Zephaniah is introduced in a unique way among the prophets. Most of the prophets, when they indicate their lineage and the time in which they ministered, name their father and the kings during whose reign they ministered, and that is about it. Eight of the prophets have no family history recorded. Six of the prophets have only the names of their fathers recorded. But Zephaniah is the only one of sixteen prophetic books that gives a genealogy tracing back four generations.
1 The word of the LORD that came to Zephaniah the son of Cushi, son of Gedaliah, son of Amariah, son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah.