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== Who wrote it?==
{{Books of Nevi'im}}
The superscription of the [[Book of Zephaniah]] 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]]” (1:1, NRSV). All that is known of the author of the book comes from the text, itself. The superscription of the book is lengthier than most and contains two interesting features. The name Cushi (Zephaniah’s father) means ‘Ethiopian’. In a society where genealogy counted for a great deal (the Israelites understood [[Tetragrammaton|Yahweh]] to have made a covenant with [[Abraham]] and his descendents), the author may have felt compelled to establish his [[Hebrews|Hebrew]] lineage. In fact, this lineage is traced back to [[Hezekiah]], who was king of [[Judah]]. At any rate, the author of Zephaniah does not shrink from condemning the Cushites or Ethiopians. Chapter 2:12 contains a succinct but unequivocal message: “You also, O Ethiopians, / Shall be killed by my sword.” Zephaniah’s familial connection with King [[Hezekiah]] may have also legitimized his harsh indictment of the royal city in 3:1-7.
As with many of the other prophets, there is no external evidence to directly associate composition of the book with a prophet by the name of Zephaniah. Some scholars believe that much of the material does not date from the days of King [[Josiah]] (ca. 640-609 BCE), but is actually post-monarchic. Three general possibilities are that: a person (possibly named Zephaniah) prophesied the words of the book of Zephaniah; the general message of a Josianic prophet is conveyed through the book of Zephaniah, or the name could have been employed (either during the monarchic or post-monarchic period) as a ‘speaking voice’, possibly for rhetorical purposes. Although it is possible that a post-monarchic author assumed the persona of a monarchic prophet to add credibility to his message, there is no evidence to support such a claim.
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