Book Of Zephaniah Background

A kohathite the son of tahath 1.

Book of zephaniah background. צ פ נ י ה tsfanya is the ninth of the twelve minor prophets preceded by the book of habakkuk and followed by the book of haggai. Zephaniah prophesied during the reign of josiah 640 609 b c a judean king who sought to reestablish acceptable worship practices 2 kings 22 1 23 30. The book was written some time between 641 and 612 b c.

It is a small book nestled in the midst of the minor prophets toward the end of the old testament. The theme of zephaniah is the approaching day of the lord this day is one of judgment against those who sin against god and one of blessing for those who follow him. The book of zephaniah belongs to another dark period in judah s history.

The prophet whose book bears his name zephaniah 1 1 2. The words of zephaniah contain one of my favorite bible verses. Now zephaniah was warning the people of judah that the same thing.

Among the minor prophets we are certainly much more familiar with jonah and hosea. The opening verses of the book of zephaniah revealed the prophet zephaniah s lineage that traced back to king hezekiah which made him of royal blood. Yet before we get to that verse the book like many prophetic books is full of alarming brokenness and impending judgement.

Many would date the book prior to josiah s reforms 622 621 b c which dealt with much of the nation s idolatry cf. The book tells us that zephaniah prophesied during the reign of josiah the king of judah from 640 to 609 bc zephaniah 1 1. And possibly between 641 and 622 b c.

The name zephaniah occurs ten times in the old testament and is spelled in a couple of different ways. Perhaps four different people are called zephaniah. Zephaniah 1 1 tells us that this book was written during the reign of josiah.