The canonical Book of Zephaniah has much mystical and apocalyptic imagery, and this apocalyptic-style text deals with a similar subject.
In 1881 two fragmentary manuscripts, respectively written in Akhmimic and Sahidic Coptic dialects,[1] and probably coming from the White Monastery in Egypt, were bought by the Bibliothèque Nationale of Paris (inventory number Copte 135[1]) and first published by U. Bouriant in 1885.
The text contains no unequivocally Christian passages, and the few that recall the New Testament can be explained as arising also in a Jewish context.
The Apocalypse of Zephaniah, in accordance with the Book of Enoch, presents souls as surviving beyond death.
Judgment is based only on the balance between good deeds and sins during the whole of life, indicating that the book was influenced by Pharisaism.