Zephaniah 1:1

1 The Title

1. The word … unto Zephaniah The name Zephaniah means, He whom Jehovah has hid, that is, treasures, or protects. The name is not uncommon, Jeremiah 21:1; Jeremiah 52:24; Zechariah 6:10.

the son of Hizkiah Hizkiah or Hezekiah may be the king of that name. It is unusual to carry the genealogy of a prophet further up than his father, and the exception in the present case suggests that Hezekiah, the last link in the chain, was a person of distinction. See Introduction, § 1.

in the days of Josiah … king of Judah The words "king of Judah" refer to Josiah, not to his father Amon. Josiah reigned b.c. 639 608.

The Book

The Book has two great divisions: First, ch. Zephaniah 1:2 to Zephaniah 3:8, a threat of judgment on the world: on Judah and the nations; and secondly, a promise of salvation equally universal, ch. Zephaniah 3:9-20. The judgment is that of the great day of the Lord. The prophet represents it as universal, but concentrating itself on Judah, ch. Zephaniah 1:2 to Zephaniah 2:3; then as involving the nations, ch. Zephaniah 2:4-15; and finally he speaks of Judah and the nations together, ch. Zephaniah 3:1-8.

The passage ch. Zephaniah 1:2 to Zephaniah 2:3 has these divisions: (1) Judgment on all created things, and especially on Judah and Jerusalem (Zephaniah 1:2); (2) the classes in Jerusalem whom God will search out and punish (Zephaniah 1:8); (3) the terrors of the day of the Lord (Zephaniah 1:14); (4) exhortation to men to seek righteousness that they may be hid in the day of the Lord's anger (ch. Zephaniah 2:1-3).