- Texts and versions
The last six minor prophets
- Related Topics:
- number of the beast
- Hebrew Bible
- mammon
- Bible
- biblical criticism
Nahum
The Book of Nahum, seventh of the Twelve (Minor) Prophets, contains three chapters directed against the mighty nation of Assyria. Probably written between 626–612 bce (the date of the destruction of Nineveh, the Assyrian capital), the book celebrates in oracles, hymns, and laments the fact that Yahweh has saved Judah from potential devastation by the Assyrians.
He begins with the words “The Lord is a jealous God and avenging…is slow to anger and of great might, and the Lord will by no means clear the guilty” (chapter 1, verses 2–3). From that beginning he predicts the overthrow of Assyria and the devastating manner in which Nineveh will be destroyed.
Habakkuk
The Book of Habakkuk, the eighth book of the Twelve (Minor) Prophets, was written by a prophet difficult to identify. He may have been a professional prophet of the Temple from the 7th century bce (probably between 605–597 bce). Containing three chapters, Habakkuk combines lamentation and oracle. In the first chapter, he cries out for Yahweh to help his people: “O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and thou wilt not hear?” (chapter 1, verse 2). Though Yahweh will send mighty nations (e.g., the neo-Babylonians will be the executors of his judgment), Habakkuk wonders who will then stop these instruments of God’s justice, who use great force. The answer comes in a brief, almost cryptic verse, “but the righteous shall live by his faith.” The rest of chapter 2 pronounces a series of woes against those who commit social injustices and engage in debauchery. The last chapter is a hymn anticipating the deliverance to be wrought by Yahweh.
Zephaniah
The Book of Zephaniah, the ninth book of the Twelve (Minor) Prophets, is written in three chapters. Composed by the prophet Zephaniah in the latter part of the 7th century bce, the book is an attack against corruption of worship in Judah, probably before the great Deuteronomic reform took place. Zephaniah attacked the religious syncretism that had become established, especially the worship of Baal and astral deities, and predicted the coming catastrophe of the “Day of the Lord.” He denounced both foreign nations and Judah, but issued a promise of the restoration of Israel: “Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem” (chapter 3, verse 14). The reason for exultation is that Yahweh will deliver his people.
Haggai
The Book of Haggai, the 10th book of the Twelve (Minor) Prophets, is a brief work of only two chapters. Written about 520 bce by the prophet Haggai, the book contains four oracles. The first oracle calls for Zerubbabel, the governor of Judaea, and Joshua, the high priest, to rebuild the Temple (chapter 1, verses 1–11). A drought and poor harvests, according to Haggai, had been caused because the returnees from the Exile had neglected or failed to rebuild the Temple. The second oracle, addressed to the political and religious leaders and the people, sought to encourage them in their rebuilding efforts (chapter 2, verses 1–9). Apparently they were disappointed that the new Temple was not as splendid as the former one, so Haggai reassured them: “My Spirit abides among you, fear not.” The third oracle was issued against the people for not acting in a holy manner (chapter 2, verses 10–19), and the fourth proclaimed that Zerubbabel would be established as the Davidic ruler (chapter 2, verses 20–23). His promise, however, remained unfulfilled.
Zechariah
The Book of Zechariah, the 11th book of the Twelve (Minor) Prophets, dates from the same period as that of Haggai—about 520 bce. Though the book contains 14 chapters, only the first eight are oracles of the prophet; the remaining six probably came from a school of his disciples and contain various elaborations of Zechariah’s eschatological themes.
Though little is known about Zechariah’s life, he probably was one of the exiles who returned to Jerusalem from Babylon. After an initial call to repentance (chapter 1, verses 1–6), Zechariah had a series of eight visions (chapter 1, verse 7 to chapter 6, verse 15). The first is of four horsemen who have patrolled the Earth to make sure that it is at rest. The second vision is of four horns (i.e., nations that have conquered Israel and Judah), which will be destroyed. The third vision is of a man with a measuring line, but Jerusalem will be beyond measurement. The fourth vision shows Joshua the high priest in the heavenly court being prosecuted by Satan (the celestial adversary) and the high priest’s eventual acquittal and return to his high position. The fifth vision is of a golden lampstand and an olive tree to emphasize the important positions of Joshua and Zerubbabel, which these two figures symbolize. The sixth and seventh visions—of a flying scroll and a woman of wickedness—symbolize the removal of Judah’s previous sins. The eighth vision of four chariots probably refers to the anticipated messianic reign of Zerubbabel, a hope that was thwarted. Chapters 7 and 8 concern fasting and the restoration of Jerusalem.
The remaining chapters—9–14—are additions that contain messianic overtones. Chapter 9, verses 9–10, with its reference to a king riding on the foal of an ass and to a vast kingdom of peace, was used by New Testament Gospel writers in reference to Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem prior to his crucifixion. The book closes on the note of the suffering Good Shepherd, the final battle between Jerusalem and the nations and eventual victory under God, and the universal reign of Yahweh, “king over all the earth.”
Malachi
The Book of Malachi, the last of the Twelve (Minor) Prophets, was written by an anonymous writer called Malachi, or “my messenger.” Perhaps written from about 500–450 bce, the book is concerned with spiritual degradation, religious perversions, social injustices, and unfaithfulness to the Covenant. Priests are condemned for failing to instruct the people on their Covenant responsibilities, idolatry is attacked, and men are castigated for deliberately forgetting their marriage vows when their wives become older.
In chapter 3, the message is that Yahweh will send a messenger of the Covenant to prepare for, and announce, the day of judgment. If the people turn from their evil ways, God will bless them, and those who “feared the Lord” will be spared. The book ends with a call to remember the Covenant and with a promise to send Elijah, the 9th-century prophet who ascended into heaven in a whirlwind on a chariot, “before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes.”
Linwood FredericksenThe Ketuvim
Overview
The Ketuvim (the Writings or the Hagiographa), the third division of the Hebrew Bible, comprises a miscellaneous collection of sacred writings that were not classified in either the Torah or the Prophets. The collection is not a unified whole: it includes liturgical poetry (Psalms and Lamentations of Jeremiah), secular love poetry (Song of Solomon), wisdom literature (Proverbs, Book of Job, and Ecclesiastes), historical works (I and II Chronicles, Book of Ezra, and Book of Nehemiah), apocalyptic, or vision, literature (Book of Daniel), a short story (Book of Ruth), and a romantic tale (Book of Esther); it ranges in content from the most entirely profane book in the Bible (Song of Solomon) to perhaps the most deeply theological (Job); it varies in mood from a pessimistic view of life (Job and Ecclesiastes) to an optimistic view (Proverbs). Psalms, Proverbs, and Job constitute the principal poetic literature of the Hebrew Bible and, in many respects, represent the high point of the Hebrew Bible as literature; in fact, Job must be considered one of the great literary products of the human creative spirit.
Although portions of some of the books of the Ketuvim (e.g., Psalms and Proverbs) were composed before the Babylonian Exile (586–538 bce), the final form was post-exilic, and Daniel was not written until almost the middle of the 2nd century bce. The books were not included in the prophetic collection because they did not fit the content or the historical-philosophical framework of that collection, because they were originally seen as purely human and not divine writings, or simply because they were written too late for inclusion. Although some of the books individually were accepted as canonical quite early, the collection of the Ketuvim as a whole, as well as some individual books within it, was not accepted as completed and canonical until well into the 2nd century ce. As noted above, there are several indications that the lapse of time between the canonization of the Prophets and of the Ketuvim was considerable—e.g., the practice of entitling the entire Scriptures “the Torah and the Prophets” and the absence of a fixed name.
The needs of the Hellenistic Jews in Alexandria and elsewhere in the Greek-speaking Diaspora led to the translation of the Bible into Greek. The process began with the Torah about the middle of the 3rd century bce and continued for several centuries. In the Greek canon, as it finally emerged, the Ketuvim was eliminated as a corpus, and the books were redistributed, together with those of the prophetic collection, according to categories of literature, giving rise to a canon with four divisions: Torah, historical writings, poetic and didactic writings, and prophetic writings. Also, the order of the books was changed, and books not included in the Hebrew Bible were added. The early Christians of both the East and West generally cited and accepted as canonical the Scriptures according to the Greek version. When Protestants produced translations based upon the Hebrew original text and excluded or separated (as Apocrypha) the books not found in the Hebrew Bible, they retained the order and the divisions of the Greek Bible. Thus the Ketuvim is not to be found as a distinct collection in the Christian Old Testament.
An ancient tradition, preserved in the Babylonian Talmud, prescribed the following order for the Ketuvim: Ruth, Psalms, Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, Lamentations, Daniel, Esther, Ezra (which included Nehemiah), and I and II Chronicles. This sequence was chronological according to rabbinic notions of the authorship of the books. Ruth relates to the age of the judges and concludes with a genealogy of David; the Psalms were attributed, for the most part, to David; Job was assigned to the time of the Queen of Sheba, although the rabbis differed among themselves about the date of the hero; Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon were all attributed to Solomon; Lamentations, which was ascribed to Jeremiah, refers to the destruction of Jerusalem and the beginning of the Babylonian Exile; the heroes of Daniel were active until early in the reign of Cyrus II, the king of Persia who ended the exile; Esther pertains to the reign of Xerxes I, later than that of Cyrus but earlier than that of Artaxerxes I, the patron of Ezra, reputed also to have written I and II Chronicles.
Despite this tradition, however, it would appear that the sequence of the Ketuvim was not completely fixed, and there is a great variety in ordering found in manuscripts and early printed editions. The three larger books—Psalms, Job, and Proverbs—have always constituted a group, with Psalms first and the other two interchanging. The order of the five Megillot, or Scrolls (Song of Solomon, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, and Esther), has shown the greatest variations. The order that has crystallized has a liturgical origin; the books are read on certain festival days in Jewish places of worship and are printed in the calendar order of those occasions. Chronicles always appears at either the beginning or the end of the corpus. Its final position is remarkable because the narrative of Ezra and Nehemiah follows that of Chronicles. The final position may have resulted from an attempt to place the books of the Hebrew Bible in a framework (Genesis and Chronicles both begin with the origin and development of the human race, and both conclude with the theme of the return to the land of Israel), but it was more probably the result of the late acceptance of Chronicles into the canon.
