What is a prophet?
- one who speaks for god
Jer 20:7-9
2 pet 1:21
History of prophets
Moses was a prophet
Prophets in Judges
Samuel was a prophet
Nathan was a prophet
Elijah / Elisha was a prophet
After that, the prophets are recorded in their own books predominantly (called 'literary' instead
of 'oral' prophets).
Who you callin' minor?
Augustine coined the term.
it pertains to book length
Why are they in the order they are?
(from http://members.tripod.com/mikelunabeard/Bible/OldTestament/introduction_to_the_minor_prophe.htm)
The chronological order of the prophets of the second and third periods were well known
to the collectors and determined their placement in the scroll of The Twelve. The order
of the Assyrian Period prophets, however, was a combination of authorship, content, and geography14.
Hosea is placed at the head of the collection because his prophecies are the most comprehensive,
just as in the collection of Pauline epistles Romans is placed first. The subsequent books of
this period have no date given in the heading and so were arranged with a few guiding principles in mind.
First, a prophet of the kingdom of Israel was always paired with that of a prophet of the
kingdom of Judah: Joel (J) with Hosea (I); Obadiah (J) with Amos (I); Micah (J) with Jonah (I);
Habakkuk (J) with Nahum (I).
Second, the scope of the prophecies were paired together, and the relative sizes of the books
were paired together. Thus Joel was paired with Hosea since both dealt with one particular part
of the kingdom: Hosea with Israel; Joel with Judah. Obadiah was paired with Amos because of their
size. Amos follows Joel because Amos begins with a quotation from Joel (Joel 3:16).
Amos and Obadiah might also have been placed together since Obadiah's prophecy might be
regarded as an expansion of Amos 9:12.
There are possibly two reasons Obadiah was placed before Jonah and not Micah: First, Jonah lived
in the reign of Jeroboam II, the contemporary of Amaziah and Uzziah, whereas Micah did not
appear until the reign of Jotham. Second, Obadiah begins with the words, "We have heard
tidings from Judah, and a messenger is sent among the nations," and Jonah was such a messenger.
To Israel
Amos (760, Jeroboam II)
Hosea (750, Jeroboam II, Hoshea)
To Judah
Joel (? 830? Joash?)
Isaiah (740, Uzziah - Hezekiah)
Micah (735, Jotham - Hezekiah)
-------- Israel Falls -------
Zephaniah (635, Josiah)
Jeremiah (626, Josiah - Zedekiah
Habakkuk (609, Jehoiakim)
-------- Judah Falls -------
(jeremiah)
Ezekial (593-570, Nebuchadnezzar)
Daniel (605 - 536, Nebuchadnezzar - Cyrus II)
-------- Judah Restored -------
Haggai (520, Zerubbabel)
Zechariah (520, Zerubbabel)
Malachi (430, Nehemiah)
To Other Countries
Obadiah - Edom (845)
Jonah - Ninevah (780)
Nahum - Ninevah (650)