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An Introduction to the Old Testament Prophetic Books
By C. Hassell Bullock, Jim Vincent Moody Publishers
Copyright © 2007 C. Hassell Bullock
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-57567-436-0
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
The focus of this study is the latter prophets, as they are known in the Jewish canon, or the major and minor prophets, as they have come to be called in the Christian canon.
The plan of this book is to follow a historical line through the literary prophets, to the degree that it is visible to modern scholarship. Of course, all scholars do not agree on such fundamental issues as the date, authorship, and literary integrity of the books and their component parts. Those matters will be discussed in some detail in the chapters that follow. My attempt to line the prophets and their books up on a time line rather than treating them in the canonical order carries an element of risk, but it seems worth the venture in order to see the cultural, theological, and historical interrelationships that existed among the canonical prophets. This perspective is not easily appreciated by either the beginner in prophetic studies or the advanced student who concentrates on the prophets book by book and never sees the broad picture, with the individual prophets in their historical and theological niches.
Though the prophets were not given to quoting one another by name, they did draw upon one another, some more than others. Once that dependence is recognized, a new view of the prophetic movement emerges. They were not lone individualists who knew nothing and cared nothing for what others who bore the name "prophet" had said. Rather, they saw themselves in a line of succession and were aware of the tradition they had received from their predecessors.
THREE ERAS OF PROPHETS
The prophets spoke to Israel in times of crisis. In fact, historical and moral crisis, if the list of canonical prophets is any indication, called them forth. Had there been no crisis, there would have been little need for the prophets. When the list of literary prophets is posted, it will be noted that they are clustered around critical historical events or eras.
The historical continuum of Israel's history from the eighth to the fifth centuries B.C. can be sketched, even if roughly, in the literary prophets. Three centers, corresponding to the three international eras, bring them into sharp focus. Or, it might as accurately be said that the literary prophets bring three historical centers into sharp focus.
The first category includes those of the Neo-Assyrian period, whose attention fell upon the circumstances leading up to and the conditions following the fall of the Northern Kingdom (Israel) in 722 B.C. The constellation of prophets who assessed the moral and theological climate that led to the end of Israel was constituted by Amos, Hosea, Micah, and Isaiah. In varying ways but with sympathetic insight, they saw the end of Israel and its implications for Judah. The critical nature of this era had much to do with the preservation of the prophetic oracles as sacred literature. Although Jonah was not preoccupied with that event and obviously belongs on the periphery of this era, it might be said that the judgment he reluctantly saw submerged in Yahweh's compassionate nature reemerged in the era of this prophetic constellation.
The second group of prophets is composed of those of the Neo-Babylonian era, whose focus marked out the attendant circumstances and succeeding conditions of the fall of the Southern Kingdom (Judah) in 586 B.C. At the end of the Assyrian period, when the shifting lines of international domination blurred and then cleared again with the rise of the Chaldean-inspired Babylonian empire, some of the most powerful and discerning voices of history addressed the developing crisis. Zephaniah, Jeremiah, Habakkuk, Nahum, Ezekiel, and Obadiah contributed their distinctive insights to their contemporaries and delivered their message from the Lord to Judah. The tragic model of Israel and her adamant persistence in idolatry was like a dark, foreboding cloud that settled over Judah. With the passing of time historical memory faded; the tragedy of 722 diminished as a moral example, and Judah stood on the same treacherous precipice as had her sister Israel. This group of prophets, with irresistible compulsion, tried to coax Judah away from the edge of the abyss and announced the bad news of what would happen if she did not move back into the safety zone of covenantal observance. Yet thankfully the news was not all bad, for the fall of Jerusalem, at a certain point as inevitable as Samaria's fall, carried a message of hope that Judah would miraculously revive.
After the Exile, during the Persian period, the third group of prophets built upon that hope. They set forth Yahweh's new order as Babylonian austerity passed into Persian indulgence. With a new landlord, Judah's fortunes, partly smothered in the long exile but kept alive by religious enthusiasts, took a turn for the better. The decree of Cyrus in 538 B.C. marked the beginning of that era. The first faint flurry of hope might even be traced to the release of Jehoiachin from prison after the death of Nebuchadnezzar in 562 B.C. Daniel, Haggai, Zechariah, Joel, and Malachi in their respective ways articulated the hope and implicated the changing conditions of the first hundred years of postexilic life in Judah. The ebbing tide of history had fallen to its lowest mark in the fall of Jerusalem, a disaster once popularly thought to be impossible. The rise of Cyrus after the Exile represented the incoming tide of Judean history.
THE PRELIMINARY STAGES
The roots of prophecy are deeply imbedded in Israel's history and in the culture of the ancient Near East. From patriarchal times eminent leaders gave guidance to the people of God. The patriarchal mode of leadership developed in a later era into the charismatic guidance of Moses and Joshua and the judges. When such leaders led Israel, the need for prophets was minimal, although the prophetic phenomenon was known even during those eras (Num. 11:24–30; Deut. 18:15–22). However, from the closing phase of the period of the judges to the end of the biblical period as it is recorded in the Old Testament (OT), the word of the prophet is one of the most distinctive traits of Israelite culture and religion.
Four terms were applied to individuals, both men and women, who demonstrated prophetic traits: "man of God" ('îsh ha-elohîm), "seer" (ro'eh), "visionary" (hozeh), and "prophet" (nabî'). The word "diviner" or "soothsayer" (qosom) is used of those who practiced formal divination, perhaps using lots or other methods of discerning the will of the deity, but that term was not applied to those prophets who receive legitimate sanction in the OT. The terms "seer" and "visionary" (ro'eh and hozeh) are descriptive of the individual's experience, the first emphasizing the extraordinary insight that came to the prophets, and the second the method of reception by means of visions or dreams. The terms "seer" and "man of God" are both attested in the case of Samuel (1 Sam. 9:9), the former term being the older of the two. The implication of the phrase "man of God" is that the person was possessed by God for special service. In the transition period between the nonliterary (those whose words have not been preserved in books that carry their names) and literary prophets (those whose words have been preserved in written form under their respective names), little distinction can be detected between the terms "man of God" and "prophet" (nabî). With the dawn of literary prophecy, however, the Hebrew term na bî became the common name for the prophet. Some scholars believe the word came into disrepute in the time of Amos, inciting him to protest the allegation that he was a nabî. His protestation, however, was more likely provoked by the motives that the priest Amaziah attributed to his ministry in Bethel—that he was there to earn his bread. The reply of Amos in which he explains his real occupation supports that interpretation (Amos 7:14–15).
A bygone generation of scholars deprecated the predictive or "foretelling" element in the prophets in favor of the "forthtelling" role. The Septuagint (LXX) translation of the word nabî as prophetes (one who speaks for, in behalf of) has been cited as evidence that the prophets were "forthtellers" rather than "foretellers." Yet that word is quite a general term and does not capture the entire function of the nabî in itself. Although it can accurately be said that the prophets were basically preachers—that is, that they spoke to their own times and situations, interpreting current events of history in light of God's will for Israel—the predictive element was a distinctive part of their message (Amos 3:7). Subtract that and, as Alfred Guillaume has said, they would become preachers and not prophets.
Origins of Prophecy
The origins of Hebrew prophecy have been variously traced to Canaanite, Egyptian, and Arabic sources, but more recently attention has shifted to Mesopotamia, especially the ancient city of Mari, for enlightenment on the phenomenon of Hebrew prophecy. The Mari texts, dating from the first half of the second millennium B.C., are particularly interesting in their exposure of a group of prophets, both men and women, who practiced intuitive divination. That is, they were not practitioners in the standard techniques of divination but were dependent upon inspiration for their oracles, much in the same way as the Hebrew prophets. Found in administrative records, their oracles were short and limited to materials relating to the reign of King Zimrilim. As a consequence of the nature of those texts and their direct relation to the royal court, we do not get as full a picture of the Mari prophets as we do of the Hebrew prophets. Further, the documents of Mari were most likely preserved within the royal court, whereas those of the Hebrew literary prophets were for the most part preserved apart from the court, thus exercising a kind of independence from the kings.
The evidence is still insufficient to draw any confident conclusion regarding the origins of Hebrew prophecy. The one thing that can be said confidently is that prophecy, like temple and sacrifice, was a general phenomenon in the ancient world of the Bible. The attempt to trace its origins to any one culture outside of Israel is no more possible than it would be to trace Mari or Canaanite prophecy to its derivation. So far as the OT generally and the prophets particularly were concerned, prophecy had its origins in the call of Yahweh. Through the prophets He revealed His will for Israel and spoke His Word of judgment and salvation. To be sure, it was not a unique phenomenon. Yet although the study of parallels may produce useful results, the question of origins remains unanswered. The best and most illuminating sources for understanding Hebrew prophecy are found in the OT itself.
Nonliterary Prophecy
Running parallel to literary prophecy in its earlier phase was the preliterary or nonliterary prophetic movement, so called because it did not leave a literary legacy, except as it impinged upon the history and fortunes of the monarchy (as found in Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles). Judging from OT literature, the prophets did not become a significant factor in religious history until the rise of the monarchy. Samuel was both a transitional and foundational figure in that process. The records of nonliterary prophecy are not entirely lost to us, for they are interwoven into the histories of Israel as they are told in the books of Samuel, Kings, Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah.
In fact, the author of Kings viewed the prophetic movement as the only hope of reformation in the Northern Kingdom, particularly in view of the religious apostasy and moral corruption of the northern monarchy for which Jeroboam I established the determining and insurmountable precedent. The religious reforms that were instigated in the north were the direct result of such courageous prophets as Elijah and Elisha. But in the view of the writer of Kings, virtually no reforming elements originated with the northern kings themselves. In stark contrast, the religious and social reforms in the Southern Kingdom, ruled by the Davidic dynasty whose beginnings and continued existence were tied directly to prophetic authority, originated with the kings. That is especially evident in the religious revivals initiated by Asa, Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah, and Josiah. The only literary prophets mentioned by the author of the book of Kings are Jonah and Isaiah. Thus not even honorable mention of the majority of the literary prophets is part of the plan of that writer. That silence is an enigma. Its explanation, however, is probably to be found in the purpose of the book, especially its deep respect for the legitimacy of the Davidic dynasty, which came into being through the instrumentality of the prophets, particularly Samuel and Nathan. The author's main interest lay in the Judean monarchy and its internal power to survive and revive. Perhaps the author wrote his history as a record of hope that David's house would rise again. The release of Jehoiachin from prison, with which the book ends, implies that hope.
The main sources of our knowledge about the nonliterary prophets, the books of Samuel and Kings, disclose the public life of those individuals. But like their literary successors (sometimes called the classical prophets), they had their private lives too. They maintained private domiciles, where they were on occasion consulted (1 Kings 14:4; also 13:18). However, their understudies, the "sons of the prophets," maintained some kind of communal existence. We see them involved in a unified effort to move their residence to the Jordan River during the time of Elisha (2 Kings 6:1–7). Yet, in light of 2 Kings 4:1 it seems safe to assume that they led a life with the ingredients of that of a private citizen. Here the wife of one of the sons of the prophets appeals to Elisha on behalf of her two children, whom her dead husband's creditor threatens to enslave.
Some evidence points to the receipt of fees for prophetic services. That was certainly true of the court prophets, and in some cases it may have been true of others. In 1 Samuel 9:8 Saul's servant had money to pay for the services of Samuel to locate the asses of Kish. So also Jeroboam sent a gift by his wife when she went to inquire of Ahijah (1 Kings 14:3). Such a practice was even known by Ben-hadad of Syria, for he sent Elisha a gift by Hazael when he wanted to know whether he would recover from his sickness (2 Kings 8:8). Yet we should also note that these prophets could not be manipulated by remuneration. Elisha refused to accept the gift that Namaan brought him when he requested healing of his leprosy (2 Kings 5:16), and his servant Gehazi was struck with leprosy when he accepted the gift (vv. 24–27).
The psychological orientation of the nonliterary prophets reveals that they sometimes had ecstatic experiences, especially in association with the bands of prophets (1 Sam. 10:5–13). They were given to dreams, visions, ecstasy, and divining. The word of Yahweh to Micaiah ben Imlah took the form of a vision (1 Kings 22:13–23), and Yahweh's word to Nathan regarding the construction of the Temple was described as "in accordance with all these words and all this vision" (2 Sam. 7:17). The visions often occurred at night.
Generally these prophets were not concerned with moral issues as such, except as they had a direct bearing upon the destiny and welfare of Israel. So although they spoke to individuals rather than the nation, their fundamental concern was national destiny. In that sense the literary or classical prophets were truly their spiritual successors. The non-literary prophets were a kind of conscience to the king, admonishing him to faithfulness to Yahweh. There was no set pattern of consultation. Kings called on prophets, and prophets called on kings.
THE PROPHETS AND THEIR CULTURE
We cannot ignore the basic fact that the prophets found their legitimacy and valid credentials first of all in Yahweh's call. The prophetic call is the frontispiece of several of the prophetic books (Hosea, Jeremiah, Ezekiel), and Amos and Isaiah record their calls later in the collection of their oracles (Amos 7; Isa. 6). The book of Jonah is a treatise on the call and execution of the prophetic office. Even where the prophetic call is never formally recorded, it is nevertheless imbedded in the books in the form of the reception formulas, which fix the prophet's word as the Word of the Lord ("Thus says the Lord" and others). The importance of Yahweh's call of the prophet cannot be exaggerated. Even when a record of the formal call has not survived among a given prophet's oracles, we must nevertheless assume that his audience was somehow assured of his credentials.
It has been said that history makes the man, and that was true with the prophets. Of course, the man also makes history, and that was true of the prophets as well. Which perspective was more important is impossible to determine. They are complementary perspectives. I will discuss four of the forces working within the culture that shaped the prophets and were shaped by them: historical events, the monarchy, idolatry, and social oppression.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from An Introduction to the Old Testament Prophetic Books by C. Hassell Bullock, Jim Vincent. Copyright © 2007 C. Hassell Bullock. Excerpted by permission of Moody Publishers.
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