Zephaniah (zĕph'a-nî'ah), Jehovah hides. 1. One of the minor prophets, in the days of Josiah. His prophecy was uttered about b.c. 620 to 609. The description of the judgment in ch. 1:14, 15, "The great day of Jehovah is near" (in the Latin version Dies iræ, dies illa), has furnished the basis for the sublime hymn of the Middle Ages, the Dies Iræ ascribed to Thomas a Celano, and often translated. There are four persons of this name mentioned in the Bible.