‘The word of YHWH which came to Zephaniah, the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah, the son of Amon, king of Judah.'
The detailed genealogy, unusual for a prophet, suggests that his was an important family, and we are probably therefore to see the Hezekiah mentioned as the king of that name. He was thus of the royal house.
‘The word of YHWH' came to him signifies that he spoke as from God through revelation.