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Zephaniah |
The superscription of the Book of Zephaniah attributes its authorship
to Zephaniah son of Cushi son of Gedaliah son of Amariah son of Hezekiah, in
the days of King Josiah son of Amon of Judah? (1:1, NRSV). All that is known of
Zephaniah comes from the text. The superscription of the book is lengthier than
most and contains two features. The name Cushi, Zephaniah?s father, means
?Ethiopian?. In a society where genealogy was considered extremely important
because of God's covenant with Abraham and his descendants, the author may have
felt compelled to establish his Hebrew lineage. In fact, this lineage is traced
back to Hezekiah, who was king of Judah. The author of Zephaniah does not shrink
from condemning the Cushites or Ethiopians. Chapter 2:12 contains a succinct but
unequivocal message: ?You also, O Ethiopians, / Shall be killed by my sword.?
Zephaniah?s familial connection with King Hezekiah may have also legitimized his
harsh indictment of the royal city in 3:1-7.
As with many of the other prophets, there is no external evidence to directly
associate composition of the book with a prophet by the name of Zephaniah. Some
scholars believe that much of the material does not date from the days of King
Josiah (ca. 640-609 BCE), but is actually post-monarchic. Three general
possibilities are that a person, possibly named Zephaniah, prophesied the words
of the book of Zephaniah; the general message of a Josianic prophet is conveyed
through the book of Zephaniah; or the name could have been employed, either
during the monarchic or post-monarchic period, as a ?speaking voice?, possibly
for rhetorical purposes. Although it is possible that a post-monarchic author
assumed the persona of a monarchic prophet to add credibility to his message,
there is no evidence to support such a claim.
The prophetic book of the Bible attributed to Zephaniah occurs ninth among the
twelve minor prophets, preceded by Habakkuk and followed by Haggai. Zephaniah
means 'the Lord conceals', 'the Lord protects' or, possibly, 'God of darkness'.
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