The Author. 

        Though absolute certainty is unobtainable, there is a strong probability that the first of the true prophets of Jehovah to break silence after the reign of Manasseh was Zephaniah. There is virtual unanimity that 1:4-9 must pre­cede Josiah’s reformation of 621 B.C. The only arguments against are based on “the remnant of Baal” (ver. 4) and “the king’s sons” (ver. 8). But since the former may well mean “Baal worship to the last vestige,” and the latter “the royal family” (the LXX actually has “the king’s house”), we need hardly doubt the general impression made by this section of the prophecy.

        There are grounds for thinking that it was the first tentative reforms of Josiah in 627 B.C. (IIChron. 34:3; see p. 79) that were the external stimulus moving Jeremiah to prophesy, so he may well have been Zephaniah who a year or two earlier first stirred Josiah to his reforms.

        Zephaniah, as is suggested by the local colour of his prophecy, obviously lived in Jerusalem, and he probably belonged to a family of some importance. This is suggested by his genealogy being carried back to his great-great-grandfather (1:1). In no other prophetic book except Zechariah do we go further back than the prophet’s father. On the other hand it seems gratuitous to assume, as is generally done, that his ancestor Hezekiah was the king of that name.