Introduction to the Prophets
Contents
The Age of Prophecy: Approximately 900 – 400 BCE
Samuel (150 years before 900 BC) is considered the first prophet. Credited with starting the various schools of the prophets.
The prophetic voice fell silent with Malachi at about 400 BC.
There are both writing prophets and non-writing prophets and prophetesses. The writing prophets are those who are read within Scripture.
There are three parts to the Hebrew Bible:
1.) The Law, Books of Moses, Pentateuch (Torah)
Means more instruction rather than law. Includes Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.
2.) The Prophets (Nevi’im)
a.) The former or early prophets: Joshua, Judges, 1&2 Samuel, 1&2 Kings
b.) The latter prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, The Scroll of the Twelve (Amos, Hosea, Micah, Joel, Obadiah, Jonah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi)
3.) The Writings (Ketuvim)
a.) Psalms, Job, Proverbs
b.) Ruth, Song of Songs (Song of Solomon), Ecclesiastes, Lamentations, Esther
c.) Daniel*, Ezra-Nehemiah, 1-2 Chronicles
* Daniel was unique as a prophet in that he did not experience a call (compared to the Nevi’im).
The Jewish or Hebrew Bible is referred to as the Tanakh.
T – Torah
a
N – Nevi’im
a
K – Ketuvim
h
Protestant Old Testament
| Pentateuch | Historical Books | Poetry and Wisdom | Prophetic Books |
|---|---|---|---|
| Genesis | Joshua | Job | Isaiah |
| Exodus | Judges | Psalms | Jeremiah |
| Leviticus | Ruth | Proverbs | Lamentations |
| Numbers | 1 Samuel | Ecclesiastes | Ezekiel |
| Deuteronomy | 2 Samuel | Song of Solomon | Daniel* |
| 1 Kings | Hosea | ||
| 2 Kings | Joel | ||
| 1 Chronicles | Amos | ||
| 1 Chronicles | Obadiah | ||
| Ezra | Jonah | ||
| Nehemiah | Micah | ||
| Esther | Nahum | ||
| Habakkuk | |||
| Zephaniah | |||
| Haggai | |||
| Zechariah | |||
| Malachi |
Definition of a Prophet
Hebrew: navi (plural nevi’im), or “one who is called” / “one who announces”
Prophets are a link between the people and God. As compared to a priest. Priests represent humanity to God whereas a Prophet represents God to humanity. See Deuteronomy 18:15-22 for details concerning initial conditions for a prophet in general as designated to assigned people.
Scriptural gives a sense of prophet functions as both deliveries of prediction and preaching. Prediction to the future generation(s) and preaching to the current generation(s). Their role was to first know and proclaim God’s will under immediate circumstances. Specifically, in a coherent fashion as understood by an appointed audience where they can respond.
Generally, the purpose of a prophet is to return people to obedience to God’s word, the Torah. Without people’s obedience, the prophet specifies punishment.
Female prophets throughout Scripture include Miriam, Deborah, Huldah, Noadiah, and non-writing (spoken) prophetesses.
Prophetic Patterns
- Yahweh requires exclusive worship. There is only one God.
- Yahweh can not be illustrated, carved, or sculpted as a likeness. To attempt a constructed likeness is to become guilty of idolatry.
- Yahweh demands justice. He requires care for the poor, powerless, and vulnerable.
- The intensity of anger among prophets was commensurate with the disobedience of people.
- Prophets prior to exile into Babylon emphasized doom and gloom, while subsequent prophets delivered messages of comfort, hope, and restoration.
Prophetic Illustration
- Isaiah: Wore loin cloth attire over his nudity to illustrate the shame, humiliation, and ruin of God’s people.
- Jeremiah: Wore yokes of wood and iron to symbolically express coming Babylonian oppression and enslavement.
- Ezekiel: Cooked meals over human dung to symbolically express the types of food God’s people will eat while in exile. Ezekiel lay bound and tied on one side for 190-days to communicate the 190 years of Israel’s exile. The 40-days on the other side show how long in years that Judah would remain in captivity.
Instructions to draw the attention of Yahweh’s people came from extreme physical illustration, demonstration, and role-play.
Prophetic Literary Forms
- Poetic & Narrative
- Written and oral poetic expression by meter and prose
- Parallelism categories include synonymous, antithetic, and synthetic types
- Simile, metaphorical, and allegorical
- King James Version does not present an English translation layout in poetic format or structure
- Later translations, or versions, including poems written in separate lines, bring into view parallelism. With para-graphical spaces between separate oracles
Prophets to the Kings after Solomon
| BCE | Prophets | Kings of Judah (South) | Kings of Israel (North) |
|---|---|---|---|
| N/A | 1. Rehoboam | 1. Jeroboam | |
| 900 | N/A | 2. Abijah | 2. Nadab |
| N/A | 3. Asa | 3. Baasha | |
| N/A | 4. Elah | ||
| N/A | 5. Zimri | ||
| N/A | 4. Jehoshaphat | 6. Omri | |
| Elijah to Israel | 7. Ahab (worst) | ||
| 850 | Elisha to Israel | 5. Jehoram | 8. Ahaziah |
| Joel to Judah | 6. Ahaziah | 9. Joram | |
| Jonah to Nineveh | 7. Queen Athaliah | ||
| 800 | Amos to Israel | 8. Joash | 10. Jehu (ok) |
| Hosea to Israel | 11. Jehoahaz | ||
| Isaiah to Judah (until Hezekiah) | 9. Amaziah | 12. Jehoash | |
| 10. Uzziah (Azariah) | 13. Jeroboam II | ||
| 750 | Micah to Judah (until Hezekiah) | 11. Jotham | 14. Zechariah |
| 12. Ahaz | 15. Shallum | ||
| 16. Menahem | |||
| 17. Pekahiah | |||
| 18. Pekah | |||
| 19. Hoshea | |||
| 725 | 13. Hezekiah (best) | 722 BCE – Fall of Samaria to the Assyrians | |
| Nahum to Nineveh | 14. Manasseh | ||
| 650 | Jeremiah, Zephaniah | 15. Amon | |
| 16. Josiah (best) | |||
| Habakkuk | 17. Jehoahaz | ||
| 600 | Ezekiel, Daniel | 18. Jehoiakim | |
| Obadiah to Edom | 19. Jehoiachin | ||
| Haggai, Zechariah | 20. Zedekiah | ||
| Malachi | 587 BCE – Fall of Jerusalem to Babylonians | Esther, Ezra, Nehemiah | |
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