This revised and enlarged edition of Joseph Blenkinsopp's 1983 book will be a welcome addition to the libraries of serious Biblical scholars. The author critically recounts the history of Israelite prophecy from a social-historical perspective.

Using comparative anthropology to get at the social dimensions of prophetic activity, Robert Wilson's study brings the study of Isrealite prophecy to a new level. Looking at both modern societies and Ancient Near Eastern ones, Wilson sketches the nature of prophetic activity, its social location, and its social functions. He then shows how these features appear in Israelite prophecy and sketches a history of prophecy in Israel.

This important work on Prophecy and the Prophets in Ancient Israel is the product of an impressive international team of twenty-three outstanding scholars, most of whom are well-known, established names, while a few are able, younger scholars beginning to make their mark on the field. The volume approaches its subject from a remarkable number of different angles, with essays ranging from Israel's ancient Near Eastern background right through to the New Testament, but the majority of essays concentrate on Prophecy and the Prophets in the Old Testament. Particular attention is paid to the following subjects: Prophecy amongst Israel's Ancient Near Eastern Neighbours; Female Prophets in both Israel and the Ancient Near East; Israelite Prophecy in the Light of modern Sociological, Anthropological and Psychological Insights; Deuteronomy 18.9-22, the Prophets and Scripture; Elijah, Elisha and Prophetic Succession; the Theology of Amos; Hosea and the Baal cu All the contributions, previously unpublished, arise from papers delivered at the Oxford Old Testament seminar.

This collection of essays examines the relationship of prophecy to the Deuteronomistic History (Deuteronomy–2 Kings), including the historical reality of prophecy that stands behind the text and the portrayal of prophecy within the literature itself. The contributors use a number of perspectives to explore the varieties of intermediation and the cultic setting of prophecy in the ancient Near East; the portrayal of prophecy in pentateuchal traditions, pre-Deuteronomistic sources, and other Near Eastern literature; the diverse perspectives reflected within the Deuteronomistic History; and the possible Persian period setting for the final form of the Deuteronomistic History. Together the collection represents the current state of an important, ongoing discussion. The contributors are Ehud Ben Zvi, Diana Edelman, Mignon R. Jacobs, Mark Leuchter, Martti Nissinen, Mark O’Brien, Raymond F. Person Jr., Thomas C. Römer, Marvin A. Sweeney, and Rannfrid Thelle.

Donald Gowan offers a unified reading of the prophetic books, showing that each has a distinctive contribution to make to a central theme. These books--Isaiah through Malachi--respond to three key moments in Israel's history: the end of the Northern Kingdom in 722 BCE, the end of the Southern Kingdom in 587 BCE, and the beginning of the restoration from the Babylonian exile in 538 BCE. Gowan traces the theme of death and resurrection throughout these accounts, finding a symbolic message of particular significance to Christian interpreters of the Bible.

Wood focuses on the prophets' daily circumstances to illuminate their message. Covers both the writing and non-writing prophets, including Miriam and Elijah.

This successful volume of essays by distinguished scholars not only makes a contribution to the study of Old Testament prophets but also summarizes scholarship in a way particularly appropriate to students, giving access to material available otherwise only in other languages or in journals difficult to obtain.

In the history of nineteenth-century religious thought, William Robertson Smith occupies an ambiguous position. More than any other writer, he stimulated the theories of religion later advanced by Frazer, Durkheim, and Freud. Smith himself was not an original scholar, but was rather ""clever at presenting other men's theories"" within new and sometimes hostile contexts. Smith was an important contributor to two of the most serious challenges to Christian orthodoxy of the last century, the ""Higher Criticism"" of the Bible and the comparative study of religion, and was also the victim of the last successful heresy trial in Great Britain. Yet he was an utterly devout Protestant, whose views on Biblical criticism (for which he was damned) are now considered as true as his views on totemism and sacrifice (for which he was praised) are now considered false. Despite Smith's enormous significance for the history of religious ideas, he has been written about relatively little, and most of what we know about his life and work comes from a source almost a century old. Originally published in 1882, The Prophets of Israel is a collection of eight lectures, including ""Israel and Jehovah;"" ""Jehovah and the Gods of the Nations,"" ""Amos and the House of Jehu,"" ""Hosea and the Fall of Ephraim,"" ""The Kingdom of Judah and the Beginnings of Isaiah's Work,"" ""The Earlier Prophesies of Isaiah,"" ""Isaiah and Micah in the Reign of Hezekiah,"" and ""The Deliverance from Assyria.""A new introduction by Robert Alun Jones discusses Smith's early life, the heresy trial, Smith's early view of prophecy, and the classic text itself. The book will be of interest to students and teachers of religious studies, and general readers interested in Robertson Smith.