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Bible study resources: Prophets

This document is part of the Postmodern Bible - Amos

Prophets

Classical ProphecyProphets in the Ancient Near EastProphecy in IsraelProphets and PoliticsWords for Prophet in the BibleViews of Prophecy in Israel and JudahPrediction and Proclamation

Prophets in the Bible were not primarily foretellers. Simply read through thebook of Amos at one sitting and you will hear how little Amos is concerned topredict. Most of his "words" are addressed to criticising present wrongdoing.Injustice, oppression, and rich, even luxurious, worship while the poor starve,are the issues he speaks about most. Where he looks to the future most often itis to warn: if you act like this God's punishment will come. On the punishmentitself his descriptions vary, from seeming to envisage invasion (3:11; 4:10;5:3; 6:7-14 etc.) through earthquake (8:8) and drought (4:7-8) to God's personalintervention (4:13).

Prophecy in IsraelIsrael's Historical Traditions tell us of the importance to her political life

of prophets (in Hebrew nabi' )ybinF pl. nebi'im My)iybinJ ) and seers (ro'eh h)ero or hozeh hzEx o ). Remember the story of the institution of themonarchy and the rise to power of Saul, where Samuel plays a major role in thedecisions and actions. Samuel was also at the forefront in the appointment ofDavid (1 Sam 8-12; 15-16). Gad is described as "David's seer" (in 2 Sam 24:11and 1 Chron 21:19). However it is Nathan's relationship to his king whichillustrates best the prophet's role: on building the temple (2 Sam 7); theBathsheba affair (2 Sam 12) and during Adonijah's rebellion when David was old,Nathan's advice and criticism sway the king. Nathan is active too in the movesto anoint Solomon, while his father still lives (1 Kings 1).These early prophets were consulted about the future, they were thus in conflictwith other less personal ways of predicting, such as omens, necromancy andastrology (Deut 18:9-22; cf. 1 Sam 28:3-25, esp. 6). However they were by nomeans simply fortune tellers. They were powerful to bless or curse, as the storyof the Moabite prophet Baalam illustrates (Nu 22ff.).The prophets whose names are attached to books in the Bible: Isaiah, Jeremiah,Ezekiel, Hosea, Amos, Micah and the like, stand apparently isolated. However,this may well reflect the scarcity of stories about them rather than suggestingthat they were individualists. Even Jeremiah, who sometimes stresses his ownisolation (e.g. Jer 20:10) had friends and supporters in Jerusalem e.g. the sonsof Shaphan (Jer 26:24; 36:10, 25) and Neriah (Jer 36:4).Certainly prophets were often found in groups in Israel, they lived together (2Kings 4.38; 6.1ff.) and shared in activities which encouraged the ecstasy whichmost sought as a way of being more receptive to the word of God, cf. e.g. 1 Sam10. Members of these groups were known as "sons of the prophets", a phrase whichdoes not mean that the office of prophet was hereditary!

Prophets in the Ancient Near EastProphets were by no means unique to Israel. The people of Ebla (north Syria) inthe 23rd Century already used the term nabi' and several official letters fromthe 18th century royal archive of Mari on the Euphrates convey propheticmessages to the ruler (who was away from the city). The behaviour of theprophets of Mari was similar to that of Israel's prophets. One time afterblaming King Zimri-lim for not being faithful in consulting the deity the

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prophet promises"Then I will make the sheikhs of the Jaminites wriggle in a fish basket and willplace them before you."(Mari text quoted in Koch, 10.)Both the bold promise on behalf of the god, and the vivid picture language, arelike the messages we find in the prophets of the Bible.

Classical ProphecyAlready in the second century BC the prophetic books had begun to becomeclassical and canonical. For in the celebration of heroes of the faith inEcclesiasticus we find listed in order Isaiah (Sir 48:22-25), Jeremiah (49:6-7),Ezekiel (49:8-9) and the twelve Minor Prophets (49:10). Copies of Isaiah (withtext very close indeed to the MT and of commentaries on several biblicalprophetic books: Isaiah, Hosea, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, were in use in Qumranbefore the time of Jesus. As was the phrase "the law and the prophets".Prophets and PoliticsPopular views of the Bible prophets see them as "religious" figures. This iswrong in two ways. Firstly it suggests a separation of religion and the rest oflife which is modern and Western, in Ancient Israel there was not a distinctprivate religious sphere. Secondly it suggests that they spoke about "religious"issues. They did, but they spoke more about (what we call) politics.Even prophets who have a strong burden to correct false religious practice, likeHosea, address political issues strongly too (cf. Hos 5:11 with 5:13; 9:1 with9:3).

Words for Prophet in the BibleThe common word for prophet in Hebrew is nabi' and the LXX usually renders it bythe Greek word prophetes which is also used for prophets in the NT. Both arecommonly rendered "prophet" in English translations. Two other Hebrew words are

associated with prophetic figures: hzx hozeh and h)r ro'eh both mean"someone

who sees" and can be literally rendered "seer". However ro'eh was already anoldfashioned word when 1 Sam 9:9 was written.The words nabi' and hozeh are close synonyms, in Am 7:12 Amaziah calls Amos

"hozeh", but suggests that he "prophesy" in Judah (verb naba' )bn from sameroot

as nabi' )ybn ), while in Ez 13:9 the noun verb hazah has "prophet" as itssubject and in Is 29:10 nabi' & hozeh are in parallel. However see below for adiscussion of their different usage in North and South.

Views of Prophecy in Israel and JudahThere may be an interesting difference in usage between hozeh and nabi' in Northand South. In texts associated with the Deuteronomic movement (Deut; Jos-2 Kgs;

Hosea; Jeremiah) nabi' is the preferred term for these respected people. Textsassociated with more purely Judean traditions (Amos, Micah, Isaiah, Chronicles)use "prophet" less, and often in negative ways (e.g. of "false prophets"). Thetitle hozeh, or at least the notion that their revelation was received byvisions is preferred here.(Wilson) Certainly there is an interesting differencein the frequency of use for nabi' and the verb hazah (of which hozeh is aparticiple) between the prophetic books:

nabi' per 10,000 words:books:< 1Isaiah, Ezekiel11 - 30Amos, Micah, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Malachi> 30Jeremiah, Hosea, Haggai

hazah used only in:

Isaiah, Ezekiel, Amos, Micah, Habakkuk, Zechariah

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(This table was prepared using figures from Andersen & Forbes.)For usage of nabi' the books most closely associated with the Jerusalemestablishment show the lowest figures, while Jeremiah and Hosea show the highestfigures (with the little book of Haggai's 5 uses of the word placing it theretoo). While the reverse is the case for hazah, which is altogether unused in theprophets except the books listed.

Prediction and ProclamationThe thorniest issue, among many difficult issues, which confronts the reader ofthe (Latter) Prophets is their reputation for predicting future events. Becausethey attracted this reputation very early, also because they sometimes didforetell, and not least since the early Christians used them in theirapologetics it is difficult for us to "stand back" from this idea and lookafresh at what they were doing and trying to do. However we need such anuncluttered view, for the prophetic books are difficult enough to read withoutcoming to them with a preconceived mould into which they must fit.In the section "Prophecy in Israel" we noticed the important role of the Hebrewprophets to the political life of ancient Israel. However, they were alsoconsulted about the future.In trying to determine how important prediction was to the prophets the case ofZimri's coup (1 Kgs 16:8ff.) is instructive.Following the standard pattern for such coups (1 Kgs 15:29 and cf. 2 Kgs 10:7)Zimri kills off not only the ex-king but all his male family and his friends aswell (1 Ki 16:11f.) it would be foolish to leave a centre for plotting againsthim. This is naturally seen as the fulfilment of the word of the LORD spokenagainst him by the prophet (v.12). For Jehu did foretell, but not of the style"next week a plane will crash in New York killing 103 passengers" but rather ofthe kind "because you do this it follows as consequence that the LORD willreject you, and when kings in Israel were rejected they and their families die."(vv.2ff.)Notice the essential element of Jehu's message points out the fault and declaresAdonai's judgement upon it rather than the exact nature, or timing of thepunishment. This is more like Amos than Nostradamus openly clear about theessential theological message vague on the detailed predictions.

Prophetic Guilds

This page is part of the Postmodern Bible - Amos commentary, if you havereached it as a standalone page, to view it in context, go to www.bible.gen.nz(or for a noframes version to www.auckland.ac.nz/acte/pmb/startnf.htm Tim Bulkeley, 1996-2000, Tim Bulkeley. All rights reserved.