The language of chap. 1:5 implies that the desolation of the land by the Chaldeans would be a surprising event, which could not have been the case after the victory of Nebuchadnezzar over the Egyptians and his capture of Jerusalem in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, B.C. 606.  It was also to be in the day of that generation—­“in your days.”  Consequently we cannot date the prophecy earlier than B.C. 640, probably not before B.C. 630.

The dedication of Habakkuk’s ode (3:19) “to the chief musician”—­the Hebrew word is the same that so often occurs in the titles of the Psalms—­implies that this ode was to be used in the solemn worship of God.  The added words, “on my stringed instruments,” are most naturally understood of those under his charge as a leader in the service of song in the sanctuary.  Hence we infer with probability that Habakkuk was a Levite.

IX.  ZEPHANIAH.

17.  Zephaniah prophesied in the reign of Josiah (1:1), apparently while his work of reformation was in progress and not yet completed (1:4-6, 8, 9); that is, somewhere between his twelfth and his eighteenth year (2 Chron. 34:3-13).

In the first chapter he predicts the utter desolation of Judah, and with it the destruction of all the patrons of idolatry and the rich and presumptuous sinners in Jerusalem.  In the second chapter he exhorts the covenant people to repentance in view of the judgments that are coming upon them (verses 1-3), threatens the surrounding nations—­Philistia, Moab, and Ammon—­with desolation (verses 4-11), and denounces the judgments of God upon the Ethiopians and Assyrians (verses 12-15).  In the third chapter, after a severe rebuke of Jerusalem for her incorrigible rebellion against God (verses 1-7), he foretells in glowing language the future purification and enlargement of Zion, and the destruction of all her enemies (verses 8-20).  The style of Zephaniah is clear and flowing, having a general resemblance to that of Jeremiah.  He has frequent allusions to the earlier prophets.  Chap. 1:7 compared with Isa. 34:6; chap. 2:13-15 compared with Isa. 13:21, 22; 34:13-15; chap. 1:14, 15 with Joel 2:1, 2; chap. 1:13 with Amos 5:11, etc.

The genealogy of Zephaniah is given through Cushi, Gedaliah, and Amariah to Hezekiah; for in the original Hebrew the words Hizkiah and Hezekiah are the same.  As it is not usual that the descent of prophets should be given with such particularity, it has been assumed, with some probability, that this Hezekiah was the king of that name; though in this case we should have expected the addition “king of Judah.”  The “chemarim,” verse 4, are the idol-priests; that is, priests devoted to idol worship.  In 2 Kings 33:5, where the writer is speaking of the reformation under Josiah, the word is translated “idolatrous priests;” in Hosea 10:5 simply “priests,” which is its meaning in the Syriac language.