Essay of ZephaniahThe book of Zephaniah contains messages of divine judgment against Judah and Jerusalem, as well as other nations. It addresses a rare concentration of references to central issues in the history of ancient Israel. Idolatry, violence, and deception abounded in Judah when Zephaniah began to prophesy. Zephaniah's prophecy made it clear that Yahweh would take revenge on unrepentant transgressors. His unfavorable judgments would apply not only to Judah and Jerusalem, but also to other peoples: the Philistines, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Ethiopians and the Assyrians. It is significant that Zephaniah, the prophet, is never at the center of the book of Zephaniah; the word of Yahweh is at the center of the book. Zephaniah is mentioned only insofar as it is necessary for the interpretation of the text. Zephaniah does not perform miracles and does not claim that her prayers can influence or even change the expected course of events, she does not perform any symbolic acts and is not linked to the Temple. Instead, he was a speaker who delivered a sophisticated speech regarding the future and called for repentance (Zvi). Relatively little is known about the prophet Zephaniah, whose name in Hebrew, Tsephan-Yah' means, "Jehovah has hidden (Freedman). However, unlike the other prophets, Zephaniah provided her genealogy back to the fourth generation, back to Hezekiah. (Zephaniah: 1:1, Jeremiah: 1:1, Ezekiel: 1:3) Most commentators agree that his great-great-grandfather was King Hezekiah. Therefore, Zephaniah was of royal descent and this would have added to her harsh condemnation of princes. of Judah and showed himself to be a courageous prophet of Yahweh. (Zvi) In Zephaniah 1:1, the “Word of Yahweh” came to Zephaniah at a certain historical time, in the days of Josiah. So the days of Josiah are. (Zvi) Josiah reigned from 640 to 609 BC (Mason) However, in Josiah's time, whether before or after the reformation is a question that has no definitive answer. Arguments put forward in favor of the idea that he was prophesying before the reformation are that kings are not mentioned in Zephaniah 1:4-9, and especially in verse 8 where officers and "the king's sons" are mentioned. We can therefore deduce that the king had neither influence nor real power. An additional argument supporting his pre-Reformation prophecy was that the mention of worship in Zephaniah 1:5 reflects the situation before the Reformation but not after..