrous worship of human kings (1:5). These wrongful worshipers have committed the offense of abandoning God (1:6).
In Zeph. 1:7, the prophet proclaims the sobering day of YHWH (1:7), anticipating the forthcoming poem “The Great Day of YHWH” (1:14–18). To deal with the rampant corruption that has contaminated the universe, God institutes a sacrificial meal for consecrated guests (1:7). The meaningful worship is set in contrast with the ruinous cult of Judah and Jerusalem. The latter half of 1:7 contains a humorous play on words, making it ambiguous as to whether the guests are to partake of the feast or to be slaughtered as ritual sacrifice. The faithful remnant of Zeph. 3:12–13 would constitute the former kind of guests, while the powerful officials and princes of 1:8 would be the latter.
On the anticipated day of YHWH, God is expected to punish the noble and the royal (1:8b); those dressed in foreign attire (1:8c); those who leap over the thresholds, an imitation of a practice of Canaanite priests (1:9a; see also 1 Sam. 5:4–5); and those who participate in treacherous economic exploitation in the name of loyalty to their master, whether they are serving their king or another god (Zeph. 1:9b). Wailing will be heard throughout Jerusalem in the Fish Gate and the Second Quarter and in the Mortar, which all have been associated with the bustling of profit-seeking commerce (1:10–11a). On the day of God’s judgment, both traders and trading will be finished (1:11b). The prophet imagines God searching through Jerusalem with lamps to seek out those who are complacent while denying God’s relevance in human affairs (1:12). The prophet predicts the catastrophic collapse of the rich who trust in their wealth more than God (1:13), recalling the curses compiled in Deuteronomy 27–28.
THE TEXT IN THE INTERPRETIVE TRADITION
The prophetic oracle of doom in Zeph. 1:2–13 is marked by the vision of God’s exhaustive judgment. Judah and Jerusalem are clearly the offenders, but animals are also included in the cosmic carnage. The midrash compares God’s action to destroy the whole creation to that of a king who punishes his prince and the teacher who led him astray (Gen. Rab. 28.6; cf. b. Sanh. 108a). Citing Hosea 4:1–4a and Isa. 59:1–4, Cyprian (546) argues that the thoroughgoing destruction is necessary to purify the polluted creation.
The comprehensive list of offenses that focus on idolatrous worship combines cultic aberrations with economic exploitation and complacency (Zeph. 1:4–8). The internal social ills are linked with the issue of foreign clothing, whose offensive nature may have to do with foreign influence that promotes corruption (Theodore of Mopsuestia, 291). Martin Luther (327) ridicules the donning of foreign clothes in 1:8 as an act of abandoning one’s own religion and culture. The rich who profit from godless pursuits will be exposed by God’s search through Jerusalem with lamps, which the Jerusalem Talmud imagines as a picture of the Lord, who examines the heart of the people (y. Pesah. 27a).
THE TEXT IN CONTEMPORARY DISCUSSION
Zephaniah’s depiction of cosmic upheaval fuels the modern discussion on faith and ecology. Due to their sins of idolatry and predatory exploitation of nature, human beings risk losing the privileged status described in Gen. 1:28 when they fail to live up to the creator’s charge (Kay, 226). The prophetic word threatens to cancel even the covenant of Noah in Genesis 9, which is supposed to be eternal (Berlin, 82). The prophet’s critique of a corrupt cult that causes the cosmic catastrophe is in consonance with the idea of faithful worship that enables the worshiper to endure evil and experience order, as Jon D. Levenson charts in Creation and the Persistence of Evil.
Zephaniah 1:14–18: The Day of YHWH
THE TEXT IN ITS ANCIENT CONTEXT
In Zeph. 1:14–18, the prophet offers a full description of the consequences of the day of YHWH that he mentioned in 1:7 (see also Isa. 13:6, 9, 13; Jer. 30:7; 46:10; Ezek. 30:2–3; Joel 1:15; 2:1–2, 11; Amos 5:18–20; 8:9–14; Mal. 4:5). Following Amos, Zephaniah treats it as a day of disaster for Judah, who may have thought that it was set aside for her enemy nations. The scope of destruction on the day includes the whole earth (echoing Zeph. 1:2), providing a dramatic backdrop to God’s salvation of the remnant of Israel in 3:8–20. However, the oracle maintains its focus on those who “have sinned against YHWH” (1:17; see Sweeney 2003, 97).
The day is approaching fast and accompanies ominous cries (1:14). Zephaniah delineates the day as a time of divine wrath and assembles no less than eight words to depict a hopeless situation (1:15). This day of despair reveals enemy forces attacking Judah and Jerusalem (1:16), and the prophet explains the havoc as YHWH’s punishment against the sinners (1:17). No treasure will shield them from the attackers when YHWH unleashes sweeping destruction that the prophet hyperbolically presents as the end of “the whole earth” (1:18).
THE TEXT IN THE INTERPRETIVE TRADITION
Zephaniah 1:14–18 has been interpreted in a number of ways. Origen (107–13) cites the passage as the source of inspiration for Paul’s language in Rom. 2:5–6, which announces the day of God’s final judgment and whose darkness is contrasted with God, the light of the spiritual world. Theodore of Mopsuestia (292) interprets the day of YHWH as a specific time in history when God’s decrees are fulfilled. Gregory the Great expects the day of YHWH to open up minds that are closed to truth; and for the church, it will be like the day of a wedding marked by “the happiness of the elect, those who will be found worthy to rejoice” (1990, 72). Luther (334–35) calls the day of YHWH a day of Babylonian captivity rather than the final day of history. According to Calvin (226), the oracle of the day of YHWH confirms that there is no salvation apart from God.
THE TEXT IN CONTEMPORARY DISCUSSION
Zephaniah’s eschatological expectation of a day when God would restore justice is far from a defeatist’s delayed wish fulfillment. It challenges worshipers to seek the redress of contemporary social ills in light of God’s concern for the oppressed and sovereignty over history. The prophet’s call for justice reverberates in Jürgen Moltmann’s theology of hope, which inspires mission in service of justice. The prophet’s perspective on the day of YHWH anticipates Wolfhart Pannenberg’s eschatology, in which the future facilitates the construction of peace in this world in light of the eschatological kingdom of God.
Zephaniah 2:1–3: Repentance and Protection
THE TEXT IN ITS ANCIENT CONTEXT
In Zeph. 2:1, the prophet calls on the people of Judah, the “shameless nation,” to gather together. This imperative of assembly serves as a pun. On the one hand, it summons them to communal repentance; on the other hand, it threatens to dispose of the people like stubbles of grain gathered to be thrown away. The prophet emphasizes that time is running out; each of the three lines of 2:2 begins with the sentence-starter “before.” As the doom brewing for the whole world (1:14–18) is about to unleash its destructive forces against the nations (2:4–15), the prophetic word offers the last chance for the humble who have kept the law of the Lord to find the path of salvation, which is to be accomplished through seeking out YHWH and doing God’s demands for justice and humility (2:3a). To the urgent exhortation the prophet adds the cautious qualifier “perhaps” (2:3b; see also Amos 5:15), underscoring that deliverance is purely YHWH’s doing. It is not the prophet’s to guarantee it, much less the outcome of the works of righteousness by the pious. God has set aside the humble among God’s people (see also Zeph. 3:12–13), who will be instrumental in Judah’s possible salvation (2:3). By contrast, the nations that lack humility and willingness to seek YHWH will meet destruction (2:4–15).
THE TEXT IN THE INTERPRETIVE TRADITION
The midrash finds in Zeph. 2:1 a mandate of self-correction before correcting others, for Judah cannot criticize the sins of other nations or exhort them to follow her example until she first heeds God’s call to repentance and is found worthy for God’s salvation (Lam. Rab. 3:50). Zephaniah’s words cause the monastic church father Pachomius (36) to grieve over the imminent end of the age with no adequate instruction in faith available; he attributes the egregious situation to the lack of mortification as a pious practice.
THE TEXT IN CONTEMPORARY DISCUSSION
In his book Option for the Poor, Norbert Lohfink observes that Zephaniah displays a distinctive interest in the poor, while most prophets direct their oracles against the kings and the nobles. Lohfink’s insight exerts important influence on liberation theology, which observes the link between poverty and spirituality. While the world faces extinction, the poor and the humble on the margin have the possibility of salvation by God (see Sobrino). Through “the orthopraxis of the marginalized,” God’s peace and justice come true (Bail, 456).
Zephaniah 2:4–15: Against the Nations
THE TEXT IN ITS ANCIENT CONTEXT
Oracles against the nations (Philistines, Moabites, Ammonites, Ethiopians, and Assyrians) underscore God’s sovereignty over the world. These declarations contain puns in Hebrew whose sound effects are left out in English versions. For example, one could paraphrase the translation as follows: “Gaza shall be zapped; Ashkelon, shattered; Ashdod, pushed away; and Ekron, eradicated” (Zeph. 2:4). The seacoast of Canaan, where Philistines and Cherethites dwell, will be devastated and repopulated by the remnants of Judah (2:5–7). Moab and Ammon will become like Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen. 19:24–38) as a punishment of the offense of humiliating the people who belong to the Lord of Hosts (Zeph. 2:8–10). God’s wrath will destroy other gods, and the world will worship God alone (2:11). The Ethiopians, who represent the farthest corner of the world, will also be under God’s judgment (2:12). The oracles against the nations conclude with Assyria, for whom these other nations have been vassals. God will annihilate Assyria, the enemy from the north, and its capital city Nineveh for their arrogance (2:13), and their lair will be inhabited by wild animals (2:14–15). The hubris of Nineveh and her dilapidation serve as a lesson of history that promises no eternal glory—no matter how powerful and proud she may be. The tale serves as a comfort for those who have been hurt by her aggression (2:15).
THE TEXT IN THE INTERPRETIVE TRADITION
Early church fathers find the spread of the gospel alluded to in the prophet’s vision of God whom each will worship in his or her own place. John Chrysostom (2:69–70) regards Zeph. 2:11 and 3:9 as comments on the actualization of Isaiah’s peaceable kingdom (Isa. 11:1–9), which will come true when all nations serve God under one yoke in their own place. Based on Zephaniah’s vision, Augustine reflects on God who gathers the predestined believers into one body of Christ (2004, 248). In his homily on Psalm 97, Jerome (192) imagines churches secure with Christ as their foundation, although they are like islands beaten by the waves of the ocean. Whereas Luther (340–42) maintains that Judah would also be destroyed, leaving only the faithful remnant to be saved, Calvin (240) acquires a message of hope for Judah, in that divine retribution is moved to other nations.
THE TEXT IN CONTEMPORARY DISCUSSION
The prophet underscores God’s central role in the course of the history of the nations and their international affairs. Their offenses include worshiping other gods, menacing God’s people, and boasting that their power will be eternally secured as exemplified in the pride of Assyria. The prophet’s critical assessment of proud nations lends a theological corrective to political powers that seek their glory and preservation by imperial militarism that threatens the livelihood of other nations, and also by exploitative colonialism that leaves other peoples impoverished. This theme provides biblical support for postcolonial interpreters and those who combat ills of imperialism in the contemporary world.
Zephaniah 3:1–13: The Remnant of Israel
THE TEXT IN ITS ANCIENT CONTEXT
Commentators debate over whether one should read Zeph. 3:1–13 as condemning Judah or other nations. The identity of the city denounced in 3:1 is ambiguous. Does “the oppressing city” refer to Nineveh or Jerusalem? The immediately preceding passage may invite one to posit that the verse is a continuation of the oracle against Assyria in 2:13–15; however, the ensuing verses reveal that Judah is being depicted in 3:1 as the place of the impurity and oppression.
The first offense of the city is the rejection of instructive correction and trust in God (3:2). Its evil outcome manifests itself in the societal ills marked by rampages of rapacious political leaders and irresponsible religious leaders (3:3–4). The main offenders are leaders: officials, judges, prophets, and priests, all of whom the prophet casts with beastly images. The inclusion of judges among the culprits may represent the collapse of the system of justice. By contrast, YHWH’s rule is marked by justice (3:5). God expects the judgment against the nations to be a good lesson for the oppressing city that needs cleansing, but the city compounds her guilt by rejecting correction and exacerbating corruption (3:6–7).
Recalling the day of YHWH in Zephaniah 1, the prophet announces that God will initiate legal proceedings against the oppressing city, render a verdict, and execute her punishment, which will affect the whole world (3:8). The time of judgment will be followed by a new era, when the pure community emerges, transformed to worship God in unity (3:9–10). The day will reveal that, whereas the proud who have rebelled against God will be removed (3:11), the humble remnant will find security in God’s presence, empowering them to do right (3:12–13).
THE TEXT IN THE INTERPRETIVE TRADITION
The Hebrew homonym yônâ in 3:1 could mean either “oppressing” or “dove.” The Septuagint construes it as “dove,” and the midrash adds another pun by scathing the city for acting like a dove and ignoring the lesson from Nineveh the city of Jonah (yônâ; Lam. Rab., proem 31). Theodore of Mopsuestia (299) regards the dove as signifying Israel, which is charming but refuses to trust in YHWH. Luther (349) suspects that by the “dove” the prophet secretively refers to the Holy Spirit present in Jerusalem.
Cyprian (555) construes the prophet’s call for patience (3:8) as a charge to wait for the day when God avenges the wrongs that the faithful go through during the time of persecution. The prophet’s vision of “pure speech” (3:9) leads the medieval Jewish philosopher Ibn Ezra to argue that it means the universal use of Hebrew (Commentary on Ecclesiastes 5.1). The image of the pure speech and one accord (3:9) provides Gregory the Great (1844–1850, 2:541–42) with the vision of the universal worship of God. Augustine (1998, 868–69) concludes that the prophet speaks of the day when the world will worship God.
THE TEXT IN CONTEMPORARY DISCUSSION
The prophet’s criticism of leadership portrays how the people suffer when leaders fail to do what they are called to do and, more seriously, when they do the opposite, as Sweeney observes with the prophets and priests (2000, 520). Civil rights activist Howard Thurman (1028–29) charges modern religious workers to pay attention to Zephaniah’s criticism of prophets and priests so that they may not fall into the pit of professional banality and the loss of moral sensitivity. Christian Marxist writer José Miranda (120) finds God waging a war of liberation against the powerful oppressors in Zeph. 3:1–13. God places the oppressors under judgment, and Israel’s humble remnant will see God’s salvation.
Zephaniah 3:14–20: The Jubilation of YHWH
THE TEXT IN ITS ANCIENT CONTEXT
The book ends with an uplifting message of hope that dwells on the glorious prospect of the salvation of Israel. Jerusalem, the “daughter Zion” that represents Israel, is exhorted to sing a song of jubilation (3:14), for Judah has been saved by YHWH, the king of Israel, who now fills Jerusalem with courage (3:15–16). The book reaches its climax in the portrayal of the divine warrior (see also Exod. 15:3), who fights on behalf of God’s people and takes delight in the people who have been saved (Zeph. 3:17). The NRSV’s rendering of God, who “will renew you in his love” (3:17), is based on the Greek and the Syriac. The Hebrew says, “He will be silent in his love” (author’s own translation), which ironically juxtaposes the scene of God engaged in loud jubilation in the same verse. The Hebrew could be translated alternatively as “[God] will bring you to silence,” creating a picture of God soothing the people (Roberts, 220, 222). God is restoring the joy of feast, taking away guilt and disaster (3:18). In the reversal of fortunes, God who expels Jerusalem’s internal oppressors and external aggressors will heal the poor who have suffered at their hands (3:19). God will bring those who were dispersed in humiliation, and their restoration will be a theme of praise for the whole world (3:20).
THE TEXT IN THE INTERPRETIVE TRADITION
The Targum finds in the “Song of Zephaniah” (3:14–20) a depiction of the Lord dwelling among the people through Shekinah (the manifestation of God’s presence among the people). The Talmud depicts the messianic end time as “when the highhanded disappear from Israel” (b. Sanh. 98a). The coming of the Messiah and the restoration of Israel based on Zeph. 3:20 is reflected in the traditional Jewish liturgy.
Cyril of Jerusalem (117–18) derives the blessing for candidates of baptism from the exhortation to sing and rejoice over God’s deliverance. Zephaniah’s vision of God’s joy inspires Theodoret of Cyrus (218) to dwell on the love of God in Christ, who gives his life. Theodore of Mopsuestia (304) constructs a scene in which God the king removes troubles and restores Zion out of divine love. The reversal of fortunes reminds Luther (364) of the early martyrs who were despised like refuse, but are now signs of blessings. Now God’s song causes the redeemed to give thanks to the Lord, for in this unusual passage God sets aside divine majesty to show love for the redeemed (Calvin, 304). The Baptist preacher Charles Haddon Spurgeon (271) lifts up the unique nature of this scene of divine jubilation, recalling that God did not sing at the creation and simply rated it as “very good” (Gen. 1:31), but redemption gives joy to the Trinity.
THE TEXT IN CONTEMPORARY DISCUSSION
Zephaniah portrays God as the divine warrior, a depiction deeply rooted in the ancient conceptual world of Old Testament times (see Miller). The militaristic overtone of this portrayal of God is troublesome for contemporary sensitivities that value peace, and some interpreters warn against the danger of using divine violence to legitimate individual and nationalistic pursuits as God’s will (Heffelfinger, 341). Most significantly, the divine warrior in Zeph. 3:14–20, and elsewhere in the Bible, exerts divine power on behalf of the people who have no one else to whom they can turn. The book that began with the prospect of the world’s annihilation caused by the people and their leaders—along with their national self-aggrandizement—then concludes with God’s exuberance over the divine work of salvation. The prophet calls on the redeemed to join with the song of joy and thanksgiving for God, who alone can save.
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———. 2004. Letters 156–210. WSA II/3. Hyde Park, NY: New City Press.
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Bennett, R. A. 1996. “Zephaniah.” In The New Interpreter’s Bible. Vol. 7, Introduction to Apocalyptic Literature, Daniel, and the Minor Prophets, edited by Leander E. Keck, 657–704. Nashville: Abingdon.
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———. 1990. Forty Gospel Homilies. Translated by David Hurst. CS 123. Kalamazoo, MI: Cistercian.
Heffelfinger, Katie M. 2012. “Zephaniah.” In Women’s Bible Commentary, edited by Carol A. Newsom, Sharon H. Ringe, and Jacqueline E. Lapsley, 339–42. 3rd ed. Louisville: Westminster John Knox.
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———. 2003. Zephaniah: A Commentary. Hermeneia. Minneapolis: Fortress Press.
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Thurman, Howard. 1956. “The Book of Zephaniah: Exposition.” In The Interpreter’s Bible. Vol. 6, Lamentations; Ezekiel; Daniel; Hosea; Joel; Amos; Obadiah; Jonah; Micah; Nahum; Habakkuk; Zephaniah; Haggai; Zechariah; Malachi, edited by George A. Buttrick, 1007–36. New York: Abingdon-Cokesbury.