Page "Book of Zephaniah" Paragraph 2

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 BC ), 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.