Zephaniah
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 (Zeph 1:1–6), announcing the judgment of the world, and the judgment upon Israel, because of their transgressions.
(b) The description of the judgment (Zeph 1:7–18).
(c) An exhortation to seek God while there is still time (Zeph 2:1–3).
(d) The announcement of judgment on the heathen (Zeph 2:4–15).
(e) The hopeless misery of Jerusalem (Zeph 3:1–7).
(f) The promise of salvation (Zeph 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, Jer 29:26, Jer 29:29; 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 Kgs 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).
Named in the Bible
10 verses
- 2 Kings 25:18 And the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the door:
- 1 Chronicles 6:36 The son of Elkanah, the son of Joel, the son of Azariah, the son of Zephaniah,
- Jeremiah 21:1 The word which came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, when king Zedekiah sent unto him Pashur the son of Melchiah, and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, saying,
- Jeremiah 29:25 Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, Because thou hast sent letters in thy name unto all the people that are at Jerusalem, and to Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, and to all the priests, saying,
- Jeremiah 29:29 And Zephaniah the priest read this letter in the ears of Jeremiah the prophet.
- Jeremiah 37:3 And Zedekiah the king sent Jehucal the son of Shelemiah and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest to the prophet Jeremiah, saying, Pray now unto the LORD our God for us.
- Jeremiah 52:24 And the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the door:
- Zephaniah 1:1 The word of the LORD which came unto Zephaniah the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hizkiah, in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah.
- Zechariah 6:10 Take of them of the captivity, even of Heldai, of Tobijah, and of Jedaiah, which are come from Babylon, and come thou the same day, and go into the house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah;
- Zechariah 6:14 And the crowns shall be to Helem, and to Tobijah, and to Jedaiah, and to Hen the son of Zephaniah, for a memorial in the temple of the LORD.
From Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897), by Matthew George Easton.
