Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Argumentum
"Zephaniah" in Hebrew means the same as "watchman of the Lord." For the root צפה (tsapa) means "to watch": יה (ia) is the name of God, that is, by contraction the same as Jehovah; or "hidden one of the Lord," from the root צפן (tsaphan), meaning "he hid." For those who wish to contemplate divine things, as the Prophets do, must necessarily withdraw their mind and eyes from the earth and hide them in God. "Zephaniah," says St. Jerome to Paulinus, "the watchman and knower of the secrets of God, hears the cry from the fish gate, and the wailing from the second quarter, and the destruction from the hills. He also declares the howling of the inhabitants of the Mortar: because all the people of Canaan have been silenced, all who were wrapped in silver have perished." The same author writes here: "Zephaniah," he says, "a Prophet, prophetic in name (so to speak), was born of the glorious stock of his ancestors. For he had a father Cushi, a grandfather Gedaliah, a great-grandfather Amariah, and a great-great-grandfather Hezekiah, and he himself, as the last charioteer, completed such a four-horse team. Some have translated the name of Zephaniah as 'watchtower,' others as 'secret of the Lord.' Whether it be interpreted as 'watchtower' or 'hidden thing of the Lord,' both suit the Prophet. For it is said to Ezekiel: Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. This Prophet, therefore, who was set on a watchtower and in high places, and who knew the mysteries of the Lord, was the son of Cushi," etc. Furthermore, St. Epiphanius in his Life of Zephaniah writes: "Zephaniah," he says, "the prophet, was from Mount Sarabatha, of the tribe and family of Simeon. He too prophesied concerning Jerusalem, namely that it would be far better if it were built in length and breadth; also concerning the consummation of the nations, and concerning the confusion of the impious, and concerning the coming of the Lord. He exchanged his life for death in the revelation of the Lord; and he was buried alone in his field." St. Dorotheus and Isidore say the same in their accounts of Zephaniah. Finally, Zephaniah is recorded as enrolled in the catalogue of Saints in the Roman Martyrology on December 3.
He prophesied in the time of Josiah king of Judah, as he himself says in chapter 1, verse 1. Josiah was a most pious king who restored the faith and worship of the true God in Jerusalem by overthrowing the high places and idols. At the same time Jeremiah prophesied, as he himself says in chapter 1, verse 1, and also the prophetess Huldah, 2 Kings 22:14. The Hebrews relate, and after them Arias, Vatablus, and a Castro, that Jeremiah prophesied publicly in the streets, Zephaniah in the synagogues, and Huldah in assemblies of women -- though Ribera considers this absurd and laughs at it. Zephaniah therefore preceded Ezekiel and Daniel, who prophesied under Jehoiachin the grandson of Josiah, as is clear from their opening verses. Hence it follows that Zephaniah prophesied after the devastation of Samaria and the captivity of the ten tribes (for these were carried off to Assyria in the sixth year of Hezekiah, who was the great-great-grandfather of Josiah), and consequently that he prophesies to only the two remaining tribes, namely Judah and Benjamin. These, therefore, he exhorts to repentance, especially that they should abandon idolatry and return to the worship of God. If they do not do so, he threatens them with inevitable destruction through Nebuchadnezzar, just as he threatens the Ammonites, Moabites, Ethiopians, and Assyrians. Finally he consoles them with the hope of liberation and return from Babylon, and even more with the promise of Christ the Liberator, who by His incarnation will bring salvation to all nations, says Theodoret, by giving the Evangelical law, in which both Gentiles and Jews will live holily and happily until the end of the world and the day of judgment, when the Jews and other unbelievers who refused to receive Christ will be condemned and sentenced to the eternal punishments of hell. Ribera thinks that Zephaniah prophesied in the first eighteen years of Josiah, for in the 18th year Josiah purified the temple and the people from idols and reconciled them to God, so that thereafter the people under him did not worship the idols that Zephaniah here rebukes. But this reasoning is not conclusive, for Jeremiah began to prophesy in the 13th year of Josiah and continued to thunder against idols under him, because although they had been publicly abolished by Josiah, they were still privately retained and worshipped by many. So says St. Jerome. Zephaniah therefore, from the lofty watchtower of divine revelation, looks out from afar upon the day of destruction of the city of Jerusalem, and allegorically of the whole world. Hence he proclaims that that day will be a day of tribulation and anguish, a day of calamity and misery, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of cloud and whirlwind, a day of trumpet and alarm, so that by its terror and horror he might impel all to repentance, tears, and prayers, just as Joel does, to whom Zephaniah is similar in style and feeling, and also Jeremiah, whose abridgment and abbreviator Zephaniah is, says Isidore. Let the preacher imitate both, who wishes not to tickle ears but to be the hammer of the Lord crushing rocks -- that is, the stony hearts of sinners. He will accomplish this if he learns to be a Zephaniah, if he dwells on the watchtower with God: for there he will see who and how great God is, and will look down upon this speck of earth and despise whatever tiny things are upon it.
Seneca writes brilliantly in Epistle 41: "Just as," he says, "the rays of the sun do indeed touch the earth, but are where they are sent from; so a great and holy soul, sent down to earth that we might know divine things more closely, dwells indeed with us, but clings to its origin: it depends upon that source; it looks and strives toward it."
Still more brilliantly, St. Gregory in Homily 11 on Ezekiel writes: "To whom," he says, "the care of others is committed, is called a watchman, so that he may sit in the height of the mind and draw the meaning of his name from the virtue of his action. For he who is at the bottom is no watchman. A watchman indeed always stands on the heights, so that he may see far off whatever is coming. And whoever is set as a watchman over the people must stand on high through his life, so that he may be of benefit through his foresight. Hence another Prophet admonishes the watchman, saying: Go up to a high mountain, you who bring good tidings to Zion, Isaiah 40 -- so that he who undertakes the office of preaching may rise to the height of good action, may ascend to the heights, and may surpass the works of those entrusted to him."