Latter Prophets

1
UNIT III
2
Latter Prophets

• Isaiah
• Jeremiah
• Ezekiel
• Minor Prophets
• Majority of Latter Prophetic texts Israels
  immediate future

3
Intro to Prophetical Lit.

• Foretelling/predicting future?
• Misleading, inaccurate, incomplete
• Less than 2 messianic
• 1 our future
• Function/Purpose to speak for God to their own
  contemporaries
• Prophet (nabi, Heb.) speak for another
  representative (for YHWH or Baal)

4
Difficulties

• Difficulties (2)
• 1. Context (Historical Distance)
• Unprecedented military, political,
• economic, social upheaval
• 2. Genre (Oracles)
• No headings difficult structure run-on
  sections change of subjects
• (Exceptions Haggai, Zech, Jer, Ezek)

5
Roles Pattern

• Roles of a Prophet (2)
• Covenant Enforcement Mediators
• Message is Gods, not theirs (unoriginal)
• Pattern Cycle
• Identify faithfulness, predict blessing
• Identify sin, predict punishment

6
Forms of Prophetic Utterance

• Types of Oracles
• The Lawsuit (Is. 3.13-26 Hos 3.3-17)
• 3 elements charge evidence verdict
• YHWH is the plaintiff, prosecutor, judge
• The Woe (Hab 2.6-8 Micah 2.1-5)
• 3 elements announcement of distress reason
• prediction of curse
• The Promise (Amos 9.11-15 Hos 2.16-20)
• 3 elements reference to future mention of
  radical change prediction of blessing

7
Oracles as Poetry

• Types
• Synonymous Parallelism (Is. 44.22)
• 2nd line repeats/reinforces 1st line
• Antithetical Parallelism (Hos 7.14)
• 2nd line contradicts 1st line
• Synthetic Parallelism (Obadiah 21)
• 2nd line adds info to 1st line

8
ISAIAH

• Son of Amoz (1.1)
• Career spanned 40 yrs
• Public Prophet
• 8th Century
• 740 BC, the yr of King Uzziahs death (6.1)

9
Content Structure

• Content Structure
• 2 Parts Judgment Hope
• 1-39 Judgment
• 40-66 Hope
• Some divide Is into 3 parts
• I 1-40 II 41-55 III 56-66
• 41-55 too late for Isaiahs time

10
Textual Highlights

• 1.21-27 epitome of major themes
• Messianic Prophecies
• Jesus as Suffering Servant
• Is 42, 49, 50, 53
• Jesus fulfilled law (Deut 18.18)
• Hope for creation
• 61.1-4 see also Rev. 21-22

11
JEREMIAH

• The Weeping Prophet
• D Document gt similar to Former Prophets in line
  with Deuteronomical History
• Themes Judgment Hope

12
Textual Highlights

• 1-20 Poetic Section
• Indictment against Jerusalem and Sentence
• Grounds Torah disobedience
• 11-20 Blunt intimate prayers
• Laments pleading with God, with elements of
  questions mocking tone

13
EZEKIEL

• Priestly document holiness, purity
• 2 Parts
• 1-24 judgment (esp. 16, 20, 23)
• 25-48 hope (esp 33-37)
• Subject of psychoanalysis
• Metaphor kings as shepherds

14
HOSEA

• Northern Prophet (8th Century)
• 1-3 divorce, remarriage // covenant
• 4-14 prophetic lawsuits
• Genre Parable, literal?

15
Hosea

• 2.2-23 most important statement regarding the
  covenant in prophetic literature
• Symbolism
• Hosea YHWH
• Gomer Israel
• Lover Baal

16
AMOS

• 8th Century born in S., focuses on N.
• 1-2 Oracles against the nations
• 3-6 Collection of prophetic oracles
• 5.18-20 day of the Lord
• Not positive, but negative
• Not victory, but defeat
• 7-9 5 visions 9.11-15 words of promise
• Concern Wealth in the kingdom (3.9-15)

17
JONAH

• Only prophetic text in narrative form
• Lead character is Jonah
• Story is narrated by a 3rd party
• Nineveh hated imperial city of the hated
  Assyrian Empire
• 2 Big fish symbolic?
• Jonah called by God to preach to an unrepentant
  people
• End Jonah unrepentant, people repentant

18
III. The Writings

• Authority for Judaism
• 1. Torah
• 2. Neviim
• 3. Ketuvim

19
5 Genres in the Writings

• Prophetic
• Narrative
• Prescriptive
• Wisdom
• Hymnic

20
PSALMS (the Psalter)

• Collection of Hebrew prayers and hymns (Psalm
  lit. hymn)
• Three Uses
• Guide to worship (then now)
• Express how to relate to God (then now)
• Stresses the importance of reflecting on what God
  has done

21
Psalms Structure

• 5 Books 1-41 42-72 73-89 90-106 107-50
• Psalms of Asaph, 73-83
• Psalms of the son of Korah, 84-85 87-88
• Psalms of David, 138-145
• Titles See Ps 30
• of gt for, to, by

22
Psalms Patterns Themes

• 4 Recurring Patterns
• The Hymn (117 147)
• Communal Lament (74 79)
• Individual song of thanksgiving
• Individual Lament (13)
• Themes
• Jerusalem-focused Cosmic-focused (19.1-6)
• Particular Universal
• Yahweh as King Yahweh as creator
• References to temple Israelites

23
Psalms 8 Types

• Descriptive Praise Psalm (145)
• Enthronement Psalm (98)
• Songs of Trust (46)
• Nature Psalm (29)
• Lament Psalm (13)
• Imprecatory Psalm (54 109)
• Wisdom Psalm (127)
• Messianic Psalm (22)

24
PROVERBS

• Baseline for all wisdom literature
• Most proverbs traditionally attributed to Solomon
  (3000 proverbs 1 Kgs 4.32)
• Contexts
• Family Nurture
• Schools
• Royal Court training

25
Proverbs Structure Highlights

• 2-Part Structure
• 1-9 Intro. 10-31 Random collection
• Instruction 1.1-9 3.1-6 13.1, 18, 10
• Tongue Rd 10.18-21, 31-32 15.31-32 18.21a
  25.11-14
• 6.12-14, 16-19 15.2, 5, 7, 10, 23, 16.23-24
  18.4, 7-8, 20.17 27.5-6 28.23
• Lust 6.23-33 7.6-23 Laziness 13.4, 12, 19
  6.6-11 20.13 21.5
• Domestic (dis)harmony 13.18,24 24.3-4 25.24

26
Proverbs Forms Themes

• Forms 1. Sentence 2. Instruction
• Themes
• God is the standard of wisdom
• Deeds-consequences (8.32-36)
• Yahweh is free

27
SONG OF SONGS

• Proposed author King Solomon
• 4 Main Interpretations
• Love between YHWH Israel
• Love between Christ Church
• Love between Christ individual
• Love between a man woman

28
JOB

• Authorship Unknown
• Date
• No historical setting given
• Many dates proposed
• Written after Job
• Either pre-patriarchal or patriarchal

29
Setting Genre

• Setting
• Uz, outside Israel
• linked with Edom (Lam. 4.21)
• Genre
• Contains numerous types of literature
• Job is a unique, separate genre

30
Unity Structure

• Prose/Narrative (1.1-2.13)
• Orientation
• Poetry (3.1-42.6)
• Disorientation
• Prose/Narrative (42.7-17)
• New orientation

31
Overview of Job

• 1.1 Job is blameless fears God
• Prosperous well-respected by his family
  society
• 3-27 4 characters speeches alternating pattern
• 28-31 Divine wisdom is unknowable by humans
• 32-37 Elihu is unsatisfied by previous speeches
• 38-41 2 rounds between Yahweh Job (Job
  40.3-5 42.1-6)
• 42.7-9 Yahwehs verdict
• 42.10-17 Job is restored property, social
  standing, family intimacy with God

32
Job Themes Purposes

• Themes
• Theodicy
• Cannot put God in a box
• Purposes
• Refutes law of retribution
• Divine realm affects human history
• Challenges human comprehension of God

33
ECCLESIASTES

• Qoheleth preacher, teacher wise man (12.9)
• Authorship Solomon (traditionally)
• Unknown Author is a dissenter
• Life is Hebel def.
• a. vapor, breath, emptiness, fleeting
• b. absurd, contradictory, superficial, enigmatic

34
Textual Highlights Themes

• Key word Pessimism
• Themes
• Life is irrational meaningless
• God determines every event
• Humanity is unable to discern Gods works/ways in
  the world

35
DANIEL 7-12 (visions)

• Only apocalyptic book in OT
• Interpretation
• Literal
• Symbolic
• Difficult to interpret
• To confuse outsiders
• Necessity of speaking of Gods future

36
EXAM III