Program / Course 6: Old Testament Theology and History / Lesson 4.1
What you will learn
- Define prophet in the biblical sense and distinguish it from fortune-telling.
- Describe prophecy in other ancient cultures and compare it with Israel’s.
- Explain the biblical tests for a true prophet and why false prophecy was a problem.
- Name the main groupings of prophetic books in Jewish and Christian Bibles.
The big idea
A biblical prophet is a person who speaks for God to the people, usually in a particular crisis. Prophets did sometimes speak about the future, but most of their words concern the present: injustice, false worship and misplaced trust. Other ancient nations also had people who spoke for their gods, and Israel’s prophets used some of the same forms. What marks the biblical prophets is their insistence that the covenant, and not royal power, sets the standard.
Key terms
- Prophet (nabi)
- The common Hebrew word for a prophet, probably meaning one called or one who speaks. The Greek word prophetes means one who speaks for another.
- Seer
- An older title for a prophet, from the Hebrew for one who sees, used in 1 Samuel 9:9.
- Oracle
- A message from a god delivered by a prophet or priest.
- Forthtelling and foretelling
- Forthtelling is speaking God’s word to the present. Foretelling is announcing what will happen. Prophets did both, and the first is more common.
- Messenger formula
- The phrase Thus saith the Lord, with which prophets often began a message, as a royal messenger would begin with Thus says the king.
- Sign-act
- An action done by a prophet to dramatize a message, such as Isaiah going naked and barefoot or Jeremiah wearing a yoke.
- Latter Prophets
- The books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and the Twelve in the Jewish Bible. The Former Prophets are Joshua through Kings.
Background
Prophecy is easy to misunderstand. The common picture of a prophet is a person who predicts events, and many popular uses of the word reflect this. The Bible includes predictions, but most prophetic speech is addressed to the people of the prophet’s own day, calling them to justice, loyalty and repentance. The prophets also lived in particular times, and their words carry the marks of those times.
The ancient Near East knew many forms of messengers from the gods. At Mari, a city on the Euphrates in the eighteenth century BC, letters record oracles from a god to the king, brought by prophets. Assyrian texts of the seventh century BC record prophecies of the goddess Ishtar to King Esarhaddon. An inscription found at Deir Alla in Jordan, from about the eighth century BC, tells of a seer named Balaam, son of Beor, who is also named in the book of Numbers. These finds show that Israel’s prophets were not unique in speaking for a god, and they help explain their forms.
What marks Israel’s prophets, in the view of the Bible, is not that they spoke for a god but that they spoke for the God who rescued Israel and made covenant with them, and that they would address kings with a standard higher than the king.
Step-by-step explanation
Step 1: Prophets in Israel’s story
The Torah calls Abraham a prophet (Genesis 20:7) and Moses the greatest prophet (Deuteronomy 34:10). Deuteronomy 18:15 promises that the Lord will raise up a prophet like Moses. Miriam and Deborah are called prophets. In the time of Samuel there are bands of prophets who prophesy in an ecstatic way (1 Samuel 10), and Samuel himself is called a seer.
Under the monarchy, prophets confront kings. Nathan rebukes David. Elijah challenges Ahab, and Elisha is active in the north. Their stories are told in Kings and not in separate books. Beginning in the eighth century BC, books bear the names of prophets: Amos, Hosea, Isaiah, Micah and later Jeremiah, Ezekiel and others. Amos says that he was no prophet nor prophet’s son but a herdsman, called by God (Amos 7:14), which shows that the office was not simply hereditary.
Step 2: What prophets did
Prophets announced judgment on sin, promised comfort to the faithful, and pointed to a future restoration. They advised kings on war and alliances. They interceded for the people. They attacked social wrongs such as cheating the poor, and religious wrongs such as worshiping other gods or offering sacrifice without justice.
They used many forms of speech: lawsuits against Israel, laments, songs, parables and visions. They also performed sign-acts. Jeremiah buried a linen belt and wore a yoke, and Ezekiel lay on his side and drew a map of Jerusalem on a brick. The body of the prophet became part of the message.
Step 3: True and false prophets
Not everyone who claimed to speak for God was believed to be right. Deuteronomy 13 and 18 give tests. A prophet who speaks in the name of other gods is false, and one whose predictions fail is not to be heeded. In Jeremiah 28, the prophet Hananiah announces that the exile will end in two years, and Jeremiah answers that the prophet who prophesies peace will be known when his word comes to pass. Hananiah dies that year.
The tests are not simple, because a true prophet may predict disaster that does not come if the people repent, as in Jonah, and a false prophet may sometimes be right. Readers therefore also look at the content of the message and the character of the speaker. The problem of distinguishing true and false prophecy is discussed in the text itself and by interpreters.
Step 4: The prophetic books
The Jewish Bible places the books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings among the Former Prophets and Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and the Twelve among the Latter Prophets. The Twelve, also called the Minor Prophets because they are shorter, are a single scroll. Daniel is placed among the Writings in the Hebrew Bible, but among the prophets in Christian Bibles, after Ezekiel. Christian Bibles also place Lamentations after Jeremiah.
The books are not simple transcripts. Their editing over generations, discussed in a later lesson, means that a book may include words of the prophet and later additions in his spirit.
- What is the difference between forthtelling and foretelling, and why does it matter?
- How are Israel’s prophets like prophets of other nations, and how are they different?
- What do the tests in Deuteronomy 13 and 18 ask of a prophet?
- Why did prophets sometimes act out their messages?
- What is the point of Amos saying that he was a herdsman and no prophet?
- Why do the Jewish and Christian Bibles arrange the prophetic books differently?
Examples
Nathan and David
Nathan comes to David with a story of a rich man who took a poor man’s lamb. When David is angry, Nathan says, Thou art the man (2 Samuel 12). The prophet speaks to the king without fear and uses a parable to open his eyes.
Mari letters
A letter from Mari reports that a prophet delivered a message from a god to the king, urging him to act justly and keep his word. The king’s officials pass it on. It shows that ancient kings listened to messengers of the gods, and that such messages sometimes included moral demands.
Jeremiah’s yoke
Jeremiah wears a wooden yoke in public to say that Judah must serve Babylon. Hananiah breaks it and says the yoke will be broken within two years. Jeremiah returns with an iron yoke. The scene shows the drama of rival prophecies.
Different perspectives
Jewish readers
Judaism holds that prophecy ended with the last of the biblical prophets, and treats Moses as the greatest. Rabbinic tradition counts forty-eight male and seven female prophets. The prophets are read in synagogue each week in the haftarah portions alongside the Torah.
Catholic readers
The Catholic Church teaches that the Holy Spirit spoke through the prophets, and that their words are fulfilled in Christ. It also accepts that prophets spoke to their own time, and that the full meaning of a text can emerge later.
Orthodox readers
The Orthodox read the prophets in worship, especially at Great Lent and Holy Week, and honor many of them as saints. They see the prophets as speaking of Christ and of the life of the church.
Protestant readers
Protestants emphasize the authority of the prophetic word as Scripture. Evangelical writers often stress fulfilled prediction, while many scholars emphasize the social message. Pentecostal and charismatic Christians believe prophecy continues in the church in some form.
Scholarly views
Scholars compare Israel’s prophets with those of Mari and Assyria and debate how far the comparison explains them. Some argue that the writing prophets were unique in their criticism of kings, others that similar critiques can be found elsewhere.
Why it matters
The prophets are a major part of the Old Testament and the New Testament quotes them often. Reading them well begins with knowing what a prophet was supposed to do. If they are read only as predictors, large parts will seem strange. If they are read as covenant spokespeople, their concern with justice and worship becomes clear.
Common misunderstandings
Misunderstanding: Prophets mainly predicted the future.
Correction: Most prophetic speech addressed the present. Predictions occur but usually belong to a warning or promise connected to the covenant.
Misunderstanding: Israel’s prophets were unlike anything else in the ancient world.
Correction: Other cultures had prophets and used similar forms. What stands out is the content of the message and the confrontation with kings.
Misunderstanding: A true prophet can be recognized simply by correct predictions.
Correction: Deuteronomy gives tests, but the Bible itself shows that they are not simple. Jonah’s prediction does not come to pass because Nineveh repents.
Misunderstanding: All the prophets wrote books.
Correction: Many prophets, such as Nathan, Elijah and Elisha, have no books. Their stories are in Samuel and Kings.
Knowledge check
What is a biblical prophet?
A prophet is a person who speaks for God to the people, usually in a particular situation. Prophets called Israel to loyalty to the covenant, warned of judgment, and promised restoration. They sometimes spoke of the future, but most of their words addressed the present. The English word comes from a Greek term meaning one who speaks on behalf of another.
What do the Mari letters and the Deir Alla inscription show?
They show that prophecy and similar practices existed outside Israel. The Mari letters record messages from gods brought by prophets to a king in the eighteenth century BC. The Deir Alla text mentions a seer named Balaam, son of Beor, who also appears in Numbers. They place Israel’s prophets in a wider setting and help explain their forms.
What tests for a prophet does Deuteronomy give?
Deuteronomy 13 says that a prophet who leads people to follow other gods is not to be heeded, even if a sign comes to pass. Deuteronomy 18 says that if what a prophet says in the Lord’s name does not come true, the Lord has not spoken. The tests are only part of the picture, as the stories of Jeremiah and Jonah show.
How do the Jewish and Christian Bibles arrange the prophets?
The Jewish Bible has Former Prophets (Joshua to Kings) and Latter Prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and the Twelve), with Daniel in the Writings. Christian Bibles place the historical books together and put the prophets at the end of the Old Testament, with Daniel after Ezekiel and Lamentations after Jeremiah.
Think it through
- What does it mean to speak for God in a crisis, and what would make such speech credible to you?
- Why might the Bible include rival prophets in its stories?
- In what ways is the prophetic role still present in modern religious or civic life?
- How could a reader avoid treating prophets only as predictors?
Independent assignment
Reading a prophet’s call
In your own notebook, read one call story: Isaiah 6, Jeremiah 1 or Ezekiel 1 to 3. List the parts of the story (vision, response, commission, objection). Then write 250 to 350 words saying what the call tells you about how the prophet understood his task, and how this fits or does not fit the definition in this lesson. Keep it for yourself.
Further study
- Jewish Publication Society, The Hebrew Bible in English (JPS translation) Read Deuteronomy 13 and 18, 1 Samuel 9 and 10, and Jeremiah 28.
- Gordon D. Fee and Douglas Stuart, How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth Read the chapter on the prophets for how to read their forms.
- Bruce M. Metzger, The Canon of the New Testament Read for the grouping of prophetic books in the canons.
- Amos 7 Amos says he was no prophet by training.
- Isaiah 6 Isaiah’s call.
- Jeremiah 28 Jeremiah and Hananiah.
- Deuteronomy 18 The promise of a prophet like Moses and the test of a prophet.