TEXT [Commentary]

  Superscription (1:1)

1 The LORD gave this message to Zephaniah when Josiah son of Amon was king of Judah. Zephaniah was the son of Cushi, son of Gedaliah, son of Amariah, son of Hezekiah.

NOTES

1:1 the LORD gave this message. Lit., “The word of the Lord that came.” This common formula in the OT lays stress on the source and authority of Zephaniah’s prophecy and authenticates him as God’s spokesman.

Zephaniah. The meaning of the prophet’s name has been traced to the root tsapan [TH6845, ZH7621] and most likely means either “Yahweh has hidden/protected” (Roberts 1991) or “Yahweh has treasured” (Opperwall-Galluch in ISBE 4.1189). The name “Zephaniah” is a common one both in the OT and the extrabiblical inscriptions (Patterson 1991:298). Despite Pusey’s (1953:225) suggestion, there is no demonstrable designed correspondence between the prophet’s name and the message of the book.

son of Hezekiah. See the discussion under “Author” in the Introduction. Some Hebrew mss and the Syriac Peshitta read “Hilkiah.” A certain Hilkiah was overseer of King Hezekiah’s household (2 Kgs 18:37). While this reading has its advocates, the plain reading of the long genealogy would seem to favor Zephaniah’s royal ancestry.

COMMENTARY [Text]

Like several other prophets (e.g., Hosea, Joel, Micah), Zephaniah declares that what he is about to deliver is not the message of men but the word of the Lord. He can do this because God is a God of revelation, and Zephaniah is his authoritative messenger. The Christian doctrines of revelation and inspiration find direct support in the prophet’s opening words.