Person Old Testament
Gedaliah
Gedaliah was the grandfather of the prophet Zephaniah, who prophesied during the reign of King Josiah of Judah. Mentioned once in Scripture, at Zephaniah 1:1.
Why it matters. Grandfather of the prophet Zephaniah.
- Primary passages
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-30 by the FaithGraph team
About Gedaliah
Gedaliah is mentioned in Zep.1.1 as the grandfather of the prophet Zephaniah. Zephaniah's genealogy is traced back four generations to Hezekiah, who was likely the king of Judah known for his religious reforms (2Kings 18-20; 2Chronicles 29-32). This suggests that Zephaniah came from a prominent family with royal connections. Gedaliah, as Zephaniah's grandfather, would have lived during the reigns of the kings of Judah preceding Josiah, possibly during the time of Manasseh or Amon. No further information is provided about Gedaliah's life or his role in the history of Judah. However, his inclusion in Zephaniah's genealogy serves to establish the prophet's lineage and lend authority to his prophetic ministry. Zephaniah prophesied during the reign of King Josiah (640-609 BC) and called for repentance and renewal in the face of impending judgment (Zep.1.4-6; 2.1-3). His message played a significant role in the religious reforms initiated by Josiah (2Kings 22-23).
Description from STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House, Cambridge), CC BY 4.0, lightly reformatted. This is background reference material, not Scripture and not a FaithGraph editorial claim.
Connections
No reviewed connections yet.
Family
Family links from STEPBible TIPNR (CC BY 4.0). Where the dataset marks an identification as uncertain, the mark is kept. Matthew and Luke give different genealogies for Jesus; see the Lineage page, which never merges them.
Appears in Scripture
Named in 1 verse across 1 book. Occurrence data from STEPBible TIPNR (CC BY 4.0); references only, no translation text.
Zephaniah (1 verse)