Editing Book of Zephaniah (section)

{{short description|Book of the Bible}}
{{About |the Book of Zephaniah|the Hebrew prophet|Zephaniah}}
{{Tanakh OT|Nevi'im|prophetic}}
[[File:Leningrad-codex-13-twelve-minor-prophets.pdf |250px |thumb|The [[Leningrad Codex]] (AD. 1008) contains the complete text of the Book of Zephaniah in [[Hebrew]].]]
The '''Book of Zephaniah''' {{IPAc-en|ˌ|z|ɛ|f|ə|ˈ|n|aɪ|.|ə}} ({{langx|he|צְפַנְיָה}}, ''Ṣəfanyā''; sometimes Latinized as ''Sophonias'') is the ninth of the [[Twelve Minor Prophets]] of the [[Old Testament]] and [[Tanakh]], preceded in all traditions by the [[Book of Habakkuk]] and followed by the [[Book of Haggai]]. The book has three chapters.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Bible (online) |url=https://www.bible.com/}}</ref> Zephaniah is a male given name which is usually interpreted to mean "[[Yahweh]] has hidden/protected",{{sfn |Grudem et al. |2008|p=1729}} or "Yahweh hides".{{sfn |Carson et al. |2015|p= 1839}} The church father [[Jerome of Stridon]] interpreted [[Zephaniah]]'s name to mean "the watchman of the Lord".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/library/prophecy-of-sophonias-12455|title=The Prophecy of Sophonias &#124; EWTN|website=EWTN Global Catholic Television Network}}</ref> The original text of the prophecy was written in [[Biblical Hebrew]].

Scholars propose various dates of composition; some scholars argue that the book was probably composed during the reign of [[Josiah]] (late-[[seventh century BCE]]),<ref>{{cite book |title=The Books of Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah |last=Renz |first=Thomas |publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing |year=2021 |isbn=978-1-4674-6184-9 |page=71 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yOX9DwAAQBAJ&pg=RA3-PA71}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=The Theology of the Books of Nahum, Habbakuk, and Zephaniah |last=Timmer |first=Daniel C. |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2024 |isbn=978-1-108-47559-4 |pages=181–183 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UP_5EAAAQBAJ&pg=PA182}}</ref> while others hold that an original core of oracles was expanded and edited in [[Babylonian captivity|exilic]] or later times.<ref>{{cite book |last=Quine |first=Cat |title= The Oxford Handbook of the Minor Prophets |date=2021 |pages=499–510 |publisher=Oxford University Press |url=https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190673208.013.8 |doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190673208.013.8}}</ref><ref>Hagedorn, Anselm C. 2011. “When Did Zephaniah Become a Supporter of Josiah’s Reform?” JTS 62:465-469.</ref>