Zephaniah 1

Zephaniah 1 is the first of the three chapters of the Book of Zephaniah. It opens with a superscription identifying the prophet and his time, then moves directly into a proclamation of judgment.

Structure

• Verse 1: Superscription. The word of the LORD comes to Zephaniah in the days of Josiah, the son of Amon. Zephaniah is the son of Cushi and the great-great-grandson of Hezekiah.
• Verses 2–3: A declaration against the whole earth: man and beast, the fowls of the heaven and the fishes of the sea, will be consumed from off the land.
• Verses 4–6: Judah and Jerusalem become the objects of judgment. Those named include the remnant of Baal and the Chemarims, those who worship the host of heaven (the sun, moon, and stars) upon the housetops, those who swear both by the LORD and by Malcham, and those who have not sought the LORD.
• Verses 7–9: In "the day of the LORD's sacrifice," the princes and the king's children, all who are clothed with strange apparel, and those who fill their masters' houses with violence and deceit will be punished.
• Verses 10–13: Cries of lament rise from throughout Jerusalem, including the Fish Gate, the Second Quarter, and Maktesh. The LORD will search Jerusalem with candles and punish those who say, "The LORD will not do good, neither will he do evil"; they will build houses but not inhabit them.
• Verses 14–18: The day of the LORD is a day of wrath and trouble, of darkness and of the trumpet. Neither silver nor gold will be able to deliver, and the whole land will be devoured by the fire of his jealousy.

Key Verses

• Zephaniah 1:7: "Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord GOD" — the day of judgment is portrayed in the imagery of a sacrifice.
• Zephaniah 1:12: "The LORD will not do good, neither will he do evil" — frequently cited as an indictment of practical atheism, the assumption that God does not intervene in history.
• Zephaniah 1:15: "That day is a day of wrath" — the classic verse describing the day of the LORD.

People and Places

• Amon: King of Judah and the father of Josiah.
• Chemarims: A term referring to idolatrous priests.
• Malcham: Some interpreters identify this as Milcom, the god of the Ammonites, while others read it as "their king."
• Fish Gate, Second Quarter, Maktesh: Names of a gate and districts within Jerusalem. The gate's name means "gate of the fish," and Maktesh is understood to mean "mortar."

Points for Reflection

The text of verse 1 does not state whether the Hezekiah named there is the same person as Hezekiah, king of Judah. Consequently, some hold that Zephaniah was of royal descent, while others do not. The idolatry condemned in verses 4–5 overlaps with the practices targeted by Josiah's reform as recorded in 2 Kings 23, and for this reason opinions differ on whether the prophecy should be dated before or after the reform. The concept of the day of the LORD is understood to carry over into the New Testament "day of the Lord" (1 Thessalonians 5:2; 2 Peter 3:10). The medieval Latin hymn Dies Irae ("Day of Wrath") is known to have drawn its title and language from verse 15.