Zephaniah

AI summary: This Zephaniah matters because the cross references place him in the tense final years before Jerusalem's fall, when kings and priests are still turning to Jeremiah for words from the Lord. He is sent to inquire, receives prophetic writings, and remains visible in the chain of interactions between court, temple, and prophet. Yet his office does not shield him from the judgment that comes on the city. Taken together, the material presents this Zephaniah as a senior priest caught inside Judah's last, failing attempts to navigate approaching disaster.¹

The son of Maaseiah, the “second priest” in the reign of Zedekiah, often mentioned in Jeremiah as having been sent from the king to inquire (Jer. 21:1) regarding the coming woes which he had denounced, and to entreat the prophet’s intercession that the judgment threatened might be averted (Jer. 29:25, 26, 29; 37:3; 52:24). He, along with some other captive Jews, was put to death by the king of Babylon “at Riblah in the land of Hamath” (2 Kings 25:21). ³