“What manner of man is the prophet?” Miriam (Exodus 15.20) Deborah (Judges 4.4) Huldah (2 Kings 22)

“Prophet” Greek: prophetes Hebrew: nab’i (from bo’, “to come”) but see Amos 7.14; Jeremiah 23.9ff. hozeh: “one who receives visions” (interchangeable with nab’i in Isaiah and ) ro’eh: ‘seer’, literally, “one who sees” ish ha-elohim: “man of god”

The Prophets The Former Prophets: Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings –1 Chronicles 29.29, ‘Now the acts of King David, from first to last, are written in the records of the seer Samuel, and in the records of the prophet Nathan, and in the records of the seer Samuel’ The Latter Prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, the Twelve –Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi

A Prophet like Moses… Deuteronomy “Yhwh your God will raise up for you a prophet (nab’i) like [Moses] from among your own people” (18.15 ) Moses: has a call (Exodus 3), is presented as a miracle worker (Exodus 7ff), has visions (Exodus 33), makes intercession (Exodus 32).

True and False Prophets “If a prophet speaks in the name of Yhwh but the thing does not take place or prove true, it is a word that Yhwh has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; do not be frightened by it” (Deuteronomy 18.22). Jeremiah vs Hananiah (Jeremiah 28).

Prophet as Messenger ko amar Yhwh: “thus says Yhwh (the Lord)” + qualifying titles shalah: “to send” Messengers: divine (Genesis 24.7); human (Genesis 32.4); and prophetic (Exodus 3. 10; Jeremiah 1. 7) The divine council (2 Kings 22; Isaiah 6, 38.7; Jeremiah 23)

Woe Utternances Jeremiah 22.13ff “Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness…” Micah “Alas for those who devise wickedness and evil deeds on their beds!” Isaiah 5.8ff. “Ah, you who join house to house, who add field to field, until there is room for no one but you…”

Oracle of Judgment Oracle of Judgement (individual and national) –Summons to hear –Accusation –Messenger formula –Announcement Amos

7.16a: “Now therefore hear the word of Yhwh…” 7.16b: “You say, ‘Do not prophesy against Israel…’” 7.17a: “Therefore thus says Yhwh” 7.17b: “Your wife shall become a prostitute in the city, and your sons and your daughters shall fall by the sword” (Micah ; Jeremiah )

Call Narratives Divine Confrontation(3.1-4) – burning bush Introductory Word(3.5-9) – ‘I am the God of your fathers’ Commission(3.10) – ‘So come, I will send you to Pharaoh’ Objection(3.11) – ‘Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh?’ Reassurance(3.12a) – ‘I will be with you’ Sign(3.12b) – ‘This shall be the sign for you that it is I who sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt you shall worship God on this mountain’