Historical Background and Author Introduction to the Book of Zephaniah

The Hebrew name for the Book of Zephaniah is “Zephaniah” (חבקוק /Khavaquq), and it is the ninth book in the Book of the Twelve Prophets (תרי עשר / Trei Asar). In the Hebrew Bible, the Tanakh, Zephaniah is placed after the Book of Habakkuk. Through Habakkuk, God prepared the people to accept the coming discipline, and through Zephaniah, He declared the imminent “Day of the Lord” (Zephaniah 1:7) and the true restoration that would follow that day (Zephaniah 3:15).

Tradition holds that the author of the Book of Zephaniah is the prophet Zephaniah from the Southern Kingdom. He was a member of the royal family, the great-great-grandson of King Hezekiah. His name, “Zephaniah,” means “the LORD has hidden, protected, or treasured.” From the time of King Uzziah to King Hezekiah, God sent a flurry of prophets: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Jonah, Nahum, and Micah. But during the reigns of Hezekiah and Manasseh, only Isaiah served as a prophet in the Southern Kingdom. By the time of King Josiah, God again sent Zephaniah, Jeremiah, and Habakkuk to speak to the Southern Kingdom of Judah, preparing the people to face the Babylonian exile and the complete destruction from God.

When this book was written, King Josiah (reigned 640-609 BC) was on the throne, but the Assyrian Empire had not yet fallen. The prophet also does not mention Josiah’s cleansing of “Judah and Jerusalem” in his twelfth year (2 Chronicles 34:3). Therefore, Zephaniah’s prophecy likely occurred in the early part of Josiah’s reign, between 640-628 BC. In Josiah’s early reign, due to the corrupting influence of Kings Manasseh and Amon, which lasted 57 years, idol worship was rampant in the land. King Josiah, who ascended the throne at age eight, began to purify Judah and Jerusalem in the twelfth year of his reign, restoring the Temple and reinstating the Passover. However, Josiah’s spiritual example and efforts failed to bring about a true revival among the people; they merely followed a man, not God.

Although King Josiah led a revival for twenty years, the people “were corrupt in all their deeds from early morning” (Zephaniah 3:7). After Josiah’s death in battle in 609 BC, the kingdom of Judah quickly deteriorated. All subsequent kings of Judah did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord, until the Southern Kingdom was taken into captivity. Forty years after Zephaniah delivered his prophecy, Jerusalem was indeed destroyed. The details recorded in Lamentations (Lamentations 4:14) are a fulfillment of Zephaniah’s prophecy (Zephaniah 1:17). Historical and archaeological evidence outside the Bible also confirms that Philistia, Moab, Ammon, Cush, and Assyria were judged according to Zephaniah’s prophecy.

It was impossible for the people to repent, turn back, or become holy through their own will and effort. Therefore, Prophet Zephaniah’s message was not a call for the people to initiate a revival or an exhortation to earn salvation through repentance. Instead, it was a declaration that “the great day of the Lord is near,” that God Himself would execute judgment and salvation, and only then would true revival come.