Book of Zephaniah
prophetic book of the Hebrew Bible
The Book of Zephaniah (Hebrew: צְפַנְיָה, Ṣəfanyā; sometimes Latinized as Sophonias) is the ninth of the Twelve Minor Prophets of the Old Testament and Tanakh, preceded in all traditions by the Book of Habakkuk and followed by the Book of Haggai. The book has three chapters. Zephaniah is a male given name which is usually interpreted to mean "Yahweh has hidden/protected", or "Yahweh hides". The church father Jerome of Stridon interpreted Zephaniah's name to mean "the watchman of the Lord". The original text of the prophecy was written in Biblical Hebrew.
Scholars propose various dates of composition; some scholars argue that the book was probably composed during the reign of Josiah (late-seventh century BCE), while others hold that an original core of oracles was expanded and edited in exilic or later times.
Authorship and date
The book's superscription attributes its authorship to "Zephaniah son of Cushi son of Gedaliah son of Amariah son of Hezekiah, in the days of King Josiah son of Amon of Judah". All that is known of Zephaniah comes from within the text.
The name "Cushi," Zephaniah's father, means "Cushite" or "Ethiopian", and the text of Zephaniah mentions the sin and restoration of Cushim. While some have concluded from this that Zephaniah was dark-skinned or African, Ehud Ben Zvi maintains that, based on the context, "Cushi" must be understood as a personal name rather than an indicator of nationality.
“Book of Zephaniah” enters the record as prophetic book of the Hebrew Bible. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Book, Zephaniah and prophetic can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Book of Zephaniah” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Book, Zephaniah and prophetic provides the most credible route into that argument.
Reception evidence should be dated and situated: later canonical status may differ sharply from the work’s initial circulation. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 7, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q188563. VIAF identifies the subject as 177424410. The Library of Congress control number is n84231948. None of the 3 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.
- Identifying works and editions
- Tracing reception history
- Finding collection records
The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Book of Zephaniah”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Book of Zephaniah primary sources, Book of Zephaniah archive and Book research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Book of Zephaniah”?
- Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
- How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Book of Zephaniah” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.