Essay 4 | Prophets- General Flashcards
What are the various words associated with prophetic roles or activity in the Old Testament?
- All function as intermediaries between the human and divine worlds
Roles:
- Hozeh: “seer”
An individual who receives and reports visions (Amos)
- Ro’eh: “diviner”
Someone who can communicate with the world of the sacred in order to discover information for those who consult (Samuel) - Is ha’elohim: “man of God”
Holy man personifies deity in profane world (Elijah & Elisha) - Nabi: “prophet” (most frequent)
Someone called to a certain task (commission report) (Isah., Jerem, Ezek.)
In what ways are these roles similar to and different from prophecy in the broader ANE environment?
Deut. 13:1-2 points to presence of other religions prophets & admits to potential power (“dreams, oments…… if take place”)
Different ANE Sources:
- Tell Deir’ Alla Discovery (1967)
- Fragmented inscription from 8th BCE
- Attests to activities of Balaam, son of Beor
- validates image of divine council (Jere.
23: 18)
- Darkness and reverse social order (Isah.
3: 4) - Mari Text
- Trances reception of vision (1 Sam. 19:20)
- Language Parallels OT (Thus spoke…..)
- Often addressed to King
- Occasionally challenge king (esp. in
regards to temple) - Powerful messages influenced military
- Neo Assyrian
- Oracles with literary structure
Similarities: Prophets all engaged in similar activity- 1. Reporting visions 2. Uttering Oracles 3. Social Reform 4. Consulting Kings
Differences:
- Monumental literary creations of single prophets
- Israelite prophets forbidden from methods associated with ANE
What are some of the various forms (e.g., vision report, symbolic action report, etc.) of prophecy found in the OT, both in prose and poetic sections?
- Prose (can tell by content)
- symbolic action report: describes behavior that is designed to convey a message - Commissioning (call narrative)
- not biography, but highly theologized accounts of imagery and accounts within book
- Six elements: - Divine confrontation
- Introductory word
- Commission
- Objection
- Reassurance
- Sign
- Vision Report
- reports of visions the prophet saw
- typically occurs in a series
- sometimes needs to be interpreted (typically later literature) - Legend
- Report about something holy, either object or person (2 Sam 6:6-7) - Prophetic Historiography
- Prose literature that recounts events in the world of public affairs in relation to how the prophet related to them (Isaiah 36-39 vs 2 Kings 18:13-19:37)
Biography
- Attention to the life of the prophet with themes
Divinatory Chronicle
- Prophet functions like diviner, by being consulted for beyond world knowledge (Ezek. 20)
Poetics (Tell by form)
- Judgment Oracle (Jer. 6:16-21) – indictment and sentence
- Woe Oracle (Isa. 10:1-4) – same as judgment w/ hoy
- Lawsuit (Mic. 1:2-7) – borrowed from lawcourt
- Lament (Jer. 8:18-9:3) - cultic
- Hymn (Hab. 3:3-15) - cultic
- Song (Isa. 5:1-2)
- Allegory (Ezek. 1:2-10)
- Acrostic (Nah. 1:2-8)
How would you respond to the statement that prophets in the OT are all about predicting the future?
- Prophets addressed pivotal moments in history: interpreting specific events
1. Radical times elicit the need for radical explanations
2. Prophets always appear within the context of political or religious struggle, note contexts above
- Prophets do more than simply see signs
of the time and state the facts: they
interpret events from religious and ethical
traditions of Israel - Prophets Declare Reform
- Represent disenfranchised groups to leaders and society
- Consulted by kings and confront kings to enact social reform PRIOR to unredeemable doom- natural result of disobedience rather than foreseeing punishment
- Specific sin leads to specific message
Are prophets only interested in religious matters to the exclusion of the political? Why or why not?
No- depends almost entirely on prophet
- Specific sin leads to specific message
- Proper worship = proper socioeconomic = proper worship
- Religion and morality are integrally bound
