Zephaniah is the name of several people in the Hebrew Bible; the most prominent being the prophet who prophesied in the days of Josiah, king of Judah and is attributed a book bearing his name among the Twelve Minor Prophets. His name is commonly transliterated Sophonias in Bibles translated from the Vulgate or Septuagint. The name might mean "Yah has concealed", "[he whom] Yah has hidden", or "Yah lies in wait".
A 17th century icon of Zephaniah
An 18th-century Russian icon of the prophet Zephaniah in Kizhi, Karelia
Zephaniah addressing people (France, 16th century).
The Book of Zephaniah is the ninth of the Twelve Minor Prophets of the Old Testament and Tanakh, preceded by the Book of Habakkuk and followed by the Book of Haggai. Zephaniah means "Yahweh has hidden/protected," or "Yahweh hides". Zephaniah is also a male given name. The original text was written in Biblical Hebrew.
Illustration depicting Zephaniah addressing the people, from a French 16th-century Bible
The Leningrad Codex (AD. 1008) contains the complete text of the Book of Zephaniah in Hebrew.
A 13th-century Latin Bible, possibly from Toulouse, with part of the Book of Zephaniah (Latin Sophonias)