Some of the figures associated with the cult prophets are Moses (Ex. 2:1) and Elijah (I Kings 18:32ff); Jeremiah (1:1) and Ezekiel (1:3). There is also a mention of Levite, a cultic official, who was inspired by the spirit of God to bring a prophetic message at a time of national crises (2 Chr 20:14). Also, possibly the group of Leviticus singers after the exile were survivors of groups of cultic prophets attached to the sanctuaries. Not only that prophets were associated with temple singers (2 Chr 29:25), they together with Priests were associated together in a way that suggests professional association (e.g. 2 Kgs 23:2).
Other cultic prophets mentioned were Shimei (1 Kgs. 1:8), Zedekiah (1 Kgs. 22:24), and perhaps also Nathan (2 Sam. 12:1 ff.; 1 Kgs. 1:11 ff.) who worked in close association with the court and yet enjoyed an astonishing degree of independence. No books had come down to us from these prophets, unless one includes Nahum and Habakkuk who at least had some affinity with them.
There were, however, unmistakable traits of the cultic prophet in Zechariah and still more in Haggai.
The cultic prophets were among the protagonists of an ethical religion, which is an expression of the Israel‘s faith. The cult is also from the beginning the tangible expression of the same Israel‘s faith, which the prophets themselves furthered and remained in close rapport with. No wonder then that some of the early prophets were familiar with the rituals and meaning of the cults and that they sometimes spoke in languages borrow from the cult. Some of them were employees of the national sanctuary. Consequently, their activities could not be purely an anticultic or anti-institutional as many have wrongly thought. Their relationship is indeed one of mutual indebtedness. Even prophets and priests were not so consistently and inimically opposed as has sometimes been assumed. The two figures occupy important position in Israel‘s religion.
The cultic prophet had his place along with the priest in the cult. His task was to give oracles in answer to communal laments, and especially to the king. For this reason he had great influence in the royal court (1 Kgs. 1:8), where he spoke as a man of God (1 Kgs. 22:24 ff.) with remarkable severity (2 Sam. 12:1 ff.). The cultic prophets were feared, because their powerful word could bring success or disaster (1 Sam. 16:4; 1 Kgs. 17:18). Their words of salvation would be formulated after the manner of proverbs. One discovers in Isa. 33:1-24 some traces of prophetic liturgy that gives some insight into the language of these prophets.
It is important at this junction to note that the condemnation of the cult by prophets like Isaiah and Amos, is not to be interpreted to mean that they were against the cult but the lack of moral concern and holy living on the part of those who bring sacrifices and join in the rituals (Amos 5:21ff). Isaiah too brings strong condemnation of sacrifices, the Sabbath and even prayer (Isa. 1), with the intention of showing that it is all-useless in the context of a blatantly sinful life (Isa. 1:15).
62 4.0 CONCLUSION
The chronicler did not hesitate to make the contributions of the non-literary prophets bold. The enormous contributions of the prophets to the history and religion of Israel formed one of the strongest selling points of the books of chronicle. However, one had come to appreciate the complex nature of the prophetic tradition through the various movements, guilds and groups, which incidentally remained the pulsating force that propelled and sustained the religion even in the face persecution and seemingly annihilation. Another score on the board sheet is the prophetic activities among women, which were part of the religious and cultural heritage of the ancient Near East, including also the Hellenistic world. This brings out
5.0 SUMMARY
i. The last unit emphasised that the distinction between literary and non- or pre-literary prophets was more of a misconception of the history of literary prophecy, and, in any case, incidental. And the introductory part of this unit went further to raise some consciousness on the varied models of classification of the pre-literary prophets. It also informed the student that there were many more prophets in Israel than what the Old Testament could literarily account for.
ii. It was also observed that majority of the acting prophets presented in the bible were more of occasional prophets, thus acting sometimes only once as prophets.
iii. Reading through the Books of the Chronicle, it became clearer that there were many missing prophetic accounts which could have enriched the prophetic literature more. Nevertheless, the Book of Chronicle contributed a lot in this regard.
iv. The major acting prophets - Samuel, Gad, Nathan, Ahijah, Shemaiah, Micaiah son of Imlah, Elijah, and Elisha - played many different major roles in the shaping of the history and religion of Israel.
v. Elijah and Elisha were obviously the champions of God's people Israel; they were the defence against foreign cult and foreign ways of thought and action. Their purpose was to keep Israel's belief on and worship of YHWH pure, and to preserve to His people their ancient privileges. Yet, the role of Elijah was so prominent and significant that he became the converging and diverging point in the history Israelite prophetism in particular, and the religion of Israel in general.
vi. Three main prophetic groups were identified in the course of the discussion. These were (a) the ecstatic, (b) the monastic and © the cultic prophetic groups. Each of the group had its own peculiarity, which had enriched the prophetic tradition of Israel. And some of the great (literary and non-literary) prophets were naturally identified with these classes of prophets.
vii. It was equally emphasised that the prophets were not strictly speaking against any of the social and religious institution of Israel. They only condemned the abuses and lack of the right intention for the things of YHWH
6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT
1. What are the possible classifications of the Old Testament prophets?
2. Mention 8 minor and 6 major acting prophets, and cite the sources where they could be found in the bible.
3. List some of the missing prophetic books that could be inferred from the Books of Chronicle.
4. Discuss the ministry and contributions of Elijah to the prophetic tradition 5. Compare and contrast the ministry of Elijah and Elisha
6. What are the reasons for the condemnation of the cult by the prophets in Israel?
7.0 REFERENCES/FURTHER READINGS
Freeman, H. (1981). An Introduction to the Old Testament Prophets. Chicago: Moody Press.
von Rad, G. (1965). Old Testament Theology. (2 Vols). New York: Harper & Row.
63 Shepherd, M.H. (1962). ―Prophet‖ In: International Dictionary of the Bible (ed) by G.E. Buttrick et
al. Nashville: Abingdon Press.
Smith, G.V. (1979). Prophet. International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Revised edition. Grand Rapid, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. (CD copy)
Wood, J.L. (1984). The Prophets of Israel. Michigan: Bakar Book House.
64 UNIT 2: THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
CONTENT
INTRODUCTION 64
2.0 OBJECTIVES 64
3.0 MAIN CONTENT 65
The Book and Its Authorship 65
The Book of Isaiah as Three-in-One 65
A Matter for Authorship 67
The Editorial Contribution 69
Isaiah 1-39 70
The Time of Isaiah the Son of Amoz 70
Some of the Editorial Challenges in Isaiah 1-39 Error! Bookmark not defined.
The Message and Teaching of Isaiah of Jerusalem 70
Isaiah 40-66 72
The Prophet(s) of Deutero- and Trito-Isaiah 72
The Outline of Isaiah 40-66 Error! Bookmark not defined.
The Servant Songs Error! Bookmark not defined.
The Teaching of Isaiah 40-55 72
The Message of Isaiah 56-66 73
4.0 CONCLUSION 74
5.0 SUMMARY 74
6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT 74
7.0 REFERENCES/FURTHER READINGS 74
INTRODUCTION
Our interest the last unit (unit one) was on the pre-literary prophets. Some of the pre-literary prophets were mentioned. We discovered that there were more prophets than the Old Testaments contained. We looked at the various groupings of the prophets and then focused our attention on two major prophets of the time - Elijah and Elisha. We also stressed that the criticism of the cult and other institutions in Israel by the prophets was because of the abuse associated with those institutions.
In this unit, we shall concentrate on the one of the major literary prophets in the person of Isaiah.
Our attention will be drawn to the fact of the person and authorship of the oracles, the historical context of the oracles, and the prophetic and theological motifs contained in the oracles.
2.0 OBJECTIVES
At the end of this unit the student should be able to:
65
Identify some of the controversies associated with the authorship of the Book of Isaiah
Evaluate critically the arguments for and against a single authorship of the book
See the possible internal classification of the book with respect literary and theological characteristics
appreciate the socio-political situations when the different oracles in the book were uttered
Discuss the prophetic motifs in the book
Discover the theological import of the book