Prophetic Literature: From Oracles to Books

This unique introduction to the Prophetic books provides a comprehensive look at one of the most important, and misunderstood, genres of the Hebrew Bible. The book examines the nature and purpose of prophetic literature, as well as providing an in–depth account of origins and development of each individual book.

The book begins by placing the prophets in their historical context and introducing the idea of a prophetic book. A series of chronological chapters focus on each prophetic book examining its literary structure, authorship, and the editorial processes that produced each book. Readers are also introduced to the most recent scholarly research into the formation of prophetic books and the ongoing task of the scribes in updating previous works to meet new situations.

Prophetic Literature: From Oracles to Books offers rich and rewarding insights into a series of prophetic works whose profound influences and inspirational wisdom have endured to the present day.

Resource Acknowledgments xii

Map 1 The ancient Near East xiii

Map 2 Israel and Judah xiv

1 What Is a Prophetic Book? 1

2 The Book of Hosea 19

3 The Book of Amos 37

4 The Book of Micah 54

5 The Book of Zephaniah and the Twelve 72

6 The Books of Joel and Obadiah 91

7 The Books of Nahum and Habakkuk 108

8 The Books of Jonah and Haggai 125

9 Zechariah 1–8 142

10 Zechariah 9–14, the Book of Malachi, and the Twelve 155

11 The Book of Isaiah 172

12 The Book of Isaiah (Continued) 190

13 The Book of Jeremiah 208

14 The Book of Ezekiel 225

Glossary 242

References 247

Scripture Index 262