Bible Dictionaries
Zephaniah

Easton's Bible Dictionary

Jehovah has concealed, or Jehovah of darkness.
  • The son of Cushi, and great-grandson of Hezekiah, and the ninth in the order of the minor prophets. He prophesied in the days of Josiah, king of Judah (B.C. 641-610), and was contemporary with Jeremiah, with whom he had much in common. The book of his prophecies consists of:

    (A) An introduction (1:1-6), announcing the judgment of the world, and the judgment upon Israel, because of their transgressions.

    (B) The description of the judgment (1:7-18).

    (C) An exhortation to seek God while there is still time (2:1-3).

    (D) The announcement of judgment on the heathen (2:4-15).

    (E) The hopeless misery of Jerusalem (3:1-7).

    (F) The promise of salvation (3:8-20).

  • The son of Maaseiah, the "second priest" in the reign of Zedekiah, often mentioned in Jeremiah as having been sent from the king to inquire (Jeremiah 21:1 ) regarding the coming woes which he had denounced, and to entreat the prophet's intercession that the judgment threatened might be averted (Jeremiah 29:25,26,29; 37:3; 52:24 ). He, along with some other captive Jews, was put to death by the king of Babylon "at Riblah in the land of Hamath" (2 Kings 25:21 ).

  • A Kohathite ancestor of the prophet Samuel (1 Chronicles 6:36 ).

  • The father of Josiah, the priest who dwelt in Jerusalem when Darius issued the decree that the temple should be rebuilt (Zechariah 6:10 ).

    Bibliography Information
    Easton, Matthew George. Entry for 'Zephaniah'. Easton's Bible Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/​dictionaries/​eng/​ebd/​z/zephaniah.html. 1897.