The Book of Sophonias (Zephaniah)

Sophonias is among the shortest books of the Old Testament: three chapters and fifty-three verses. Yet one line of it has sounded at every traditional Requiem Mass for centuries, because the Latin of its first chapter begins "Dies irae, dies illa", the day of wrath, that day. Here we set out who Sophonias was, when he wrote, what his book says and how the Church has read it; each chapter page sets the Vulgate beside the Douay-Rheims.

Who wrote the Book of Zephaniah (Sophonias)?

The book names its author in its first verse: "The word of the Lord that came to Sophonias the son of Chusi, the son of Godolias, the son of Amarias, the son of Ezechias, in the days of Josias the son of Amon king of Juda" (Sophonias 1:1). The Church has always received the prophecy as his. Sophonias is the Greek and Latin form of the name rendered Zephaniah in modern Bibles: the same man and the same book.

His name, Challoner notes after St Jerome, signifies "the watchman of the Lord, or the hidden of the Lord"; the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia renders it "the Lord protects". Challoner adds that, "according to the more general opinion", he was a native of Sarabatha and of the tribe of Simeon. Scripture names him nowhere else, and everything else we know comes from his book. He worked in Jerusalem itself, whose gates and quarters he names (1:10–11).

He is the only prophet whose ancestry is traced four generations back. Some identify the last ancestor named, Ezechias, with the holy king Ezechias (Hezekiah), which would make Sophonias a man of royal blood. The Catholic Encyclopedia doubts this, since the title "king of Juda" would surely have been added to his name, as it is to Josias's in the same verse.

His authorship of the book as a whole is not in question: even radical critics, the Encyclopedia notes, accept the testimony of the first verse, and the Pontifical Biblical Commission issued no decree on this book. Many modern scholars do assign parts of chapters 2 and 3, above all the closing song, to later hands. The Encyclopedia answers that the prophets habitually close their threats with a promise of salvation, "to permit, as it were, the rainbow to follow the thunder-storm", and that the careful symmetry of the speeches forbids large excisions.

When was the Book of Zephaniah written?

Sophonias is one of the few prophets who dates his own book: he preached "in the days of Josias", the last good king of Juda, who reigned thirty-one years (4 Kings 22:1), from 641 to 611 BC in the Catholic Encyclopedia's reckoning. Challoner places him "in the beginning of the reign of Josias", and the Encyclopedia agrees: the abuses he describes fit the king's first years, before his reform had done its work.

The background is told in 4 Kings and 2 Paralipomenon. Under Manasses and Amon, Baal, the host of heaven and the Ammonite idol Melchom had been brought into Jerusalem. In the twelfth year of his reign Josias "cleansed Juda and Jerusalem from the high places" (2 Paralipomenon 34:3), and put down those who burnt incense "to Baal, and to the sun, and to the moon... and to all the host of heaven" (4 Kings 23:5). Sophonias threatens exactly these: "the remnant of Baal", "them that worship the host of heaven upon the tops of houses", "them that... swear by Melchom" (1:4–5). The Encyclopedia calls him one of the most zealous champions of that reform.

He was thus a contemporary of Jeremias, who began to prophesy in the thirteenth year of Josias (Jeremias 1:2). St Augustine sets the two side by side: Sophonias "prophesied with Jeremiah" (City of God XVIII, 33). Since he foretells the ruin of Ninive (2:13) as still to come, he wrote before that city fell in 612 BC, and some forty years before Jerusalem itself fell to Babylon in 586.

What is the Book of Zephaniah about? A summary

The Catholic Encyclopedia divides the book into four parts. Together they give the message of all the prophets in miniature: threat of judgment, call to penance, promise of the Messianic kingdom.

The day of the Lord upon Juda (1:1–2:3)

Chapter 1 opens with a judgment as wide as the Flood: "Gathering, I will gather together all things from off the face of the land, saith the Lord" (1:2). It narrows to Juda and Jerusalem, to the idolaters and to those who "turn away from following after the Lord" (1:6). Then comes the book's refrain: "Be silent before the face of the Lord God: for the day of the Lord is near, for the Lord hath prepared a victim, he hath sanctified his guests" (1:7). The day reaches every class, down to the comfortable men "settled on their lees: that say in their hearts: The Lord will not do good, nor will he do evil" (1:8–12). Against these God says, "I will search Jerusalem with lamps" (1:12).

The chapter climbs to the great description of the day (1:14–18), in which "neither shall their silver and their gold be able to deliver them". The section closes with the call to conversion at the start of chapter 2: "Seek the Lord, all ye meek of the earth... seek the just, seek the meek: if by any means you may be hid in the day of the Lord's indignation" (2:3).

Judgment on the nations (2:4–15)

The hand of the Lord then stretches over the whole world, to the four points of the compass, as the Encyclopedia notes: westward over the Philistine cities of Gaza, Ascalon, Azotus and Accaron (2:4–7); eastward over Moab and Ammon, who "shall be as Sodom... and as Gomorrha" for their pride (2:8–11); southward over the Ethiopians (2:12); northward over Assyria and Ninive, "the glorious city that dwelt in security: that said in her heart: I am, and there is none beside me" (2:15). In the midst of these threats shines a promise: the Lord "shall consume all the gods of the earth: and they shall adore him every man from his own place, all the islands of the Gentiles" (2:11).

Woe to Jerusalem (3:1–8)

The prophet turns back to the city: "Woe to the provoking and redeemed city, the dove. She hath not hearkened to the voice, neither hath she received discipline" (3:1–2). Her princes are "roaring lions", her judges "evening wolves", her prophets "senseless men without faith", her priests have "polluted the sanctuary" (3:3–4). God has warned her by the ruin of the nations, "but they rose early and corrupted all their thoughts" (3:7). So He bids her wait for "the day of my resurrection that is to come", when He will gather the nations to judgment (3:8).

The remnant and the song of Sion (3:9–20)

Judgment opens on grace. God will "restore to the people a chosen lip, that all may call upon the name of the Lord, and may serve him with one shoulder", and offerings will come "from beyond the rivers of Ethiopia" (3:9–10). He will take away the proud and leave "a poor and needy people: and they shall hope in the name of the Lord" (3:12). The book ends with a hymn of joy to Jerusalem: "Give praise, O daughter of Sion: shout, O Israel... The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty, he will save" (3:14–17), and with the promise that God will gather the scattered and bring back their captivity (3:18–20).

Themes and the Catholic reading

The day of wrath. The "day of the Lord" is the centre of the book, and the Catholic Encyclopedia calls its first part "a Dies irae dies illa of the Old Testament". The prophet saw it first in the coming ruin of Jerusalem; the Church has always heard in it the Last Judgment, as the New Testament does: St Paul warns of "the day of wrath and revelation of the just judgment of God" (Romans 2:5), and the Apocalypse cries: "For the great day of their wrath is come. And who shall be able to stand?" (Apocalypse 6:17). The book is thus a sober school of the four last things: judgment is certain, near, and no silver or gold can buy it off.

The Dies irae. In the Vulgate, Sophonias 1:15 begins Dies irae dies illa, dies tribulationis et angustiae. The Catholic Encyclopedia notes that the author of the great medieval sequence of the Requiem Mass, most generally held to be Thomas of Celano, found his text in Sophonias 1:15–16, and may have taken the hint of its rhythm from a tenth-century judgment hymn that had already set these verses in verse. The responsory Libera me, sung at the absolution after the Requiem, uses the same words: dies illa, dies irae, calamitatis et miseriae. Whenever the Church sings for her dead, on All Souls' Day and at every traditional funeral, she sings Sophonias. Our pages on Gregorian chant and funeral Bible verses present the melody and the rest of the Requiem.

The calling of the Gentiles. The Catholic Encyclopedia remarks that the universality of both judgment and redemption is so strongly expressed here that the book "may be regarded as the 'Catholic Epistle' of the Old Testament". St Augustine, in The City of God (XVIII, 33), quotes 3:8, with its "day of my resurrection", then 2:11 and 3:9–12, as "predictions about Christ": after that day the nations would be gathered and would worship God "every man from his place". Challoner's preface sums the book up in the same sense: it foretells "the coming of Christ, the conversion of the Gentiles, the blindness of the Jews, and their conversion towards the end of the world".

The meek and humble remnant. God saves not the powerful but "a poor and needy people" (3:12). St Augustine identifies them with the remnant St Paul speaks of, "the remnant of that nation who have believed in Christ", and the Apocalypse echoes the next verse in its picture of the redeemed: "in their mouth there was found no lie" (Apocalypse 14:5; compare Sophonias 3:13). The call of 2:3, "seek the meek", already sounds like the beatitude of the meek, and it is why the book suits any soul that prays the Litany of Humility.

The daughter of Sion. The closing hymn has a twin in Zacharias, who sings "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Sion... behold thy King will come to thee" (Zacharias 9:9), which St Matthew sees fulfilled on Palm Sunday (Matthew 21:5). For Sophonias, the joy of Sion is that "the king of Israel the Lord is in the midst of thee" (3:15). Christians read it as the joy of the Church in the presence of her Lord, the joy of Advent, which looks both to His first coming and to His return in glory.

Famous verses of Sophonias

Sophonias 1:14–15, the day of wrath. "The great day of the Lord is near, it is near and exceeding swift... That day is a day of wrath, a day of tribulation and distress, a day of calamity and misery, a day of darkness and obscurity, a day of clouds and whirlwinds" (Sophonias 1).

Sophonias 1:12, the lamps. "I will search Jerusalem with lamps": for this verse Christian painting shows the prophet holding a lantern, the Catholic Encyclopedia notes.

Sophonias 2:3, seek the meek. The one call to conversion in the book's threats, and the verse that holds its whole spirituality: humility is the only shelter "in the day of the Lord's indignation" (Sophonias 2).

Sophonias 3:9, a chosen lip. "I will restore to the people a chosen lip, that all may call upon the name of the Lord" (Sophonias 3): one tongue of faith for the nations scattered at Babel (Genesis 11).

Sophonias 3:14–17, rejoice, daughter of Sion. "Give praise, O daughter of Sion... he will rejoice over thee with gladness, he will be silent in his love, he will be joyful over thee in praise."

Sophonias 1:5, Melchom (Milcom). Readers often ask who Milcom is. Challoner answers: "The idol of the Ammonites", the same "Melchom, the abomination of the children of Ammon" whose high place Josias defiled (4 Kings 23:13).

Its place in the canon and the liturgy

Sophonias is the ninth of the twelve minor prophets, standing after Habacuc and before Aggeus. It is a protocanonical book, received by Jews, Catholics and Protestants alike, and the Council of Trent names it among the twelve prophets in its decree on the canonical Scriptures (Session IV, 1546). The Douay-Rheims keeps the Vulgate name Sophonias; the King James and modern versions say Zephaniah. All Bibles divide it into three chapters, and our pages on the Douay-Rheims Bible and the Latin Vulgate explain why we read it in these two versions.

In the Roman Breviary, the book is begun at Matins on the Wednesday of the fifth week of November, when the Church, at the close of the liturgical year, reads the minor prophets one by one; the three lessons give 1:1–9. At Mass the book is heard above all in the Dies irae and the Libera me of the Requiem. Our Breviary and liturgical calendar follow those days.

How to read the Book of Zephaniah

The whole book takes a quarter of an hour; read it at one sitting so that the turn from wrath to joy is felt. Read 4 Kings 22–23 first, to see the idols Sophonias names. Then read chapter 1 with the Latin beside it, follow the judgment round the compass in chapter 2, and pray the close of chapter 3 as a hymn. It pairs naturally with its neighbours Nahum on the fall of Ninive and Joel on the day of the Lord, and with Isaias and Micheas, whose style it often recalls.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Book of Zephaniah about?

The Book of Zephaniah (Sophonias) announces the day of the Lord: a judgment on Juda and Jerusalem for their idolatry and pride, then on the surrounding nations, from the Philistines to Ninive. It calls the meek to seek the Lord, and ends with the promise that God will convert the nations, keep a humble remnant, and dwell with joy in the midst of the daughter of Sion.

Who wrote the Book of Zephaniah?

The prophet Sophonias (Zephaniah), son of Chusi, wrote it, as its first verse states. He preached in Jerusalem in the reign of King Josias and was a contemporary of Jeremias.

When was the Book of Zephaniah written?

It was written in the reign of Josias, king of Juda (641–611 BC in the Catholic Encyclopedia's dating), most likely in its early years, before the king's reform against idolatry was complete. It speaks of Ninive's ruin as still to come, so it is earlier than the fall of that city in 612 BC.

How many chapters are in the Book of Zephaniah?

The Book of Zephaniah has three chapters and fifty-three verses: eighteen in chapter 1, fifteen in chapter 2 and twenty in chapter 3. The division is the same in all Bibles.

Is Zephaniah in the Catholic Bible?

Yes. Zephaniah is in every Catholic Bible, under the name Sophonias in the Douay-Rheims and the Latin Vulgate. It is the ninth of the twelve minor prophets, between Habacuc and Aggeus, and the Council of Trent lists it among the canonical books.

What is the main message of the Book of Zephaniah?

Its main message is that the day of the Lord is near and that no wealth can save from it, so men must seek the Lord in meekness and humility while there is time. Beyond the judgment, God promises to save a poor and humble remnant and to call all the nations to serve Him "with one shoulder".

To whom was the Book of Zephaniah written?

It was addressed first to the people of Juda and Jerusalem, princes, judges, priests and prophets alike, in the days of Josias. Its judgments and promises also reach the surrounding nations.

What is the connection between Zephaniah and the Dies irae?

The Latin Vulgate of Sophonias 1:15 begins "Dies irae dies illa", "That day is a day of wrath". The medieval sequence of the Requiem Mass takes its opening words from this verse, and the responsory Libera me echoes it, so the prophecy is sung at every traditional funeral and on All Souls' Day.

What is the literary style of the Book of Zephaniah?

It is prophetic oracle in poetic form, vigorous and earnest. The Catholic Encyclopedia notes that Sophonias avoids ornament, borrows freely from Isaias and Jeremias, opens two strophes with the same cry, "the day of the Lord is near", and ends his book with a lyrical hymn to Jerusalem.

Read the whole Book of Sophonias verse by verse, in Latin and English side by side, in the Iter Fidei Catholic Bible app.

Sources. The Prophecy of Sophonias, 4 Kings 22–23, 2 Paralipomenon 34, Jeremias 1, Zacharias 9, Matthew 21, Romans 2 and Apocalypse 6 and 14 (Douay-Rheims, Challoner revision, with Challoner's preface and notes; Latin Vulgate); St Augustine, The City of God, XVIII, 33; Council of Trent, Session IV, Decree on the Canonical Scriptures (1546); M. Faulhaber, "Sophonias (Zephaniah)", Catholic Encyclopedia (1912); "Dies Irae", Catholic Encyclopedia (1908); Breviarium Romanum, Matins of Wednesday in the fifth week of November; Missale Romanum (1962), Mass for the Dead.