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Introduction
to Zephaniah
This summary of the book of Zephaniah provides information about
the title, author(s), date of writing, chronology, theme, theology, outline, a
brief overview, and the chapters of the Book of Zephaniah.
The prophet Zephaniah was evidently a person of considerable
social standing in Judah and was probably related to the royal line. The
prophecy opens with a statement of the author's ancestry (1:1), which in itself is an unusual feature of
the Hebrew prophetic tradition. Zephaniah was a fourth-generation descendant of
Hezekiah, a notable king of Judah from 715 to 686 b.c. Apart from this
statement, nothing more is said about his background. Whereas the prophet Micah
dealt carefully and sympathetically with the problems of the common people of
Judah, Zephaniah's utterances show a much greater familiarity with court
circles and current political issues. Zephaniah was probably familiar with the
writings of such prominent eighth-century prophets as Isaiah and Amos, whose
utterances he reflects, and he may also have been aware of the ministry of the
young Jeremiah.
According to 1:1, Zephaniah prophesied during the reign of
King Josiah (640-609 b.c.), making him a contemporary of Jeremiah, Nahum and
perhaps Habakkuk. His prophecy is probably to be dated relatively early in
Josiah's reign, before that king's attempt at reform (and while conditions
brought about by the reigns of Manasseh and Amon still prevailed) and before
the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal's death in 627 (while Assyria was still
powerful, though threatened).
See Introductions to Jeremiah and Nahum: Background; see also 2Ki 22:1 -- 23:30; 2Ch 34:1 -- 36:1 and notes.
The intent of the author was to announce to Judah God's approaching
judgment. A Scythian incursion into Canaan may have provided the immediate
occasion. This fierce, horse-mounted people originated in what is now southern
Russia, but by the seventh century b.c. they had migrated across the Caucasus
and settled in and along the northern territories of the Assyrian empire.
Alternately the enemies and allies of Assyria, they seem to have thrust south
along the Mediterranean sometime in the 620s, destroying Ashkelon and Ashdod
and halting at the Egyptian border only because of a payoff by Pharaoh Psamtik
(Psammetichus). Ultimately, however, the destruction prophesied by Zephaniah
came at the hands of the Babylonians after they had overpowered Assyria and
brought that ancient power to its end.
Zephaniah's main theme is the coming of the day of the Lord (see
notes on Isa 2:11,17,20; Joel
1:15; 2:2; Am
5:18; 8:9), when God will severely punish the nations,
including apostate Judah. Zephaniah portrays the stark horror of that ordeal
with the same graphic imagery found elsewhere in the prophets. But he also
makes it clear that God will yet be merciful toward his people; like many other
prophets, he ends his pronouncements of doom on the positive note of Judah's
restoration by Yahweh, "King of Israel" (3:15; see note there).
I.
Introduction (1:1-3)
A.
Title: The Prophet Identified (1:1)
II.
The Day of the Lord Coming on Judah and the Nations (1:4-18)
III.
God's Judgment on the Nations (2:1;3:8)
IV.
Redemption of the Remnant (3:9-20)
──《New
International Version》
Introduction to Zephaniah
Zephaniah excites to repentance, foretells
the destruction of the enemies of the Jews, and comforts the pious among them
with promises of future blessings, the restoration of their nation, and the
prosperity of the church in the latter days.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Zephaniah》
00 Overview
ZEPHANIAH
INTRODUCTION
Author of the book
Of Zephaniah we know absolutely nothing but what he himself
mentions in the superscription of his Book. No information can be gathered from
the contents of the prophecy, where the writer’s personal history is wholly
unnoticed. He calls himself “the son of Cushi, the son of Gedahah, the son of
Amariah, the son of Hizkiah.” As it is usual to mention only the name of the
father, it has been inferred that the genealogy is carried up to the fourth
generation, because Hizkiah, i.e. Hezekiah, was a celebrated personage,
and most probably the famous King of Judah. But the inference is not undoubted.
Hizkiah is not called “ King of Judah” in the genealogy, which would naturally
have been done had he been the ancestor intended, as in Proverbs 25:1; Isaiah 38:9. There is room enough,
indeed, between Hezekiah and Josiah for the four specified descents, though
only three are named in the case of Josiah himself; but the name Hezekiah was
not unknown among the Jews, and we cannot assume without further support that
the person here mentioned is the king. It is fair to argue that the insertion
of the genealogical details shows that the prophet was of distinguished birth;
but further it is impossible to go with any certainty. The name of the prophet
is variously explained as “The Lord hath hid,” or “The Lord hath guarded,” or
“The Lord’s Watch-tower.” Keil is generally followed in interpreting it as “He
whom Jehovah hides, or shelters.” The LXX writes it σοφονίας‚: Vulgate Sophoniah. There were others who bore this name
(see 2 Kings 25:18; 1 Chronicles 6:36; Zechariah 6:10; Zechariah 6:14).
Date of the book
Zephaniah, in the inscription of his Book, states that he prophesied
“in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, King of Judah”; and this assertion has
never been seriously disputed. The only question is in what part of that king’s
reign did he exercise his office. Josiah reigned thirty-one years, according to
the usually received dates--from 640 b.c to 609 b.c.. The destruction of
Nineveh, which Zephaniah foretold, took place quite at the end of Josiah’s
reign, and his prophecy must have been uttered some time before this event. No
other data for determining the question exist save what may be gathered from
internal evidences. And these are most uncertain, depending chiefly upon
inferences drawn from the great reformation effected by the good king. Did he
prophesy before this reformation was begun, or after it was affected, that is
to say, in the first or second half of Josiah’s reign? A third alternative may
be added--Was it during the progress of this religious amelioration? Those who
assign the prophecy to the earlier period, before the king’s eighteenth year,
when his vigorous measures produced their happy results, rely upon the fact
that the prophet speaks as though idolatry and the disorders which Josiah
repressed were still rampant, even the members of the royal family being
implicated in the general iniquity. It is inconceivable, they say, that
Zephaniah should have taken this gloomy view, and have entirely omitted all
mention of the young prince’s noble efforts to effect & change for the
better, had this attempt already been commenced. All this points to a time when
Josiah was still a minor, and before he had begun to assert himself in the
direction of affairs. On the other hand, it is contended that certain statements in the body
of the work prove that the reformation was being carried on at the time when it
was composed: the public worship of Jehovah existed (Zephaniah 3:4-5), and this side by side
with that of Baal and with many idolatrous practices (Zephaniah 1:4-5); there were priests of
Jehovah as well as priests of false gods at the same time. Nor can we reason
from Zephaniah’s silence concerning reforms that none had been essayed; for
Jeremiah, who began to prophesy in the thirteenth year of Josiah, is quite as
strong as Zephaniah in his denunciations of idolatry, the fact being that,
though it was publicly abolished, it was still practised extensively in secret.
Others, again, claim a still later date for the prophecy, because it speaks of
the extermination of the remnant of Baal (Zephaniah 1:4), which implies that the
purification had already been effected, and that only isolated instances still
existed; the prophet also speaks of and refers to the Mosaic books as well
known to his hearers (comp. Zephaniah 1:13; Zephaniah 1:15; Zephaniah 1:17; Zephaniah 2:2; Zephaniah 2:5; Zephaniah 2:7; Zephaniah 2:11; Zephaniah 3:5; Zephaniah 3:19-20), which could only have
been after the discovery of the “Book of the Law,” in Josiah’s eighteenth year
(2 Kings 22:8). It must be noted that
on this occasion reference was made to the Prophetess Huldah, not to Zephaniah
(2 Kings 22:14). Hence some suppose
that he was dead at this time. From this brief recapitulation of arguments it
will be seen that each of the three theories mentioned above has much to be
said in its favour; and that the only safe conclusion to adopt is this--that
although the present book, as now displayed in the sacred canon, forms one
connected whole, it is composed of prophecies uttered at various times and
gathered by their author into a volume and arranged on a definite plan. Its
place in the canon is the same both in the Hebrew and Greek, and coincides with
the chronological order to which it is assigned. (W. J. Deane, M. A.)
The temper of Zephaniah
For so young a man the vision of Zephaniah may seem strangely dark
and final. Yet not otherwise was Isaiah’s inaugural vision, and as a role it is
the young and not the old whose indignation is ardent and unsparing. Zephaniah
carries this temper to the extreme. There is no great hope in his Book, hardly
any tenderness, and never a glimpse of beauty. A townsman, Zephaniah has no eye
for nature; not only is no fair prospect described by him, he has not even a
single metaphor drawn from nature’s loveliness or peace. He is pitilessly true
to his great keynotes: “I will sweep, sweep from the face of the ground; He will
burn, burn up everything.” No hotter book lies in all the Old Testament.
Neither dew nor grass nor any tree nor any blossom lives in it, but it is
everywhere fire, smoke, and darkness, drifting chaff, ruins, nettles,
salt-pits, and owls and ravens looking from the windows of desolate palaces.
Nor does Zephaniah foretell the restoration of nature in the end of the days.
There is no prospect of a redeemed and fruitful land, but only of a group of
battered and hardly saved characters; a few meek and righteous are hidden from
the fire and creep forth when it is over. Israel is left “a poor and humble
folk.” No prophet is more true to the doctrine of the remnant, or more
resolutely refuses to modify it. Perhaps he died young. The full truth,
however, is that Zephaniah, though he found his material in the events of his own day, tears
himself loose from history altogether. To Zephaniah the day of the Lord begins
to assume what we call the “supernatural.” Though the first of apocalyptic
writers, Zephaniah does not allow himself the licence of apocalypse. (Geo. Adam Snith,
D. D.)
ZEPHANIAH
INTRODUCTION
Author of the book
Of Zephaniah we know absolutely nothing but what he himself
mentions in the superscription of his Book. No information can be gathered from
the contents of the prophecy, where the writer’s personal history is wholly
unnoticed. He calls himself “the son of Cushi, the son of Gedahah, the son of
Amariah, the son of Hizkiah.” As it is usual to mention only the name of the
father, it has been inferred that the genealogy is carried up to the fourth
generation, because Hizkiah, i.e. Hezekiah, was a celebrated personage,
and most probably the famous King of Judah. But the inference is not undoubted.
Hizkiah is not called “ King of Judah” in the genealogy, which would naturally
have been done had he been the ancestor intended, as in Proverbs 25:1; Isaiah 38:9. There is room enough,
indeed, between Hezekiah and Josiah for the four specified descents, though
only three are named in the case of Josiah himself; but the name Hezekiah was
not unknown among the Jews, and we cannot assume without further support that
the person here mentioned is the king. It is fair to argue that the insertion
of the genealogical details shows that the prophet was of distinguished birth;
but further it is impossible to go with any certainty. The name of the prophet
is variously explained as “The Lord hath hid,” or “The Lord hath guarded,” or
“The Lord’s Watch-tower.” Keil is generally followed in interpreting it as “He
whom Jehovah hides, or shelters.” The LXX writes it σοφονίας‚: Vulgate Sophoniah. There were others who bore this name
(see 2 Kings 25:18; 1 Chronicles 6:36; Zechariah 6:10; Zechariah 6:14).
Date of the book
Zephaniah, in the inscription of his Book, states that he
prophesied “in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, King of Judah”; and this
assertion has never been seriously disputed. The only question is in what part
of that king’s reign did he exercise his office. Josiah reigned thirty-one
years, according to the usually received dates--from 640 b.c to 609 b.c.. The
destruction of Nineveh, which Zephaniah foretold, took place quite at the end
of Josiah’s reign, and his prophecy must have been uttered some time before
this event. No other data for determining the question exist save what may be
gathered from internal evidences. And these are most uncertain, depending
chiefly upon inferences drawn from the great reformation effected by the good
king. Did he prophesy before this reformation was begun, or after it was
affected, that is to say, in the first or second half of Josiah’s reign? A
third alternative may be added--Was it during the progress of this religious
amelioration? Those who assign the prophecy to the earlier period, before the
king’s eighteenth year, when his vigorous measures produced their happy
results, rely upon the fact that the prophet speaks as though idolatry and the
disorders which Josiah repressed were still rampant, even the members of the
royal family being implicated in the general iniquity. It is inconceivable,
they say, that Zephaniah should have taken this gloomy view, and have entirely
omitted all mention of the young prince’s noble efforts to effect & change
for the better, had this attempt already been commenced. All this points to a
time when Josiah was still a minor, and before he had begun to assert himself in
the direction of affairs. On the other hand, it is contended that certain
statements in the body of the work prove that the reformation was being carried
on at the time when it was composed: the public worship of Jehovah existed (Zephaniah 3:4-5), and this side by side
with that of Baal and with many idolatrous practices (Zephaniah 1:4-5); there were priests of
Jehovah as well as priests of false gods at the same time. Nor can we reason
from Zephaniah’s silence concerning reforms that none had been essayed; for
Jeremiah, who began to prophesy in the thirteenth year of Josiah, is quite as
strong as Zephaniah in his denunciations of idolatry, the fact being that,
though it was publicly abolished, it was still practised extensively in secret.
Others, again, claim a still later date for the prophecy, because it speaks of
the extermination of the remnant of Baal (Zephaniah 1:4), which implies that the
purification had already been effected, and that only isolated instances still
existed; the prophet also speaks of and refers to the Mosaic books as well known
to his hearers (comp. Zephaniah 1:13; Zephaniah 1:15; Zephaniah 1:17; Zephaniah 2:2; Zephaniah 2:5; Zephaniah 2:7; Zephaniah 2:11; Zephaniah 3:5; Zephaniah 3:19-20), which could only have
been after the discovery of the “Book of the Law,” in Josiah’s eighteenth year
(2 Kings 22:8). It must be noted that
on this occasion reference was made to the Prophetess Huldah, not to Zephaniah
(2 Kings 22:14). Hence some suppose
that he was dead at this time. From this brief recapitulation of arguments it
will be seen that each of the three theories mentioned above has much to be
said in its favour; and that the only safe conclusion to adopt is this--that
although the present book, as now displayed in the sacred canon, forms one connected
whole, it is composed of prophecies uttered at various times and gathered by
their author into a volume and arranged on a definite plan. Its place in the
canon is the same both in the Hebrew and Greek, and coincides with the
chronological order to which it is assigned. (W. J. Deane, M. A.)
The temper of Zephaniah
For so young a man the vision of Zephaniah may seem strangely dark
and final. Yet not otherwise was Isaiah’s inaugural vision, and as a role it is
the young and not the old whose indignation is ardent and unsparing. Zephaniah
carries this temper to the extreme. There is no great hope in his Book, hardly
any tenderness, and never a glimpse of beauty. A townsman, Zephaniah has no eye
for nature; not only is no fair prospect described by him, he has not even a
single metaphor drawn from nature’s loveliness or peace. He is pitilessly true
to his great keynotes: “I will sweep, sweep from the face of the ground; He
will burn, burn up everything.” No hotter book lies in all the Old Testament.
Neither dew nor grass nor any tree nor any blossom lives in it, but it is
everywhere fire, smoke, and darkness, drifting chaff, ruins, nettles,
salt-pits, and owls and ravens looking from the windows of desolate palaces.
Nor does Zephaniah foretell the restoration of nature in the end of the days.
There is no prospect of a redeemed and fruitful land, but only of a group of
battered and hardly saved characters; a few meek and righteous are hidden from
the fire and creep forth when it is over. Israel is left “a poor and humble
folk.” No prophet is more true to the doctrine of the remnant, or more
resolutely refuses to modify it. Perhaps he died young. The full truth,
however, is that Zephaniah, though he found his material in the events of his own day, tears
himself loose from history altogether. To Zephaniah the day of the Lord begins
to assume what we call the “supernatural.” Though the first of apocalyptic
writers, Zephaniah does not allow himself the licence of apocalypse. (Geo. Adam Snith,
D. D.)
──《The Biblical Illustrator》