Zephaniah.
Zephaniah.
§ 164. Zephaniah (
) means “the Lord’s secretary” or “the examiner for the Lord.” He was the son of Cushi, the great-great-grandson of Hezekiah. He prophesied at the time of Josiah, king of Judah, and was a contemporary of Jeremiah, according to Augustine (De civit. Dei, bk. 18, c. 33). Ludovicus Vives, commentary on this passage [of Augustine], says regarding Zephaniah: “The Hebrews say that he was a prophet and the son, grandson, and great-great-grandson of prophets, for his father was Cushi, his grandfather was Gedaliah, his great-grandfather was Amariah, his great-great-grandfather was Hezekiah, all prophets. For they say that all the forefathers whom someone names in the title were also prophets.” This rule of the rabbinic scholars, however, is uncertain.
Zephaniah prophesied chiefly about the overthrow of the kingdom of Judah. The book consists of three chapters, the first of which is a threat containing the prophecy of visitation by the Chaldeans; the second, an exhortation to repentance; and the third, a mixture of warning and consolation that contains a prophecy about the calling of the Gentiles and the extension of the Church that was to be awaited at the time of the Messiah.