Zephaniah 1 is the first chapter of the Book of Zephaniah in the Hebrew Bible or the

Old Testament The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...

of the

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

Bible. This book contains the prophecies attributed to the prophet

Zephaniah Zephaniah (, ) is the name of several people in the Hebrew Bible and Jewish Tanakh, the most prominent one being the prophet who prophesied in the days of Josiah, king of Judah (640–609 BCE) and is attributed a book bearing his name among the ...

, and is a part of the Book of the Twelve Minor Prophets. This chapter contains a call to penitence and oracles against nations, the editorial superscription and the exposition about the day of Yahweh's judgment against the Kingdom of Judah and Jerusalem.

Text

The original text was written in Hebrew language. This chapter is divided into 18 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text tradition, which includes the

Codex Cairensis The Codex Cairensis (also: ''Codex Prophetarum Cairensis'', ''Cairo Codex of the Prophets'') is a Hebrew manuscript containing the complete text of the Hebrew Bible's Nevi'im (Prophets). It has traditionally been described as "the oldest dated He ...

(895), the Petersburg Codex of the Prophets (916),

Aleppo Codex The Aleppo Codex ( he, כֶּתֶר אֲרָם צוֹבָא, romanized: , lit. 'Crown of Aleppo') is a medieval bound manuscript of the Hebrew Bible. The codex was written in the city of Tiberias in the tenth century CE (circa 920) under the ...

(10th century), Codex Leningradensis (1008). Fragments containing parts of this chapter in Hebrew were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, including 4Q77 (4QXII^b; 150–125 BCE) with extant verses 1–2, 18;Dead sea scrolls - Zephaniah
/ref> and Wadi Murabba'at Minor Prophets (Mur88; MurXIIProph; 75-100 CE) with extant verses 1, 11–18. There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BC. Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version include Codex Vaticanus (B;

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^B; 4th century), Codex Sinaiticus (S; BHK:

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^S; 4th century), Codex Alexandrinus (A;

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^A; 5th century) and Codex Marchalianus (Q;

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^Q; 6th century). Some fragments containing parts of this chapter (a revision of the Septuagint) were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, i.e., Naḥal Ḥever (8ḤevXII^gr; 1st century CE) with extant verses 1-6, 13-18

Sub-Divisions

NKJV groups this chapter: * = Title * = The Great Day of the Lord

Editorial Superscription (1:1)

The superscription or title of the book places Zephaniah's ministry during the reign of King Josiah of Judah, and based on the content of his attacks against the religious syncretism of Judah, probably was active before Josiah's reform in 621 BCE.

Verse 1

:''The word of the Lord which came to Zephaniah the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah.'' Cross reference: Ezra 2:2; Ezra 4:24; Ezra 5:1- 3; Ezra 6:1; *The name "Zephaniah" means "Jehovah hath guarded," literally, "hidden" (; ). *"Hezekiah", consisting of the same letters with Hezekiah, king of Judah, and refers to that king, according to some scholars, including Jewish rabbi Aben Ezra. *"In the days of Josiah": refers to a period between 642 and 609 BC of Josiah's reign in Judah, Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

The Day of Yahweh's Judgment against Judah and Jerusalem (1:2–18)

Verse 12

:''“I will search with lanterns in Jerusalem’s darkest corners to find and punish those who sit contented in their sins, indifferent to God, thinking he will leave them alone.''

Verse 13

:''Their wealth will be stolen and their houses destroyed. :''They may build houses, but they will not live in them. :''They may plant vineyards, but they will not drink any wine from them''

Verse 14

:''The great day of the Lord is near;'' ::''It is near and hastens quickly.'' :''The noise of the day of the Lord is bitter;'' ::''There the mighty men shall cry out.'' NKJV *"Day of the Lord": the verses 14–16 becomes the basis of 'Dies Irae', a medieval hymn about the day of the Yahweh as a day of darkness and defeat, in the tradition of the

Book of Amos The Book of Amos is the third of the Twelve Minor Prophets in the Old Testament (Tanakh) and the second in the Greek Septuagint tradition. Amos, an older contemporary of Hosea and Isaiah, Harris, Stephen L., ''Understanding the Bible''. Palo Alto ...

and Isaiah. *"Noise" (or "voice") of the day of the Lord" refers to the day when Jehovah is ushering with a "roar of vengeance against the guilty" (; Amos 1:2).

References

Sources

* * * * * *

External links

* Jewish translations: *
Zephaniah (Judaica Press)
translation with Rashi's commentary at

Chabad.org Chabad.org is the flagship website of the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement. It was one of the first Jewish internet sites and the first and largest virtual congregation. History In 1988, Yosef Yitzchak Kazen, a Chabad rabbi, began creating ...

translations:
''Online Bible'' at GospelHall.org
(ESV, KJV, Darby, American Standard Version, Bible in Basic English) * Various versions {{Book of Zephaniah 01