The canon of the Prophets

The Hebrew canon of the section of the Old Testament known as the Nevi’im, or the Prophets, is divided into two sections: the Former Prophets and the Latter Prophets. The Former Prophets contains four historical books—Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings. The Latter Prophets includes four prophetic works—the books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the Twelve (Minor) Prophets. The Twelve Prophets, formerly written on a single scroll, includes the books of Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. Thus, in the Hebrew canon of the Prophets there are, in effect, eight books.

The Christian canon of the Prophets does not include the Former Prophets section in its division of the Prophets; instead, it calls the books in this section Historical Books. In addition to Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, the Christian canon of the Prophets includes two works from the division of the Hebrew canon known as the Ketuvim (the Writings): the Lamentations of Jeremiah and the Book of Daniel. The Twelve (Minor) Prophets are separated into individual books. The number of works in the Christian canon, however, varies. The Protestant canon contains all the books of the Latter Prophets and the two books from the Ketuvim, thus listing 17 works among the prophetic writings. The Roman Catholic canon accepts one other book as a canonical prophetic work, namely, Baruch (including the Letter of Jeremiah); the number of prophetic writings in the Roman Catholic canon is, therefore, 18. The Greek Orthodox Synod of Jerusalem in 1672 did not accept Baruch as canonical.

As far as the Former Prophets is concerned, the Protestant canon, following the Septuagint, separates Samuel and Kings into two sections each: I and II Samuel, and I and II Kings. The Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches in the past divided these two works into I, II, III, and IV Kings, but most Roman Catholic translations now follow the listing as it is in the Septuagint.

Hebrew prophecy

Hebrew prophecy was rooted in the prophetic activities of various individuals and groups from the nations and peoples of the ancient Near East. Though prophecy among ancient Egyptians, Mesopotamians, and Canaanites—as well as among the peoples of the Aegean civilization—generally was connected with “foretelling” (or predicting) the future, the Hebrew view of prophecy centred on “forthtelling” (or proclaiming), though it included predictive aspects. Thus, in Hebrew prophecy the phrase “Thus says the Lord” is repeated constantly to emphasize the “forthtelling” motif. The Hebrew prophets were very conscious of the absolute holiness (separateness) of God and his purpose for his chosen people, Israel. Because of this consciousness, they developed an acute awareness of sin and its effects on man and society and, from such an awareness, a radical ethical outlook that applied to both the individual and the community.

The Hebrew term for prophet (naviʾ) is probably related etymologically to the Akkadian verb nabū, meaning “to call” or “to name.” The Hebrew prophet may thus be viewed as a “caller,” or spokesman, for God. Other designations for prophet in the Old Testament are roʾe, or “seer,” and ḥoze, or “visionary,” the two latter terms indicating that the predictive element was operative in Hebrew prophecy. The distinctive element of Hebrew prophecy, however, was the relationship of the prophet to God, the Lord of the Covenant, and to Israel, the covenant people. He spoke for the sovereign Lord to remind, cajole, castigate, reprove, comfort, and give hope to the people of the covenant, constantly reminding them that they were chosen to witness to the nations of the love, mercy, and goodness of God.

Some of the Hebrew prophets, from the 11th to the 8th century bce, belonged to bands or guilds of ecstatic prophets. Such prophets were spokesmen for God whose uncontrollable actions and words caused them to be feared and, sometimes, held in contempt. In II Kings, chapter 9, verse 11, a prophet—who came to Jehu, the 9th-century-bce army commander who became king of Israel, in order to anoint him—was called a “madman” (meshuggaʿ). Other Hebrew prophets were more independent, such as Nathan and Elijah, though they continued to maintain the quality of being uncontrollable—at least as far as the political authorities were concerned. Both of these early nonwriting prophets spoke out against the oppression of the weak by the strong, a theme that came to be expressed constantly in Judaism. The activities of such early prophets, including also Micaiah and Elisha in the 9th century bce, are described in the Former Prophets.

In the 8th century bce, the writing prophets—i.e., the Latter Prophets—began their activities. Though all the books that bear their names probably have been edited by schools of a prophet or by individuals or groups that were influenced by their ideas, the editors or disciples of the prophets preserved as well as was possible the words, activities, and idiosyncratic themes of the prophetic personalities. Some of the Latter Prophets may have been connected with the priestly class, such as Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel; most of the Latter Prophets, however, were independent of priestly connections. All of the Latter Prophets stood out in contrast to the court prophets who, in the tradition of court prophets of most ancient Near Eastern peoples, seldom contradicted what they believed was expected of them by their sovereigns or the people.

Joshua

The Book of Joshua takes its name from the man who succeeded Moses as the leader of the Hebrew tribes—Joshua, the son of Nun, a member of the tribe of Ephraim. In post-biblical times Joshua himself was credited with being the author of the book, though internal evidence gives no such indication. According to the views of the German biblical scholar Martin Noth, which have been accepted by many contemporary biblical critics, the Book of Joshua was the second of a series of five books (Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings) written by a Judaean oriented historian after the fall of Jerusalem in 586 bce. This writer (called the Deuteronomist and designated D) constructed the history of Israel from the death of Moses to the beginning of the Babylonian Exile (586–538 bce). The Deuteronomist, according to this view, used sources, both oral and written, from various periods to produce the history of Israel in these five books. The Book of Joshua probably contains elements from the J and E documents, as well as local and tribal traditions, all of which were modified by additions and editing until the book assumed its present form. The main theme of the Deuteronomist historian was that under the guidance of and in obedience to Yahweh, Israel would persevere and conquer its many enemies.

This theme is especially and dramatically presented in Joshua. Under the guidance of Yahweh, the people of Israel entered and conquered Canaan in fulfillment of the promise of God to Abraham and his descendants in Genesis, chapter 12. Joshua is interpreted as a second Moses—e.g., he sent out spies, led the people in crossing the Jordan River on dry land as Moses had crossed the Sea of Reeds, and ordered the males to be circumcised with flint knives as Zipporah, Moses’ wife, had earlier circumcised the son of Moses (and probably Moses himself). He was obedient to the will of Yahweh, and because of this obedience he was able to lead the Israelite tribes in their battles against the Canaanites. As long as they were faithful to their covenant promise, the land would be theirs as a trust.

The book may be divided into three parts: the story of the conquest of Canaan (chapters 1–12); the division of the land among the tribes of Israel (chapters 13–22); and Joshua’s farewell address, the renewal of the Covenant, and Joshua’s death (chapters 23–24).