ZEPHANIAH: INTRODUCTION TO THE LITERARY STRUCTURE

 

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The first controversy to face in deciding how to “rightly divide” this book of prophecy is whether any such controversy exists. Childs states, “There is general agreement on the structure of the book.” Berlin , after reviewing the literature on the subject, comes to quite a different conclusion: “The lack of agreement in dividing so small a body of text is truly amazing.” The latter opinion appears to be much closer to the mark.

A minority view divides the book into six or seven sections, but comparison of four such schemes shows virtually no agreement as to where the lines should be drawn. At the other extreme are those who see only two major divisions, representative of the two major themes of the book: judgment (1:2-3:7 or 3:8) and deliverance (3:8 or 3:9-20). Most commentators have seen Zephaniah as a tripartite scheme with the three sections following, respectively, the traditional prophetic elements of judgments against Judah, judgments against the nations, and pronouncements of hope and salvation. Those opting for a three-part division appear to be evenly split in seeing the first break after 1:18 or 2:3 and the second break at either 2:15 or 3:8. All four possible resulting combinations of opinions are represented in the literature. To muddy the academic waters even further, there are those who would combine either the first or last two of the three divisions together to arrive at a bipartite structure.

Literary Features

            1. The Day of the Lord

It is well recognized that, more than any other OT prophet, Zephaniah narrowed his focus to this one overriding subject, in both its positive and negative aspects. It is then perhaps not accidental that the appearances of the word “day(s)” appear to be carefully placed in the text. Thus, Robertson notes that the specific term “Day of Yahweh” used in vv. 1:7,14 appears to bracket the intervening material and that “day” occurs exactly seven times in the Zephaniah 1:15-16. It should also be noted that “day” also occurs exactly seven times in the text both before and after this passage.

2. Parallels to Other Biblical Material

Although the direction of borrowing is not always obvious, Zephaniah appears to have made extensive use of previous material. As early as Keil, echoes of other prophetic writings were noted in this book “reproducing in a compendious form the fundamental thoughts of judgment and salvation.” Berlin has provided an extensive list of such suspected quotations and influences, especially from Jeremiah. The only pattern revealed by examination of these parallels is that the references to the writings of Habakkuk, Joel and Ezekiel all occur in the opening and closing verses of Zephaniah. The same pattern may be noted in Robertson's list of the similarities between Zephaniah and Deuteronomy; all appear in Zephaniah 1:13-18 and 3:5-20.

The most well recognized biblical parallels found in this book, however, are with the Book of Genesis. As before, most of the correspondences occur at the beginning and ending of Zephaniah.

                        Zephaniah         Genesis

1:2-3                  ch. 1

1:2-3                  ch. 6

1:2-6                  chs. 6-9

                        1:3                     2:7

                        2:5-15               ch. 10

                        3:3-4                 ch. 49

                        3:9-13              11:1-9

                        3:10                  2:13

3. “People”

The two Hebrew words, 'am and gowy, translated “people” appear prominently in Zephaniah. Each occurs exactly seven times in the text, and the two intersect at the passage 2:9-11. The first term generally refers to the Jews alone but, interestingly, its first and final appearances in the book relate to the pagan nations. Judah is thus lumped together with the other nations in terms of its faults and fate. The second term refers only to the Gentiles, who proceed from being not desired (2:1) to being gathered in by God (3:8) in the first and last occurrences of this word in the text, respectively. This important development, the salvation of the nations, is one of the most unusual and dominant features in this book.

4. “Oracle of Yahweh”

In common with the other prophetic literature, Zephaniah stresses that the word he speaks comes not from man but from God. This point is underscored in the text by five occurrences of the phrase “Says the Lord” or “Oracle of Yahweh” bracketed by similar phrases in 1:1 and 3:20 (not coincidentally the first and last verses of the book) to give a total of seven.

5. “Woe”

This key word, so prominent in other prophetic writings, appears only twice in Zephaniah (at 2:5 and 3:1). Although it is not a foolproof indicator, it is one of the few literary clues in the book to signal the possible start of a new section.

6. Similar Beginnings and Endings

Several of the above literary features point to a correspondence between the opening and closing sections of the book. A number of additional parallels have been detected:

Figure 2: Parallels between Zephaniah 1 and 3

Parallel                                             Zeph. 1             Zeph. 3

wordplay on “gather/remove”         1:2-3                  3:18

            Jerusalem’s sins denounced            1:4-13                3:1-7

            “quiet / silent”                                 1:7                     3:17

            social turbulence                             1:9                     3:1-7

            reversal of fortune                          1:10-16              3:14-20

            allusions to man’s haughtiness       1:12,18              3:11

            “warrior”                                        1:14                   3:17

            identical refrain                             1:18b                  3:8d

In fact, there is a whole complex of words such as “gather/remove/jealousy/devour/land” which occurs in Zephaniah exclusively or predominantly in vv. 1:2-18 and 3:8-20. As Robertson states, “So the book of Zephaniah ends where it begins. The prophet opened with a scene of cataclysmic overthrow...The prophet closes with another scene of cosmic scope.” The pictures of the two scenes are, however, quite different in tone in proceeding from despair to hope.

Structure of the Book

Armed with the above observations, we can now tackle the question of the book's overall organization that has divided so many commentators in the past. At first glance, it would appear that some kind of ABA structure best fits the evidence presented to date, with the Oracles to the Nations occupying the center section.

Oracles to the Nations (Zephaniah 2:4-15)

Concentrating on these prophecies first, they are usually broken down by subject as follows:

Against Philistia (2:4-7)

                        Against Moab and Ammon (2:8-11)

                        Against Cush (2:12)

                        Against Assyria (2:13-15)

Two modifications to this outline and a slightly different method of grouping are proposed. First, although Zephaniah 2:4 concerns several locations in Philistia and starts with the word ky, which may be an appropriate way to begin a new subject (if translated “indeed”), it seems more appropriate, in agreement with Berlin, to begin the oracles with the next verse and its warning “Woe.” Next, the structure should reflect the noted similarity between the first and last sections of these oracles. “...the urbanness of Philistia and Nineveh is stressed, in contrast to the grazing lands and animal dens that they will become.” (Berlin)  This similarity is strengthened by occurrence in both subsections of the Hebrew word translated “pasture” or “lie down.”

Another proposed change in the above outline involves Zephaniah 2:11, which should be treated as a separate sub-unit because of (a) its universal scope, (b) its prose character, and (c) the fact that the central appearance of the key words “people” (goyim), “land” ('erets), and the most universal designation for God (elohim) are in this verse.

With these changes, the Oracles to the Nations section can thus be recast as follows:

A. Against Philistia (2:5-7)

B. Against Moab and Ammon (2:8-10)

C. Universal Worship of Yahweh (2:11)

B'. Against Cush (2:12)

A'. Against Assyria (2:13-15)

This scheme also brings out more clearly the geographical basis to the order of the oracles. The center verse is bracketed by nations to the west and east of Judah and by those to the south and north, respectively.

Calls to Repentance (Zephaniah 2:1-4 and 3:1-7)

Working outward in both directions from the “Nations” section, we come across two clear calls to repentance. The first of these units is held together by repetition of the phrase “the day of the wrath of the LORD” and repeated commands to the people. The second section is unified in part by use of the words “accept correction” at 3:2 and 3:7. Dorsey expands on this inclusio and pairs other verses by their use of similar language to yield the following symmetrical architecture:

A. “city” (3:1)

B. “take correction” (3:2)

C. “into its midst,” “judge / justice,” “morning” (3:3)

D. CENTER: corrupt prophets and priests (3:4)

C'. “in its midst,” “judge / justice,” “morning” (3:5)

A'. “city” (3:6)

B'. “take correction” (3:7)

The Day of the Lord (Zephaniah 1:2-18 and 3:8-20)

Remaining to be discussed are the two major sections that bracket the book. Without rehearsing the many parallel words and phrases already noted, the following overall observations are in order: (a) both units are addressed primarily to the people of Judah, unlike the central prophecies to the Gentile nations; (b) both have as their major theme the coming of the Day of the Lord; (c) both are structured with worldwide, cataclysmic scenes bracketing the central injunctions to Judah; and (d) comparison of the commands in these two sections shows an interesting correspondence between “be silent/wail” (1:7,11) and “sing/shout/rejoice” (3:14). This last example demonstrates that, in spite of the similarities between the sections, there is also a deliberate contrast between the overall tones of each. They respectively emphasize the negative and positive aspects of the coming Day of Yahweh.

Overall Structure

The entire organization of the book can now be pictured as follows:

Figure 3: The Structure of the Book of Zephaniah

Superscription (1:1)

I. The Day of the Lord: Judgment (1:2-18)

A. Universal Events (1:2-3)

B. Against Judah (1:4-13)

A'. Universal Events (1:14-18)

II. Call to Repentance (2:1-4)

III. Oracle to the Nations (2:5-15)

A. Against Philistia (2:5-7)

            B. Against Moab and Ammon (2:8-10)

                C. Universal Worship of Yahweh (2:11)

B'. Against Cush (2:12)

A'. Against Assyria (2:13-15)

II'. Call to Repentance (3:1-7)

I'. The Day of the Lord: Salvation (3:8-20)

                        A. Universal Events (3:8-10)

                                    B. Regarding Judah (3:11-18)

                        A'. Universal Events (3:19-20)

Final Observations

By studying Fig. 3, one reason becomes clear for the lack of agreement among scholars regarding the structure of this book. Many of the variations described in the introduction to this chapter can be seen to arise from attaching either the first or second Call to Repentance onto the Oracles to the Nations section.

The emphasis on Yahweh’s omnipotence over all events and nations that is found in the central verse of Zephaniah, 2:11, is echoed by the inclusio formed from the first and last words of the book:

“The word of Yahweh” (1:1)

            “Says Yahweh” (3:20)

Also, in light of the noted parallels with Genesis, we have a reminder that the Word brought the world into existence and this same Word will usher in the events of the last days.