General Comments on the book of Zephaniah:

Zephaniah prophesied during the second half of the seventh century during the reign of Josiah. His prophecies draw heavily on Amos and Isaiah, so he is a nice example of how prophets were influenced by their predecessors. He also continues many of the same themes discussed by Amos and Isaiah (the responsibility for justice and the "day of Yahweh), and like Isaiah he develops the Zion Tradition and the promises made to the Davidic monarchy (the Davidic Covenant). In light of these traits, our study of Zephaniah will concentrate on the historical setting of the early years of Josiah reign (ca. 640-622) and on the development of prophecies that continue to hold the Mosaic and Davidic Covenants in tension with each other.

Note: In general you should concentrate on the Blenkinsopp textbook for the historical information from Zephaniah's reign, and you should read skeptically the historical information found in the Newsome textbook. I will point out some of my disagreements below and in class, but I felt he was particularly weak on Zephaniah in terms of historical background.

Historical background:

  • Newsome states that there was a gap in prophecy from Isaiah to Zephaniah. This statement should be viewed very cautiously! True, there are no written prophetic texts from this period, but their absence does not mean that prophecy was absent. Rather, we probably have the prophecies from Zephaniah because they are consistent with the later dominant views and reforms that become the norm in the exilic and post-exilic periods.
  • Zeph 1:1 states that the prophecies take place during the reign of "Josiah, the son of Amon, King of Judah." On one hand this is not much help because Josiah reigns for a long time, but on the other hand several other indications are present that allow us to pinpoint the time period with a little more specificity. As described below, his prophecies probably take place some time before the reforms of Josiah in 622 BCE, so the possible dates are between 640 and 622 BCE. Further, there are indications that the prophecies were originally separate oracles presented at different time periods, so it is not unlikely that Zephaniah presented these prophecies throughout much of the 630's.
  • Josiah's reign is dated from 640-609 BCE. He comes to the throne as a young child of eight years, and he is killed in battle at Megiddo in 609. During the first years of his reign, the kingdom seems to be controlled by his supporters. Only later as he reaches adulthood does Josiah seem to take over the reign of the kingdom himself.
  • As stated above, the descriptions in the book of Kings allows us to date the religious reforms of Josiah to 622 BCE (2 Kings 22:3-23:25). We will study these reforms in more detail the Wednesday after Spring break, but for now it is sufficient to note that the reforms included the abolishment of "syncretistic" worship and the concentration of the cult worship of Yahweh in Jerusalem. Since much of the book of Zephaniah criticizes Judah for syncretistic worship, it is probable that most of the oracles took place before 622.
  • Assyria was the dominant power during the first half of the seventh century up until the death of Ashurabanipal in 629 or 627 BCE. The history of the Assyrian influence during the seventh century can be (overly) summarized as follows:
  • Sennacherib conducts a major campaign in 701 BCE. During this campaign he subdues the coastal plain area (the Philistine), and he causes major losses in Judah but does not completely wipe out Hezekiah or Jerusalem. In fact, it seems that the sites north of Jerusalem were not destroyed by Sennacherib, and Hezekiah or his son Manasseh begins to rebuild the Judean soon after 701. However, the Judean kingdom suffered a major defeat, and it could not recover to its former power or prosperity.
  • Sennacherib is murdered in 681 BCE, and his son Esarhadden takes over the throne. This king launches and attack again Egypt, but he dies in the process. His son, Ashurabanipal, takes over in about 669 and reigns until 629 or 627 BCE. During his reign, Assyria reaches the height of its influence in the ancient Near East.
  • During Ashurabanipal's reign, Assyrian provinces in ancient Palestine become very strong in the north area that formally belonged to Israel and in the coastal plain area that had been controlled previously by the Philistine. The Philistine city states under Assyrian control exert pressure towards the east, and settlement in Judah is curtailed on its western border. This was significant, because the Judean settlement in the fertile Shephelah region went down dramatically during the seventh century. This means that Judah was not near as prosperous or powerful as she had been at the end of the eighth century.
  • This is the probable historical setting for Zephaniah-- Jerusalem is still controlled by the Judean kingdom, but its strength has been curtailed. It is also probable that there was a strong belief that Jerusalem would not be defeated though (see the Davidic Covenant and the Zion Tradition).

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    Still Under construction!!!