After the superscription (1:1), Zephaniah can be divided into three major sections (1:2-2:3; 2:4-3:8; 3:8-20).[1]
Zephaniah’s genealogy in the superscription (1:1) is lengthier than normal, reaching back four generations. It marks Zephaniah out as a descendant of King Hezekiah.[2] Thus the superscription links Zephaniah to both Hezekiah and Josiah, two great reforming kings in Israel. His father’s name is Cushi, which links him to the people of Cush, the African kingdom south of Egypt. Jason DeRouchie notes, “We know that Judah made a number of political alliances with the nation of Cush prior to Zephaniah’s ministry (Isa. 18:1–2; 20:5–6) and that Jerusalem’s leadership had strong ties with Cushites (2 Sam. 18:21; Jer. 38:7; 39:16).”[3] The time of birth of Zephaniah’s father was also a time in which Cush was an important regional power with “diplomatic, commercial, and military activity in Judah.”[4] This points to the “likelihood that Zephaniah was a biracial Jew (probably through Cushi’s mother, Gedaliah’s wife).”[5] This background has theological significance because Zephaniah predicts a future day in which Yhwh will have worshippers “from beyond the rivers of Cush” (3:10). Zephaniah’s own family tree is an anticipation of the fulfillment of that prophecy.
The first major section of the book (1:2-2:3) concerns the day of Yhwh. It consists of two cycles, the first (1:2-6) begins with the universal day of Yhwh (1:2-3) and then shifts to a historical judgment against Judah (1:4-6). The second (1:7-18) begins with a historical day of Yhwh against Judah (1:7-13) before shifting to the universal and eschatological great day of Yhwh (1:14-18). This has the effect of sandwiching, or contextualizing, the judgment on Judah within the framework of God’s eschatological judgment. The historical judgments are anticipations of the final judgment.[6]
“‘I will utterly sweep away from the face of the earth [אֲדָמָה],’ declares Yhwh” (1:2). This opening declaration recalls the Flood narrative, in which Yhwh said to Noah, “every living thing that I have made I will blot out from the face of the ground [אֲדָמָה]” (Gen 7:4; cf. Gen 6:7).[7] This is the de-creation of creation: “I will sweep away man and beast; I will sweep away the birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea, and the stumbling blocks with the wicked” (1:3, ESV mg.). O. Palmer Robertson observes, “The order in which items are listed for destruction is precisely the reverse of the order in which they appear in the creation narrative.… Originally it was fish, birds, beasts, and man that God created.”[8] Further, by including fish, this judgment is seen to exceed that of the Flood in scope.[9] In the Noahic covenant God promised “I will never again destroy every living thing” (Gen 8:20), which indicates that this judgment must be the eschatological judgment that brings the present age to its conclusion to make way for the new creation. If all of this is not evidence enough that the universal eschatological judgment is in view, Jesus settled the matter by alluding to Zechariah’s statement, “I will sweep away … the stumbling blocks with the wicked” (1:3, ESV mg.) in his explanation of the parables of the tares: at the end of the age “the Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness” (Mt 13:41, NASB).[10]
This eschatological judgment seamlessly transitions to a historical judgment on Judah (1:4-6).[11] Just as Yhwh will sweep away the idolatrous stumbling blocks from the whole earth in the last day, so he would “cut off from [Judah] the remnant of Baal” (1:4) and those who worshipped other gods or blended the worship Yhwh with false worship (1:5-6).
The second cycle (1:7-18) begins with a command “Be silent before the Lord Yhwh!” And a reason for the command: “For the day of Yhwh is near” (1:7). This day is described as a sacrificial feast—in which the guests are the ones consecrated to be sacrificed! The sins that lead to this judgment are briefly mentioned. Some are clear: “violence and fraud” (1:9). Others hardly seem to be sins at all: the wearing of foreign clothes and taking care not to step on a threshold. The latter action is explained in 1 Samuel 5:4-5. When the ark of the covenant had been captured and placed in the temple of Dagon, Dagon was found fallen before the ark, with his head and hands broken off and lying on the threshold. This led to a custom in which priests of Dagon would not step on the threshold of their temple. Isarel had now, inexplicably, added this practice to their worship. Likewise, the wearing of foreign clothes was a sign that Israel’s leaders were leading the people to follow in the ways of the surrounding, idolatrous nations. There was nothing inherently wrong with stepping over a threshold or wearing foreign clothes. But those actions communicated something. Alec Motyer sums up the situation well: “Did the leaders of Zephaniah’s day say, ‘How I dress is my business. It is part of my private life and has nothing to do with my position or work’? But by their dress . . . they were eroding the distinction between the Lord’s people and the world around.”[12] Despite these warnings, there were those who said, “Yhwh will not do good, nor will he do ill.” (1:12). They dismissed the idea of coming judgment. But they would come under the curses of the Mosaic covenant (1:13; cf. Dt 28:30, 39).[13]
With verse 17, the focus turns back to the eschatological day of Yhwh. From God’s perspective, that day was near over two-and-a-half millennia ago, for “with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day” (2 Pet 3:8). How much nearer is that day now! Zephaniah draws on language from Joel 2:1-11 to describe this day of Yhwh: it is “near,” “great, dark, gloomy, full of clouds, a “day of trumpet blast.” Zephaniah adds that in this day “all the earth shall be consumed” by the “fire of [Yhwh’s] jealousy” (1:18). While one could read the reference to fire metaphorically, the New Testament writers understood Zephaniah to predict a physical, fiery judgment that will come upon the whole earth.
Chapter 2 opens with a call to seek Yhwh (2:1-3). In light of these predictions of the coming day of Yhwh, Judah is called to gather together and seek Yhwh that they might be “hidden on the day of the anger of Yhwh” (2:3). If the phrase in verse 3 is translated “humble of the earth” (NASB, LSB, CSB; cf. KJV, NKJV), then this call is expanded out to include all people. However, if the phrase is translated, “humble of the land” (ESV, NIV, NRSV), it remains focused on Judah. Since the following oracles against the nations are linked to this call with a “for,” the more universal reading is probably correct.
The second major section of the book (2:4-3:8) consists of oracles against the nations. These nations are arranged at the four points of the compass: Philistia to Judah’s west, Moab and Ammon to Judah’s east, Cush to Judah’s south, and Assyria to Judah’s north.[14] Though there are hints of salvation in these oracles (verse 7 speaks of the restoration of the remnant of Judah, and verse 11 speaks of the nations worshipping Yhwh from their own lands), the emphasis is on the judgment of the nations. The oracles culminate with Assyria, the greatest threat to Judah at that time. Assyria will be judged with the reversal of the blessing of Genesis 1:28. God blessed mankind with dominion over the earth. He specifically indicated that mankind was given dominion over the animal world. But in Zephaniah 2:14–15, Assyria was to be judged by the animals taking over its greatest city. The animals would take dominion over Nineveh.
The opening verses of chapter 3 seem to continue the judgment oracle on Nineveh: “Woe to her who is rebellious and defiled, the oppressing city!” But when Zephaniah says, “she does not draw near to her God,” which the previous line identified as Yhwh, it becomes clear that Jerusalem is the city under condemnation. Thus, Judah, like all the nations, is in danger of God’s wrath. In verses 6-8 Jerusalem and the nations are brought together in a final statement of God’s universal judgment.
Verse 8 is a hinge verse. It brings to a culmination the prediction of judgment. This again is a prediction of universal judgment by fire: “in the fire of my jealousy all the earth shall be consumed.” However, verse 9 indicates that following this comprehensive judgment is a comprehensive redemption (3:9-20).
It is “at that time” that the speech of the people will be changed to “pure speech” (3:9). That is, the speech of the peoples will be the speech of true worship. It is the reversal of Babel not in the sense that all peoples are speaking the same languages but in the sense that all are speaking the same worship. As a representative instance, Zephaniah draws on his own family background: Yhwh will have worshippers from beyond the rivers of Cush, which is all of Africa south of Egypt. [Joy parents and grandparents have participated in the fulfillment of this prophecy. The people they led to the Lord in Africa will be resurrected and among those worshipping the Lord in that day.] Verses 11-13 describe the extent of the transformation in that day. Daniel Timmer notes:
These statements depict more than a sanctified life—they are evidence of a heart purified of all sin, not only justified but fully sanctified and perfected. It is for this reason that they can graze and “lie down” (v. 13), with no fear of an enemy. Not only have their external enemies been removed, but sin as their longtime internal enemy no longer exists. This passage depicts the full and final stage of salvation for God’s people, whom He shepherds forever in green pastures without sin, danger, or interruption.[15]
The timing of this transformation is “in that day.” The day of Yhwh begins in judgment, but following the judgment, the day of Yhwh is characterized by restoration and salvation for God’s people. Verses 14-18 then call upon Israel to rejoice. Yhwh has removed the judgments against them as well as their enemies. But the King of Israel, who is Yhwh himself, is in their midst. Israel is then called on to “Fear not” because Yhwh their God is in their midst. He will save, rejoice over, and love them. Verses 18-20 teach that at this time Yhwh will deal with all the oppressors of his people and will reverse the shame his people experienced and gather them back to the land, so that they are honored by all the peoples of the earth.
[1] Note that 3:8 is a transitional verse between sections 2 and 3.
[2] Robertson, NICOT, 34; Motyer, “Zephaniah,” in Minor Prophets, 3:898; Berlin, AB, 65; Tully, Reading the Prophets as Christian Scripture, 342; Hoffmeier, The Prophets of Israel, 240-41.
[3] DeRouchie, ESVEC, 571.
[4] Hays, From Every People and Nation, NSBT, 122-23. Hays determined the period of Cushi’s birth as follows: “If we estimate the beginning of Zephaniah’s ministry in 630 BC, assume that he is at least 30 at the beginning of his ministry, and assign a 25-year span between father and son, then his father would have been born around 685 BC.” Ibid, 123. This is about a decade earlier the beginning of Zephaniah’s ministry which I proposed above.
[5] DeRouchie, ESVEC, 571.
[6] Timmer, Judah among the Empires, 79.
[7] Robertson, NICOT; 258; Walker, EBC, 544; Patterson, WEC, 299, 301; Berlin, AB, 81.
[8] Robetson, NICOT; 258; cf. Motyer, 3:911-12; Walker, EBC, 544; Berlin, AB, 13, 81; Tully, Reading the Prophets as Christian Scripture, Timmer, Judah among the Empires, 78.
[9] Motyer, 3:911.
[10] Robertson, NICOT, 259-60.
[11] Robertson, NICOT, 260; Walker, EBC, 546.
[12] Motyer, 3:919.
[13] Berlin, AB, 88-89; Tully, Reading the Prophets as Christian Scripture, 346.
[14] Motyer, 3:902.
[15] Timmer, Judah among the Empires, 100.