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 this study it is argued that the book of Jeremiah was influenced by the books of Amos and Hosea. All three books show a similar pattern of development. There is a correspondence between the reactions of those addressed and the prophetic message, which changes from the preaching of repentance to a message of irreversible judgment. Finally, these prophets testified that only God could bring about a new future. This study, which originally took the form of a dissertation, examines several topics common to Hosea, Amos and Jeremiah. Dr. Lalleman demonstrates important correspondences which point to a prophetic tradition received and developed by Jeremiah in his own way. The research concentrates on the themes of repentance and hope, covenant, and the role of the prophet in intercession, as well as his personal involvement in his message. The differences between these prophetic books, however, show that the individual characteristics of each prophet must not be neglected. The assumption of one monolithic Deuteronomistic redaction responsible for the editing of all the books is therefore unlikely. The prophets are best interpreted in their own historical contexts, although they are connected by a common spiritual heritage, a prophetic tradition.

The Old Testament prophets did not hesitate to use the rhetorical conventions accessible to them when delivering their sermons of salvation and judgment. One source of comparison used frequently in the prophets and widely throughout the ancient Near East is the image of a tree. In Trees and Kings, William Osborne evaluates the cultural and cognitive setting that potentially gave rise to this figurative tree imagery, drawing on both comparative study with ancient Near Eastern tree imagery and the cognitive-linguistic approach to metaphor theory. Osborne examines tree metaphors that appear in the texts of Israel's writing prophets, specifically Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. He takes this material as largely reflective of the Israelite prophetic tradition from the 8th-6th centuries BC. Tree imagery in the Old Testament is certainly not limited to these prophetic books, and this study takes many of these texts into consideration in seeking to understand tree imagery in Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel better. The question is rarely asked, why do the prophets often defer to the metaphorical use of the tree? The goal of this study is to answer this important question by comparing and contrasting tree metaphors in much of the prophetic literature of the Old Testament with tree imagery and metaphors encountered from the ancient Near East.

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.

Victor Matthews, a veteran teacher and expert on the world of ancient Israel, introduces students to the Hebrew prophets and their social world. Drawing on archaeology and ancient Near Eastern texts, Matthews examines the prophets chronologically, placing them and their message into historical context. He explores pertinent aspects of historical geography, economic conditions, and social forces that influenced a prophet's life and message and explains why prophets served an integral purpose in the development of ancient Israelite religion. He also explores how prophets addressed their audience and employed rhetorical methods, images, and metaphors to communicate effectively. Logically organized, clearly written, and classroom friendly, this book meets the needs of beginning as well as advanced students. It is a substantially revised and expanded edition of the successful text Social World of the Hebrew Prophets.

This republication of a classic work contains a new introduction by Walter Brueggemann that places Gerhard von Rad's work within the context of German theology, Old Testament theology, and the history of interpretation of the Old Testament. In Old Testament Theology, von Rad applies the most advanced results of form criticism to develop a new understanding of the Bible. His original approach is now available once again in English. The Old Testament Library provides fresh and authoritative treatments of important aspects of Old Testament study through commentaries and general surveys. The contributors are scholars of international standing.

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 volume is an inquiry into the complex relationship of the prophetic texts and Israelite history. Taken as a whole, the book provides a "round-table" discussion that examines the thesis that the study of prophetic literature (i.e., Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the Twelve) and the history of Israel are best undertaken in interaction with one another. This topic appropriately honors John Hayes's long-standing scholarly contributions in prophetic interpretation and historical research, as well as his interest in the possibilities of the intersection of these two areas. The volume also promises to contribute to the body of knowledge about prophets and Israel's past in general by affording twenty-four historians and prophetic scholars the opportunity to explore their areas of interest in fresh ways while in dialogue with a central thesis. All twenty-four contributors have engaged John's ideas about prophets and/or history as students, colleagues, or in their research and publications. Thus, the question of what impact the fields of prophetic research and Israelite history can and should have on one another unites the articles. The book's individual parts, however, are contributions of historians and prophetic scholars who enter the discussion from their own perspectives and examine the possibilities and problems of the intersection of these two topics. The articles from historians will focus on questions about the usefulness of prophetic texts for reconstructing Israel's history, and will also branch out and address topics such as the social location of the prophets and the benefits of other ancient texts, as well as archaeology, to understanding the prophets. Scholars coming from the prophetic "side" will offer different perspectives on prophetic identity, experience, and rhetoric, and their possible correlations with historical contexts. These articles will engage broad issues such as how history may form the "context of prophets' thought" (to quote contributor J. Gordon McConville), and will explore specific texts and issues drawn from Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea, Amos, Zechariah, along with Daniel and Deuteronomy.

Rodney Hutton begins this book by asking five basic questions about Israelite prophecy and the prophetic books. Do the prophetic books witness to a real phenomenon of "prophecy" in Israel? What is the relationship of the "classical" or "writing" prophets to the "pre-classical prophets"? Where do we look for the origins of Israelite prophecy? How do the prophets relate to their culture and society? How does the prophetic collection of writings relate to the legal and historical traditions of Israel? Through literary, social, and theological analysis, the author then introduces the most noted of the Hebrew prophets, including Amos, Hosea, Isaiah, and Micah, with special attention to Jeremiah. --From publisher's description.