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Begin Typing VigilThe burden of Zephaniah's prophecy is the near approach of the Day of Yahweh, which is to pass like a storm over Judah and Philistia, Egypt, Ethiopia, and Assyria, leaving all these lands naked and desolate. The immediate occasion is the oncoming of the Scythian hordes (c. 627 b.c.) which likewise aroused the prophetic consciousness of Jeremiah. This theme is sustained through the first two chapters, which are on all hands accepted as genuine, save for the interpolated section on Moab and Ammon (2:8-11), with its evident reflection of exilic feelings and conditions. In 3 the accent changes, and we pass from grave denunciation of the sin of Jerusalem and its rulers (1-7) through lurid pictures of judgment (8-13) to dazzling visions of restoration and abiding renown for the people of Yahweh (14-20). The first of these sections is charged with the common note of prophecy; more precise indications of authorship are wanting. The tenor of 8-13 points strongly to post-exilic origin, though their authenticity is still maintained by a large consensus of critical opinion (Nowack, Davidson, Driver, G. A. Smith, etc.). The visions which fill the rest of the chapter (14-20) are universally admitted to be late.
Zephaniah means 'he whom Yahweh hath hidden.' The prophet's genealogy is traced back to Hezekiah, no doubt the king of that name. His royal connexion is suggested also by his intimate acquaintance with court circles, and the general concentration of his interest on Jerusalem. Nowhere else have we so vivid an impression of the social and religious condition of Jerusalem prior to the Deuteronomic Reformation. In the moral earnestness of his spirit Zephaniah is most akin to Amos and Isaiah, whose influence is transparent throughout the book. He lacks, however, their breadth of outlook and literary interest. The prophecies of Zephaniah are illumined by no soaring vision, no real gift of imagination, no play of tenderness or human sympathy. The only gleams of loveliness belong to the later additions, the rest of the book being heavily tinged with the gloom and darkness of the coming Day. In style and thought alike Zephaniah is characteristically the prophet of doom, the herald of the Last Judgment. With fine discernment mediaeval art portrayed him as the man with the lantern of the Lord, searching out sinners for destruction.
The Major prophets are here grouped with 'the Twelve' prophets, forming the core of the Nevi'im.