SESSION # 7

Introduction Introduction to the to the

ProphetsProphets

Tablet of Zimrilim

Mari Worshipper

2.THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE PROPHETS AND PROPHECY IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

PATRIARCHAL PERIOD

PRE-MONARCHIAL PERIOD

MONARCHIAL PERIOD

ABRAHAM, ISAAC, JACOB

MOSES - JUDGES SAMUEL

PROPHETS/PRINCES/PRIESTS

PROPHETS/PRINCES

PROPHETS

KINGS

LEVITES

DEMARCATION OF LEADERSHIP OFFICES

TIME

2.THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE PROPHETS AND PROPHECY IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

3. NONLITERARY & LITERARY PROPHETS

a)a) Nonliterary (Preliterary) Nonliterary (Preliterary) ProphecyProphecy

• i) It is called nonliterary or preliterary because it did not leave a literary legacyliterary legacy, except as it impinged upon the history and fortunes of the monarchy (as found in Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles).

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b)b) Literary (Classical) ProphetsLiterary (Classical) Prophets

i) They are literary in that they refer to the prophets with written recordswritten records in the Bible. In the Christian canon, they are often referred to as the Major and the Minor Prophets stretching from Isaiah to Malachi (16 prophets in 17 books).

ii) They are classical in that they are the most familiarfamiliar phase of Israelite prophecy.

Non-literary Prophets Literary Prophets

Also known as preliterary prophets

Also known as classical prophets

Accounts found in the books of Samuel, Kings, Chronicles, Ezra and Nehemiah

Accounts found in the Major and Minor Prophets.

Not chiefly concerned with moral issues

Chiefly concerned with moral issues

Spoke to individuals; a conscience to kings

Spoke to nations

Earlier prophets Later prophets

Did not leave behind a literary legacy

Left behind a literary legacy

4. DESCRIPTION OF PROPHETS IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

a) “ProphetProphet” aybin" (nābî’) –related to Akkadian word “to callto call” Therefore can means “Called OnesCalled Ones”. Used more than 300300 times!

• “Man of GodMan of God” ~yhil{a/h' vyai (’îsh hā-elōhîm)

– The implication of this term is that the person was possessedpossessed by God for special service. In the accounts of the non-literary prophets, there is little distinction made to distinguish the terms “man of God” and “prophet” (nābî’).

4. DESCRIPTION OF PROPHETS 4. DESCRIPTION OF PROPHETS IN THE OLD TESTAMENTIN THE OLD TESTAMENT

c) “SeerSeer” ha,ro (rō eh) –“to see, gaze or look”i. It is the same as the “Man of God” (1 Sam 9:8-9),

possible an older term.ii. This term is descriptive of the individual’s experience,

emphasizing the extraordinary insightinsight that came to the prophets.

d) “VisionaryVisionary” hz<Ax (hōzeh) – variant form of roeh.

c) Like the term “seer,” “visionary” too points to the person’s ability to receive prophecies through visions and dreams.

d) They were given to dreams, vision, ecstasy, and divining,

4. DESCRIPTION OF PROPHETS 4. DESCRIPTION OF PROPHETS IN THE OLD TESTAMENTIN THE OLD TESTAMENT

e) “Sons of the prophetsSons of the prophets”

~yaiybiN>h;-ynEb. ((Ben Ha-nabi’im)

I) These were the understudiesunderstudies of prophets who maintained some kind of communal existence (e.g. 2 Kings 6:1-7).

f) “Diviner” or “soothsayer” ~s;q' (qōsēm) I) This term is used of those who practiced formal

divination, perhaps using lots or other methods of discerning the will of deity, but it is not applied to those prophets who receive legitimate sanction in the OT.

5. THE HISTORICAL CONTEXT 5. THE HISTORICAL CONTEXT OF THE LITERAL PROPHETSOF THE LITERAL PROPHETS

The word Assyria is derived from mât Aššur, which means "the country of the god Aššur". The

capital of Assyria, which was more or less situated between the rivers

Tigris and Little Zab, was also called

after this god.

Shalmaneser III (859-824 BC)

Ben-Hadad II of Damascus and Ahab of Israel blocked Shalmaneser III’s advance in 853 B.C.

King Jehu paying homage to Shalmaneser III

Tiglath-Pileser III receiving homage

The walls of Nineveh

The Fall of Nineveh Chronicle

Climax: Fall of Samaria (722 BCE)

Stele of Hammurabi

Nebuchadnezzar II (605-562 BC)

Climax: Fall of Jerusalem 586 BCE

Climax: Return from Exile (538 BC)

6. PRINCIPLES IN READING THE PROPHETS

a. Read in tandem with the historical context.

b.  Read them as individual oracles.

c.  Look out for the following literary styles:a. Poetry

b. Predictions and Fulfillments

c. Apocalypse

d. They always go back to the covenant.

e. The NT inspirational interpretations of OT that readers cannot repeat

10. COMMON THEMES OF 10. COMMON THEMES OF PROPHETIC WRITINGSPROPHETIC WRITINGS

a)a) CovenantCovenant obligations

b) The Day of the LordDay of the Lord

c) The Concept of the MessiahMessiah