saint
Prophet Zephaniah the Prophet
Prophet of Judah under King Josiah who announced the Day of the Lord as both terrible judgment and joyful renewal, calling the daughter of Zion to sing for the Lord who dwells in her midst.
Prophet Zephaniah — Public domain. 18 cen. icon painter. Via Wikimedia Commons.
Life
Zephaniah was a prophet of Judah in the late seventh century before Christ, a great-great-grandson of King Hezekiah by his own genealogy in the first verse of his book, who prophesied in the reign of the young king Josiah (640–609). His three chapters announce the great Day of the Lord against Judah for its idolatry, against the surrounding nations for their cruelty, and against Jerusalem in particular for its rebellion — and then turn at last to the great Marian prophecy of restoration: "Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel; be glad and rejoice with all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem... the Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty."
His book is one of the principal Old Testament texts read at the Vigil of the Annunciation, the Christian Church having recognized in his "daughter of Zion" the figure of the Theotokos and in the indwelling of the Lord in her midst the mystery of the Incarnation. He stands ninth among the Twelve Minor Prophets.
His tomb is venerated near the village of Sabarata in the territory of Judah. His feast falls on December 3.
Traditions
Feast day
December 3
Topics
Works in library