The verb conveys that that the word of the Lord that came to Zephaniah became a living reality
to him. Zephaniah was inspired to receive, understand, and then express the divine word without tarnishing its divine reality and truth.
1
We are not told how the word came to Zephaniah. Yet we do know that the Lord brought specially prepared people (think of Jeremiah being appointed in the womb to be a prophet to the nations, Jeremiah 1:4–5) “into divine fellowship (Isaiah 6:5–8; Ezekiel 1:28 – 2:2) and within that fellowship made privy to divine secrets (Jeremiah 23:18, Jeremiah 23:22; Amos 3:7). There was no crushing of human personality or overriding of human mental processes; rather, the prophetic state lifted the individual into the presence of God."2
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.