Realigning the Cosmos: The intertextual image of judgment and restoration in Zephaniah

Abstract

Two extensive intertextual voices in the final-form of Zephaniah consist of Gen 1-11 (in Zeph 1.2-3; 2.11-15; 3.9-10) and Isaiah (in Zeph 2.15; 3.9-10, 14-17). Although often explored independently, these intertextual voices overlap in Zeph 2.11-15 and 3.9-10, constructing a dialogue. This study argues that this intertextual dialogue reorients the surrounding pronouncements of judgment and salvation along cosmic lines. This dialogue reframes the message of Zephaniah within a chiastic structure in which judgment against Jerusalem inaugurates the undoing of creation (A. Zeph 1.2-3). The voices of Isaiah and Gen 1-11 direct this undoing toward the nations, which culminates in the undoing of an archetypal Mesopotamian cultic center (B. Zeph 2.11b-15). Following this, the nations are reoriented around Jerusalem as the new international cultic center (B’. Zeph 3.9-10). This reorientation culminates in Jerusalem’s praise on account of its cosmic restoration (A’. Zeph 3.14-17).