Although he gives his family line in the very first verse, we really know nothing about the prophet Zephaniah. Because he mentioned \u201cHezekiah,\u201d it is tempting to think of Zephaniah as the great-great-grandson of godly King Hezekiah, making him a prince as well as a prophet. Although commentators often come to this conclusion (with various supporting arguments), it seems unlikely for at least two reasons \u2013 genealogy and chronology.<\/p>
First<\/em> with regard to the genealogy presented in Zephaniah 1:1 is the fact that it does not match any family line given elsewhere in Scripture. Although this is an argument from silence, it seems strange that a godly prophet from Hezekiah\u2019s line would have been ignored by the writers of 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles. Second<\/em>, not even one of the individuals in this line is found among the named descendants of Hezekiah or anywhere outside of this single verse. Third<\/em>, the word \u201cCushi\u201d in the Hebrew Scriptures often means \u201cCushite,\u201d a person from Ethiopia (Cush). It may be that this genealogy was meant to defend Zephaniah\u2019s Jewish heritage, if his father was<\/span> Gentile.<\/p>