The word of the LORD is a common way of introducing a prophecy (compare Jer 1.2; Hos 1.1; Joel 1.1; Jonah 1.1; Micah 1.1; Hag 1.1; Zech 1.1; Mal 1.1). Good News Translation makes a full sentence (“This is the message that the LORD gave”), and many translators will need to do the same. Some may need to say “This is the message that the LORD sent (or, spoke) to Zephaniah.” See Nahum 1.1 for other ways to translate this clause.
The name Zephaniah means “the LORD has hidden” and may perhaps refer to God’s protection from persecution at the time of Zephaniah’s birth during the reign of the evil king Manasseh.
The father of Zephaniah was called Cushi (compare Jer 36.14). Elsewhere in the Old Testament this name is usually found as an ethnic label, meaning a person from Cush, the Upper Nile region which included most of modern Sudan and part of Ethiopia. Here it may mean that Zephaniah’s father was an African, and that Zephaniah himself was a black man. This possibility gains some support from the fact that in his short prophecy Zephaniah twice (2.12; 3.10) mentions the land or people of Cush (translated “Ethiopia” in Revised Standard Version and “Sudan” in Good News Translation). A Cushite dynasty had ruled Egypt 715–663 B.C., and this no doubt led to increased familiarity with Cushites in Judah, and perhaps to some intermarriage with them. It was quite possible for a Cushite to settle in Jerusalem at this period. Indeed we know that a few years later, Jeremiah was rescued by Ebedmelech, the God-fearing eunuch from Cush (Jer 38.7-13; 39.15-18). See also comments on Nahum 3.9.
The book of Zephaniah is unique in that the family of Zephaniah is named for four generations, going back to a Hezekiah. The only reason that can be suggested for this unusual amount of detail is that the Hezekiah in question was in fact the king of that name. Good News Translation makes this explicit by saying “King Hezekiah.” If the prophet Zephaniah was indeed descended from King Hezekiah, then he was a relative of King Josiah. This would fit well with certain parts of his prophecy, as he shows a detailed knowledge of Jerusalem (verses 10-11) and of the conduct of court officials (1.8-9; 3.3). Translators should follow the way genealogies are handled in their own languages, rather than simply copying the Hebrew pattern (Revised Standard Version) or Good News Translation‘s ordering of names. Alternative renderings of this genealogy are “King Hezekiah was the ancestor of Zephaniah. Zephaniah’s father was Cushi, his paternal grandfather was Gedaliah, and his paternal great-grandfather was Amariah the son of Hezekiah” or “King Hezekiah was the ancestor of Zephaniah. Zephaniah’s father was Cushi, his father’s father was Gedaliah. Gedaliah was the son of Amariah who was the son of Hezekiah.”
Zephaniah prophesied in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, that is, 640–609 B.C. In the days of Josiah means “during the time that Josiah … was king,” as Good News Translation puts it. Josiah was the son of Amon, who had been king of Judah 642–640 B.C. He was thus the grandson of Manasseh, who reigned from 687–642, and the great-grandson of King Hezekiah. Josiah was only a boy of eight when he became king (2 Kgs 22.1), and so did not have full authority during the early years of his reign. Zephaniah’s prophetic work was probably begun about the time that King Josiah reached full adult status. In some languages translators may render king as “the great chief” or “the great one.” One should avoid borrowing the English word if at all possible. Another way to translate this clause is “during the time when Josiah the son of Amon ruled Judah.”
Quoted with permission from Clark, David J. & Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on the Book of Zephaniah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1989. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .