As to ch. 2, there will be little question that
Schwally, in arguing again.st the genuineness of vv. '3^ built too much upon the occurrence of uj) and ni:v in v.' (cf. the criticisms of Bacher, Budde, and Davidson). Yet there is force in the remark of Nowack, that while the tvord uy occurs in the older literature (Nu 12' [E], Am 8*, Is 11^), the notion has not yet assumed there that ethico- religious stamp which it bears in Zeph 2', and for which we must look for parallels to the later Psalms. No doubt, as an argument this is ' rather precarious' (Davidson, p. 101); but an instinctive feeling may be stronger than logic, and we confess that, like Wellh. and Nowack, we ' cannot rejiress a doubt' of the genuineness at least of v.', which with its ' Seek ye the LORD, ye meek of the earth,' ' seek righteousness, seek meekness,' has a decidedly late ring to our ears.
The objections taken to 2*"" in general are singularly pointless (see Davidson or G. A. Smith), but vv.'"" can hardly be defended. The oracle against Moab and Ammon (vv.*''") denounces these peoples for an attitude towards Judah which seems out of place in Josiah's reign ; their territories were not on the line of the Scythian invasion of Egypt via Philistia [but see, as bearing on this argument, Davidson, p. 99] ; and, further, the verses are not, like those that precede and that follow, in the kinah measure. This last ciicuni- stance tells very strongly against their originality. Then v.", if it belongs to Zephaniah at all, is certainly out of place. The omission of these four verses gives a good connexion between v.' and v.'^.
It may be held with some confidence that 3""*" emanates from the period of the Return. Its entire dill'erence of tone from ch. 1 and from the opening verses of ch. 3 is unmistakable. The language reminds us of Deutero - Isaiah, and the escliatology of Ezekiel. Like Am 9u-i» and Mic 7'"-", the verses were proliably introduced into Hieir present pl.ace to relieve a sombre back- ground, this having been only imperfectly accom- plished in the instance before us bj- vv."'". In all probability vv.'- '", v.liich interrupt the connexion and spoil the antithesis between v." and v.", should also be assigned to the same or a similarly late hand. There does not appear to be any adequate ground of suspicion against the rest of ch. 3, making due allowance, of course, for textual corruptions (see next section).
iv. LiTEKAitY Characteristics, Condition of Text, etc. — The style of Zephaniah is, upon the whole, cleai' and forcible ; several of bis figures
are striking (e.g. 1" 'I will search Jerusalem with lanterns,' * ih. ' the men that arc thickened upon their lees,' v." ' they shall walk like blind men'). Powerful and awe-inspiring is his description of the day of the Lord in 1'=-'*, whose opening words in the Vulg. Dies ira;, dies ilia, commence also the well-known hymn of Thomas of Celano. We have a passage of exquisite beauty in S"'"*. It is true, as David.son jioints out, that, as compared with Nahum's description of the destruction of Nineveh, Zcplianiah's prophecy of the same event is some- what general and lacks the power of the other prophet's impassioned oratory ; but this diti'erence may be due partly to the fact that the picture in tlie one case is painted from the imagination, and in the other is the work of one who had beheld the kind of scenes he depicts. To a considerable extent Zephaniah borrows from his predecessors, esp. from Isaiah and Amos (cf. I'-'with Hos 4'; the description of the day of the Lord with Is 2"'", Am 2»-" 5^; l'^" with Am 5"; l"*" with Is 10= 28-- ; &•-'» with Am 1^-2').
There are traces in Zephaniah of the phenomena that characterize late Hebrew. It is partly, in- deed, on account of some of these marks that Wellh. doubts the genuineness of 3'"' (note n^xu and n:v in v.', niiin in sense of f elds in v.', ^v ips in sense of command in v.'). For further instances see G. A. Smith, iL 37 n. 1, who also gives on the preceding page a list of rare grammatical forms and phrases found in this book. Of hapax legoniena may be noted S'o: in 1", ni} and nn3(?) in 2'*, ptCD and -i-idd in 2^, nnx (?) in 2''', k";? ( = rnr:) in 3', C"!j (Qal) in 3^ nn;i: (if correct ; see Ges.-Kautzsch, § i24c) in 3^ ns: in 3'', Tnj; (difl'erent from Ezk 8") and i-53(?) in 3'". See also 2'', v."" \\\ (Aram.).
The text of Zephaniah is, unfortunately, in several places in rather a corrupt condition, and contains some suspicious words : in some cases, however, it can be corrected with the help of the LXX, and in others Wellli. and others have made plausible emendations {e.g. in 1»- >"■ 2'- »■ «• ''; » 3'- »}, though naturally uncertainties still remain. For particulars we must refer to G. A. Smith, Twelve Prophets (ii. 35-37, 56-74), or, more fully, to Nowack's Commentary.
V. Religious Value. — The abiding value of the Book of Zephaniah rests mainly upon three founda- tions : (a) the profoundly earnest moral tone of the prophet, with his deep sense of the sin of injustice and oppression, and inflexible demand for puiity of heart and conduct ; (6) his doctrine of the disciplin- ary value of suffering. God's judgments are meant to humble and chasten Israel, and when she haa learned this lesson she trusts in God alone (3'- "'"). In w.'- '», a later addition to the book, the same principle is applied to the heathen. Their lips are purified (isn here in the same sense as in 1 S 10') by suffering, so that they become lit to call U])on the name of the Lord, (c) The wide outlook of the prophet's philosophy of history, his doctrine of Divine Providence. The apparently irresponsible Scytliians come upon the scene at the moment God needs their presence ; the various nations are overtaken by the Divine judgment, in order that God's purpose may be accomplished of blessing not only the Jewish people but the whole world.