The groups that the Lord identifies as objects of his punishment do not include the king himself. Why is Josiah not mentioned? If Zephaniah delivered his prophecy early in Josiah’s reign when Josiah was only a child (2 Kings 22:1), this may be why the king was left out of the punishment. Alternately, Josiah was not included in the punishment because he was recognized as one who “did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and walked in all the ways of his father David, not turning aside to the right or to the left” (2 Kings 22:2). When Zephaniah’s contemporary, Jeremiah, condemns the conduct of Josiah’s successors, he does not include him in the list of those criticized. Indeed, he too makes favourable mention of him as one who did justice and righteousness, judging the cause of the poor and needy (Jeremiah 22:15–16).
8 And on the day of the LORD’s sacrifice “I will punish the officials and the king’s sons and all who array themselves in foreign attire.