Judith describes the deliverance of the jews from the hands of holofernes, general to nebuchadnezzar of babylon. Such an approach will free each reader from preconceived ideas that might limit his or her ability to see the intent and message of the lords word. In its most limited sense, torah refers to the five books of moses. All that is known of zephaniah comes from the text the name cushi, zephaniahs father, means cushite or ethiopian, and the text of zephaniah mentions the sin. Book of zephaniah, the ninth of 12 old testament books that bear the names of the minor prophets, collected in one book, the twelve, in the jewish canon. The book of tanach containing zephaniahs prophecies, foretelling the destruction of jerusalem as well the jews eventual return from exile. The book is concerned throughout with the day of the lord. Your guide to reading the hebrew bible my jewish learning. A much neglected prophecy, zephaniah proves to be an excellent subject for literarycritical enquiry. Zephaniah 3 commentary john gills exposition on the. The book of zephaniah was written during the reign of king josiah, likely in the early part of his reign, between 635 and 625 bc. The book of zephaniah is the ninth book of the latter prophets. Thus the period from 640 to 622 is the likely time for the giving of the prophecy.
The book of zephaniah poses a full range of interpretive and hermenutical issues for the modern reader. The book consists of a series of independent sayings, many of which are rightly attributed to zephaniah, written probably about 640630 bc. Zephaniah is the ninth of the minor prophets, the last 12 books of the old testament. Such an approach yields new meaning for zephaniah as it is doing for other biblical texts. This stellar collection features english translations of portions of the dead sea scrolls, the septuagint, the apocrypha, the pseudepigrapha, the writings of philo and josephus, timelines, and more. We offer an offline version, once downloaded on your device.
Zephaniah, speaks how the god is going to destroy man and beast and those who have turned back from serving god. The books 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 1. The prophet zephaniah was evidently a person of considerable social standing in judah and was probably related to the royal line. Both prophets lived at the end of the assyrian period and the beginning of the. Zephaniah was a prophet of doom in the true sense of the word.
Zephaniah 3 commentary john gills exposition on the whole. Mar 27, 2020 the book of zephaniah poses a full range of interpretive and hermenutical issues for the modern reader. Zephaniah s ministry occurred during the reign of josiah, king of judah. Zephaniah 3 commentary, one of over 110 bible commentaries freely available, this versebyverse commentary contain gems of information found nowhere outside the ancient jewish writings. Book of zephaniah overview insight for living ministries. Such an approach will free each reader from preconceived ideas that might limit his or her ability to see. This little book written by zephaniah the prophet is talking about the day of the lord. As the writings teach, we must seek to love truth for truths sake. 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. The author, zephaniah, traces his ancestry back four generations. The contents of the book of this prophet fall into two parts.
The qumran sectaries wrote a pesher a commentary making use of fulfillment exegesis on the book, relating it to their own times. There are 54 portions in total, and the jewish community reads one a week over an annual cycle that begins each fall on the holiday of simchat torah. Genesis, exodus, leviticus, numbers, and deuteronomy. To find out this weeks portion, visit my jewish learnings homepage. Survey the sacred library of ancient israela treasuretrove of extrabiblical literature surviving alongside the hebrew scriptures. Drawing from the best of traditional and contemporary scholarship.
Zephaniah was the grandson of hezekiah, but we cannot be sure that this hezekiah was the same hezekiah who ruled jerusalem during the time of isaiah. He situates the reading of zephaniah in the early sixth century bce rather than the late seventh century bce. Zephaniah warns about gods coming day of judgement, starting with judah, then moving on to the surrounding gentile non jewish nations. In greek the book is titled sofonias, a transliteration of the prophets name in hebrew. Air forceelizabeth rissmiller the torah is divided into the five books below, and each book is divided into about 10 portions. Zephaniah was a hebrew prophet who lived during the time of king josiah of. Genesis, exodus, leviticus, numbers and deuteronomy. Introduction as we prepare to study the literal and spiritual senses of the book of zephaniah. Download for free the app containing the audio version of the jewish bible in english. The ideas most emphasized are the providential control of the nations of the world, the necessity of purity and justice as opposed to the prevalent corruption and injustice of the day, and the refining value of judgment. The message of obadiah, the shortest book in the hebrew bible, is again more in line with isaiah and. This prophecy might very well have been written after the deuteronomic reformation 621. But the word torah can also be used to refer to the entire jewish bible the body of scripture known to nonjews as the old. Tzefaniah zephaniah chapter 1 tanakh online torah bible.
The messiah revealed the following is a slightly condensed, and formatted version of an article written by sam shamoun entitled the identity of the jewish messiah revealed. Students use for expert academic writing tutorials. This is so since a grandson can still be considered the son of. Zephaniahs ministry occurred during the reign of josiah, king of judah.
Among the prophets, this is a unique introduction with its long list of fathers back to zephaniahs great. Book of zephaniah, the ninth of 12 old testament books that bear the. The prophecy by zephaniah is a companion to that of habakkuk. The 24 books of judaism are equivalent to the 39 books common to all christian old testaments, for samuel, kings, chronicles, and ezranehemiah were each divided into two parts in the christian canons, and the one book of the twelve prophets was split into twelve books, one for each prophet. Josiah led judah to religious and social reform, but zephaniah declared that these spiritual changes would not last. The earliest known example of a jewish apocalypse is the book of daniel middle of the second century b. This app is available completely free on your cell phone, so you can take it with you and read it any time anywhere. According to louis ginzbergs legends of the jews, the twentyfour book canon of the hebrew bible was fixed by ezra and the scribes in the second temple period. Permission is given to link to any html file on the early jewish writings site. Like the writings of many of the prophets, the book of zephaniah follows a pattern of judgment on all people for their sin followed by the restoration of gods chosen people.
Book of zephaniah, also called sophonias, the ninth of 12 old testament books that bear the names of the minor prophets, collected in one book, the twelve, in the jewish canon. One targum state behold my servant messiah, i will draw him near, my chosen one, in whom my memra aramaic word is well pleased. By this the godly harmony is shown in the prophecies of such different men who have lived at totally different times but who always presented the one goal of god. His word came in visions, oracles, dreams, parables, and the like. Zephaniah means yahweh has hiddenprotected, or yahweh hides. Son of hezekiah, possibly the famous judean king c. Enjoy the jewish version jps bible 1917, the first english translation of the. A bible 1569written in hebrew, aramaic, greek, and latinthat. Other quotations taken from the jewish scriptures include the promise of isaiah 42. Zephaniah 1 coming judgment and the reasons for it a. The book also notes that all living creatures reflect the perfection of the creator wisdom.
When god had a message for the people, he spoke through the prophets. The prophet lived during the reign of the later king josiah, who was also a good king, reviving his realms worship of god. The book of zephaniah shows extremely many similarities with other prophetic books of the ot. The hebrew bible is only part of ancient israels writings. This summary of the book of zephaniah provides information about the title, author s, date of writing, chronology, theme, theology, outline, a brief overview, and the chapters of the book of zephaniah. The book of zephaniah center point bible institute. The prophecies of zephaniah reflect the apostate conditions in jerusalem that prevailed there during the long reign of manasseh see the references to the worship of pagan deities in jerusalem, in 2 kings 21 and zephaniah 1. We have been granted permission to host this article on the jesus plus nothing website, for which we are very grateful. He uses the expression more than any other prophet of the old testament p. Introduction to zephaniahthe days of josiah zephaniah 1 may 29. The redemption of gods people is the central theme in the preceding verse 52. The word torah is a tricky one, because it can mean different things in different contexts. The stimulus for the worlds baffled response contained in this famed cluster of chapters at the end of the book of isaiah is the unexpected salvation of israel.
Sweeneys keen reading of this small, prophetic book opens new doors for hebrew bible research. Josiah therefore instituted a widespread religious reform based on the book of. The book of tanach containing zephaniahs prophecies, foretelling the destruction of jerusalem as well the jews eventual return from. Another collection of jewish works has survived from late and postbiblical times, a great library that bears witness to the rich spiritual life of jews in that period.
Zephaniahs theme is the day of the lord, the time of gods intervention and punishment on the nations. Zephaniah prophesied for a few years, beginning some say in the same year as jeremiah, who began to prophesy in 627 or 626 b. Transcribed and edited by david sielaff, november 20. After an introductory chapter devoted to the history of zephaniah interpretation, house moves to a discussion of genre and the content of zephaniah. Some who consider the book to have largely been written by a historical zephaniah have suggested that he may have been a disciple of isaiah. This summary of the book of zephaniah provides information about the title, authors, date of writing, chronology, theme, theology, outline, a brief overview, and the chapters of the book of zephaniah. Jesus the messiah revealed from the talmud and other. Torah instruction, or law, also called the pentateuch, nevi. Answer 1 introduction the jewish holy book is the tanakh jewish bible, containing the torah and the prophetic books. Jesus the messiah revealed from the talmud and other jewish. The name means yhwh has hidden, or yhwh has treasured. Zephaniah was a prophet of god, sent to help gods people tribe of judah towards spiritual revival.
Its language is vigorous and picturesque, and betrays an acquaintance with the earlier prophets. Zephaniah 3 commentary, one of over 110 bible commentaries freely available, this versebyverse commentary contain gems of information found. The author places himself during the reign of josiah, son of amon. The book of baruch, the scribe to jeremiah, describes the prayers of the babylonian exiles and includes the letter of jeremiah. Zephaniah with book summary versebyverse bible commentary. In light of our present information it is probably best to see assyria as the enemy and assign a date of ca. The people of judah would return to wickedness and rebellion against god. Zephaniahs prophetic revelations and stern warnings occurred during josiahs reign zephaniah 1. Zephaniah was the greatgreatgrandson of hezekiah, the good and godly king of judah. Enjoy the jewish version jps bible 1917, the first english.
Because there is no hint of josiahs reformation in his writings, most scholars believe zephaniah prophesied before the reforms began, though some believe the reformation was. The torah is divided into the five books below, and each book is divided into about 10 portions. Bible study guide book of zephaniah saturday, november 3, 2012 background on zephaniah in zephaniah 1. The book of zephaniah from the book minor prophets. Like other old testament prophets, zephaniah is a book rich in literary forms and features. Tanakh, an acronym derived from the names of the three divisions of the hebrew bible.
Zephaniah, nahum, and habakkuk book summaries, test. Zephaniah warns about gods coming day of judgement, starting with judah, then moving on to the surrounding gentile nonjewish nations. The apocrypha is an elaborate and assorted group of jewish writings found, with slight variations, in both catholic and eastern. Introduction to zephaniahthe days of josiah zephaniah 1.
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