Zephaniah

Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897)

Jehovah has concealed, or Jehovah of darkness. (1.) 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). (2.) 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 (Jer. 21:1) regarding the coming woes which he had denounced, and to entreat the prophet’s intercession that the judgment threatened might be averted (Jer. 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). (3.) A Kohathite ancestor of the prophet Samuel (1 Chr. 6:36). (4.) The father of Josiah, the priest who dwelt in Jerusalem when Darius issued the decree that the temple should be rebuilt (Zech. 6:10).

Scripture References

ISBE

zef-a-ni'-a (tsephanyah, tsephanyahu, "Yah hath treasured"): (1) The prophet. See ZEPHANIAH, BOOK OF. (2) A Levite or priest ( 1Ch 6:36 (Hebrew 6:21)), called in some genealogies "Uriel" ( 1Ch 6:24 ; 15:5 , 11 ). (3) Judean father or fathers of various contemporaries of Zechariah, the prophet ( Zec 6:10 , 14 ). (4) A priest, the second in rank in the days of Jeremiah. He was a leader of the "patriotic" party which opposed Jeremiah. Nevertheless, he was sent to the prophet as a messenger of King Zedekiah when Nebuchadnezzar was about to attack the city ( Jer 21:1 ) and at other crises ( Jer 37:3 ; compare 29:25,29; 2Ki 25:18 ). That he continued to adhere to the policy of resistance against Babylonian authority is indicated by the fact that he was among the leaders of Israel taken by Nebuzaradan before the king of Babylon, and killed at Riblah ( 2Ki 25:18 parallel Jer 52:24 ). Nathan Isaacs

Smith's Bible Dictionary (1863)

(hidden by Jehovah).

Scripture References