Who is…
Zephaniah

Hebrew: צְפַנְיָה —meaning: Jehovah has concealed, or Jehovah of darkness

This is the name of 4 biblical men.

1. Zephaniah, the prophet

   He is the son of Cushi, and great-grandson of Hezekiah, and the 9th in the order of the 12 minor prophets.

   He prophesied in the days of Josiah, king of Judah (641-610 BC), and was contemporary with prophet Jeremiah, with whom he had much in common.

   The book of his prophecies consists of:

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

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

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

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

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

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

2. Zephaniah, son of Maaseiah

   He is the “second priest” in the reign of King 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 threatened judgment might be averted (Jeremiah 29:25-26; 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 Kings 25:21).

3. Zephaniah, a Kohathite

   This Kohathite man is an ancestor of the prophet Samuel (1 Chronicles 6:36).

4. Zephaniah, father of Josiah

   He lived in Jerusalem when King Darius issued the decree that the temple should be rebuilt.

   “Take an offering from the exiles, from Heldai, Tobijah and Jedaiah; and you go the same day and enter the house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah, where they have arrived from Babylon. —Zechariah 6:10