by Stephen Rodgers

AMOS IN 10 WORDS OR LESS

“Real religion isn’t just ritual, but treating people with justice.”

TITLE

Like almost all the other prophetic books, the book of Amos takes its name from the prophet respon­si­ble for its content (Amos 1:1).

Per the MSB:

 Amos’ name means “burden” or “burden-bearer.” He is not to be confused with Amoz (“stout, strong”), the father of Isaiah (Is. 1:1).

AUTHOR & AUDIENCE

While he’s not as illuminated as someone like Daniel or Jeremiah, we know a lot more about Amos than we do someone like Joel.

Amos was from Tekoa, a small village 10 mi. S of Jerusalem. He was the only prophet to give his occupation before declaring his divine commission. He was not of priestly or noble descent, but worked as a “sheepbreeder” (1:1; cf. 2 Kin. 3:4) and a “tender of sycamore fruit” (7:14) and was a contemporary of Jonah (2 Kin. 14:25), Hosea (Hos. 1:1), and Isaiah (Is. 1:1). The date of writing is mid-eighth century B.C., during the reigns of Uzziah, king of Judah (ca. 790–739 B.C.) and Jeroboam II, king of Israel (ca. 793–753 B.C.), two years before a memorable earthquake (Amos 1:1; cf. Zech. 14:5, ca. 760 B.C.).

It’s worth noting Amos’ humble social status and blue-collar pedigree at this point, given the major themes and illustrations of the book. As far as prophets go, Amos is about as rough-and-tumble as they come.

The original audience of Amos was the northern kingdom of Israel (which is quite odd, given that Amos was from Judah).

DATE

Not to contrast Joel and Amos unnecessarily, but the controversy and confusion is dating Joel is nowhere to be found in Amos, which can be dated more or less exactly.

Per Constable:

Amos ministered during the reigns of King Jeroboam II of Israel (793-753 B.C.) and King Uzziah (Azariah) of Judah (792-740 B.C.), specifically two years before “the earthquake” (Amos 1:1). Zechariah also referred to a notable earthquake during the reign of Uzziah (Zech. 14:5). Josephus wrote that an earthquake occurred when Uzziah entered the temple and was struck with leprosy (2 Chron. 26:16-20).[Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, 9:10:4.] However this may be simply Jewish tradition. Archaeological excavations at Hazor and Samaria point to evidence of a violent earthquake in Israel about 760 B.C.[Y. Yadin, et al., Hazor II: An Account of the Second Season of Excavations, 1956, pp. 24, 26, 36-37; and Philip J. King, Amos, Hosea, Micah—An Archaeological Commentary, p. 21.] So perhaps Amos ministered about 760 B.C. This date may account for the omission of the name of King Jotham who ruled as coregent with Uzziah from 750-740 B.C. Thus Amos was a contemporary of the other eighth-century prophets: Jonah, Hosea, Isaiah, and Micah.

BACKGROUND & SETTING

As Charles Dickens wrote in an entirely different context: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” Despite the time that Israel was experiencing great political and economic success, they were simultaneously in great spiritual and ethical distress. H.L. Ellison summarizes it brilliantly in The Prophets of Israel: “In other words the prosperity of Israel was merely a thin veneer over a mass of poverty and misery.”

Per the MSB:

Politically, it was a time of prosperity under the long and secure reign of Jeroboam II who, following the example of his father Joash (2 Kin. 13:25), significantly “restored the territory of Israel” (2 Kin. 14:25). It was also a time of peace with both Judah (cf. 5:5) and her more distant neighbors; the ever-present menace of Assyria was subdued earlier that century because of Nineveh’s repentance at the preaching of Jonah (Jon. 3:10). Spiritually, however, it was a time of rampant corruption and moral decay (Amos 4:1; 5:10–13; 2 Kin. 14:24).

HISTORICAL & THEOLOGICAL THEMES

There are two major themes that run through the book of Amos:

• Social Justice. Despite the fact that Israel was enjoying a period of great economic prosperity, Amos was quick to point out that material luxury can and does lead to spiritual complacency and ethical laxity (Amos 6:1-6). He rigorously condemned the “evil times” (Amos 5:13) and their representative sins: oppression of the poor (Amos 2:6-7a; 5:12; 8:4,6), injustice in the courts (Amos 2:7a; 5:7,12; 6:12), sexual immorality (Amos 2:7b), religious abuses (Amos 2:8), violence (Amos 3:10), idolatry (Amos 5:26), corrupt business practices (Amos 8:5). Sound like any culture that you know?
• Judgment. God warned repeatedly that judgment was coming and why: exploitation of the poor would be punished (Amos 2:13-16; 6:8,14; 8:9-9:10) and those who lived lavishly at the expense of others would lose everything (Amos 3:15-4:3; 5:16-17; 6:4-7). God would expose hypocrisy and false piety (Amos 4:4-5; 5:21-23) by He continued to call on them to turn to Him and live (Amos 5:4-6).

INTERPRETIVE CHALLENGES

There are really no significant interpretive issues in Amos that I am aware of, although as with nearly any Biblical text, I’m sure that minor ones abound. However, Amos’ message of divine judgment as punishment for idolatry and social injustice is pretty straightforward.

LITERARY FEATURES

Per the ESVSB:

The umbrella under which everything in Amos fits is prophecy, with its attendant oracles of judgment and a concluding oracle of redemption. But the dominant literary form is satire, with the usual elements of objects of attack, a satiric vehicle (very multiple in this book, such as catalogs of “woe” formulas and brief vignettes of bad behavior), a satiric norm or standard by which the criticism is conducted, and a prevailing satiric tone (in this case, biting and sarcastic). 

OBJECTIONS

There are no significant objections to Amos that I’m aware of. As Constable comments:

Almost all scholars agree that the Book of Amos was originally a single book that the prophet Amos wrote. Comparison with the writings of the other eighth-century prophets and the consistently vivid and forthright style of Amos make this conclusion virtually inescapable. [For further discussion, see the commentaries, especially T. E. McComiskey, “Amos,” in Daniel-Minor Prophets, vol. 7 of The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, pp. 270-74.]

NOTABLE QUOTABLES

• Amos 3:6 (a verse that flatly contradicts the popular cliche that God is somehow helpless in the face of evil)
• Amos 4:12
• Amos 5:14
• Amos 5:24

DID YOU KNOW?

•  Even though Amos was a native of the southern kingdom of Judah, he was directed by God to prophecy in the northern kingdom of Israel. Some scholars have suggested that this suggests that even though the kingdom was divided politically, both Israel and Judah were still aware of their common identity as God’s people.
• The reference to “burning the bodies” in Amos 6:10 may actually be alluding to a memorial fire, as cremation was not generally practiced at this time.

Other Works Referenced

• Apologetics Study Bible, “Amos”
• Archaeological Study Bible, “Introduction to Amos”
• ESV Study Bible, “Introduction to Amos”
• MacArthur Study Bible, “Amos”
• NET Bible, Amos
• NIV Study Bible, Amos
• Reformation Study Bible, “Amos”
• The Baker Illustrated Bible Handbook, “Amos”
• Know Your Bible
• Dever, The Message of the Old Testament
• Driscoll, A Book You’ll Actually Read On the Old Testament
• Knight, The Layman’s Bible Handbook

by Stephen Rodgers

JOEL IN 10 WORDS OR LESS

“Locust plague pictures God’s judgment on His sinful people.”

TITLE

Like almost all the other prophetic books, the book of Joel takes its name from the prophet respon­si­ble for its con­tent.

AUTHOR & AUDIENCE

While we certainly know the author to be Joel (Joel 1:1), we know very little about him.

Per the MSB:

The author identified himself only as “Joel the son of Pethuel” (Joel 1:1). The prophecy provides little else about the man. Even the name of his father is not mentioned elsewhere in the OT. Although he displayed a profound zeal for the temple sacrifices (Joel 1:9; 2:13–16), his familiarity with pastoral and agricultural life and his separation from the priests (Joel 1:13,14; 2:17) suggest he was not a Levite. Extrabiblical tradition records that he was from the tribe of Reuben, from the town of Bethom or Bethharam, located NE of the Dead Sea on the border of Reuben and Gad. The context of the prophecy, however, hints that he was a Judean from the Jerusalem vicinity, since the tone of a stranger is absent.

Furthermore, Joel is a fairly common name in the OT writings (1 Sam. 8:2; 1 Chron. 4:35; 5:4; 7:3; 11:38; 15:7; 26:22; 27:20; 2 Chron. 29:12; Ezra 10:43; Neh. 11:9).

DATE

See INTERPRETIVE CHALLENGES.

Yes, really…it gets its own section. It’s complicated.

BACKGROUND & SETTING

See INTERPRETIVE CHALLENGES.

Depending on WHEN you think Joel was written is going to determine WHAT was happening at that time.

HISTORICAL & THEOLOGICAL THEMES

There are two major themes running through the book of Joel:

• Judgment. Joel compares and contrasts two different judgments: the more-immediate judgment of Israel (Joel 2:31), and the more-future judgment of Israel’s enemies (Joel 3:2-16, 19).
• Repentance and Salvation. The book of Joel is actually a great study on the characteristics and need for repentance. Joel calls on everyone to repent, regardless of age (Joel 1:2-3; 2:16), sin (Joel 1:5), or profession (Joel 1:11; 1:13; 2:17). External repentance is not enough (Joel 2:12); God requires sincerity, and trust in Him (Joel 2:13). Then and only then will God forgive and restore (Joel 2:18-32), pour out His Spirit (Joel 2:28-29), and give salvation to everyone who calls on His name (Joel 2:32).

INTERPRETIVE CHALLENGES

There are really two issues that need to be settled in order to interpret Joel. The minor issue is the locust plague, which is informed by (and in turn informs) the major issue, the dating of the book.

There is some controversy among scholars and theologians as to exactly how to interpret the locust plague in Joel: literal, symbolic, and/or metaphorical. Combinations and variations of these are possible as well, for example, the ESVSB gives the following helpful outline of the four major interpretive views:

• IF chapter 1 describes an actual locust infestation, THEN chapter 2 presents a heightened description of the same invasion.
• IF chapter 1 describes an actual locust infestation, THEN chapter 2 issues a warning about a coming military offensive.
• IF chapter 1 describes an actual locust infestation functioning as a prophetic forerunner, THEN chapter 2 uses that imagery to portray a human army in terms of a decisive conflict on the day of the Lord.
• IF chapter 1 describes a military attack in terms of the metaphor of a locust invasion, THEN chapter 2 represents the coming of an enemy usually viewed as the Assyrians or Babylonians.

One’s interpretation of the locust plague is also going to factor heavily into how one dates the book, which is probably the most significant and oft-disputed element of Joel. I’m going to actually quote Constable at considerable length, simply because I think he does a stellar job of summarizing the various positions:

The date of Joel is its largest introductory problem, as is the case with Obadiah. There are four most likely possibilities. First, some scholars advocate an early pre-exilic date during the reign of King Jehoshaphat (872-848 B.C.) or possibly his grandson, King Joash (835-796 B.C.). Arguments in favor of this period include the position of Joel in the Hebrew canon; it appears among other prophetic writings of this period. Also the enemies of Israel that Joel named (Tyre, Sidon, Philistia [cf. 2 Chron. 21:16-17], Egypt [cf. 1 Kings 14:25-26], and Edom [cf. 2 Kings 8:20-22; 3:2-7, 19]) were enemies of Israel during this time. The prominence Joel gave to Judah’s priests and elders rather than to her king—Joash was a boy king under the influence of Jehoiada, the high priest, early in his reign—is a further argument for this view. However, all these conclusions are open to other interpretations. [Advocates of this view include Hobart E. Freeman, An Introduction to the Old Testament Prophets, p. 148; Gleason A. Archer Jr., A Survey of Old Testament Introduction, p. 305; E. J. Young, An Introduction to the Old Testament, pp. 271-72; C. F. Keil, The Twelve Minor Prophets, 1:169-70; Walter C. Kaiser Jr., Toward an Old Testament Theology, p. 188; Charles H. Dyer, The Old Testament Explorer, p. 737; Warren W. Wiersbe, “Joel,” in The Bible Exposition Commentary/Prophets, p. 333; and Leon J. Wood, The Prophets of Israel, p. 268.]

Second, some authorities believe a mid-pre-exilic date of composition, probably during the reign of Joash’s grandson, King Uzziah (792-740 B.C.), fits the evidence best. Supporters of this view also claim the first two arguments cited in favor of the early pre-exilic view above. They argue, in addition, that the absence of references to Assyria, Babylonia, and Persia make a later date, when these nations were the major ancient Near Eastern superpowers, unlikely. Joel’s reference to Greece in Joel 3:6 may fit this period since the Ionian Greeks were at this time expanding their commercial influence in Asia Minor. Joel’s reference to the Sabeans in Joel 3:8 is appropriate for this period as well. Internal references and linguistic characteristics may also reflect Uzziah’s times and are similar to the writings of the other eighth-century prophets (i.e., Amos, Hosea, Micah, and Isaiah). However, again, much of the same evidence can fit other periods of Judah’s history.[Advocates include Richard D. Patterson, “Joel,” in Daniel-Malachi, vol. 7 of The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, pp. 231-33.]

Third, some interpreters opt for a late pre-exilic date. Statements in Joel could fit this period, and some of his statements are similar to those of Jeremiah and Ezekiel and may reflect conditions before the destruction of Jerusalem, perhaps between 597 and 587 B.C. If true, Joel would have been a contemporary of Jeremiah, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah. Yet Joel 2:18-19 seems to imply that God had been merciful to Joel’s generation, suggesting that the people had repented, but there is no record of this happening during this period.[Advocates include Wilhelm Rudolph, Joel-Amos-Obadja-Jona, pp. 14-15; and Arvid S. Kapelrud, Joel Studies, pp. 154-58.]

The fourth view is that Joel wrote at a postexilic date, perhaps 515-500 B.C. or even as late as sometime in the 400s B.C. Interpreters who see Joel 3:1-2 and 17 as references to the destruction of Jerusalem and the Babylonian captivity take the references to the temple in Joel 1:9, 13 and 2:17 as applying to the second temple (completed in 515 B.C.). Yet all these texts could apply to earlier periods. Generally scholars who view apocalyptic writing as a late development in Judaism tend to date Joel quite late. [Advocates include Robert B. Chisholm Jr., “Joel,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: Old Testament, p. 1410; idem, “A Theology of the Minor Prophets,” in A Biblical Theology of the Old Testament, p. 387; idem, Handbook on the Prophets, p. 368; Raymond B. Dillard, “Joel,” in The Minor Prophets, pp. 240-42 (though see pp. 301-2); David A. Hubbard, Joel and Amos, p. 27; and John Bright, A History of Israel, p. 417.]

For those of you keeping score at home, the sources that I typically refer to you in constructing these articles are also divided along the following lines:

• Early Pre-Exilic: MacArthur Study Bible, NET Study Bible (first choice)
• Mid Pre-Exilic: Archaeological Study Bible, NET Study Bible (second choice)
• Late Pre-Exilic: Baker Illustrated Bible Handbook
• Post-Exilic: Apologetics Study Bible, ESV Study Bible, Reformation Study Bible

LITERARY FEATURES

Per the ESVSB:

As a work of prophecy, the book of Joel relies on the staples of the oracle of judgment and the oracle of salvation. Poetry counts for a lot in the book of Joel, whose author is particularly adept at description. By the time Joel’s imagination amplifies the killer locusts into more-than-literal creatures, the book of Joel emerges as almost a horror story. The technique of apostrophe (direct address to entities that are literally absent but treated as though they can hear and respond) is prominent in the first two chapters. Even though the writer is a prophet rather than a nature writer, there are so many pictures of nature in the book that it does rank as nature writing, in a prophetic mode.

OBJECTIONS

There are no significant objections to Joel that I am aware of; the vast bulk of the issues are interpretive, and scholars tend to agree the Joel contains certain timeless messages regardless of what dating scheme is subscribed to.

NOTABLE QUOTABLES

• Joel 2:32
• Joel 3:14

DID YOU KNOW?

•  Unlike the other prophets, Joel almost never mentions the particular sins he is calling the Israelites to repent of, rather he focuses on calling them to repentence. The one exception to this would be the sin of drunkenness (Joel 1:5).
• Remember that “trumpets” (Joel 2:1) in the OT (and the NT for that matter), actually refer to more generic horns (often made from actual horns in the ANE), since the modern trumpet requires tubular valves, which have only existed for the last couple centuries.

Other Works Referenced

• Apologetics Study Bible, “Joel”
• Archaeological Study Bible, “Introduction to Joel”
• ESV Study Bible, “Introduction to Joel”
• MacArthur Study Bible, “Joel”
• NET Bible, Joel
• NIV Study Bible, Joel
• Reformation Study Bible, “Joel”
• The Baker Illustrated Bible Handbook, “Joel”
• Know Your Bible
• Dever, The Message of the Old Testament
• Driscoll, A Book You’ll Actually Read On the Old Testament
• Knight, The Layman’s Bible Handbook

by Stephen Rodgers

HOSEA IN 10 WORDS OR LESS

“Prophet’s marriage to prostitute reflects God’s relationship to Israel.”

TITLE

Like almost all the other prophetic books, the book of Hosea takes its name from the prophet respon­si­ble for its con­tent.

Per the MSB:

The title is derived from the main character and author of the book. The meaning of his name, “salvation,” is the same as that of Joshua (cf. Num. 13:8,16) and Jesus (Matt. 1:21). Hosea is the first of the 12 Minor Prophets. “Minor” refers to the brevity of the prophecies, as compared to the length of the works of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel.

AUTHOR & AUDIENCE

While not all commentators automatically agree that Hosea personally wrote the book that bears his name (see for example, the NIVSB), Constable sees no reason to doubt it:

The prophet’s name is the title of the book. The book claims to be the word of the Lord that Hosea received (Hos. 1:1). Thus he appears to have been the writer.

The MSB gives us more background on Hosea, although honestly, there’s not much available:

The book of Hosea is the sole source of information about the author. Little is known about him, and even less about his father, Beeri (Hos. 1:1). Hosea was probably a native of the northern kingdom of Israel, since he shows familiarity with the history, circumstances, and topography of the north (cf. Hos. 4:15; 5:1,13; 6:8,9; 10:5; 12:11,12; 14:6). This would make him and Jonah the only writing prophets from the northern kingdom. Although he addressed both Israel (the northern kingdom) and Judah (the southern kingdom), he identified the king of Israel as “our king” (Hos. 7:5).

The original audience of Hosea’s oral message would have been the northern kingdom of Israel. After they were overrun, his words would have been preserved as a prophetic warning of judgment, a call to repentance, and a promise of restoration.

DATE

The MSB gives the standard conservative position on the dating of Hosea:

Hosea had a lengthy period of ministry, prophesying ca. 755–710 B.C., during the reigns of Uzziah (790–739 B.C.), Jotham (750–731 B.C.), Ahaz (735–715 B.C.), and Hezekiah (715–686 B.C.) in Judah, and Jeroboam II (793–753 B.C.) in Israel (Hos. 1:1). His long career spanned the last 6 kings of Israel from Zechariah (753–752 B.C.) to Hoshea (732–722 B.C.). The overthrow of Zechariah (the last of the dynasty of Jehu) in 752 B.C. is depicted as yet future (Hos. 1:4). Thus he followed Amos’ preaching in the north, and was a contemporary of Isaiah and Micah as well, both of whom prophesied in Judah. Second Kings 14–20 and 2 Chronicles 26–32 record the historical period of Hosea’s ministry.

Constable gives some additional information as well as illuminating a number of variant dates. Rather than expressly contradicting the traditional view, I find it interesting how consistant the overall opinion of most scholars is on this issue:

Hosea’s ministry spanned the reigns of four Judean kings (Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah; cf. Isa. 1:1) and one Israelite king (Jeroboam II; Hos. 1:1). King Uzziah (Azariah) of Judah began reigning in 792 B.C., and King Hezekiah of Judah stopped reigning in 686 B.C., spanning a period of 107 years. Probably Hosea’s ministry began near the end of Jeroboam II’s (793-753 B.C.) and Uzziah’s (792-740 B.C.) reigns and ended in the early years of Hezekiah’s sole reign (715-686 B.C.). Hezekiah evidently reigned for 14 years as co-regent with his father Ahaz (729-715 B.C.; cf. 2 Kings 18:1). This would mean that the prophet’s ministry lasted perhaps 45 years (ca. 760-715 B.C.). It also means that Hosea’s ministry extended beyond the fall of Samaria in 722 B.C. since Hezekiah began ruling in 715 B.C. Hosea did not date any of his prophecies. Other possible dates are between 760 and 753 to 715 B.C. (38 to 45 years), [Leon Wood, “Hosea,” in Daniel-Minor Prophets, vol. 7 of The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, p. 163, and idem, The Prophets of Israel, p. 276.] 760 to 720 B.C. (38 years), [Douglas Stuart, Hosea-Jonah, p. xliii.] 760 to sometime during Hezekiah’s reign (715-686 B.C., about 45 years), [Hobart E. Freeman, An Introduction to the Old Testament Prophets, p. 175.] and about 60 or 65 years. [C. F. Keil, “Hosea,” in The Twelve Minor Prophets, 1:15.]

BACKGROUND & SETTING

Hosea ministered during a very turbulent time in Israel’s history. Under Jeroboam II, Israel enjoyed economic and material prosperity until his death in 753 BC. That seemed to signal a rapid and chaotic downturn however, going through six kings is 20 years. At the end of that time, Israel (by then a vassal state of Assyria), attempted a rebellion which was subsequently crushed, with the ten tribes of the northern kingdom being carried off into exile, never to return.

HISTORICAL & THEOLOGICAL THEMES

There are three major themes running through the book of Hosea:

• God’s Faithfulness, Mercy, and Unfailing Love. Hosea’s love for his unfaithful wife represents God’s love for Israel (Hos. 1:2; 2:9; 6:6; 10:12; 12:6).
• Judgment for Sin. Because Israel would fail to acknowledge God and insist on their idolatry (Hos. 2:2-5; 3:3; 4:10-19; 5:3-7; 6:10; 8:9; 9:1), God would ultimately punish them with exile (Hos. 7:16; 8:14; 9:3,6,17; 11:5).
• Repentance and Restoration. Hosea reiterates the recurring theme that repentance brings restoration (Hos. 1:10-11; 2:14-23; 3:5; 11:10-11; 14:4-7).

INTERPRETIVE CHALLENGES

There are a number of interpretive questions that have been raised regarding the book of Hosea, not surprisingly, all of them related to the person of Gomer, his “wife of harlotry:”

• The first question is whether Gomer should be understood as a literal or an allegorical figure. Despite some of the problems that this answer raises, the vast majority of scholars tend to agree that she should be understood as a literal figure. There is nothing in the prose account of Hosea 1-3 that indicates she is not meant to be understood as a real person.
• The second question raised is whether Gomer was a prostitute at the time Hosea married her, or if she only became an immoral woman later in their relationship. Scholars are somewhat more divided on this issue (compared to the issue of understanding her as a literal person), but the majority view seems to be that she was faithful at the time of their marriage, but became unfaithful at some later point in time. Some of the verses in Hosea (Hos. 2:15 and 9:10 vs. 11:1) seem to suggest that understanding.
• Lastly, there is some confusion as to whether the woman in chapter 3 is the same adulterous wife from chapters 1-2, but like the literal issue, the vast majority of commentators and scholars agree that she is, and that alternative interpretations make very little sense in light of the analogy being illustrated.

LITERARY FEATURES

Per the ESVSB:

The overall genre of the book is prophecy, and most of the book consists of oracles of judgment, with only a few interspersed oracles of salvation. Its main literary form is satire (in this case, sharp and bitter). Virtually the entire book is embodied in poetry. The overall format is that of a legal or judicial indictment, as God presents a detailed case against his covenant people.

OBJECTIONS

Aside from the standard anti-supernaturalistic objections that are raised automatically when the subject of prophetic literature is raised, there aren’t any serious objections to the authenticity of Hosea. Some older stock objections (alleged issues involving the mixing of first- and third-person perspective, the juxtaposition of judgment and salvation passages) have since been discredited as ancient Israelite and ANE writings have been studied in greater depth.

NOTABLE QUOTABLES

• Hosea 6:6
• Hosea 8:7

DID YOU KNOW?

• Hosea’s children had some very unusual and symbolic names: “God scatters,” “she is not loved,” and “not my people.”

Other Works Referenced

• Apologetics Study Bible, “Hosea”
• Archaeological Study Bible, “Introduction to Hosea”
• ESV Study Bible, “Introduction to Hosea”
• MacArthur Study Bible, “Hosea”
• NET Bible, Hosea
• NIV Study Bible, Hosea
• Reformation Study Bible, “Hosea”
• The Baker Illustrated Bible Handbook, “Hosea”
• Know Your Bible
• Dever, The Message of the Old Testament
• Driscoll, A Book You’ll Actually Read On the Old Testament
• Knight, The Layman’s Bible Handbook

by Stephen Rodgers

DANIEL IN 10 WORDS OR LESS

“Faithful to God in a challenging setting, Daniel is blessed.”

TITLE

Like almost all the other prophetic books, the book of Daniel takes its name from the prophet responsible for its content. And since Daniel is a particularly significant book in the context of the OT, let’s get this started with a more-expanded-than-usual quote from the MSB:

According to Hebrew custom, the title is drawn from the prophet who throughout the book received revelations from God. Daniel bridges the entire 70 years of the Babylonian captivity (ca. 605–536 B.C.; cf. Dan. 1:1 and 9:1–3). Nine of the 12 chapters relate revelation through dreams/visions. Daniel was God’s mouthpiece to the Gentile and Jewish world, declaring God’s current and future plans. What Revelation is to the NT prophetically and apocalyptically, Daniel is to the OT.

AUTHOR & AUDIENCE

Per the MSB:

Several verses indicate that the writer is Daniel (Dan. 8:15,27; 9:2; 10:2,7; 12:4,5), whose name means “God is my Judge.” He wrote in the autobiographical first person from Dan. 7:2 on, and is to be distinguished from the other 3 Daniel’s of the OT (cf. 1 Chr. 3:1; Ezra 8:2; Neh. 10:6). As a teenager, possibly about 15 years old, Daniel was kidnaped from his noble family in Judah and deported to Babylon to be brainwashed into Babylonian culture for the task of assisting in dealing with the imported Jews. There he spent the remainder of a long life (85 years or more). He made the most of the exile, successfully exalting God by his character and service. He quickly rose to the role of statesman by official royal appointment and served as a confidante of kings as well as a prophet in two world empires, i.e., the Babylonian (Dan. 2:48) and the Medo-Persian (Dan. 6:1,2). Christ confirmed Daniel as the author of this book (cf. Matt. 24:15).

Per Constable:

There is little doubt among conservative scholars that Daniel himself wrote this book under the Holy Spirit’s guidance. Probably he did so late in his life, which could have been about 530 B.C. or a few years later. Several Persian-derived governmental terms appear in the book. The presence of these words suggests that the book received its final polishing after Persian had become the official language of government. This would have been late in Daniel’s life. What makes Daniel’s authorship quite clear is both internal and external evidence. (see OBJECTIONS)

Assuming a traditional date of composition (approximately 530 BC), Daniel would have been writing for the benefit of other Jewish exiles in Babylon.

DATE

Per the MSB:

Daniel lived beyond the time described in Dan. 10:1 (ca. 536 B.C.). It seems most probable that he wrote the book shortly after this date but before ca. 530 B.C. Daniel 2:4b–7:28, which prophetically describes the course of Gentile world history, was originally and appropriately written in Aramaic, the contemporary language of international business.

Ezekiel, Habakkuk, Jeremiah, and Zephaniah were Daniel’s prophetic contemporaries. (As discussed below, Ezekiel actually references Daniel twice).

BACKGROUND & SETTING

Roughly speaking, you can think of Jeremiah as the prequel to both Ezekiel and Daniel, with the latter two being simultaneous and roughly concurrent sequels which continue the story from different points of view, which in turn set up the events in Ezra and Nehemiah.

So let’s do a quick review just to get our bearings:

• We’re way past the unified kingdom of Saul, David, and Solomon; that’s in the rear-view mirror.
• We’re also past the divided kingdom of Israel and Judah. The northern kingdom already got conquered by the Assyrians and carried off into exile.
• Since that happened, the southern kingdom is sort of hanging on by their fingernails. The Assyrians aren’t really the baddest gang on the block anymore; at this point the real heavy hitters are the Egyptians (to the south and west) and the Babylonians (to the north and east). So the southern kingdom is really in the incredibly unenviable position of getting caught in the middle.
• The southern kingdom fights a delaying action, but eventually Jerusalem gets overrun by the Babylonians (see: Jeremiah) for the first time (yes, there was a second time, and it wasn’t pretty), and carried off into exile. Some of those exiles wind up in one place (see: Ezekiel), and some wind up in another place (which brings us to Daniel), which just happens to be the very heart of the Babylonian empire.
• We have not yet gotten to the part where the exiles come back to Jerusalem (see: Ezra and Nehemiah); that will come later.

Got it?

That’s where Daniel starts: a teenage captive, deep behind enemy lines, in a foreign land. It doesn’t look good, but as we’ll see, God has a plan.

HISTORICAL & THEOLOGICAL THEMES

There are several themes which run through the book of Daniel.

• God’s Sovereignty: Perhaps the most significant theme in Daniel is God’s absolute authority over world history (Dan. 2:47; 3:17-18; 4:28-37; 5:18-31), which specifically includes kingdoms and governments (Dan. 5:21)
• Faithfulness to God: God rewards those who are devoted to Him (Dan 1:8 with 1:15-20; 2:17-18 with 2:19; 2:27-28 with 2:48-49; 3:12, 16-18 with 3:26-30; 5:16-18 with 5:29; 6:7-12 with 6:19-24). What is especially relevant for us today is that we see it is possible for God’s people to survive (and even thrive) in the midst of real oppression.
• Prophecies of Future Events: Daniel’s four visions contain predictions of both the near and far future, as well as the return of the triumphant Christ (Dan. 7:11, 26-27; 8:25; 9:27; 11:45; 12:13).

INTERPRETIVE CHALLENGES

This is almost too big to tackle within the context of this article, so I’m just going to give a quick summary: eschatology.

As mentioned in the TITLE section, it’s not unreasonable to think as Daniel being the OT equivalent to the NT book of Revelation. Both are prophetic, both are apocalyptic (some scholars consider them to be the only two unqualified examples of the apocalyptic genre in the Bible: e.g. Robert D. Culver, “Daniel,” in The Wycliffe Bible Commentary and Edward J. Young, The Prophecy of Daniel: A Commentary).

As a result, not only is the content subject to the various interpretations and understandings that often occur when dealing with prophetic imagery (such as the precise meaning and understanding of various numbers (including the infamous “77s”), the Son of Man, the juxtaposition (or not) of Antiochus/Antichrist, etc.), but it is also going to inform and be informed by eschatological positions as well. Since there are a range of those expressed in historically orthodox Christianity, you can expect a range of understandings in regard to the eschatological features of Daniel as well.

LITERARY FEATURES

Per the ESVSB:

The book of Daniel is unique in the Bible in falling decisively into two distinct genres in its two halves. The first six chapters are hero stories comprised of six self-contained ordeals. The last six chapters are a series of visions that employ highly symbolic images to portray vast stretches of political and spiritual history. The visions that deal with the end times are apocalyptic visions. The techniques of symbolic reality figure prominently in all of the dreams and visions, including those in the first six chapters; in symbolic reality, the world that is entered consists largely of great symbols instead of literal characters and places.

OBJECTIONS

Objections to Daniel began in the third century with Porphyry (a neo-Platonist who disputed traditional authorship and dating), but pretty much disappeared after he was subsequently refuted by Jerome. Then the 18th century brought us Germans and rationalism, and Porphyry’s theory was re-raised by J. D. Michaelis. Since then there have been a number of criticisms levied against the book, which I will attempt to summarize and explain here:

• Categorization. Much has been of the fact that Daniel is not included in the Nevi’im (Prophets), but rather is found in the Kethuvim (Writings) in the TNK (you do remember the OT Canon right?). This is easily explained by the fact that Daniel occupied a unique yes-and-no role when it came to prophecy. In one sense, he was a prophet: after all, he prophesied. In another sense, he was not a prophet: he did not minister exclusively to or among Israel, and his function was primarily that of an administrator in a foreign court.
• Authorship. Interacting with the various challenges to traditional authorship would require a separate paper, but suffice to say that Daniel is attributed as the author both in the book itself (Dan. 7:1; 12:4), by his contemporaries (Eze. 14:14, 20; 28:3), and by Christ and NT authors (Matt. 24:15 and Mark 13:14; Matt. 26:64, Mark 14:62 and Luke 22:69; Heb. 11:33-34).
• Dating. In addition to contemporaneous attestation mentioned above, a number of the Qumran scrolls have been dated within 40 years of the so-called “late date,” which presents significant problems for critics of traditional authorship/dating. In addition, if one accepts the premise that the LXX was translated more or less collectively in the third century BC, then the late date becomes impossible.
• Archaeological and Linguistic Evidence. A number of alleged historical inconsistancies or issues (such as the existence of Belshazzar) have recently been re-evaluated in light of archaeological discoveries. Furthermore, his Hebrew and Aramaic are consistent with both biblical and extra-biblical documents from the fifth and sixth centuries, BC (not the second century BC that the late date postulates).

NOTABLE QUOTABLES

• Daniel 3:17
• Daniel 6:22
• Daniel 9:18

DID YOU KNOW?

• The book of Daniel was originally written in two languages: Hebrew (introduction, most prophecies, chapter 1, and chapters 8-12) and Aramaic (chapters 2-7).

Other Works Referenced

• Apologetics Study Bible, “Daniel”
• Archaeological Study Bible, “Introduction to Daniel”
• ESV Study Bible, “Introduction to Daniel”
• MacArthur Study Bible, “Daniel”
• NET Bible, Daniel
• NIV Study Bible, Daniel
• Reformation Study Bible, “Daniel”
• The Baker Illustrated Bible Handbook, “Daniel”
• Know Your Bible
• Dever, The Message of the Old Testament
• Driscoll, A Book You’ll Actually Read On the Old Testament
• Knight, The Layman’s Bible Handbook

by Stephen Rodgers

EZEKIEL IN 10 WORDS OR LESS

“Though Israel is in exile, the nation will be restored.”

TITLE

Like most (but not all…hi there Lamentations!) of the prophetic books, Ezekiel takes its name from the prophet who was responsible for the prophetic utterances contained within it. As a result, the TITLE and AUTHOR sections tend to get a bit muddled, but this would be a good time to mention that Ezekiel is mentioned only in the book that bears his name, although he does refer to some of his contemporary prophets either explicitly (Daniel) or implicitly (Jeremiah).

Per Constable:

The title of this book comes from its writer, Ezekiel, the son of Buzi (Eze. 1:3). “Ezekiel” means “God strengthens (or hardens)” or “God will strengthen (harden)” or “May God strengthen (harden).” The name “Hezekiah” is similar, meaning “May Yahweh strengthen.”

AUTHOR & AUDIENCE

For someone whose name appears only in two verses, there is surprisingly little dispute as to the identity and authorship of Ezekiel. Although no other Biblical writer refers to him, the book that bears his name is more autobiographical than the other major prophets such as Isaiah or Jeremiah. On top of that, Ezekiel wrote the vast majority of the book in chronological order, with great attention to the dates that corresponded to the events he wrote about.

Per the MSB:

Prophecies in chaps. 1–28 are in chronological order. In Eze. 29:1, the prophet regresses to a year earlier than in Eze. 26:1. But from Eze. 30:1 on (cf. Eze. 31:1; 32:1,17), he is close to being strictly chronological.

Per Constable:

Ezekiel was a Judean priest of Yahweh as well as His prophet, as were Jeremiah (Jer. 1:1), Zechariah (Zech. 1:1), and John the Baptist (Luke 1:5). Ezekiel, Jeremiah, and Zechariah were the only writing prophets who were also priests, and they all ministered during or after the Babylonian exile. Like Jeremiah, there is no evidence that Ezekiel ever served as a priest in the Jerusalem temple. Ezekiel’s priestly background may account in part for the interest in priestly things that his book reflects: the actions of the priests in Jerusalem, the Jerusalem temple, the glory of the Lord, and the future temple yet to be built. It probably also explains Ezekiel’s familiarity with things connected with priestly ministry, such as cherubim. His wife died during the course of his ministry (Eze. 24:2, 15-18), but there is no mention in the book that they had children. There are no records of Ezekiel’s life outside this book, so we have no information about when, where, or how he died.

Essentially, Ezekiel is a man who’s life didn’t go according to his plan. He prepared to become a priest, only to see that become an impossibility with the Babylonian invasion and the destruction of the temple (not to mention the fact that he was carried off into exile as part of the initial invasion). At age 30 (the typical age for him to begin his priestly service), he instead received a vision from the LORD and became a prophet. So even though his life didn’t go according to his plan, one can clearly see the hand of God in his life.

DATE

It is helpful to remember at the outset that Numbers 4 records that the age of service for a priest of the LORD was from 30 to 50.  This corresponds nearly perfectly to the period of Ezekiel’s life when he wrote the book that bears his name.

Per Constable:

The book records the date of the beginning of Ezekiel’s ministry as 593 B.C. (Eze. 1:2-3). The last dated prophecy came to the prophet in 571 B.C. (Eze. 29:17). He began ministering when he was 30 years old (Eze. 1:1), and he gave his last prophecy when he was about 52. Ezekiel’s whole ministry transpired during the reign of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon (605-562 B.C.).

BACKGROUND & SETTING

Ezekiel is set against the backdrop of the Babylonian invasions…yes, plural. Remember that the initial fall of Jerusalem took place in 597 BC, and the Babylonians carried off most of the aristocracy and leadership into exile (including Ezekiel). However, the remaining leaders in Jerusalem committed a double-whammy of errors: they refused to turn from their idolatrous ways and heed the call of the LORD, and they refused to heed Jeremiah’s advice and rebelled against the Babylonians, prompting a second invasion that resulted in the destruction of both Jerusalem and the temple.

HISTORICAL & THEOLOGICAL THEMES

There are several themes that run through the book of Ezekiel:

• Judgment. The idea of the covenant lawsuit is in full effect in Ezekiel, and he prophesied that God would judge both His people (Eze. 1:1-24:27) and foreign nations (25:1-32:32) for their sinful behavior.
• God’s Sovereignty. I previously pointed out that Ezekiel’s life itself was an example of God’s sovereignty, but it’s also a major theme of the book. One valuable lesson that we learn from Ezekiel is that the judgment of God is often inseparable from the self-revelation of God (which actually is a recurring motif in Framean ethics, but that’s an article for another day).
• Future Hope. Ezekiel is quite clear that there is hope for God’s people after judgment (Eze. 33:1-39:29).

INTERPRETIVE CHALLENGES

Because Ezekiel is rife with eschatological imagery, one’s understanding of the book will necessarily depend somewhat on one’s eschatalogical perspective. However, while some of the imagery seemingly defies description, the book as a unit is not difficult to apprehend.

LITERARY FEATURES

Per the ESVSB:

Several observations are in order. First, much of the book consists of visionary writing, which transports readers to a world of the imagination where the rules of reality are obviously suspended in favor of highly unusual visions. To understand and relish the book of Ezekiel, readers often need to abandon expectations of realism. Second, Ezekiel employs a technique known as symbolic reality, which occurs when a writer consistently transports the reader to a world of visionary experience where the most important ingredients are symbols—symbols like a vine, a boiling pot, or a valley full of dry bones. Third, prophecy is itself a genre, made up of oracles (pronouncements from God through the agency of a prophet) that fall into two main categories—oracles of judgment and oracles of blessing. Oracles of judgment are ordinarily examples of satire, and in the prophetic satire of Ezekiel there are three motifs: (1) description of evil, (2) denunciation of this evil, and (3) warnings and predictions that God will judge the evil. Prophecy often merges with apocalyptic writing about epic, end-time struggles. These sections often portray events at the end of history. Finally, readers should not overlook the obvious—the prophet Ezekiel expresses himself in the form of poetry.

OBJECTIONS

As previously mentioned, Ezekiel is both highly autobiographical and meticulously noted from a chronological perspective; as a result, there are no significant objections that I am aware of.

NOTABLE QUOTABLES

• Ezekiel 18:32
• Ezekiel 36:26

DID YOU KNOW?

• The inner courtyard of Ezekiel’s visionary temple was a perfect square: the shape of perfection or holiness (Eze. 40:47).
• Ezekiel contains 13 specific dates, more than any other OT book. 12 of the dates correspond to the dates that Ezekiel received his visions; the final date corresponds to the arrival of the messenger who reported the fall of Jerusalem.

Other Works Referenced

• Apologetics Study Bible, “Ezekiel”
• Archaeological Study Bible, “Introduction to Ezekiel”
• ESV Study Bible, “Introduction to Ezekiel”  (PDF sam­ple from their RESOURCES page)
• MacArthur Study Bible, “Ezekiel”
• NET Bible, Ezekiel
• NIV Study Bible, Ezekiel
• Reformation Study Bible, “Ezekiel”
• The Baker Illustrated Bible Handbook, “Ezekiel”
• Know Your Bible
• Dever, The Message of the Old Testament
• Driscoll, A Book You’ll Actually Read On the Old Testament
• Knight, The Layman’s Bible Handbook

by Stephen Rodgers

LAMENTATIONS IN 10 WORDS OR LESS

“A despairing poem about the destruction of Jerusalem.”

TITLE

/sigh

I need to be more careful about what I write. A couple of times now I’ve written the following

I’ll let you in on a little secret: this section is about to get really repetitious for the next few months.  ALL the prophetic books take their name from the prophet who…well…prophesied them. So there’s really no great mystery here.  However, there may be some good background material…

Well, now we come to the one prophetic book that doesn’t take it’s name from a particular prophet: Lamentations.

MSB:

“Lamentations” was derived from a translation of the title as found in the Latin Vulgate (Vg.) translation of the Greek OT, the Septuagint (LXX), and conveys the idea of “loud cries.” The Hebrew exclamation ekah (“How,” which expresses “dismay”), used in Lam. 1:1; 2:1, and 4:1, gives the book its Hebrew title. However, the rabbis began early to call the book “loud cries” or “lamentations” (cf. Jer. 7:29). No other entire OT book contains only laments, as does this distressful dirge, marking the funeral of the once beautiful city of Jerusalem (cf. Lam. 2:15). This book keeps alive the memory of that fall and teaches all believers how to deal with suffering.

Constable:

The English title of this book comes from the Talmud, which called it “Lamentations” (Heb. qinoth). The Hebrew Bible has the title “Ah, how” or “Alas” (Heb. ‘ekah), the first word in the first, second, and fourth chapters. The title in the Septuagint is “Wailings” (Gr. Threnoi).

So just to be completely clear, there is no Hebrew poet named “Lamentations.” Which actually is a great segue into…

AUTHOR & AUDIENCE

Other than a tiny kerfuffle brought on by people who occupy their time by studying the anthropology of poetry (I’ll get to that in the OBJECTIONS section), the only real excitement related to the reliability of Lamentation is the fact that it’s technically anonymous.

Now before I go much further, let me preface that by saying that I think Jeremiah wrote it, and I’m not alone on that. Many scholars, liberal and conservative, believer and unbeliever tend to think that Jeremiah wrote it. The ESVSB is surprisingly reserved on this subject however:

The book does not identify its author, which should keep interpreters from unnecessarily contentious debates. Many scholars consider Jeremiah the author. They base this decision on (1) the statement in 2 Chronicles 35:25 that Jeremiah “uttered a lament for Josiah”; (2) the fact that Jeremiah was an eyewitness of Jerusalem’s destruction; and (3) the similarities in theological emphasis and vocabulary between the books of Jeremiah and Lamentations. In addition, much Jewish tradition (such as the Septuagint, the Targum on Jeremiah, and the Babylonian Talmud, Baba Bathra 15a) attributes this book to Jeremiah. The problems with this view include: (1) Lamentations does not name Jeremiah as its author; (2) the book of Jeremiah details much of Jeremiah’s post-587 b.c. activities but says nothing about his writing Lamentations; (3) there are differences in key vocabulary between Jeremiah and Lamentations; and (4) Lamentations provides material for worship in Jerusalem, whereas Jeremiah spent his last years in Egypt.

Let me briefly address the points that are raised in objection:

1. This is the most troubling of the arguments raised, since it would seem to imply that unless the Bible explicitly tells us something, then we cannot know it with certainty. I’m going to move on fairly quickly so that I don’t work myself up into a full-fledged rant here, but suffice to say I would cheerfully reject that claim…with both barrels. Such a position finds itself at odds with any number of historically orthodox creeds and confessions (WCF 1.6: “The whole counsel of God, concerning all things necessary for his own glory, man’s salvation, faith, and life, is either expressly set down in Scripture, or by good and necessary consequence may be deduced from Scripture…”). Furthermore, it’s going to get rather uncomfortable around here if it gets trotted out and set against historically orthodox doctrines that would otherwise fail “test by word search”…and here I’m thinking of the trinity. Ok, deep breaths…
2. Argument from Silence? Really?
3. Fair point.
4. Assumes facts not in evidence. The fact of the matter is that while Jeremiah clearly records that he was unwillingly shanghaied to Egypt following the assassination of a Babylonian official, almost immediately we run into conflicting Rabbinic notes and traditions. Some say he was stoned to death in Egypt; others say he returned to Babylon. We don’t know, (and I’d point out that according to the standards entailed in (1) and (2)), we can’t know.

DATE

Ok, so remember what I wrote about dating the book of Jeremiah:

For the most part, the writing of the book of Jeremiah is concurrent with it’s setting. Jeremiah began his ministry during the thirteenth year of King Josiah (the last good king of Judah, 640-609 BC), and continued to prophesy and preach throughout the reigns of Jehoahaz (609 BC), Jehoiakim (609-598 BC), Jehoiachin (598-597 BC), and Zedekiah (597-586 BC). He survived the fall of Jerusalem, and was relocated to Egypt against his will following the assassination of Gedaliah.

Lamentations takes place after that whole “fall of Jerusalem” bit in 586 BC, but prior to the return of the exiles in 538 BC (remember Nehemiah). That’s less than a 50-year window of opportunity. On top of that, a number of internal indicators seem to point towards an earlier date, as the pain and trauma from the fall of Jerusalem is still fresh in the mind of the poet.

BACKGROUND & SETTING

Everything I wrote regarding the setting for Jeremiah would seem to apply here.

Per Constable:

The biblical records of the times in which Jeremiah ministered are 2 Kings 21—25 and 2 Chronicles 33—36. His contemporary prophets were Zephaniah and Habakkuk before the Exile, and Ezekiel and Daniel after it began.

Per the MSB:

Politically momentous events occurred in Jeremiah’s day. Assyria saw its power wane gradually; then Ashurbanipal died in 626 B.C. Assyria grew so feeble that in 612 B.C. her seemingly invincible capital, Nineveh, was destroyed (cf. the book of Nahum). The Neo-Babylonian empire under Nabopolassar (625–605 B.C.) became dominant militarily with victories against Assyria (612 B.C.), Egypt (609–605 B.C.), and Israel in 3 phases (605 B.C., as in Dan. 1; 597 B.C., as in 2 Kin. 24:10–16; and 586 B.C., as in Jer. 39,40,52).

Jeremiah records one of the most pivotal moments in OT history: the fall of Jerusalem at the hands of the Babylonians. While the northern kingdom had fallen to the Assyrians already, the southern kingdom had held out until now. However, as the Babylonian empire grew, their opinion of Israel shifted from considering them a military ally against Egypt (especially after they successfully fought Egypt to a standstill), to considering them a likely candidate for conquest. And so, in 586 BC the Babylonians successfully attacked and destroyed Jeruasalem, leading the kingdom of Judah off into exile.

This is the time of Jeremiah.

And the time of Lamentations would literally be right after that.

HISTORICAL & THEOLOGICAL THEMES

There are three major themes in Lamentations:

• Judgment. Sin has consequences, and God uses secondary agents to execute His judgement (Lam. 1:14-15; 2:1-8, 17, 22; 4:11).
• Response to Judgment. The appropriate to God’s judgment is repentance (Lam. 3:40-42) and a desire for forgiveness and restoration (Lam. 5:21-22).
• God’s Character. God is just in His judgment, but he is also the God of hope (Lam. 3:21, 24-25), love (Lam. 3:22), compassion (Lam. 3:22), faithfulness (Lam. 3:23), and salvation (Lam. 3:26).

INTERPRETIVE CHALLENGES

While there are a number of verses that require additional study (as in any book of the Bible), none of them (that I am aware of) rise to the level of being fundamental or even well popularized.

LITERARY FEATURES

Per the ESVSB:

As its title indicates, the book of Lamentations is a collection of laments, or melancholy dirges, for a ruined society. The poems in the book could also be termed elegies or funeral orations, in which the author expresses deep personal and communal grief for the dead and for all of the suffering that surrounds their loss. In terms of structure, the first four poems are acrostics. This structure, using the entire Hebrew alphabet, matches the poet’s intent, which is to give full expression to the suffering of his people and the sorrows of his own soul—in effect, to offer a lament “from A to Z” (or aleph to taw). Perhaps the highly structured form of the acrostic is also an attempt to impose some sense of order on a tragic situation that is chaotic beyond what anyone can bear.

If you need a refresher on poetry, you can refer back to the article on the Wisdom Books. Also, it’s an interesting footnote that the text of Lamentations is one of the primary sources used by scholars who wish to argue that the ANE Israelites employed particular forms of metered verse in their poems, and not just parallel structures and acrostics.

OBJECTIONS

So I promised an objection based on the anthropology of poetry, so here it is (notice I never said it was a particularly impressive objection). Basically the argument goes something like this: “Lamentations is a series of sophisticated acrostic poems. Sophisticated acrostic poems are too sophisticated for a primitive ANE culture like the Israelites. Therefore, the date of Lamentations is unreliable and we can assume influence from more literary societies.”

On the contrary, not only is there ample evidence for highly sophisticated literary forms that pre-date Lamentations (for example, the majority of the Wisdom Literature), but one could quite easily make the case that of the various forms of poetry, acrostic poetic forms would be one of the earlier forms to arise within a culture that has a written alphabet (as the ANE Israelites did).

NOTABLE QUOTABLES

• Lamentations 3:22-23
• Lamentations 5:21

DID YOU KNOW?

• The Hebrews divided the night into three watches: 1) sunset to 10pm, 2) 10pm to 2am, and 3) 2am to sunrise (Lam. 2:19).

Other Works Referenced

• Apologetics Study Bible, “Lamentations”
• Archaeological Study Bible, “Introduction to Lamentations”
• ESV Study Bible, “Introduction to Lamentations”
• MacArthur Study Bible, “Lamentations”
• NET Bible, Lamentations
• NIV Study Bible, Lamentations
• Reformation Study Bible, “Lamentations”
• The Baker Illustrated Bible Handbook, “Lamentations”
• Know Your Bible
• Dever, The Message of the Old Testament
• Driscoll, A Book You’ll Actually Read On the Old Testament
• Knight, The Layman’s Bible Handbook

by Stephen Rodgers

JEREMIAH IN 10 WORDS OR LESS

“After years of sinful behavior, Judah will be punished.”

TITLE

I’ll let you in on a little secret: this section is about to get really repetitious for the next few months.  ALL the prophetic books take their name from the prophet who…well…prophesied them. So there’s really no great mystery here.  However, there may be some good background material…

MSB:

This book gains its title from the human author, who begins with “the words of Jeremiah… ” (Jer 1:1). Jeremiah recounts more of his own life than any other prophet, telling of his ministry, the reactions of his audiences, testings, and his personal feelings. His name means “Jehovah throws,” in the sense of laying down a foundation, or “Jehovah establishes, appoints, or sends.”

Seven other Jeremiahs appear in Scripture (2 Kin. 23:31; 1 Chr. 5:24; 1 Chr. 12:4; 1 Chr. 12:10; 1 Chr. 12:13; Neh. 10:2; Neh. 12:1), and Jeremiah the prophet is named at least 9 times outside of his book (cf. 2 Chr. 35:25; 36:12; 36:21,22; Dan. 9:2; Ezra 1:1; Matt. 2:17; 16:14; 27:9). The Old and New Testaments quote Jeremiah at least 7 times: 1) Dan. 9:2 (compare with Jer 25:11,12; 29:10); 2) Matt. 2:18 (compare with Jer 31:15); 3) Matt. 27:9 (compare with Jer 18:2; 19:2,11; 32:6–9); 4) 1 Cor. 1:31 (compare with Jer 9:24); 5) 2 Cor. 10:17 (compare with Jer 9:24); 6) Heb. 8:8–12 (compare with Jer 31:31–34); and 7) Heb. 10:16,17 (compare with Jer 31:33,34).

Constable:

The title of this book derives from its writer, the late seventh and early sixth-century Judean prophet Jeremiah. The book occupies the second position in the Latter Prophets section of the Hebrew Bible after Isaiah and before Ezekiel, which accounts for its position in the Septuagint and most modern translations.

The meaning of “Jeremiah” is not clear. It could mean “Yahweh founds (or establishes),” “Yahweh exalts,” “Yahweh throws down,” “Yahweh hurls,” or “Yahweh loosens (the womb).”

AUTHOR & AUDIENCE

I’m not aware of any scholar who disputes that Jeremiah son of Hilkiah (who some believe was the priest who discovered the book of the law during the reforms of Josiah, see R. K. Harrison, Introduction to the Old Testament…others disagree, see below), authored the book that bears his name. Often referred to as the “weeping prophet,” Jeremiah had the unenviable task of prophesying to an unrepentant Jerusalem regarding their impending destruction at the hands of the Babylonians. However, God decreed that Jeremiah was to begin his ministry some 41 years prior to the Babylonians’ arrival, so needless to say, the Israelites were not very responsive. As the MSB puts it:

Jeremiah, who served as both a priest and a prophet, was the son of a priest named Hilkiah (not the High-Priest of 2 Kin. 22:8 who discovered the book of the law). He was from the small village of Anathoth (Jer 1:1), today called Anata, about 3 mi. NE of Jerusalem in Benjamin’s tribal inheritance. As an object lesson to Judah, Jeremiah remained unmarried (Jer 16:1–4). He was assisted in ministry by a scribe, named Baruch, to whom Jeremiah dictated and who copied and had custody over the writings compiled from the prophet’s messages (Jer 36:4,32; 45:1). Jeremiah has been known as “the weeping prophet” (cf. Jer 9:1; 13:17; 14:17), living a life of conflict because of his predictions of judgment by the invading Babylonians. He was threatened, tried for his life, put in stocks, forced to flee from Jehoiakim, publicly humiliated by a false prophet, and thrown into a pit.

Jeremiah is interesting in that it is not only prophetic, but also autobiographical. Jeremiah tells us more about his life and his feelings and attitude during the course of his ministry than any other OT prophet.

Literally, Jeremiah was written to the people of Judah and to Jerusalem. However, when one analyzes the more general context in which it was written, it is difficult to exceed the clarity and brevity of Francis Schaeffer: “The book of Jeremiah and the book of Lamentations show how God looks at a culture which knew Him and deliberately turned away.” (Death in the City)

DATE

For the most part, the writing of the book of Jeremiah is concurrent with it’s setting. Jeremiah began his ministry during the thirteenth year of King Josiah (the last good king of Judah, 640-609 BC), and continued to prophesy and preach throughout the reigns of Jehoahaz (609 BC), Jehoiakim (609-598 BC), Jehoiachin (598-597 BC), and Zedekiah (597-586 BC). He survived the fall of Jerusalem, and was relocated to Egypt against his will following the assassination of Gedaliah.

Per MSB:

He was possibly still ministering in 570 B.C. (see note on 44:30). A rabbinic note claims that when Babylon invaded Egypt in 568/67 B.C. Jeremiah was taken captive to Babylon. He could have lived even to pen the book’s closing scene ca. 561 B.C. in Babylon, when Judah’s king Jehoiachin, captive in Babylon since 597 B.C., was allowed liberties in his last days (52:31–34). Jeremiah, if still alive at that time, was between 85 and 90 years old.

There is also a separate Jewish tradition that states that Jeremiah was stoned to death while in Egypt (some believe that Heb 11:37 references this):

“A late, unattested tradition, mentioned by Tertullian, Jerome, and others, claims that the people of Tahpanhes [in Egypt] stoned Jeremiah to death.” (Charles Lee Feinberg, “Jeremiah,” in Isaiah-Ezekiel, vol. 6 of The Expositor’s Bible Commentary)

Ultimately, we have no incontrovertible information regarding his life beyond 586 BC.

BACKGROUND & SETTING

Per Constable:

The biblical records of the times in which Jeremiah ministered are 2 Kings 21—25 and 2 Chronicles 33—36. His contemporary prophets were Zephaniah and Habakkuk before the Exile, and Ezekiel and Daniel after it began.

Per the MSB:

Politically momentous events occurred in Jeremiah’s day. Assyria saw its power wane gradually; then Ashurbanipal died in 626 B.C. Assyria grew so feeble that in 612 B.C. her seemingly invincible capital, Nineveh, was destroyed (cf. the book of Nahum). The Neo-Babylonian empire under Nabopolassar (625–605 B.C.) became dominant militarily with victories against Assyria (612 B.C.), Egypt (609–605 B.C.), and Israel in 3 phases (605 B.C., as in Dan. 1; 597 B.C., as in 2 Kin. 24:10–16; and 586 B.C., as in Jer. 39,40,52).

Jeremiah records one of the most pivotal moments in OT history: the fall of Jerusalem at the hands of the Babylonians. While the northern kingdom had fallen to the Assyrians already, the southern kingdom had held out until now. However, as the Babylonian empire grew, their opinion of Israel shifted from considering them a military ally against Egypt (especially after they successfully fought Egypt to a standstill), to considering them a likely candidate for conquest. And so, in 586 BC the Babylonians successfully attacked and destroyed Jeruasalem, leading the kingdom of Judah off into exile.

This is the time of Jeremiah.

HISTORICAL & THEOLOGICAL THEMES

There are three major themes in Jeremiah:

• Repentance. Jeremiah called for the people to repent and turn to God to avoid divine judgment (Jer 7:1-15). The people refuse (Jer 5:20-25, 8:4-7), and in response Jeremiah declares that their judgment is now unavoidable (Jer 6:16-21).
• Judgment. The idea of the covenant lawsuit should be a familiar one by now; as a consequence of their disobedience, God will use Babylon to conquer and punish His people.
• Restoration. Jeremiah 30:1-33:26 (called the “Book of Consolation) describes a new covenant (Jer 31:31-33) better than any preceeding prophet. This consolation and covenant would be partially fulfilled in the return of the exiles from Babylon in 538 BC, and ultimately fulfilled in the person and work of Jesus Christ: the Messiah. (1 Cor 11:25; 2 Cor 3:6; Heb 9:15, 12:24).

INTERPRETIVE CHALLENGES

The most significant challenge in dealing with Jeremiah is coming to some sort of understanding regarding the structure of the book. The one thing that almost all scholars agree on is that they don’t agree on the structure of Jeremiah (apart from agreeing that whatever it is, it isn’t chronological…Feinberg: “No commentator, ancient or modern, has seriously posited a chronological arrangement of its prophecies.”).

Incidentally, had they been so arranged, the sequence of sections within the book would have been approximately as follows: 1:1—7:15; ch. 26; 7:16—20:18; ch. 25; chs. 46–51; 36:1–8; ch. 45; 36:9–32; ch. 35; chs. 21–24; chs. 27–31; 34:1–7; 37:1–10; 34:8–22; 37:11—38:13; 39:15–18; chs. 32–33; 38:14—39:14; 52:1–30; chs. 40–44; 52:31–34.

A number of structures have been proposed (for example, Richard Patterson suggests that the book reverses Jeremiah’s call to be a prophet to both the nations in general, and to Judah in particular), but ultimately none are universally…or even predominantly…agreed upon.  The MSB doesn’t even attempt a formal arrangement, just states the following: “A frequent challenge is to understand the prophet’s messages in their right time setting, since the book of Jeremiah is not always chronological, but loosely arranged, moving back and forth in time for thematic effect.”

To further underscore this point:

“When we come to inquire whether any principles of arrangement can be observed in the book of Jeremiah, we have to admit that any consistent principles escape us.” (J. A. Thompson, The Book of Jeremiah)

“. . . it is often difficult to see why certain passages occur at precisely the point where they do occur.” (Edward J. Young, An Introduction to the Old Testament)

LITERARY FEATURES

Per the ESVSB:

Jeremiah is an anthology or collection of writings drawn from an entire lifetime of prophetic ministry. The narrative sections scattered throughout the book are loosely structured around the main events of Jeremiah’s life in ministry, which themselves were shaped by Judah’s decline, fall, and exile in Babylon. But most of the material in the book is prophetic, much of it in the form of poetry. This material does not always follow a historical sequence; the logic of its arrangement is sometimes topical rather than chronological.

OBJECTIONS

There are no significant objections to Jeremiah beyond the various anti-supernaturalistic  biases that one often encounters when dealing with prophetic literature. (Ironically enough, Jeremiah faced a similar problem in that his contemporaries never seriously considered that he spoke for God).

It is interesting to note that the Greek and Hebrew texts differ significantly from one another (by about 12.5%). Additionally, from the fragments discovered at Qumran show that various differing Hebrew texts were in circulation and use even during the time of Jesus. This, however, is not considered an impediment to reliability or canonicity. After all, Jeremiah contains an explanation for that in Jeremiah 36: King Jehoiakim was angry with Jeremiah for his prophesies, and destroyed the copy that Jeremiah had written at that point. However, God ordered Jeremiah to produce a replacement with additional prophecies as well, which he (or Baruch) did.

While it is not uncommon for the Greek (LXX) and Hebrew (MT) to differ from one another, what makes Jeremiah interesting is that the differences between them actually point to the possibility…that there were originally divergent copies of Jeremiah circulating. In other words, the differences may not be due to copyist/translation errors, but rather due to the fact that even in Jeremiah’s time (or shortly thereafter), multiple, non-identical copies of his prophecies were in circulation to prevent them from being destroyed.

NOTABLE QUOTABLES

• Jeremiah 18:6
• Jeremiah 29: 11 (caveat: be mindful of context)
• Jeremiah 32:27

DID YOU KNOW?

• Jeremiah is the second-longest book of the Bible (only Psalms is longer)
• Jeremiah is notable for being the book where the Septuagint and the Masoretic Text are most distinct from one another.
• Jeremiah was forbidden by God from getting married.

Other Works Referenced

• Apologetics Study Bible, “Jeremiah”
• Archaeological Study Bible, “Introduction to Jeremiah”
• ESV Study Bible, “Introduction to Jeremiah”
• MacArthur Study Bible, “Jeremiah”
• NET Bible, Jeremiah
• NIV Study Bible, Jeremiah
• Reformation Study Bible, “Jeremiah”
• The Baker Illustrated Bible Handbook, “Jeremiah”
• Know Your Bible
• Dever, The Message of the Old Testament
• Driscoll, A Book You’ll Actually Read On the Old Testament
• Knight, The Layman’s Bible Handbook

by Stephen Rodgers

ISAIAH IN 10 WORDS OR LESS

“A coming messiah will save people from their sins.”

TITLE

I’ll let you in on a little secret: this section is about to get really repetitious for the next few months.  ALL the prophetic books take their name from the prophet who…well…prophesied them. So there’s really no great mystery here.  However, there may be some good background material…

MSB:

The book derives its title from the author, whose name means “The LORD is salvation,” and is similar to the names Joshua, Elisha, and Jesus. Isaiah is quoted directly in the NT over 65 times, far more than any other OT prophet, and mentioned by name over 20 times.

Per Constable:

The title of this book of the Bible, as is true of the other prophetical books, comes from its writer. The book claims to have come from Isaiah (Isa 1:1; 2:1; 7:3; 13:1; 20:2; 37:2, 6, 21; 38:1, 4, 21; 39:3, 5, 8), and Jesus Christ and the apostles quoted him as being the writer at least 21 times, more often than they quoted all the other writing prophets combined. There are also many more quotations and allusions to Isaiah in the New Testament without reference to Isaiah being the writer. The only Old Testament book referred to more frequently than Isaiah in the New Testament is Psalms.

AUTHOR & AUDIENCE

I’m going to have to stake out some rather serious real estate either in this section or in the OBJECTIONS section below to deal with the issue of bipartite or tripartite authorship (over and against the traditional claim of a single author and a unified book). I’ll deal with that later and just use this section to give you a brief biography of Isaiah son of Amoz, sometimes referred to as the “prince of prophets.”

So let’s start with the summary out of the MSB:

Isaiah, the son of Amoz, ministered in and around Jerusalem as a prophet to Judah during the reigns of 4 kings of Judah: Uzziah (called “Azariah” in 2 Kings), Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah (Isa 1:1), from ca. 739–686 B.C. He evidently came from a family of some rank, because he had easy access to the king (Isa 7:3) and intimacy with a priest (Isa 8:2). He was married and had two sons who bore symbolic names: “Shear- jashub” (“a remnant shall return,” Isa 7:3) and “Maher-shalalhash-baz” (“hasting to the spoil, hurrying to the prey,” Isa 8:3). When called by God to prophesy, in the year of King Uzziah’s death (ca. 739 B.C.), he responded with a cheerful readiness, though he knew from the beginning that his ministry would be one of fruitless warning and exhortation (Isa 6:9–13). Having been reared in Jerusalem, he was an appropriate choice as a political and religious counselor to the nation.

Isaiah was a contemporary of Hosea and Micah. His writing style has no rival in its versatility of expression, brilliance of imagery, and richness of vocabulary. The early church father Jerome likened him to Demosthenes, the legendary Greek orator. His writing features a range of 2,186 different words, compared to 1,535 in Ezekiel, 1,653 in Jeremiah, and 2,170 in the Psalms. Second Chronicles 32:32 records that he wrote a biography of King Hezekiah also. The prophet lived until at least 681 B.C. when he penned the account of Sennacherib’s death (cf. Isa. 37:38). Tradition has it that he met his death under King Manasseh (ca. 695–642 B.C.) by being cut in two with a wooden saw (cf. Heb. 11:37).

The primary audience that Isaiah addressed were the people of Judah, who were failing to live according to the requirements of God’s law. (As previously mentioned, the “Covenant Lawsuit” is a recurring theme throughout all of the prophetic books). However, it should be understood that while his audience was Judah, his message actually encompassed Israel and the surrounding regions.

DATE

As mentioned in the excerpt from the MSB above, we actually have a very good idea of the time period during which Isaiah prophesied: roughly from 740 BC to 700 BC (which we know since he names the relevant reigning monarchs at the outset of the book in Isa 1:1). Additionally, while it’s not completely clear how active his ministry was beyond that, we know that he was still alive in 681 BC, since he recorded the death of Sennacharib (Isa. 37:38).

BACKGROUND & SETTING

There are some similarities between Judah during the ministry of Isaiah and the last several decades in the United States. Essentially there was a period of increasing economic and political prosperity that unfortunately was accompanied by moral decline as well. So on one hand, Judah was able to successfully resist the encroaching Assyrians (unlike the northern kingdom of Israel), even to the point that Babylonian envoys were seeking political and military alliances (2 Kings 20:12 ff). On the other hand, the spiritual state of Israel was in such decline that that was less difference (spiritually speaking) between Israel and the pagan world-powers with each passing day.

This was the context into which Isaiah stepped as a prophet of the LORD.

HISTORICAL & THEOLOGICAL THEMES

There are three major themes that run throughout Isaiah:

• Judgment and Salvation. Often overlooked by critics, the entire book of Isaiah was written under the presupposition that Judah was doomed. God is the “Holy one of Israel” (Isa. 1:4) who must punish the rebellious (Isa. 1:2). But He tells Isaiah that He will yet have compassion on them (Isa. 14:1-2) and redeem them (Isa. 41:14, 43:3, 49:8).
• God as King. Isaiah pictures God as the sovereign King, seated on a throne, and reigning not just over Israel, but over all of creation and history as well.
• The Suffering Servant. Perhaps the most notable theme of Isaiah, this theme is featured in four “servant songs” (Isa. 42:1-9; 49:1-7; 50:4-9; 52:13-53:12) that describe the coming Messianic King. What makes this servant of God so notable is that He would bring justice and salvation not just for Israel (Isa. 42:1-17; 43:1-7, 14-21; 44:21-23) but for the Gentiles as well (Isa. 42:6; 55:4-5; 53:5-12; 61:1-2). When we get to the NT, we will see that this servant is identified as none other than Jesus Christ (Mt. 12:18-21; Lk. 4:20-21).

INTERPRETIVE CHALLENGES

In regards to interpretation, Isaiah is probably one of the more hotly contested books of the Bible, nevermind just the OT, or even the prophetic books. It’s definitely up there with Revelation and Song of Solomon, and depending on the theological controversies du jour, James and/or Genesis. You see, almost any position that wants to argue one way or the other regarding the state of future Israel is going to reach pretty deep into the book of Isaiah for their pet prooftexts. And just to be clear, I don’t mean to denigrate the various positions themselves, merely point out that they all use Isaiah in one way or another to justify their conclusions.

Generally however, the major issues have to do with whether the promises made by God through Isaiah regarding the future state of Israel are meant to be fulfilled literally (in which case they would apply to Israel) or figuratively (in which case they would apply to the church). And while the prophets often spoke in highly poetic language, if one expects to interpret the fulfillment of the earlier prophecies literally, then it would be reasonable to expect to interpret the later prophecies literally as well (barring some hermeneutical reason for expecting otherwise).

LITERARY FEATURES

Per the ESVSB:

The overall genre of the book is prophecy. Although biblical prophets primarily tell forth God’s message in their contemporary situation, and less frequently foretell the future, the last third of Isaiah is an exception in being mainly predictive of the future. It is important to clarify two literary features of the foretelling: first, having been received in visions, it has many figurative elements; and second, its purpose is not simply to tell the future but to express the author’s sense of Israel’s place in God’s overarching redemptive plan for the world.

OBJECTIONS

There really is only one major objection that the secular mind brings to bear on Isaiah, and it’s a considerable one: just how many Isaiah’s were there really? I’ll let Constable set the scene for you (emphasis mine):

There is no record of any serious scholar doubting the Isaianic authorship of the entire book before the twelfth century when Ibn Ezra, a Jewish commentator, did so. With the rise of rationalism, however, some German scholars took the lead in questioning it in the late eighteenth century. They claimed that the basis for their new view was the differences in style, content, and emphases in the various parts of the prophecy. Many scholars have noted that it is not really the text itself that argues for multiple authorship as much as the presence of predictive prophecy in chapters 40—66, which antisupernaturalistic critics try to explain away. Many modern rationalistic critics believe the purpose of prophetic literature is simply to call a particular people to faith in God, not to predict the future. However if the prophets did not predict the future, their theology is questionable. They frequently claimed that the fulfillment of their predictions would validate their theology, and it did. Six times in Isaiah God claimed the ability to predict the future (Isa. 42:8-9; 44:7-8; 45:1-4, 21; 46:10; 48:3-6).

I really do believe that cuts to the core of the issue. In case you didn’t follow that, let me summarize it for you:

• Secular critics content that there were 2-3 different prophets who wrote what we now know as the book of Isaiah.
• “Proto-Isaiah” wrote chapters 1-39 and lived during the time described in Isaiah 1:1.
• “Deutero-Isaiah” wrote chapters 40-55 and lived sometime in the 6th century BC, in the time of the return of the Babylonians exiles.
• “Tritero-Isaiah” wrote chapters 56-66 and lived sometime in the 5th century BC (although some scholars dispute this and lump him in with the second Isaiah).

I believe that the evidence strongly points to the author of Isaiah being Isaiah the son of Amoz alone. Arguments in support of this generally fall into three major categories: Biblical and historical attestation, thematic continuity, and the role of prophecy.  I’d like to quote the ESVSB on all three of these issues, and summarize each section with my own comments.

Biblical and Historical Attestation. There is unified testimony from the ancient world for single authorship. (1) The NT refers to passages throughout the book as the work of Isaiah (see Matt. 3:3; 4:14–16; 8:17; 12:17–21; 13:14–15; 15:7–9; Mark 7:6–7; Luke 3:4–6; 4:17–19; John 1:23; 12:37–41; Acts 8:27–35; 28:25–27; Rom. 9:27–29; 10:16, 20–21; 15:12). The NT acknowledges no other author or authors. The testimony of John in John 12:41 is especially instructive: “Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him.” “These things,” which is plural, refers to the two previous quotations in John 12:38 (using Isa. 53:1, from the so-called “Second Isaiah”) and John 12:40 (using Isa. 6:10, from so-called “First Isaiah”), but John refers to the one person, Isaiah, who both “saw his glory” and “spoke of him.” (2) The intertestamental book of Sirach (48:24–25) and the first-century Jewish historian Josephus (Jewish Antiquities 11.5–6) attest Isaiah’s authorship of the whole book. (3) A Hebrew manuscript of Isaiah in the Dead Sea Scrolls bears witness to the seamless unity of the book as the work of Isaiah. (4) It is hard to imagine how prophets could have issued such oracles as those of Isaiah 40–66, which were of such importance in the history of Judah, and yet fade into obscurity. (5) Later OT authors seem to cite prophecies from chapters 40–66, which they could not have done if the book were broken up as described (e.g., see note on 60:7, used in Ezra 7:27).

Short version: the apostles, Christ Himself, and our earliest historical records all indicate that the multiple-authorship theory was an utterly foreign idea.

Thematic Unity. There are many distinctive features of Isaiah’s style that run through all three parts. For example, Isaiah’s characteristic title for the Lord is “the Holy One of Israel,” which appears 25 times in the whole book (12 times in Isaiah 1–39; 11 times in chs. 40–55; and twice in chs. 56–66). It appears only six times outside of Isaiah: twice in Jeremiah, three times in the Psalms, and in 2 Kings 19:22 (cf. Isa. 37:33). The phrase “high and lifted up” is a feature of Isaiah, appearing in Isa. 2:12–14; 6:1; 52:13; 57:15 (i.e., in each of the three sections; see note on 6:1). The notes will show other aspects of coherent thought and expression in Isaiah. Any differences of style can be explained by the different topics of the chapters and by different stages in Isaiah’s life (e.g., Isaiah may have written chapters 40–66 after the Assyrian invasion of 701 b.c.).

Short version: if you’re going to argue against single-authorship, you need to account for the unlikely event that 2-3 different writers managed to be so consistent across a 300+ year period. Naturalism is a double-edged sword that cuts both ways; simply saying that a Biblical view of prophecy is unlikely is insufficient…you have to show that a competing explanation is significantly more plausible. In this case, the competing explanation actually flies in the face of the thematic and textual evidence.

The Role of Prophecy. The predictive material in chapters 40–66 is highly relevant both to the exilic audience and to Isaiah’s own day. Certainly it demonstrates the Lord’s rule over history; these chapters appeal to it for that purpose (e.g., Isa. 41:21–29), and Josephus (Jewish Antiquities 11.5–7) records a story of the impression the specific prediction of Cyrus (Isa. 44:28) made on the Persian monarch when he learned of it (a prediction made about 150 years in advance). The biblical worldview, which begins with the majestic Creator, can readily accept this. Further, chapters 40–66 often mention pagan religion, but specifically Babylonian material is rare (Isa. 46:1); most address Canaanite idolatry, which Judah mixed in with their worship of Yahweh (e.g., Isa. 57:5; 66:3, 17; cf. 40:19; 41:7, 29; 42:17; 45:16–20; 46:6; 48:5; and the extended satire on idolatry, 44:9–20)—and this was no longer a problem in Judah after the fall of Jerusalem.

Short version: even in an ANE context, Isaiah was understood to be prophecy. It’s also worth bearing in mind that predicting the future was NOT the primary work of the Biblical prophets (speaking the very words of God was), it was simply the means by which they were authenticated. Think of it like a police officer showing their badge to you. Their job is to enforce the law, not to show their badge. They simply show the badge in order to establish their identity, and therefore their right to enforce the law.

NOTABLE QUOTABLES

• Isaiah 6:3
• Isaiah 7:14
• Isaiah 9:6
• Isaiah 53:6

DID YOU KNOW?

• Objections to the fact that Isaiah 40-55 clearly deal with the  post-exilic period overlook the fact that the names he gave his children points to that very fact as well…all the way back in chapter 7 (Isa. 7:3; 8:3).
• Recent archaelogical discoveries confirm that paganism in Judah got so bad that some Israelites worshiped Asherah as the LORD’s consort (Isa. 17:8).
• The Hebrew phrase for “a memorial and a name” (yad vashem) was many centuries later chosen as the name of the principle Holocaust monoment in Jerusalem in modern Israel (Isa. 56:5).

Other Works Referenced

• Apologetics Study Bible, “Isaiah”
• Archaeological Study Bible, “Introduction to Isaiah”
• ESV Study Bible, “Introduction to Isaiah” (PDF sam­ple from their RESOURCES page)
• MacArthur Study Bible, “Isaiah”
• NET Bible, Isaiah
• NIV Study Bible, Isaiah
• Reformation Study Bible, “Isaiah”
• The Baker Illustrated Bible Handbook, “Isaiah”
• Know Your Bible
• Dever, The Message of the Old Testament
• Driscoll, A Book You’ll Actually Read On the Old Testament
• Knight, The Layman’s Bible Handbook

by Stephen Rodgers

Comparative Outlines of the Major Prophetic Books

Comparative Outlines of the Minor Prophetic Books

Having briefly dealt with the wisdom books, we now turn our attention to the fourth major section of the OT: the prophetic books. Remember, the OT (as it appears in the Protestant Bible) can be broken down into four major sections:

1. Law (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy)
2. History (Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel, 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther)
3. Wisdom (Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs)
4. Prophecy (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi)

The 17 prophetic books were written over a period of approximately 300 years and are often divided between the “major” prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah/Lamentations, Daniel, Ezekiel) and the “minor” prophets (Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi). Incidentally, the minor prophets are not minor in the sense of being “unimportant” (of “minor” consequence) or unskilled/unqualified (“minor” leagues)…rather their books were simply shorter.

Because the prophetic books are organized by length rather than chronologically, and since the books often refer to contextual cues that are utterly foreign to us, they can be confusing on an initial reading.

AUTHOR & COMPOSITION

Unlike the Pentateuch (but like the historical and wisdom books), the prophetic books do not have a single author. Traditional scholarship holds that the books that bear their names were either penned by the prophets themselves (Isa 8:1-2; Jer 1:4-19), or by their disciples and “guilds” (Isa 8:16; Jer 36:1-32).

THE ROLE OF THE PROPHET

Before we explore the prophetic books, let’s take moment to consider the context of the prophet themselves.

• Prophets were around well before the time of the Prophetic Books. Genesis to Psalms is full of names of individuals that the Bible clearly identifies as prophets: Abraham, Moses, Samuel, Nathan, Elijah, Elisha, Huldah, etc.
• God’s prophets had standards. Certain principles were non-negotiable: the prophet could never advocate for the worship of any god other than Yahweh (Deut 13:1-11), they were to speak the words of God rather than their own (Deut 18:18), and as a result, they were to be accurate regarding future events 100% of the time (Deut 18:21-22).
• Prophets were not the “regular” teachers of God’s word. That was the priests’ job (Deut 33:10). Prophets are more specialized than that; when you see a prophet in Scripture, they are a herald of a specific circumstance. It is not “business as usual.”

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORKS FOR ORGANIZING THE PROPHETIC BOOKS

I’m not trying to improve on Scripture itself, but in an effort to improve your understanding of it, I would suggest there are a couple of ways that you can organize the prophetic books that might be considerably more helpful than the traditional major/minor delineation.

The first would be to divide the prophets chronologically.  Generally speaking, that would break them down into three significant periods:

• Preclassical – This would be the period of the early monarchy in Israel and Judah (which you are no doubt familiar with since we went through the historical books a little while back). These would be prophets who do NOT have books of their own, but are recorded in the historical books: Samel, Nathan, Elijah, and Elisha.
• Classical – This is the period of the eighth and seventh centuries BC. Prophecies in this period tend to focus on two major events: the fall of Israel to the Assyrians (Amos, Hosea, Isaiah, Micah), and the fall of Judah to the Babylonians (Zephaniah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Jeremiah).
• Exilic/Postexilic – This would be the period of Babylonian exile (Ezekiel, Daniel), and the period of Judah’s restoration in Palestine (Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi).

THEMES

Various sources categorize the themes of the prophetic books in different ways, but in general, a pattern emerges:

• The Covenant Lawsuit – The prophet declares their status (that they speak for God), affirms Israel’s status as being in a covenant relationship with God, and accuses Israel of breaking that covenant by failing to live up to God’s standard and Law.
• The (Conditional) Promise of Judgment –  The prophet warns that if Israel does not turn from their sin, then God will bring judgment down on them to eradicate their sin. Alternatively, the prophet may warn that it is too late for repentance, and judgment is imminent.
• The Hope of Restoration – The prophet promises that restoration and renewal lies beyond the trial and tribulation of judgment. This glorious future sometimes refers to Israel/Judah, and sometimes refers to all the nations. The Messiah will be the catalyst that causes this reality.

Other Works Referenced:

• ESV Study Bible, “Introduction to the Prophetic Books”
• Reformation Study Bible, “Introduction to the Prophets”
• The Baker Illustrated Bible Handbook, “The Prophets”
• Driscoll, A Book You’ll Actually Read On The Old Testament
• Knight, The Layman’s Bible Handbook