Prophetic Ministry in the Old Testament: Basic Doctrines

PROPHETIC BOOKS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT.

PROPHETIC BOOKS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT.

The concept of prophets.

In the Hebrew text there are several terms used to designate prophets. The most common of them is “navi” (plural: “naviim”), which is actually translated as “prophet”. One explanation is that the term comes from the Akkadian navu (call) and means “called.” Others derive it from the Hebrew root “nb,” which means “to speak, to communicate.” Consequently, “navi” is a speaker, messenger, orator. More precisely, the meaning of the term “Navi” can be determined based on the texts of Ex. 7 , 1-2 and 4 , 15-16, which says that Aaron will be a prophet of Moses. Consequently, “navi” is not only a preacher, but also a mediator who speaks on behalf of another. The Prophet of the Lord, therefore, is a mediator between God and people, a messenger of the will of God.

In the Greek translation, “navi” is rendered by the term προφητης. This term denoted the priests at the oracle, who translated the oracle’s speech and interpreted it for the people. One of the most famous oracles in Ancient Greece was the Pythia, who, under the influence of intoxicating vapors, spoke on behalf of the gods something in an incomprehensible language, and the priest under the Pythia (προφητης) translated her words.

The Russian term “prophet” emphasizes the role of “navi” as a predictor. In this regard, prophets are sometimes considered only as predictors of the future, which is incorrect. Prophecies about future events occupy a relatively small place in prophetic books, although they are very important. The prophets served among their contemporaries and primarily addressed them in their speeches, paying only secondary attention to their descendants and descriptions of future events.

In addition to “navi”, in the Jewish text there are other names of prophets: “roe” - seer (1 Sam. 9 , 9), “hoze” - seer (Am. 7 , 12), “tzophe” - guardian (Ezek. 3 , 17), “man of God” (lit. “man of God” - “ish Elohim”). The terms “roe” and “joze” indicate the special gift of foresight of the prophets, and “tsophe” - the duty of the prophets to be guardians of the religious and moral life of the chosen people.

Based on the given names of the prophets, they can be characterized as follows: prophets are messengers of God who proclaimed the will of God regarding the present, past and future; as genuine representatives of the true religion, they preserved and preached monotheism, high morality and prepared believers for the coming of the Messiah.

The status of the prophet in society.

The seers belonged to a variety of segments of the population: among them were peasants, like Amos and Micah; priests like Ezekiel; temple diviners like Nahum; the king's close associates, like Isaiah. But all of them, often leaving their usual activities, became heralds of heavenly will. They clearly felt that what was being proclaimed did not come from themselves, but from the Lord.

On the one hand, the position of the prophet in society is quite high. Due to the closeness of the prophets to God, they had a certain authority in Israeli society, and before the establishment of the monarchy, the prophets were the leaders and leaders of the people (Moses, Samuel). Under pious kings, prophets often influenced the religious policy of the state.

But on the other hand, after the establishment and, especially, after the division of the monarchy, antagonism arises between the wicked kings and the prophets. In particular, a typical example is the tragic fate of Jeremiah, who suffered insults, humiliation and persecution. Christ says that the stoning of prophets is a common occurrence (Matt. 23, 34-37).

Books of prophet-writers. Quantity and chronological

The order of the prophetic books.

The prophetic writings are the second most important, after the Law, fundamental basis of the Old Testament. In total, the corpus of prophetic writings includes 20 books, of which 17 are canonical and 3 are non-canonical. The canonical books of the prophets in Russian biblical studies are divided into two parts: great and minor prophets. These names are determined only by the volume of the books, but in no case by the importance of their authors. The great prophets include the books of Isaiah, Jeremiah (Lamentations of Jeremiah are often added to this book), Ezekiel and Daniel. The minor prophets include the books of Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. It is in this order, according to the division into great and minor prophets, that the prophetic writings are located in the Russian Bible. In the Hebrew Bible, most of the prophetic books are found in the Naviim section after the Early Prophets and are called the Later Prophets. This collection consists of 4 books: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and the 12 minor prophets (one book). Two more books are found in the Ketuvim or Scriptures section: the book of Daniel and the Lamentations of Jeremiah. In the LXX translation, the prophetic books are placed at the end, after the teaching ones, with the books of the 12 minor prophets coming first, then the books of the great prophets. Among the non-canonical books, the prophetic books include the books of Baruch, the Epistle of Jeremiah and 3 Esdras.

The chronological sequence of the ministry of the prophet-writers differs significantly from the order of their books in the Bible. We can distinguish 3 periods of prophetism in Israel:

1) Pre-exilic period: a) VIII century: Amos, Hosea, Isaiah, Micah, Jonah;

b) VII – early VI centuries: Jeremiah, Zephaniah, Nahum, Habakkuk.

2) The period of captivity (586 - 538): Ezekiel, Obadiah, Deuteronomy, Daniel.

3) Persian period (538 - IV century): Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, Joel.

BOOK OF THE PROPHET AMOS.

Am. I, 1 – information about the author and the time the book was written is given here. Such basic information is found in almost all prophetic books.

Amos – “burden bearer” (possible etymology of the name).

This prophet was a shepherd. In 7:14 it is said that he collected sycamores (figs). All this indicates the poverty of the prophet. Indirect evidence in favor of the prophet’s humble origins is the failure to mention the name of his father.

Am. 7, 14: “I am not a prophet and not the son of a prophet” - in these words Amos does not deny his own prophetic gift and calling, but says that he does not belong to the category of professional prophets (who received money for their message and were grouped near the royal courts and sanctuaries). Also, he does not come from any prophetic school (similar “schools” were created by the prophet Samuel and the disciples of the prophets were called “sons of the prophets”). It goes on to speak of the immediate and sudden calling of Amos by God: “The Lord took me from the sheep, and the Lord said to me, “Go and prophesy to My people Israel.” (VII, 15).

Tekoa is a village in Judea about 8 km south of Bethlehem. Since this area was located on the very border of arable land, its inhabitants, who consisted mainly of cattle breeders, had to work hard to get everything they needed for life. Thus Amos of Judah is called to the Northern Kingdom and prophesies at Bethel.

Time to serve . Two kings are mentioned: the Judah king Uzziah (790 - 739), since Amos was a Jew by origin, and the Israeli king Jeroboam II (793 - 753), since Amos served in Israel. Earthquake

, which the prophet speaks of, makes it possible to more definitely date the time of Amos' preaching and, accordingly, the time of writing the book. Archaeologists excavating Hazor found that a strong earthquake took place in Palestine in 760 BC. Therefore, the book of Amos was written around 762.

Historical situation.

The Northern Kingdom (Israel) in the first half of the 8th century experienced its last heyday (2 Kings 14 , 23-28). This political rise of Israel took place against the background of the weakening of Egypt and Assyria, which were experiencing internal difficulties. Assyria waged long wars with Urartu and, in addition, suffered from civil strife. Jeroboam II (793–753), the most prominent representative of the Jehu dynasty, returned all the lost areas to Israel and even subjugated Damascus. Together, the territories of Israel and Judah exceeded the territory occupied by Solomon's kingdom. As a result of successful wars, Israel gained control of important trade routes, which also contributed to the enrichment of the king and his courtiers. Israel's capital Samaria was rebuilt and richly decorated. Jeroboam's two residences (summer and winter) were famous for their luxurious decoration. To this day, archaeologists have found in the ruins of Samaria numerous ivory jewelry that Egyptian craftsmen made for the king. However, material wealth not only was not accompanied by spiritual uplift and people’s turning to the Lord, but, on the contrary, revealed many moral illnesses in Israeli society. The rich Israelites were seized by a passion for luxury and sensual pleasures; to satisfy their insatiable desires they resorted to bribery, various kinds of extortion, oppression and oppression of the weak and poor, deception in trade, etc. (2, 6-8 , 5 , 11- 12, 8 , 4-6). At the same time, the attitude towards religion was formal: people thought that the main thing was the fulfillment of the ritual law, and therefore they paid primary attention to the celebration of Saturday and other holidays, made abundant sacrifices, but did not fulfill the moral law, and trampled on justice and truth. Despite such gradual spiritual degradation, unfounded optimism prevailed in the mood of Israeli society: political successes were perceived as the beginning of the near future triumph of Israel over the pagan nations, which will be realized in the “day of Yahweh,” when all pagans will be punished by God and subjugated to Israel.

Book plan.

The book consists of 9 chapters and is divided into three parts:

1. I – II – prophecy about the judgment of the nations.

2. III – VI – judgment of Israel.

3. VII – IX – five visions of the coming judgment and the promise of the preservation of the “remnant”.

BOOK OF THE PROPHET HOSEA.

This book is the first in a series of minor prophets, the largest in volume along with the book of Zechariah (14 chapters). Basic information about the personality of the prophet is found in I, 1.

Name Hosea

Þ(vEHôh – hôšē'a) is translated as “The Lord saved him.”

The expression "Word of the Lord"

characterizes Hosea as a prophet, since one of the types of perception by prophets of the revelation of God is indicated.

Son of Beeriin

- this is either the name of the father or the ancestor. Apparently the family was famous.

From the text of the book it follows that Hosea had a wife and three children, but was unhappy in his family life, since his wife was unfaithful to him.

Place of service - Israel (Northern Kingdom). This conclusion is supported by the following internal evidence from the book:

1) Hosea is well acquainted with the internal life of the Northern Kingdom;

2) the most important cities of the Northern Kingdom are repeatedly mentioned: Samaria, Gilead, Shechem, Gilgal, Bethel;

3) experts point to the northern dialect of the language of the book.

Time of service – 760-725. BC. Determined on the basis of both verse 1 and the entire contents of the book. The inscription indicates 4 kings of Judah who ruled the Southern Kingdom throughout the 8th century (Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah), and at the same time the name of only one Israeli king is given - Jeroboam II, who was a contemporary of only the 1st from the list kings of Judah (Uzziah). Why? Several hypotheses have been proposed to explain this discrepancy:

1) the text of verse 1 is damaged;

2) Hosea recognized only the dynasty of David and did not consider the Israeli kings to be legitimate rulers (III, 5; VIII, 4), especially since after Jeroboam a crisis of power sets in, leapfrog on the throne;

3) The Prophet did not consider the successors of Jeroboam II worthy of mention, since their role in the history of Israel was insignificant.

Since at the beginning of the book Hosea mentions the imminent fall of the dynasty of Jehu (I, 4), the calling of Hosea took place at the end of the reign of Jeroboam II. At the same time, nowhere in the book of Hosea is there any mention of the destruction of Samaria (it is expected) and XII, 1 speaks of attempts to conclude an alliance with Egypt. Therefore, Hosea's prophecies were made before 722 BC.

Historical situation.

The 1st half of the 8th century is the period of the highest rise of Israel politically and economically. However, after the death of the great Jeroboam II, a crisis of royal power began. His son Zechariah rules for six months and is then killed by Sellum. The latter was killed a month later by Menaim, who reigned for 10 years. However, his power was not generally recognized: an autonomous state was formed across the Jordan, led by Pekah. Also at this time, Syria “broke away”. Finally, to strengthen his power, Menaim turned to the Assyrians for support. Meanwhile, in 745, as a result of another coup, Tiglath-palassar III reigned in Assyria, established strict order in the country and began an active policy of conquest, conquering Mesopotamia. Soon, on the initiative of Menaim, Israel becomes a tributary of Assyria. Around 740, the anti-Assyrian party enthroned Pekah, who, together with the Syrian king Rezin, formed an anti-Assyrian bloc. Ahaz, king of Judah, refuses to join this coalition. Therefore, Israel begins a war against Judah. Ahaz turns to Tiglath-palassar III for help, Assyrian troops invade Palestine and Syria. As a result of military operations, the north of Israel and Transjordan were captured, and another coup took place in Samaria. The new king Hosea hastened to recognize the power of Assyria. However, after the death of Tiglath-pileser III in 727, Hosea began negotiations with Egypt. This became known to Shalmaneser V, who besieged Samaria. The siege lasted 3 years and in 722 Samaria fell, the existence of the Israeli kingdom ceased, and most of the inhabitants were resettled to the eastern outskirts of the Assyrian kingdom.

God to Israel (1 – 3).

The main ideas (Israel's unfaithfulness, punishment and mercy) are expressed through symbolic actions performed by Hosea. The prophet, through his personal experience, touches on the mystery of God’s unrequited love for Israel, which is represented in the image of an unfaithful wife, constantly cheating on her husband.

1, 2. There is no unanimity among researchers regarding marriage itself. There are three main views on the marriage of Hosea described here:

1) the entire story of the prophet about his marriage with Gomer is a parable, an allegory (Protestant and Catholic exegetes of the 19th century);

2) the marriage of Hosea took place in a vision, the prophet spiritually experienced the events described (Blessed Jerome, Origenists, Jewish interpreters);

3) the prophet describes real events and his actions, which were symbolic in nature (St. Cyril, Blessed Theodoret, most exegetes of modern times).

The last interpretation seems to be the most acceptable, in favor of which the following arguments are given:

a) The Lord required his prophets to perform such symbolic actions, which might seem strange to people (Isa. 20 , 1-4; Ezek. 4 , 1 – 5 , 4);

b) the name of Hosea's wife ( Gomer

) – ordinary, not symbolic. If a prophet were telling a parable, he would certainly use a symbolic name;

c) The personal life of the prophet could be known to the listeners and therefore, if his fate was different (or he was not married, or was happily married), then such a story could cause bewilderment among the people.

The prophet's real suffering and worries about his wife's infidelity became an inner experience of the soul, thanks to which Hosea's mystical vision was revealed and the prophet came to a deeper understanding of God's love for Israel and to a more effective way of revealing it to the people.

The wife is a harlot and the children are harlots. There are several interpretations of these expressions:

1) Gomer was a cult harlot and took part in the Canaanite pagan fertility cult. In this case, the children of fornication

– premarital children of Gomer other than those whose names are given below.

2) Gomer is called a harlot according to foreknowledge as a future unfaithful wife. In this case, Yahweh’s words mean approximately the following: “go and take yourself a wife who will cheat on you.” In this case, the children of fornication

- these are the same children whose names are given below. They were called so because they were either the children of another father, or (which is more likely) because they were the children of a harlot.

In any case, one can understand the tragedy of Hosea, who initially knew that his wife would cheat on him.

1, 3-4. It says here that the prophet fulfilled the will of God and 3 children were born from his marriage to Gomer. The Lord Himself gives them names, and each name reminds of the broken relationship between God and Israel and indicates the punishments that await Israel.

The first son is named Jezreel. Here the focus is not on the meaning of this name (it is translated as “God sows”), but on its association with the events that occurred in the place of the same name. At Jezreel in 841, Jehu killed kings Jehoram and Ahaziah and killed many other members of the house of Ahab. Although Jehu was fulfilling the command of God given through the prophet Elisha, he nevertheless exceeded his authority and dealt with cruelty even with those who should not have been killed (for example, Ahaziah and his relatives). Moreover, having seized power through bloodshed, Jehu himself did not try to fulfill the commandments of God.

Hosea announces that the dynasty of Jehu, founded on blood, will itself soon fall and be destroyed. This prophecy was fulfilled when Sellum killed Zechariah (and possibly all his relatives, although this is not said).

1, 5. It speaks of the battle in the Jezreel Valley, where Israel will suffer a crushing defeat. Although history books do not talk about such a battle, it is assumed that it was in this valley that the decisive battle took place in the 30s. 8th century between the armies of Phakai and Tiglath-pileser III.

1, 6. Loruhama – “unloved, unmercied.” This name comes from the verb “raham”, which expresses the feelings of tenderness and love that a father and mother feel for a child. The Lord has often shown His mercy to Israel throughout history, but henceforth He will not treat Israel in this way, His attitude towards the chosen people will be reversed.

1, 7. Punishing Israel, the Lord promises to have mercy on Judah, and it is said that the deliverance will be miraculous. These words were fulfilled during the siege of Jerusalem by the troops of the Assyrian king Sennacherib (2 Kings XIX).

1, 8-9. Loammi - “not my people.” There is a contrast to the formula of the ancient Testament: “And I will walk among you and will be your God, and you will be My people” (Lev. 26:12 ). From now on, the covenant between God and Israel is dissolved, so that Israel is deprived of the presence of God, He will no longer be Yahweh for Israel ( Yahweh

– “present”).

1, 10 – 2, 1 . The author's tone suddenly changes. These verses contain a prophecy of the restoration of Israel in the distant future. The reference to the future number of the Israeli people (“like the sand of the sea”) is reminiscent of the promise given to Abraham, which speaks of the renewal of the Covenant. The people who were defeated in Jezreel and called “She who has not obtained mercy,” “Not My people,” will again hear from the mouth of the Lord “My people,” “She who has received mercy.” It speaks of the reunification of Israel and Judah, who will “set themselves one head.” This verse can be correlated with 3 :5, which speaks of the appeal of the children of Israel to David, under whose name the Messiah is depicted. Thus, these words of Hosea were partially fulfilled after the return from captivity, when the descendants of the northern tribes became part of the Jewish community. But here you can also see a prophecy about the Messiah, Who became the Head of all members of the people of God, and a prophecy about the Christian Church, as the Apostle Paul writes about this (Rom. 9 :25-26, also 1 Pet. 2:10).

Sins of Israel.

Already at the very beginning of this section, the prophet indicates what exactly the sins of Israel are. First, the Israelites do not have the necessary virtues. “...the judgment of the Lord is with the inhabitants of this land, because there is neither truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God on earth” ( 4 , 1). Consequently, the guilt of the people of God lies in their deviation from the three foundations of the biblical faith: truth, mercy

and
the knowledge of God
. They contain a call for man to imitate God, who is faithful and just, merciful and holy. Truth is not only moral and social justice, but also loyalty to one’s calling and the Lord. Mercy is not only “mercy”, but also compassion and pity. Knowledge of God is not abstract theology, but living, real communication with God through faith and love.

Secondly, the people are guilty of violating all the commandments in relation to their neighbors; it speaks of the increase in false oaths, deception, murder, theft and adultery (6 – 9 commandments of the Decalogue).

On all the hills where the pagans used to pray, Israel makes sacrifices to idols ( 4 , 13). The prophet Hosea attacks the cult at Dan and Bethel, which he calls Beth Aven (“house of wickedness”). “...they made for themselves cast images from their silver, according to their concept - the complete work of artists - and they say to the people making sacrifices: “Kiss the calves!”” ( 13 , 2). Here we should take into account the fact that initially the calves played the role of cherubim (ark), symbolizing the footstool, the throne of Yahweh. But over time, their cult turned into purely pagan worship of bulls, especially since Baal was often depicted in the form of a bull. So in the book of Hosea, Baalism is not separated from the worship of calves, and it is difficult to determine where Hosea exposes the worship of Baal, and where - the deformed worship of Yahweh.

People think that it is enough to perform magnificent services and make sacrifices. Meanwhile, God expects something else:

Your piety is like the morning mist and like dew that quickly disappears. Therefore I struck through the prophets and smote them with the words of My mouth... For I want mercy, and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings. ( 6 , 4-6)

These last words will be repeated by Christ the Savior when He denounces the hypocrisy of the scribes and Pharisees (Matt. 9, 13).

The prophet especially blames the priests and leaders of the people. The priests are guilty not only of neglecting the commandments and seducing the people, but also of abandoning their duty to teach the people ( 4 :6). Also, Israel set up kings for itself contrary to the will of God ( 8 :4), and now the monarchs are pushing it to destruction. Usurpers are fighting for power, short-sighted politicians are rushing from one extreme to another: they either bow to Assyria, or enter into alliances against it.

Disasters as admonition.

Israel itself is responsible for future disasters; it “sowed the wind and will reap the whirlwind” ( 8 :7). Already in 4 :3, the prophet Hosea announces the judgment of God, which will be expressed in the destruction of all living beings. Here the judgment of the Lord is presented in the form of anti-creation: first people will be destroyed, then animals (“beasts”), birds and fish.

Next, the prophet specifies what exactly the judgment of Israel will consist of. Israel awaits a devastating invasion of the Assyrians and complete defeat and devastation ( 13 , 15 – 14 , 1). It is repeatedly said that Israel will lose its independence (“Assur - he will be its king”; see 11 , 5) and will be taken into captivity, where it will experience numerous hardships ( 9 , 2-4). Israel will, as it were, return to the time when it was a slave in a foreign land. Often the Assyrian captivity is compared with Egyptian slavery ( 7 , 16; 8 , 13). The covenant, the marriage union of God and His people, will be broken. However, Hosea is not limited to these dire prophecies. Disasters will not result in death, but will become heavenly admonitions.

3. Repentance and restoration of the Covenant. All the punishments, all the formidable punishments were only an educational measure. By punishing the faithful, God cannot change His being. And His essence is merciful love: “What will I do with you, Ephraim? How can I betray you, Israel? ... My heart turned in Me, all My pity kindled! I will not do according to the fury of My wrath, I will not destroy Ephraim, for I am God and not man ( 11 :8-9)

The prophet calls on the people: “Turn, O Israel, to the Lord your God” ( 14 :2). Lost Israel will return and be accepted: “I will heal their backsliding, I will love them with good pleasure” ( 14 :5).

Finally, the Lord Himself awaits the conversion of Israel and, as it were, puts into the mouths of the people words that express hope for healing and restoration ( 6 :1-3). It should be noted here that the healing of Israel will be rapid, like the three days recovery of a sick person (literal meaning). However, the prophecy also has a messianic meaning. The Apostle Paul says that Christ “was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Cor. 15 :4). However, only in this place in the Old Testament (along with the type of Jonah) is there a mention of a return to life in three days.

BOOK OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH.

It is the largest prophetic book in volume and the most frequently cited in both the New Testament (more than 60 direct quotations and 40 indirect references) and in theological literature.

Time to serve.

Determined based on the combination Is. 1 , 1 and 6 , 1. The year of the calling of the prophet is quite clearly indicated - this is the year of the death of King Uzziah ( 6 , 1), i.e. 740 BC. At the same time, the last Jewish king contemporary with Isaiah was Hezekiah (729 - 686) and under this king, Isaiah survived the siege of Jerusalem by the Assyrians, which took place in 701. Consequently, Isaiah's ministry ends around 690.

About the death of the prophet

the Bible doesn't say. However, there is a legend that arose in the Jewish environment of the 1st-2nd centuries AD. and subsequently underwent Christian processing. It was already known to Christian writers of the first centuries (Tertullian, Origen, Epiphanius). It tells how in the days of Manasseh the king's servants captured Isaiah and tortured him into recanting the prophecies he had uttered. Because Isaiah remained adamant, he was sawed in half with a wooden saw.

As confirmation, they point out that in 2 Kings. 21:16 speaks of the persecution that Manasseh instituted against the zealots of the true faith. Also in Heb. 11:37 it says that some of the Old Testament righteous were sawn apart. Despite the indirect references given, the historical value of this legend, which many biblical scholars consider an apocrypha (legend), is doubtful.

Historical situation.

The prophet Isaiah was called by the Lord in the year of the death of King Uzziah, during whose reign the “golden age” of Judah occurred. After Uzziah reigns the pious king Jotham, whose rule the sacred author generally approves, except perhaps condemns him for maintaining his heights. After Jotham, one of the most wicked kings in the entire history of Judah, Ahaz, reigns. In Judea, not only the Canaanite cults of Baal and Astarte are being revived, but other foreign religions are also appearing. Temples, altars, high places, and statues of idols are being built throughout Judea and Jerusalem. For some time, sacrifices were made to idols on the territory of the Jerusalem temple, and vessels and other temple objects were also used for idolatry. In the end, on the instructions of Ahaz, the gates of the temple were completely closed and worship services were stopped.

After Ahaz, Hezekiah reigned, who immediately began religious reforms in 715 BC. First of all, Hezekiah cleansed the temple of elements of idolatry, then solemnly celebrated the Passover holiday. After this, a decisive struggle against idolatry began throughout Judea. Images of pagan gods (“statues”) were destroyed and sacred trees associated with the cult of Astarte were cut down. Also for the first time the Yahwist heights were destroyed; Now the only place to worship God was the Jerusalem temple. Finally, Hezekiah even destroyed the copper serpent, which by that time had become an object of worship (2 Kings. 18, 4).

In Jerusalem, Hezekiah again organized a series of priests and Levites who were required to regularly offer the sacrifices established by the law. To support the priests and Levites, Hezekiah demanded tithes. The service was again performed with the singing of psalms and playing musical instruments.

In 705 Sargon II died and Sennacherib ascended the throne. Uprisings began throughout the Assyrian kingdom. Hezekiah perceived this fact as a favorable moment and stopped paying tribute to the Assyrian king. Soon after this, Hezekiah is struck by a fatal illness (2 Kings 20 1-11; Isaiah 38 ), from which the Lord heals him through the prophet Isaiah.

After recovery, Hezekiah began to actively prepare to repel the Assyrian threat. It was to this time that the embassy of the Babylonian ruler Marduk-apla-iddin dates back, who in 703 seized power in Babylon for the second time and in this situation was looking for allies. Hezekiah shows the guests all his wealth and weapons, which indicates his readiness to oppose Assyria along with Marduk-apla-iddin. However, Isaiah, who was a strong opponent of this kind of treaties, openly condemned Hezekiah. Soon after 702, news of the defeat and flight of Marduk-apla-iddin comes to Jerusalem, so that Judea is again left alone in the face of the Assyrian threat. At this time, Hezekiah strengthens the walls of Jerusalem, builds another outer wall and a water supply system.

In 701 Sennacherib led his troops to Palestine. As a result of military operations, many Jewish cities were destroyed, and a large number of inhabitants were taken into captivity. Hezekiah began negotiations for peace. Sennacherib demanded a huge tribute; Hezekiah collected all the riches of Jerusalem and was able to pay what he asked. But the Assyrian king was not satisfied with this, since he wanted to punish the unfaithful Hezekiah and began the siege of Jerusalem.

Despite all the efforts of the Assyrian troops, the capital of Judea did not submit to them, as a miracle happened: in one night a large number of people were defeated in the Assyrian camp. After this, the siege of Jerusalem was lifted and Sennacherib's army left. However, despite the miraculous deliverance of Jerusalem, Judah continued to pay tribute to Assyria and submit to it in all respects.

Composition of the book.

The book of the prophet Isaiah is the work of not just one sacred author, but the spiritual testimony of an entire school founded by Isaiah, the son of Amoz. This is the main conclusion of modern biblical studies. The question of the composition of the book of Isaiah was first raised in the Middle Ages. Until this time, Jewish tradition attributed it to the great Jerusalem prophet of the 8th century (see Sir. XLVIII, 27-28). All Christian interpreters held the same opinion. The first to question the unity of the book of Isaiah was the rabbi-commentator Abraham Ibn Ezra (mid-12th century). Christian writers were the first to put forward a theory about the existence of two authors of the book Doderlein (1775) and Eigorn (1780). This is how the concept of Deuteronomy arose .

The main arguments for dividing the book of Isaiah into two parts can be summarized as follows.

1) Isaiah died 100 years before the destruction of Jerusalem, while the 2nd part of the book was written after the destruction of Jerusalem (LI, 17-23), talking about the future revival of this city (XLIV, 26-28).

2) The 2nd part of the book was written after the destruction of the temple (XLIV, 26-28), the restoration of the temple is expected (LXVI, 1).

3) The general background of the 2nd part of the book is Babylon. The author addresses the Jews living in Babylon (XLIII, 14; XLVIII, 20), speaks of the imminent end of captivity and a new exodus (XL, 1-11; LI, 3, 14), expects the fall of Babylon in the near future (XLIII, 14 -15; XLVIII). At the same time, Assyria, the world power of the 2nd half of the 8th century, which subjugated the entire Middle East in the days of Isaiah, is spoken of only once, and it is mentioned as an oppressor in the past (LII, 4).

4) The Prophet Isaiah took an active part in the political life of his time, was close to the court, and denounced those in power. At the same time, in the 2nd part of the book there are neither these denunciations nor any mention of the kings of Judah.

5) In the 2nd part of the book there is no emphasis on the historical role of the house of David; a different image of the Messiah is presented - not a descendant of David, but a suffering “servant of Yahweh”.

6) The only historical person named in the 2nd part of the book is Cyrus the Great (559 - 530), who captured Babylon and gave the Jews the opportunity to return to their homeland (XLIV, 28 - XLV, 4).

7) While Isaiah of Jerusalem spoke about the disasters that would befall Judah, the 2nd part of the book begins with the message that the time of disasters has passed (XL, 1-2), imbued with optimism.

The theology of both parts of the book ( 1 - 39 and 40 - 66 ) is in many ways similar, as is their language, but the second part reveals a deepening and addition of the teaching of Isaiah the First, in which we find neither the suffering “servant of Yahweh” nor the theme of the New Jerusalem; both are characteristic features of the theology of Second Isaiah.

All the noted features led biblical scholars to the conclusion that the second part of the book (chap. 40 - 66 ) was written not by Isaiah of Jerusalem, but by his follower, who lived during the Captivity. Since the 18th century, it began to be called Deuteroisaiah (the names Deuteroisaiah and Isaiah of Babylonia are also found).

Why were the inspired prophecies of Second Isaiah included in the book of the Jerusalem prophet? Some biblical scholars suggest that he also bore the name Isaiah, so that manuscript collectors identified him with the 8th century prophet. Others believe that the prophet himself chose to remain anonymous for various reasons. But in any case, there is unity of spirit and similarity of style between both prophets. They are united by the main emphasis on the theme of salvation, attitude towards the cult, and close attention to the Messiah as a person. The prophet Isaiah had disciples during his lifetime. Apparently, the author of the second part of the book belonged to this school, which did not disappear after the death of Isaiah.

Supporters of the traditional opinion explain all of the indicated distinctive features of the 2nd part of the book with the prophetic foresight of Isaiah of Jerusalem. But, as one of the modern biblical scholars rightly says, “a prophecy, in the last 16 chapters detailing what was to happen two centuries after it was written, would be unique among prophetic writings, and it is difficult to understand which purpose it might have served for Isaiah’s contemporaries.”[2] In pre-revolutionary times, among Orthodox authors, the theory of Deuteronomy was accepted by such prominent scientists as S. Trubetskoy and B. Turaev.

At the end of the 19th century, the famous Western biblical scholar Doom separated chapters LVI - LXVI into a special section, which he designated as Tritoisaiah

. He recognized this part as heterogeneous, not being the work of a single author. The general background of these chapters is Palestine. It is said that the temple has already been restored (LVI, 5, 7; LX, 7), there are no city walls yet (LX, 10), but their restoration is expected (LXII, 6). On these grounds, it is concluded that the 3rd part of the book of Isaiah was compiled by the disciples of Deuteronomy after the return of the first group of immigrants. However, not all critics share this view, pointing to the unity of the vocabulary of all chapters XL - LXVI, confirmed in 1970 by machine analysis, and some of its differences from the vocabulary of the 1st part of the book of Isaiah. Therefore, many believe that the 3rd part of the book was also written by Deuteronomy, but after returning from captivity, while chapters XL - LV were written by him in Babylon.

Thus, the book of Isaiah is divided into parts as follows:

1) Protoisaiah (I – XXXIX);

2) Second Isaiah (XL – LXVI).

Protoisaiah (I – XXXIX).

The book is an anthology - a collection of individual prophecies pronounced on different occasions, in connection with different events and circumstances, and combined into one book by a post-captivity editor. The chronology in the book is confused. In particular, the calling of the prophet is spoken of only in chapter VI, and not at the beginning.

740 : Chapter VI

740 – 735 : Chapters I – V.

735 – 716 : VII – XII chapter.

716 – 705 : XIV, 24 – XXII ch..

705 – 690 : XXIII, XXVIII – XXXIII chapters.

Finally, a number of chapters do not belong directly to Isaiah; they were composed in the post-exilic era:

a) XIII, 1 – XIV, 23 . The prophecy was probably written around 539, shortly before the fall of Babylon. This is a formidable hymn about the fall of Babylon, a city that embodied the great kingdoms of this world, built on lies and violence. The image of Babylon takes on an even broader meaning in the hymn: it is likened to Satan, who rebelled against God and was cast into the Underworld. Although the prophecy mentions m

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The concept of prophets and the time of their ministry

A characteristic feature that unites all the natures of the Old Testament biblical history is the ministry of the prophets, or the so-called Old Testament prophetism.

Prophet, in Hebrew “navi”, from the verb “navat” - to speak, convey the will of another. “Navi” also corresponds to such concepts as “to be full, to overflow.” These concepts accompany the image of inspired, oratorical speech, freely flowing from the heart of the prophet overflowing with feeling. Prophets are often referred to as “the mouthpieces of Jehovah.” In the same sense, Aaron is also called a prophet, transmitting the commands of the tongue-tied Moses to the people and Pharaoh. “Go... he will be your mouth (your prophet), and you will be to him instead of God” (Ex. 4:16) - the Lord said to Moses.

In Greek, "navi" corresponds to the word "profitis". But it has a narrower meaning - it means a predictor of the future, a seer, a soothsayer. This word was used to describe Greek oracles, priests of pagan religions who thought that they were conveying the will of the gods.

A prophet is a mediator between God and people who reveals to people the divine will concerning either the present moment, or the past, or the future.

The ministry of the prophets runs like a red thread through the entire history of Old Testament humanity. Prophetism is a concept in the light of which one can simultaneously examine both the external course of the main events of biblical history and their internal ideological connection.

The Bible, offering us the history of Old Testament humanity, places emphasis on the issue of communication between the Creator and creation. Revealed religion, as a true religion, certainly presupposes a certain way of interconnection between God and man. Prophetism in the broadest sense of the word embraces all those forms through which God reveals His will to humanity.

In the broad sense of the word, a prophet (“Navi”) in the Bible often refers to the entire God-chosen people to whom the Creator revealed His will and showed special protection and mercy. Israel was supposed to be the mouthpiece, the mediator through which God announced His will to all humanity. In this sense, Israel is called a “nation of prophets,” destined to serve as “a light to enlighten the Gentiles”—people “who sit in darkness and the shadow of death.” But Israel, due to its “cruelty,” was unable to fulfill its high purpose. Because of his sinfulness, he was unable to stand directly before the Face of God; he himself required intermediaries-prophets. In this capacity of mediators, all the Old Testament patriarchs (Adam, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob), all judges, leaders and many pious Jewish kings should be recognized as prophets.

From the moment of the establishment of the Old Testament theocracy, a special period of prophetic ministry begins, understood in a narrower, biblically specific sense of the word. Since the Sinai legislation, Jehovah has become not only God, but also the King of Israel. The founder and leader of the theocracy, the mediator of the Sinai legislation, honored with a special, exclusive closeness to Jehovah - Moses was the greatest of all the Old Testament prophets. Due to the specifics of his ministry, he had no successors among the Old Testament prophets, for he was the prototype, the type of Christ, the Founder of the most perfect New Testament theocracy, or the kingdom of God.

The era from Moses to Samuel is known as the “non-prophetic” era. The Bible says this about this period: “The word of the Lord was rare in those days and visions were not frequent” (1 Samuel 3:1).

Samuel inaugurates a special period of Old Testament prophetism. The internal state of Israel at this time was more than deplorable: the spirit of national unity had disappeared, faith had weakened, and there was a real threat of Israel’s political destruction. At this critical moment, God raised up the prophet Samuel for his people. Samuel and subsequent prophets of this period, thanks to the divine grace that illuminated them and their own efforts, rose high above the general moral level of their people. They deeply comprehended the true meaning of the events taking place and saw the distant future with the eyes of faith. “Anticipating the breath of New Testament grace” (St. Basil the Great), living in the body in the Old Testament, in spirit they were citizens of the New Testament.

In the Bible, prophets are sometimes called differently, for example: 1) “man of God” - this is the name of the prophet who predicted the destruction of his house to the high priest Eli; 2) “seer” - this is how Samuel is called; 3) “seer” - the meaning is the same as seer, i.e. a person who sees the future with the eyes of faith; 4) “guardian of the house of God”: the prophets guarded or protected Israel from spiritual enemies; 5) “angel of God” in the sense of a messenger of the will of God.

The time of the prophets' ministry

Prophetic ministry is internally inextricably linked with theocracy: together they were born at the foot of Sinai, and together they go through the entire independent political history of Israel. If theocracy is the essence of Israel's history, then prophetism is the soul of theocracy. If Moses (c. 1250), as noted above, due to the specifics of his ministry stands apart from the origins of theocracy, then from Samuel the prophetic ministry acquires certain characteristic features (c. 1040).

From this time on, prophetic communities or schools appeared in Israel. Pious Israelis of all kinds and conditions could join them. At the head of each of these communities was some popular prophet, in whose spirit it lived and by whose name it was called. The main task of such a school was to spread the spiritual influence of its prophet and establish his authority among the people. Therefore, prophetic schools were centers of religious and moral life, breeding grounds for theocratic education among the people.

But one should not think that schools trained prophets. Prophets existed before schools and were appointed to this high ministry through a mysterious, grace-filled calling. The disciples of the prophets came out of the schools, having studied the Word of God, singing and music well. These assistants to the prophets, the people's teachers, spread prophetic revelations throughout the kingdom of Israel, fulfilling the command of their teacher.

As is known, the establishment of royal power in Israel was not a godly affair, and in this regard it is interesting to trace the relationship between the prophetic institution and the monarchical one. The establishment of royal power in Israel brings a significant change in the ministry of the prophets. From now on, the ministry of the prophets, among other things, takes on a strictly protective character in relation to the basic principles of the theocratic system. At first, prophetism positively dominated over monarchism. The prophets not only strictly denounced the kings for violating the Law of God, but also powerfully carried out judgment on them, deposed some from the throne and erected others - worthy ones. But soon the situation changed. From the moment of the division of Israel (931) into the Northern and Southern kingdoms, the most crucial period of ministry began for the prophets, associated with constant danger. There is no trace left of true theocracy: the kings live with one thought - to strengthen the political position of their kingdoms. For this purpose, forbidden alliances are concluded with pagan kings and their peoples. The result of this is religious wandering and moral corruption of the people. A particularly heavy burden fell on the prophets of Israel, where the true priesthood was exterminated and forcibly replaced by Jeroboam's priests of the Baal cult. Here the prophets remained almost the only “guardians of the house of Israel.” Researchers call this period the “heroic era of prophetism.”

Most of all, prophecy developed during the period of wicked kings, when the royal power, ready to seduce the people from the true path, had to be opposed to spiritual power that would keep the people from temptation. But the period of prophetic ministry was especially flourishing during the period of Elijah and Elisha (874-790).

However, the influence of the prophets and their disciples was not able to prevent the natural course of history outlined by divine Providence. Both Jewish kingdoms were approaching their inevitable political end. The heralds of this end, its eyewitnesses and predictors of the new messianic kingdom were the so-called prophet-writers.

A characteristic feature of the prophet-writers was not so much their personal intervention in the course of state and public life, but rather their free influence on the souls of people through the spoken and written word, a living and powerful preaching of repentance, combined with gratifying pictures of the future spiritually renewed messianic kingdom.

4 centuries before the coming of the Messiah, the prophecy fell silent.

The last prophet to leave the scriptures was Malachi, after which true prophecy disappeared, and the scribes and Pharisees sat on the great prophetic seat of Moses.

Thus, the ministry of prophets is a specific sign of God's chosen people. Only thanks to the development of prophetism did Israel occupy an exceptional place in world history. Old Testament prophetism represents, as it were, the axis of the religious history of all mankind. Professor M.M. Tareev speaks about the connection between prophetism and the history of Israel: “The Jewish religion is the religion of the prophets. Prophecy expresses the very essence of Jehovah’s religion as a theistic religion, not spontaneously pagan, but rationally human, divine-human” (Prof. M.M. Tareev. “The Old Testament Kingdom and Prophecy.” Christian, 1907, November, p. 536.).

No people in ancient history possessed the treasure that the Jewish chosen people had. This treasure is the revelation of the will of God through the “word” with which the living, personal God guided and instructed His people on the true path.

Teaching of the Prophets

The role of the prophets in the religious development of Israel is extremely great. The Old Testament religion, which presupposes a two-way connection with God of man, had in the person of the prophets those sources through which the Revelation of God was poured out on God's chosen people. The teaching of the prophets consists of three main elements characteristic of the Old Testament religion: monotheism, moralism, and expectation of salvation.

1. Monotheism. For a long time, the Israelites accepted that other peoples might have their own “other” gods. This did not bother them: they called only on Yahweh, the most powerful of the gods, demanding the worship of Him alone. Israel moved from practical henotheism to fully realized strict monotheism under the influence of the preaching of the prophets. The Sinai Revelation of the one God was associated with the establishment of the Covenant, and therefore Yahweh was presented as the God of Israel proper, associated with the Israeli land and sanctuaries. And only from the time of the prophets (Amos, mid-8th century) God is already understood as the Almighty, commanding the forces of nature, undividedly ruling over all people and history. He judges small states and great empires (Am. 1-2), gives them power and takes it away (Jer. 27: 5-8); they serve as an instrument of His punishment (Am. 6:11; Isa. 7:18-20); He also stops them (punishments) when it pleases Him (Is. 10:12). Declaring Israel to be the land of Yahweh (Jer. 7:7), the prophets at the same time predict the destruction of the sanctuary (Mic. 3:12; Jer. 7:12-14), and Ezekiel sees how the glory of Yahweh leaves Jerusalem (Ezek. 10, 18-22; 11, 22-23).

In an effort to protect Israel from pagan cults, the prophets show the falsity and powerlessness of the idols of neighboring peoples. Criticism of idolatry becomes especially acute during the period of captivity. At the same time, solemnly confessing monotheism, the prophets in their speeches emphasized His transcendence (incomprehensibility), transcendence, and holiness. And although God is surrounded by mystery (Isa. 6; Ezek. 1), He is at the same time close to His people and shows His goodness to them.

2. Moralism. The holiness of God is opposed by the depravity of man, and, seeing this contrast, the prophets are especially acutely aware of human sinfulness. This moralism, like monotheism, is not something new: it was already inherent in the 10 commandments. But in the books of the prophets, the theme of sin becomes one of the main ones, and special emphasis is placed on it. Sin separates man from God (Isa. 59:2), offends the righteous (Am.), abundantly merciful (Hos.) and holy God (Isa.). The problem of sin is at the center of Jeremiah's preaching work. It is the rampant evil that causes God's punishment. Since sin is committed by the whole people, it requires collective punishment, but in Jeremiah (31, 29-30) the idea of ​​individual retribution already appears.

It is important to note that preaching purity of life, high morality, the so-called. The "ethical monotheism" of the prophets is based on the Sinai legislation. That is, prophets expand and deepen in the consciousness of the people what God once gave. At the same time, understanding of religious life deepens. We must “seek God,” “follow His laws.” The prophets teach that God requires inner righteousness, inner purity and holiness, and therefore ritualism that is not associated with concern for morality is condemned.

3. Waiting for salvation. Condemning sin and speaking about God's punishment for sins, the prophets (starting with Amos) talk about the special, happy fate of the chosen righteous, called the “remnant.” The “remnant” includes everyone who escaped sin during their lifetime, and directly those who are worthy to live to an era of great happiness. The time will come when the exiles of Israel and the scattered Jews (Isa. 11, 12-13) will return to the Holy Land, and a period of prosperity, material wealth and power will begin. But the main thing is that the coming of the Kingdom of righteousness and holiness will be preceded by the internal conversion of all Jews, God's forgiveness and knowledge of God, bringing peace and joy (Isa. 2, 4; 9, 6; 11, 6-8). To establish His Kingdom on earth, King Yahweh will send His representative, the “anointed one” (“Messiah” - Heb.). Messianic prophecies are the treasure of the Old Testament.

About the purpose of prophetic ministry

The purpose of prophetic ministry was threefold: religious, moral and political.

1. The prophets, first of all, were called upon to support the people's faith in the One God and the coming Messiah and prepare them to accept the latter. In accordance with this purpose, the prophets, orally and in writing, tried to keep the people from idolatry and pointed out its falsity. They also pointed out that to please God, only external ritual actions are not enough, but a heartfelt fulfillment of the Law of God and faith in the Messiah is necessary.

2. The moral purpose of the prophetic ministry is that the prophets monitored the purity of the life of Israel, exposed sin in all its ugliness, called for repentance, and explained the Law of Moses. The best way to achieve success in this area of ​​​​service was their own example of selfless, godly life.

3. The prophets did not ignore the political side of people's life. They tried to reveal to the Jews that they had Jehovah Himself as their King and that they should not do anything in political life without His permission. Due to the close connection between Jews and pagans, prophetic ministry also concerned paganism. Providentially, the influence of the prophets extended to the pagans, since the pagans were also supposed to enter the kingdom of the Messiah. The prophets denounced the pagans for their enmity towards the people of God and turned them to the true path, predicting that they too would receive the promised salvation if they were worthy of it.

The concept of prophetic books and their meaning

In the Holy Scriptures of the Old Testament, the section of prophetic books occupies one of the most significant places. All 16 prophet-writers, according to the volume of their books, are traditionally divided into great and minor prophets (4 great: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel and 12 minor ones: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi).

Prophetic books are such sacred Jewish books in which divinely inspired men recorded Divine Revelations given to the prophets regarding the fate of the kingdom founded by God.

In the Greek, Russian and Slavic Bibles, the prophetic section is placed after the teaching books in the above order with the addition after the book of the prophet Jeremiah of the books: Lamentations of Jeremiah, the Message of Jeremiah and the books of the prophet Baruch (the last 2 non-canonical).

In the European Bible, where all books are divided into 3 sections - Law, Prophets and Scriptures, the prophetic books follow under the heading "Late Prophets" immediately after the "Early Prophets", which includes the books of Joshua, Judges, Ruth and the four books of Kings. The book of the prophet of Denmark is placed here in the section of Scripture (hagiographs).

Although from the total number of prophets we conditionally distinguish the so-called “prophet-writers”, i.e. those to whom, according to the biblical canon, a book belongs, however, this name may not be entirely correctly understood, for it does not accurately reflect the prophetic ministry. The prophet was not a writer, but an orator, a preacher. The prophetic books, in the form in which we now have them, were not known to the contemporaries of the prophets, for the latter could only leave small records of their own experiences, which were later edited either by the disciples of the prophets or by their followers. This idea is confirmed by three main elements clearly visible in the method of presentation of the material. The first is the prophecies themselves - i.e. Words of God Himself or poetic pictures expressing their meaning: proclamation, dire warning, promise. The second is a 1st person narration; the prophet himself speaks of his experience. The third is a 3rd person narration - someone's description of the life, ministry and teachings of the prophet. All these 3 elements are often combined in one book, which indicates a later edition of the book, which included not only the words and writings of the prophet himself, but also something about himself, transmitted by oral tradition.

The significance of prophetic books is great. The significance of the prophetic books, as well as the books of Holy Scripture in general, is based, first of all, on their canonical dignity, i.e. on the conviction that these writings were brought into life not by human will and art, but by the will of God, and therefore everything that is put into them is edifying, useful and saving. Let us highlight 3 main, in our opinion, aspects of the significance of prophetic books: apologetic, moral and historical.

1. Apologetic. Prophetic books prove the existence of God, for they speak about such objects that surpass human wisdom, they predict such events that can only be known to the Supreme Being, who knows the secrets of the future. Ex: prophecies about the birth of Emmanuel from the Virgin, prediction of the 70-year Babylonian captivity, 70 weeks remaining until the coming of the Messiah; suffering of Christ, etc.

2. The moral or educational significance of the prophetic books is based on those many moralizing examples of true faith and virtue (Elijah and the widow of Sarepta; the behavior of the 3 youths in captivity). Sermons of repentance are of great importance, helping to cleanse the soul from sin.

3. Historical significance is given to prophetic books by those evidences that indicate other circumstances of the historical life of Israel, divided kingdoms, and the life of the Jews in captivity. Pictures of the morals and customs of the peoples surrounding Israel are given.

Main subject of prophecies

The central place in the prophetic ministry is the preaching of the coming Messiah. The personality and work of the Messiah are reflected in the prophecies with amazing detail and accuracy. So the prophets predicted that the Messiah would be born of a virgin (Isaiah), that He would be born in Bethlehem (Micah), that He would appear 490 I years after the captivity (Daniel), that He would come from the line of David at the time when the house of David was cut off to the root (Isa.), that He will conclude a New Covenant with Jews and Gentiles (Jeremiah), that He will solemnly enter Jerusalem on a donkey (Zechariah), that He will enter the new 2nd temple built after the Babylonian captivity (Haggai), that He will suffer, die (Isa.), rise from the dead (Hosea) and create a worldwide spiritual kingdom, into which only the worthy will enter (Isa.).

Goals of Modern Prophetic Ministry

Can the Church today do without prophetic ministry? The answer is simple - it can’t .

The goal and task of prophetic ministry is not predicting the future and prophecy. All this is secondary.

The primary purpose of prophetic ministry is to make prophets of the entire Body of Christ.

“I fell at his feet to worship him; but he said to me: see that you do not do this; I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers who have the testimony of Jesus; Worship God; For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”

(Revelation 19:10).

The same applies to all other ministries.

As the Apostle Paul writes:

“And He appointed some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, some to be shepherds and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, until we all come into the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of full stature. Christ's; so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried away by every wind of doctrine, through the craftiness of men, through the cunning art of deception, but through true love we may grow all things into Him who is the head, Christ.”

(Ephesians 4:11-15)

Here we see that God establishes certain types of service and indicates what result is expected from it. Listed here are: the perfecting of the saints, preparation and equipment for service so that the body of Christ is built up (built up), unity of faith and perfect knowledge of Christ, the measure of maturity (reaching the full stature of Christ) - that is, the practical growth of the believer in all its fullness, in spirit, in soul and body.

All of the above qualities are achieved with full functionality of all five ministries. This is not the hierarchy of the Church and not the way to govern it.

I wouldn't look at it as a top-down relationship structure, but as pieces of the same pie. In order for the mechanism to work steadily and for a long time, it needs all the components. Thus, prophetic ministry is one of the important components of the mechanism that works to build the Church.

Dear friends!
Today is a very important day! I hasten to announce that after a while I will be ready to take the book to… Posted by Prophetic Culture on Wednesday, May 30, 2018

In order to teach children music, they are taken to a music school, where they are not only taught performing skills, but also instilled in them a love of music, taught to feel and experience the material they have played. They put thoughts about the vocation of a musician and future concerts in their hearts. And for this, children are taught by adult musicians and teachers who have already achieved success, and only they are able to transfer these skills to children and put the right motivation in their hearts. The same is true with the prophetic ministry. “Judas and Silas, being also prophets, exhorted the brethren with abundant words and strengthened them.”

(Acts 15:32).

For mature prophets, it is more important to see a person mature in all areas of life than to simply give out prophecies. They have the grace to teach people to hear God, love His word and learn to communicate with Him.

They teach people how to interpret dreams received from God and practice the gift of prophecy so that those around them can speak words of edification (building, building), exhortation (calling, proclamation) and comfort. The prophets explain how to understand the images in Scripture, of which there are many. They help shape a person’s character so that he is not extremely mystical, but mystical-practical, and does not break away from ordinary life. They teach us to distinguish our thoughts from the Word of God that comes to us.

Unfortunately, as in any other ministry, there are also plenty of distortions in this area, because a person will always remain a person. Because of this, some decided to abandon the prophetic ministry altogether, which led to proportional imbalances in other areas.

Instead of learning how it should be, people began to criticize what God had given to bless them.

People have become intolerant of the immaturity of some prophets and believe that prophets do not need to study, whereas, according to my calculations, it takes about 20 years to train a minister.

Prophets of our time

There is another problem. Before everyone’s eyes is the image of the Old Testament prophet, dressed in sackcloth and with ashes on his head, who predicts terrible suffering and judgment. While the prophetic ministry of the New Testament is markedly different. Yes, even in the Old Testament, the prophets brought reproof, but they always ended with the fact that God would have mercy and restore. You always need to understand that the prophetic ministry of the Old Testament led to Christ, and the prophetic ministry of the New Testament teaches us to live with Christ! This completely changes the context and motivation behind this gift.

Because they do not know the heart of God, many people take out their fantasies on people and condemn their own vices in others. From their wounded heart comes pain, judgment and chastisement. While God will not break a bruised reed and will not quench the smoking flax.

It is easy to condemn a sinner, but who can see in him the potential for God's righteousness? At church councils, those who have sinned are sorted out, but who will collect them?

Prophetic ministry has the power to restore, it draws people's hearts to God.

And finally, one thought about the threefold grace of prophetic ministry. The ancients predicted that Elijah the prophet was to come and prepare everything for the coming of Christ. John the Baptist came, and Christ himself calls him the greatest of the prophets. Subsequently, Jesus indicates that Elijah came, but was not recognized, pointing to John the Baptist. During his lifetime, John the Baptist did not prophesy at all (in the sense as we are accustomed to understanding it); he quoted another prophet. Isaiah 40:3-5: “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert the paths of our God; Let every valley be filled, and every mountain and hill be made low, the crooked places made straight, and the rough paths made smooth; and the glory of the Lord will appear, and all flesh will see the salvation of God; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it

«.

Prophetic ministry prepares a way for God in the hearts of people. This ministry has the grace of straightening crooked places and straightening crooked paths.

Alexander Steinhardt, Prophetic Culture Ministry

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Do what you must... Ahab reigned in the kingdom of Israel and took as his wife the daughter of the king of Sidon named Jezebel. This opens a completely new page in the history of both the kingdom of Israel and the biblical narrative. The people of the kingdom of Israel, following the example of Jezebel, deviate into idolatry, and the servants of Baal and Ashtoreth, the priests live comfortably here and therefore come in large numbers. The deviation of the Kingdom of Israel reaches a critical level when the question of the future fate of the Kingdom of Israel is actually raised.

For those who read the Bible, the story of King Ahab also reveals a completely unusual story of the life of the prophet Elijah - an amazing man, so special among other prophets that the Holy Scripture makes him a model: just as King David is a model of a king, so the prophet Elijah is a model of a prophet.

And it is not by chance that they say about John the Baptist that he will be like Elijah in everything. As the holy fathers and interpreters of the Holy Scriptures say, in the last days of the world it is the prophet Elijah who will come to earth to the Jewish people to testify to them for the last time about the truth and call them to repentance. And, as the Holy Scripture testifies, a significant part of the Jewish people will believe the words of the prophet and turn to God, that is, in the context of the final destinies of the world, to Christ. But we are getting ahead of ourselves.

Before talking about the prophet Elijah, it is necessary to say at least a few words about the prophetic ministry. It occupies a very important place in the Old Testament precisely from the time of the prophet Elijah (this does not mean that there were no prophets before him - there were, they are mentioned in the Bible, but such an influence on the destinies of the kingdom and people, from the point of view of messianic prophecies, the prophets begin to play precisely from the prophet Elijah).

We must clearly understand that the prophet of the Bible is not a predictor in our understanding of the word, not a clairvoyant who predicts the future. The main role of the biblical prophet is the revelation of the will of God, testimony about God in a specific historical reality, in a specific everyday story, at a specific point in history, time, space. His task is to say what the will of God is, what God wants, what He has planned, what He wants from man. And, of course, such evidence of the will of God is especially necessary when the people strongly depart from God. And when people, a people, a society, a city, a family live according to the will of God, when they fulfill the commandments of God, prophetic ministry is not necessary - even if there are people gifted, anointed by God, they do not prophesy, there is no need for it. The very meaning of the prophet and the will of God proclaimed through him become clear only when the people retreat from God and it is necessary to return them to the path of God, or at least to keep those who, among all temptations and temptations, are still trying to honor God. Then, to confirm the words of the prophets, God gives them grace in the power to testify to the way of God - in the power of their words and such signs, so that it becomes obvious: the prophet really gives the testimony of God, and it is impossible to resist this testimony. This is the most important meaning of prophetic ministry. It is clear that only a person whom God Himself brought close to Himself and chose for this service can be such a prophet.

If God willing, someday we will talk with you specifically about the prophetic Books, and we will see that each of the great prophets (and even the small ones, about whom are not always described in detail) was called by God through some special action. Man truly came into contact with Divine grace and received the gift of hearing the words of God. There is such a poetic image - “as if God spoke into the ear” of this prophet, and the prophet retold the words to the whole people.

And since all the troubles of the world - and the prophets know this, unlike very many - have sin as their main root, according to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the prophets testify that sin is to blame for everything.

Naturally, every time a prophecy begins, having as its basis a specific historical situation, but almost always goes back to the messianic prophecies, to the testimony of the Messiah, of Christ, of the One who, having come, will deliver man from the curse of being a sinner, from the inability to serve God.

This part of the prophetic ministry appears with particular force in the Books of the great prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah and the prophet Ezekiel. In the prophets mentioned in the Book of Kings this is not revealed with such force. The Book of Kings mentions several prophets, two of them are extremely famous, their great deeds are known - the prophets Elijah and Elisha. They are very well known among our people, their memory is revered, their names are heard, unlike the prophets who left their writings in the corpus of the Books of the Old Testament, such as Isaiah, Jeremiah and other minor prophets. So, the prophets Elijah and Elisha performed many miracles, it is written about them in the Books, but we do not know what they wrote. We don't even know if they wrote anything at all. In any case, God’s Providence did not preserve their writings for us. Although there were a lot of disciples around them, something like a community, and, undoubtedly, there were people who wrote down something (once the accounts of their deeds and the miracles they performed were included in the corpus of the Books of the Old Testament). But their own writings did not reach us and were not included in the corpus of the Books of the Old Testament.

And there are other prophets about whose lives we know relatively little (for example, about the life of the prophet Ezekiel), but we know and study their writings, and they are of great importance for understanding how the Old Testament and the Israeli people lived, what they hoped for and for what was punished.

The testimonies of these prophets are in many ways still very significant to the fundamental points of our faith.

MINOR PROPHETS

The oldest evidence of the text of M. p. in ancient Hebrew. language are manuscripts found in Qumran and Wadi Murabbaat (dating from the 2nd century BC to the 2nd century AD). Among them are the actual lists of the biblical text of M. p., as well as various works that contain quotes from this book. The total number of biblical copies is not precisely established, since there are many. the manuscripts were preserved in the form of small fragments, so it is impossible to establish whether they were lists of M. p.’s books or exegetical works containing only quotations from them (see review in: Weissenberg. 2012. P. 357-376).

The lists of M. books include, first of all, several. scrolls from the 4th Qumran. caves, the text of which was published in 1997 (Fuller. 1997. P. 221-318. Pl. XL-LXIV), as well as a scroll from Wadi Murabbaat, published in 1961 (Milik. 1961. P. 181-205. Pl. LVI-LXXIII).

1. Scroll 4QXIIa (4Q76). Preserved in 23 fragments, which contain the following text passages: Zechariah 14.18; Small 2. 10-14; 2. 15-3. 4; 3. 5-14; 3. 14-24; Jonah 1. 1-5, 7-8; 1. 9-10; 1. 16-2. 1; 2.7; 3. 2. Based on the handwriting, the list is dated to 150-125. BC; it is probably the oldest list of the book of M. p. It differs in a different order of biblical books compared to MT: the last place in it is occupied not by the Book of Malachi, but by the Book of Jonah. Spelling is close to MT.

2. Scroll 4QXIIb (4Q77). Preserved in 6 fragments, which contain the following text passages: Soph 1. 1-2; 2. 13-15; 3. 19-20; Agg 1. 1-2; 2. 2-4. Based on the handwriting, it dates back to 150-125. BC Spelling is close to MT.

3. Scroll 4QXIIc (4Q78). Preserved in the form of 50 fragments, which contain the following text passages: Hos 2. 13-15; 3. 2-4; 4. 1-5. 1; 13. 3-10; 13. 15-14. 6; Joel 1. 10-2. 1; 2. 8-10; 2. 10-23; 4. 6-21; Am 2. 11-3. 7; 3. 8-4. 2; 6. 13-7. 16; Sof 2. 15-3. 2. Based on the characteristics of the handwriting, it dates back to ca. 75 BC. It is distinguished by a special spelling, similar to that inherent in the plural. Qumran. texts (1QS, 1QIsaa, etc.): the letter “vav” is widely used to denote the vowels “o” and “u”, including in closed unstressed syllables.

4. Fragment of an unknown Qumran. manuscript containing the passage Mal 3.6-7. Previously considered fragment No. 35 of Qumran. scroll 4QXIIc.

5. Scroll 4QXIId (4Q79). Preserved in the form of 2 fragments, which contain (with gaps) the text of Hos. 1. 6-2. 5. Based on the handwriting, it dates back to the end. 1st half I century BC

6. Scroll 4QXIIe (4Q80). Preserved in the form of 25 fragments, which contain the following text passages: Agg 2. 18-2; Zech 1. 4-6, 9-10, 13-14; 2. 10-14; 3. 2-10; 4. 1-4; 5. 8-11; 6. 1-5; 8. 2-4, 6-7; 12. 7-12. According to the features of the handwriting, it dates back to 75-50. BC Spelling and text are close to MT.

7. Scroll 4QXIIf (4Q81). Preserved in the form of 5 fragments, which contain (with gaps) text excerpts from the books: Jonah 1.6-8, 10-16 and Micah 5.1-2. Based on the handwriting it is dated to ca. 50 BC

Fragment of scroll 4Q79. I century BC (Israel Museum, Jerusalem) Fragment of scroll 4Q79. I century BC (Israel Museum, Jerusalem) 8. Scroll 4QXIIg (4Q82). Preserved in the form of 249 fragments, which contain the following text passages: Os 2. 1-5, 14-19, 22-25; 3. 1-5; 4. 1, 10-11, 13-14; 6. 3-4, 8-11; 7. 1, 13-16; 8. 1; 9. 1-4, 9-17; 10. 1-14; 11. 2-11; 12.1-15; 13. 1, 6-8 (?), 11-13; 14. 9-10; Joel 1. 12-14; 2. 2-13; 4. 4-9, 11-14, 17, 19-20; Am 1.3-15; 2. 1, 7-9, 15-16; 3. 1-2; 4. 4-9; 5. 1-2, 9-18; 6. 1-4, 6-14; 7. 1, 7-12, 14-17; 8. 1-5, 11-14; 9. 1, 6, 14-15; Avd 1. 1-5, 8-12, 14-15; Jonah 1. 1-9; 2. 3-11; 3. 1-3; 4. 5-11; Micah 1.7, 12-15; 2. 3-4; 3.12; 4. 1-2; 5. 6-7; 7. 2-3, 20; Nahum 1.7-9; 2. 9-11; 31-3, 17; Hab 2.4 (?); Soph 3. 3-5; Zech 10. 11-12; 11. 1-2; 12. 1-3. Dated last. third I century BC. The text of the scroll contains a larger number of matres lectionis than the MT, in some cases containing signs of a special Qumran. spelling (suffix "" instead of "", 2 times affix "" instead of "").

9. Scroll Mur XII (Mur 88). Contains the text of the following passages from the books of M. p.: Joel 2.20; 2.26-4. 16; Am 1.5-2. 1; 7. 3-8. 7; 8. 11-9. 15; Avd 1. 1-21; Jonah 1. 1-4. eleven; Mic 1. 1-6. 7; 6. 11-7. 18; Nahum 1. 1-3. 19; Hab 1. 3-2. eleven; 2. 18-3. 19; Sof 1. 1; 1. 11-3. 6, 8-20; Agg 1. 1-2. 10; 2. 12-23; Zech 1. 1-4. Dated to the beginning - 1st half. II century according to R.H. The spelling and text are close to MT, so it is considered the most important evidence of the proto-Masoretic text of M. p.

In addition, the following manuscripts are small fragments of individual books of M. p.: unpublished Ms Schøyen 4612/1 (50-100 AD, fragments of the text of Joel 4. 1-4, publication scheduled for 2021) , 4Q168 (or 4QpMi; 30 BC - 20 AD, fragments of Mic 4. 8-12; see Allegro. 1968. P. 36. Pl. XII); 5QAmos (or 5Q4; fragments Am 1. 2-5; see Milik. 1962. P. 173-174).

There is a debate in the scientific community about which of the mentioned scrolls contained the full text of the M. p. The publisher of texts from the 4th cave, R. Fuller (Fuller. 1996. P. 86-101) believed that all the scrolls discovered in it, and also MurXII initially contained the complete collection of books of the M. p. According to E. Tov (Tov. 2004. P. 79), the complete text of the M. p. contained only scrolls 4QXIIb, 4QXIIg and MurXII. J. Brooke (2006. P. 33-34) in turn suggested that the copies of the Book of the Twelve were scrolls 4QXIIb, 4QXIIc, 4QXIIg, 4QXIIe, MurXII and, possibly, 4QXIId. F. Guillaume is the most skeptical about the state of the sources (Guillaume. 2007. P. 2-12). In his opinion, none of the scrolls from the 4th cave can be considered a copy of the Book of the Twelve; only MurXII is such.

Fragment of scroll 4Q166. I century BC (Israel Museum, Jerusalem)

Fragment of scroll 4Q166. I century BC (Israel Museum, Jerusalem) Important evidence from ancient Hebrew. texts of M. p. are also Qumran. interpretations (pesharim) on individual books included in the M. p., in particular Hosea (4QpHosa (or 4Q166; quotation from Hos. 2. 8-14; see: Allegro. 1968. P. 31-32. Pl. X ) and 4QpHosb (or 4Q167; quotes from Os 5. 13-15; 6. 2-4, 7, 9-11; 7. 10-11; 8. 6-8, 13-14; see: Allegro. 1968 . P. 32-36. Pl. X)), Micah (1QpMi or 1Q14; quotes from Micah 1. 2-6, 8-9; 6. 15-16; 7. 6(?); see: Milik. 1955. P. 77-80. Pl. XV), Nahum (or 4Q169; quotes from Nahum 1. 3-6; 2. 12-14; 3. 1-12, 14(?); see: Allegro. 1968 . P. 37-42. Pl. XII-XIV), Habakkuk (1QpHab, quoted Hab 1. 2-2. 20; see: Burrows. 1950. Pl. LV-LXI), Zephaniah (1QpZeph (or 1Q15; quotes from Soph 1. 18; 2. 1-2; see: Milik. 1955. P. 80. Pl. XV) and 4QpZeph (or 4Q170; quote from Soph 1. 12-13; see: Allegro. 1968. P 42. Pl. XIV)).

The oldest Masoretic manuscripts of the M. p. date back to the 9th-11th centuries. according to R.H. The most important evidence of MT are the manuscripts, which contained the full text of the Bible: the Leningrad Codex (B19a; 1009) and the Aleppo Codex (925), as well as several. codes of prophetic books: Cairo (896), St. Petersburg (Heb B 3; vocalized in accordance with the Babylonian system; 916), New York (ENA 346 = JTS 232, 10th century, absent in the text of the M. books of Amos, Jonah, Obadiah, Malachi, as well as fragments of Joel 4. 8-21; Micah 1. 1-5. 5; Hab 3. 12-19; ​​Zeph 1. 1-3. 19; Zech 1. 16-14 . 20).

Critical edition of ancient Hebrew. text M. p.: Gelston. 2010. Synopsis of the most important textual evidence from Qumran, Wadi Murabbaat, MT, LXX and 8Hev XII gr: Ego, Lange, Lichtenberger, Troyer. 2005.

Pavel Evgenievich Mikhalitsyn, Vyacheslav Vladimirovich Nesterenko

Reading the Prophetic Books of the Old Testament

© Andrey Ivchenko, photographs, 2011

© DepositPhotos.com / Olena Buyskykh, Brigida Soriano, cover, 2014

© Book Club “Family Leisure Club”, edition in Russian, 2014

© Book Club “Family Leisure Club”, artistic design, 2014

© Book Club “Family Leisure Club” LLC, Belgorod, 2014

Introduction

Almost every person at least once in his life held the Bible in his hands or tried to read at least a few lines from this book. The authors have made an attempt to highlight in the popular presentation some aspects that may be unknown to a wide range of readers. Before starting the actual presentation of the material, a few words should be said about the basic principles of its arrangement in our work. The biblical text is presented and analyzed in accordance with the traditional division of the Holy Scriptures into semantic sections. At the same time, the authors used the canonical books of the Old Testament in their work[1].

The background to the formation of the canonical tradition of dividing the books of the Bible into semantic sections is as follows. In ancient times, the Old Testament was divided into three main parts: the Law, the Prophets and the Scriptures, in Hebrew: Torah, Nebiim and Ketubim (hence the abbreviated name of the Old Testament - Tanakh)[2]. The Russian Synodal translation (1876) presents slightly different book arrangements and section titles. The law is called the Pentateuch (

Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy);
The section of the Prophets is divided into two parts, the first of which is called Historical (
Book of Joshua, Book of Judges, Book of Ruth, Four Books of Kings, Two Books of Chronicles, Book of Ezra, Book of Nehemiah and Book of Esther), and the second is called
Prophetic
(Great Prophets: Isaiah , Jeremiah and the Book of Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel; Minor prophets: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi) books.
The Scriptures are usually called Teaching
books (Book of Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs).
The New Testament has a similar division:
The four Gospels
are lawful
the Book of Acts is considered
historical the Teaching Epistles
are the Council Epistles of the Apostles and the Epistles of the Apostle Paul, and
the Prophetic
is called the Apocalypse (Revelation) of the Apostle John the Theologian. In our work, we followed the division of biblical books adopted in the Russian Synodal translation.

Chapter 1. What are Prophetic Books

The text of the book presented to the attention of readers cannot be considered strictly scientific; rather, in its nature it is closer to a journalistic style. Nevertheless, the authors considered it quite appropriate to provide the text with brief scientific explanations, where necessary, for a better understanding of the meaning of the material presented.

The last section of the canon of Holy Scripture of the Old Testament consists of the Prophetic Books[3]. According to Archpriest Alexander Men, they “are the second most important, after the Law, the fundamental basis of the Old Testament”[4]. All 16 prophet-writers, according to the volume of their books, are traditionally divided into Great and Lesser Prophets (4 Great: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel - and 12 Lesser: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi).

“Prophetic books are such sacred Jewish books in which divinely inspired men recorded Divine Revelations given to the prophets regarding the fate of the kingdom founded by God.”[5].

In the Greek, Russian and Slavic Bibles, the prophetic section is placed after the Teaching Books in the above order, with the addition after the book of the prophet Jeremiah of the books: Lamentations of Jeremiah, the Epistle of Jeremiah and the Books of the Prophet Baruch (the last two non-canonical).

In the Hebrew Bible, where all the books are divided into 3 sections - Law, Prophets and Scriptures, the Prophetic Books follow under the heading " Nebiim Aharonim"

” (“The Later Prophets”) immediately follows the “Early Prophets,” which includes the books of Joshua, Judges, Ruth, and the four Books of Kings. The book of the prophet Daniel is placed here in the Scriptures section.

Although from the total number of prophets we conditionally distinguish the so-called “prophet-writers,” that is, those to whom, according to the biblical canon, a book belongs, this name may not be very correctly understood, because it does not accurately reflect the prophetic ministry. The prophet was not a writer, but an orator, a preacher. The prophetic books in the form in which we now have them were not known to the contemporaries of the prophets, for the latter could only leave small records of their own experiences, which were later edited either by the disciples of the prophets or by their followers. This idea is confirmed by three main elements clearly visible in the method of presentation of the material. The first is the prophecy itself, i.e. the Words of God Himself or poetic pictures expressing their meaning: proclamation, dire warning, promise. The second is a 1st person narration - the prophet himself speaks about his experience. The third is a 3rd person narration - someone's description of the life, ministry and teachings of the prophet. All three of these elements are often combined in one book, which indicates a later edition of the book, which included not only the words and writings of the prophet himself, but also something about himself transmitted by oral tradition.

return 1

The Greek word “kanon” (associated with or - reed; cf. Hebrew (kane) - reed or stick) primarily means a straight rod. In its broadest sense, it is a criterion or standard (in Latin norma) by which one can determine the correctness of opinions or actions. Quote by: Metzger B.M. Canon of the New Testament / Trans. from English (Series “Modern Biblical Studies”). 5th ed. M.: Biblical and Theological Institute of St. Apostle Andrew, 2006. P. 283. The canon of the Bible (or canonical books) is a set of books that the Church recognizes as sacred and divinely inspired. Non-canonical books are books by Jews of the Diaspora (dispersion), that is, those who lived outside Palestine, not included in the Yamna canon. (At the end of the 1st century AD, in the Palestinian city of Jamnia, the rabbis, after much debate, approved the composition of the Educational Books (Ketubim). From that moment on, the entire canon included, by convention, 22 books (in accordance with the number of letters of the Hebrew alphabet). The conditional number was achieved by counting the books of Ruth and Judges, Jeremiah and Lamentations, Ezra and Nehemiah as one, since they were either originally written in Greek or had already lost their Hebrew originals by the time of Christ.

return 2

Quoted from: Men A., prot. Isagogy. Course on the study of the Holy Scriptures. Old Testament. M.: A. Men Foundation, 2000. P. 26–27.

return 3

A significant part of the section “Prophetic books of the Old Testament” is cited from: Sergius (Sokolov), bishop. Holy Scripture of the Old Testament. Prophetic books. Sergiev Posad, 1996.

return 4

Men A., prot. Isagogy. Course on the study of the Holy Scriptures. Old Testament. M.: A. Men Foundation, 2000. P. 311.

return 5

Sergius (Sokolov), bishop. Holy Scripture of the Old Testament. Prophetic books. Sergiev Posad, 1996. P. 13.

Old Testament prophetic schools. Part 1

Biblical-historical study

Prophetic schools are found in the historical books of the Old Testament mainly under two names: “the hosts of the prophets” and “the sons of the prophets.” We are unlikely to be mistaken in saying that when reading the Bible with these names, no definite ideas arise; If, however, when any ideas arise, they are completely arbitrary, and when tested scientifically, they sometimes completely change, almost into the opposite. But at the same time, one feels instinctively that by “hosts of the prophets” and “sons of the prophets” we mean not insignificant and not random biblical-historical facts, but facts that are very characteristic of the entire history of biblical Jewry, which left their mark on its religious and moral physiognomy, especially at some moments of Old Testament history, facts, especially characteristic of the greatest and highest phenomenon of the Old Testament - for Old Testament prophecy. For the history and characteristics of Old Testament prophecy, the prophetic schools seem especially important because they appear during the periods of the most intense activity of the greatest prophets, “in the heroic era of Old Testament prophetism,” as one German researcher puts it. But all this historical significance, as well as the external form of the institution, is presented to the reader of the Bible in the most vague and indistinct outlines. This, in any case, undesirable phenomenon is due to the fact that the only source from which one can obtain any information about the prophetic schools, the Bible, provides too little material for judging the named institute and for its scientific research. Historical books, sometimes outlining in some detail the external history of Israel and the deeds of its kings, touch too briefly on the religious and moral state of the people in one or another period of its history, sometimes limiting themselves to the remark that such and such a king did something objectionable in the eyes of the Lord. Historical books speak about prophetic schools only when they enter the arena of the external political life of the people, and they speak about them insofar as their life and activities relate to the general political life. There is no special speech about prophetic schools themselves in the Bible. About the internal character of the prophetic schools, their external organization, the activities of the “sons of the prophets”, about the goals and objectives they set for themselves, about the ways and means adopted to achieve these goals and objectives - the Bible, as if involuntarily letting it slip, drops all this - and even then very rarely - completely insignificant comments in two or three words. With this position of the primary source, it is clear that vast scope opens up for endless assumptions and fortune-telling, most of which can neither be accepted due to a lack of positive authorities, nor rejected due to the same lack of negative authorities.

If scientific research should not consist only of assumptions and fortune-telling, then, obviously, the question of prophetic schools cannot have a strictly scientific formulation and cannot receive an indisputably scientific solution. Is this why this question does not attract the attention of scientific researchers of the Bible and biblical history? There is not a single major monograph on prophetic schools even in German scientific literature - an unusual phenomenon for German science.[1] The lack of monographs, of course, cannot be compensated for by what is available in other studies on related issues. Various remarks about prophetic schools are scattered throughout countless “histories of the people of Israel,” “biblical commentaries,” and “theological encyclopedias.”[2] More attention is paid to prophetic schools in monographs devoted to biblical prophetism in general.[3] But the comments of scientific researchers are often arbitrary and very contradictory. The first should especially be said about the works of those Western scientists who take as their point of departure all the results of rationalistic biblical hypercriticism and read the Bible printed not on plain white paper, but a multi-colored, rainbow Bible (Regenbogen-Bibel).[4] The harmonious and consistent constructions of such scientists turn out to be hanging in the air for those who doubt the usefulness of hypercriticism and are distrustful of its results.

In this article we do not at all pretend to have any scientific solution to the issue. No, our task is much more modest. We would like, without forgetting scientific works, to present in a concise outline what can be known about the history and organization of the prophetic schools from the Bible and how, in accordance with biblical data, one can imagine these wonderful institutions of Old Testament Jewry. In our opinion, even a brief reminder of the prophetic schools at the present time can have not only scientific, but also vital and practical significance, about which we will say a few words at the conclusion of the article.

1

BRIEF HISTORICAL INFORMATION ABOUT PROPHETIC SCHOOLS

We find the first news of prophetic schools in the narrative of the 1st book of Samuel about Samuel and Saul. Samuel, having anointed Saul as king, gives him a sign that the Lord has anointed him king over His inheritance. By the way, one sign was as follows. After this, Samuel said, how you will come to the hill of God (hibat elohim), where the Philistine guards are... and when you enter the city there, you will meet a host of prophets (hebel nebiim) descending from on high, and before them is a psalter and a tympanum and a pipe and harps, and they prophesy (mitnabin); and the Spirit of the Lord will come upon you, and you will prophesy (hitnabita) with them and you will become a different person (1 Samuel 10:1:5-6). Samuel's prediction came true. When Saul came to the hill, he met a company of prophets, and the Spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied among them. All those who knew him yesterday and the day before, seeing that he was prophesying with the prophets, said among the people to each other: what has become of the son of Kisov? is Saul also among the prophets? And one of those who were there answered and said: Who is the father of these? Therefore, it became a proverb: “Is Saul also among the prophets” (1 Sam. 10, 10-12). Another time we encounter a prophetic host in the history of the persecutions of Saul and David. They told Saul, saying, “Behold David is in Nabath in Ramah.” And Saul sent servants to take David, and when they saw a host of prophets prophesying and Samuel ruling over them, the Spirit of God came upon Saul’s servants, and they began to prophesy. They reported this to Saul, and he sent other servants, but these also began to prophesy. Then Saul sent third servants, and these began to prophesy. ...Saul himself went to Ramah, and came to the great spring that is in Sepha, and asked, saying: Where are Samuel and David? And they said: here in Nawaf, in Ramah. And he went there to Nawath in Ramah, and the Spirit of God came upon him, and he went and prophesied until he came to Nawath in Ramah. And he also took off his clothes, and prophesied before Samuel, and all that day and all that night he lay naked; Therefore they say: “Is Saul also among the prophets” (banebiim) (1 Sam. 19, 19-24)? In the above words we have the first biblical evidence of two hosts of prophets: one met Saul near the “hill of God.” By this hill we mean the hill on which the city of Gibeah was located, mentioned a little lower (see: 1 Kings 10, 26).[5] In the Russian translation of the Bible, the proper name Gibeah is translated as “hill of God.” Another case dates back to the last days of Samuel's life, and in this case we see a more organized host of prophets, led by Samuel and who had a permanent residence in Ramah, north of Jerusalem, in the tribe of Benjamin.[6]

But does the first mention of prophetic schools in the Bible coincide with their actual historical beginning? Did prophetic schools appear only under Samuel, or did they exist before him? Most learned researchers accept that the establishment and founding of these schools is due to the initiative of Samuel. Before the time of Samuel, there were no prophetic schools, and therefore they are not mentioned anywhere; In addition, in the 1st book of Kings (3:1) it is noted: The Word of the Lord was rare in those days, and visions... were not frequent. This remark allegedly indicates that during the period of the judges there were no prophetic schools. But, in any case, there are no sufficient grounds to decisively reject the existence of prophetic schools in one form or another before the life and work of the prophet Samuel. If the Bible does not say anywhere about the existence of prophetic hosts in pre-Samuel times, then it should be noted that the Bible does not say a word about the fact that Samuel founded these prophetic institutions. In the Bible, the prophetic hosts appear without any prefaces; nothing is said about their emergence, but it is said about their activities as already existing institutions. True, the Bible says that the word of God was rare during the period of the judges and visions were not frequent (see: 1 Samuel 3:1), but still the word of the Lord and visions were, although not often. The providence of God has always been vigilant over the destinies of the chosen people; The activity of God’s Providence did not cease even during the times of the judges, which are considered to be particularly dark times. The Lord raised up judges who saved Jews from the hands of their robbers (see: Judges 2, 16, 18), on whom, according to the Bible, was the Spirit of the Lord (see: Judges 3, 9–10), who sometimes had the gift prophecies (see: Judges 4, 4). Sometimes the Lord sent His prophets, who preached the word of God (see: Judges 6, 8–10). The Bible sometimes calls these prophets at that time “people of God” (see: 1 Samuel 2, 27–36; cf.: 2 Chronicles 25, 7, 9) and the Angels of the Lord (see: Judges 2, 1–4 ). Jehovah spoke through Moses: I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brothers, and I will put My words in His mouth, and He will tell them everything that I command Him (Deut. 18:18). If here one can see in the prophet the collective concept of prophecy, and the previous verses give full right to this (see: Deut. 18, 10, 14–15), then it should be assumed that the word of Jehovah was fulfilled during the time of the judges. Moreover, the words of 1 Sam. 3:1 speak of the rarity of prophets, and prophets and prophetic hosts are, as we will see below, not the same thing. Some, placing the emergence of prophetic schools in close connection with the needs of the time, object to their early existence, as if there was no special need for their existence before the time of Samuel. Only under Samuel, at the request of the special and exceptional circumstances of the time, whole hosts of prophets were raised up by God.[7] But it is in vain to look at the hosts or schools of the prophets as special messengers of God, as the prophets were, and to see their entire essence in external activities, without thinking about their internal life. As “hosts” of pious people, zealots not only of public piety, but also of personal one above all, prophetic hosts are natural and necessary at all times and under all kinds of historical circumstances. Historical circumstances that had changed for the worse could only induce self-imprisoned prophetic “hosts” to enter the arena of public activity; this statement is deposited in the Bible without any notes about their early existence.

Circumstances have indeed changed. The Jewish people entered a new phase of state life. All the elders of Israel gathered and came to Samuel in Ramah and said to him: ... set a king over us so that he judges us like other nations (1 Samuel 8:4-5). The Law of Moses did not exclude this form of state life (see: Deut. 17, 15–20). But the people did not comprehend the theocratic ideas of the law, which are also clearly expressed in the law (see: Deut. 32:9; cf.: 1 Sam. 12:12). The elders added meaningful words to their request: like other nations. That is why Samuel did not like this word, and God Himself said to Samuel: They did not reject you, but they rejected Me (1 Samuel 8:6-7).[8] But it cannot be accepted that the prophetic hosts were organized by Samuel specifically for the purpose of “protecting the cause of Jehovah and returning the people who had deviated from it to the law.”[9] We see a prophetic host existing at the very establishment of the royal form of government (see: 1 Sam. 10, 5, 10). Institutions such as the prophetic hosts cannot be created in a few years or months. It is necessary to assume the early existence of the prophetic hosts, regardless of the purpose of existence put forward for them by later circumstances. You can also pay attention to the fact that with the second mention of the host of prophets who prophesied under the command of Samuel in Rama (see: 1 Samuel 19, 19-20), the host seems to have a definitely established organization, and this makes us look for its beginnings in the times early And even at the first mention of the host of prophets, its existence seems to have entered the popular consciousness as an ordinary fact that does not cause any amazement. Is Saul also a prophet? - those who knew him yesterday and the third day asked about Saul’s prophecy (1 Sam. 10, 11). And one of those who were there answered... and who is the father of those (1 Sam. 10, 12)? In this conversation, it is striking that for the speakers the host of prophets, its character, the origin of its members - all this is something very definite and ordinary for the speakers. Everything gives us the right to assume that there were prophetic schools or hosts before Samuel.

One may refer to Maibaum,[10] who most emphatically asserts the existence of prophetic schools before Samuel and devotes an entire chapter of his study to a description of prophetic schools in pre-Samuel times.[11] But Maibaum, admitting the existence of prophetic schools before the time of Samuel, identifies them completely with the schools of pagan fortune-tellers. The study of pagan mantics, according to Maibaum, took first place in these schools. Samuel radically reformed these pagan schools, completely destroying the crude nature of the former prophecy - mantles, fortune telling.[12] Under Samuel, mantika gave way to prophecy based on internal revelation. In the reformed schools they stopped studying mantics; It is replaced by higher pursuits: music, poetry, the study of history, and the like.[13] Maibaum does not say how he himself learned about the common root of the origin of prophecy and pagan mantika[14] and on what grounds he proclaims his opinion to the scientific world. For those who deny the early origin of Deuteronomy, of course, the strict distinction that is drawn there between Jewish prophecy and pagan mantle does not make sense, but for us this distinction is important. And in Deuteronomy Moses says to the people: The nations... whom you drive out listen to fortunetellers and soothsayers (kosemim), [15] but the Lord your God has given you something else. The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet from among you, from among your brothers, like me (Deut. 18:14-15). There is no basis in the Bible to assert that Samuel's earlier prophecy was in the nature of superstitious pagan fortune-telling. If there were any prophetic schools or hosts of prophets before Samuel, then they are best represented as unions or societies of especially religiously minded people who reduced even their everyday needs in order to spend more time in religious exercises in community with the same religious people. The constant concentration of their religious feeling made them more susceptible to the influences of the Divine, and there were times when they "prophesied." There is information about such mass prophecies in early biblical data. So, while still wandering through the desert, the Spirit descended on the 70 elders chosen to help Moses, and they began to prophesy. Two of them, Eldad and Modad, prophesied in the camp. When Joshua said to Moses: Rebuke them, Moses answered: Are you not jealous for me? Oh that all the Lord's people were prophets (Num. 11:25-29). Even if not all of the Lord’s people were highly religious, there were always zealots of the faith who were sometimes rewarded with the influence of the Spirit of God.[16]

The biblical information about the prophetic schools of ancient times ends with the life story of Samuel. In the 2nd book of Kings there is absolutely no mention of prophetic schools, nor in the 3rd book, except for a fleeting single remark in 20, 35. Only in the 4th book of Kings, when narrating the time of the prophetic activities of Elijah and Elisha,[ 17] there is again information about prophetic schools. Here the prophetic schools act under the name “sons of the prophets” (bene nebiim). The question arises: were there prophetic schools in the period from Samuel to Elijah, or did the “sons of the prophets” of the times of Elijah represent a completely new phenomenon, perhaps only similar to the “prophetic hosts” of the times of Samuel? Let us note that in the Bible there is no information about the disintegration of the prophetic hosts during the time of Samuel, and there is also no information about the emergence of societies of “sons of the prophets” during the time of the prophet Elijah. During the time of Elijah, the “sons of the prophets” appeared immediately and in large numbers. Therefore, we can already assume that there were societies of prophets after Samuel and before Elijah. It is unlikely that the fact that in the 4th book of Kings the term “sons of the prophets” (bene nebiim) is used exclusively, which is not found in the 1st book of Kings, can be a sufficient basis for the assertion that the 4th book speaks of completely new institute.[18] The name may have changed depending on the time and also on the different writers of 1st and 2nd Kings. External activity could also be molded into new forms, but in essence it is hardly possible to note any contradictory features of the “hosts of the prophets” and the “sons of the prophets.” There is no sufficient reason to deny the existence of prophetic schools in the period of time from Samuel to Elijah, that is, their continuous existence.[19] True, there is absolutely no mention of prophetic schools in the history of David and Solomon, but some very vague hints can be found. Thus, one cannot help but pay attention to the fact that the prophet Nathan was of great importance under David and Solomon (see: 3 Kings 1, esp. art. 32, 34, 45). He even gives Solomon the name Jedidiah (see: 2 Kings 12:25). It is believed that Nathan was Solomon's tutor, just as Elisha was Joaca's tutor.[20] Consequently, the religious and pedagogical mission was not alien to the prophets of this time. Nathan could raise not just Solomon, but a whole prophetic host. The Bible says many times that the prophets wrote chronicles at this time. The works of... David... are described in the records of Samuel the seer... and in the records of Gad the seer (1 Chron. 29, 29). The acts of Rehoboam... are described in the records of Samei the prophet and Adda the seer (2 Chron. 12, 15); the deeds of Asa are in the tale of the prophet Adda (2 Chron. 13, 22). This fact indicates that the prophets were not alien to school activities, as well as writing national history. Vitringa sees some reflection of the fact of the existence of prophetic schools in Proverbs, where it is said that Wisdom built herself a house... and sent her servants to proclaim from the heights of the city (Prov. 9, 1, 3).[21] History books are busy depicting the tense political life under David and Solomon, and then the division of kingdoms and the establishment of a new cult. But with all these high-profile external affairs, one must think, the internal work of religious consciousness was also carried out in the person of people who were especially disposed to this, who formed close alliances with each other under the control and guidance of the prophets. The 4th book of Kings lets us know about the societies of the “sons of the prophets” as societies that are very large in the number of members included in them and have a certain organization. This very convincingly speaks for the existence of prophetic schools earlier than the prophet Elijah.

The last mention of prophetic schools is found in the prophet Amos. Amos said to Amaziah: I am not a prophet, nor the son of a prophet; I was a shepherd and gathered sycamore trees (Amos 7:14). True, nowhere is a member of prophetic societies called “the son of a prophet,” as Amos calls himself here. In the 1st book of Kings (20, 35) we find the expression: one man from the sons of the prophets, therefore “son of the prophet” can be understood literally, in the sense of a son by birth, but it is permissible in connection with the previous words of Amaziah to Amos (Amos 7 , 12) and other understanding. Amos proves his right to prophecy by referring to the command of God and denies his connection with the prophets who prophesied and ate bread for it, according to Amaziah. He did not need to mention that he was not the son of a prophet, since being born from a prophet did not make him a prophet, and therefore one can see in the words “not the son of a prophet” an allusion to prophetic schools.[22] Thus, we can determine the period of prosperity of the prophetic schools as time from Elijah to Amos.[23]

Of course, the prophetic schools could not disappear at any particular point in time, but it must be admitted that in the last years before the destruction of the kingdom of Israel, in connection with the general religious and moral decay of the people's life, the prophetic schools, which we allow ourselves to call religious flowers, also withered away. - moral life.

It is impossible to pass over in silence the fact that the books of Kings say absolutely nothing about the existence of prophetic schools in the kingdom of Judah. All the “sons of the prophets” mentioned in the 2nd book of Kings live and act only in the kingdom of Israel. But it seems to us hasty to conclude from this that there were no prophetic schools in the kingdom of Judah. Did the seeds sown by Samuel and already brought back by him remain completely fruitless? And is it really possible that in the Kingdom of Judah, with a higher level of religious life compared to the Kingdom of Israel, there were no special zealots of Jehovah who would unite with each other for religious and pedagogical purposes? Prophetic ministry was not limited to the kingdom of Israel; the prophecy was, one might even say, a supranational revelation of God on earth.[24] If the prophets had disciples in the kingdom of Israel, then why couldn’t there be the same disciples in the kingdom of Judah? But it is clear that there is absolutely nothing to be said to factually confirm the existence of prophetic schools in the kingdom of Judah.

We have outlined the most important points in the historical existence of the Old Testament prophetic schools. The Bible, with its information, seems to throw two rays of light onto the completely obscure history of the prophetic schools. In the light of the first ray we see the prophetic hosts of the times of Samuel, and in the light of the second - the sons of the prophetic times of Elijah and Elisha. The prophetic hosts and the societies of the sons of the prophets are described with divergent and unequal features, but also non-contradictory ones. One can assume the continuous existence of prophetic schools,[25] only by the time of the prophets Elijah and Elisha these schools had a different external form. What stages did the prophetic schools go through in their historical development? One can only guess about this, since there is no historical evidence. Writing in detail the history of the prophetic schools is a thankless task and of little use.

[1] There were monographs dedicated specifically to prophetic schools, but they were just that; they belong to the past and the centuries before last.

These are: J. Alting. Historia Academiarum Hebraeorum. 1687; Werenfel. Dissertatio de scolis prophetarum. Basel, 1701; Zinck. Dissertatio de prophet. scolis. Göttingen, 1737; Hering. Abhandlung von der Propheteuschulen. Breslau, 1777; Schweyler-Mieg. De prophet. scholis, quas ferunt commentationes theolog. part. Strassburg, 1833. It is clear that these ancient books are known only by their names, from more preserved similar ancient books, for example: Vitringa. De synagoga vetere. Weissenfels, 1726, and mainly from the only somewhat new monograph: Guil. Rud. Kranichfeld. De iis, quae in Testamento vetere commemorantur, prophetarum societatibus. Berolin, 1861, which gives a list of all the early monographs devoted to the question of prophetic schools. But Kranichfeld’s work itself can hardly be called a monograph; it's more of a brochure of about 60 pages. In addition, Kranichfeld's brochure is a bibliographic rarity.

[2] It must be said, however, that all these comments are mostly fragmentary and do not give a definite idea of ​​the institution of prophetic schools as a whole. Biblical commentaries only at best devote several pages in a row to prophetic schools, as we see, for example: Carl Friedrich Keil. Die Becher Samuels. Biblischer Commentar über das Alte Testament / Herausgeg. von C. Fr. Keil und Franz Delitzsch, Th. 2. Bd. 2. Leipzig, 1864. S. 146–151. Other commentaries are limited to exegesis of the relevant verses only. Encyclopedias sometimes do not devote special articles to prophetic schools, but talk about them in articles devoted to Old Testament prophecy in general. See, for example, Real-Encycklopädie für protestantische Theologie und Kirche / Herausgeg. von Herzog. 2-te Aufl. Bd. 12 (hereinafter referred to as Herzog. RE2).

[3] These are: J. Alting. Historia Academiarum Hebraeorum. 1687; Werenfel. Dissertatio de scolis prophetarum. Basel, 1701; Zinck. Dissertatio de prophet. scolis. Göttingen, 1737; Hering. Abhandlung von der Propheteuschulen. Breslau, 1777; Schweyler-Mieg. De prophet. scholis, quas ferunt commentationes theolog. part. Strassburg, 1833. It is clear that these ancient books are known only by their names, from more preserved similar ancient books, for example: Vitringa. De synagoga vetere. Weissenfels, 1726, and mainly from the only somewhat new monograph: Guil. Rud. Kranichfeld. De iis, quae in Testamento vetere commemorantur, prophetarum societatibus. Berolin, 1861, which gives a list of all the early monographs devoted to the question of prophetic schools. But Kranichfeld’s work itself can hardly be called a monograph; it's more of a brochure of about 60 pages. In addition, Kranichfeld's brochure is a bibliographic rarity.

[4] A particularly typical study of this kind is: Dr. Siegmund Maybaum. Die Entwickelung des israelitischen Prophetenthums. Berlin, 1883.

Regenbogen-Bibel (German) - so-called. "Rainbow Bible", a critical edition of the Bible, published at the end. XIX century, in which, according to the theory of the “four sources” of the Pentateuch, the text was printed in four different colors. — Approx. ed.

[5] See: Keil. Op. cit. S. 74; M. Verzhbolovich. Quote Op. pp. 230–231.

[6] The prophetic host mentioned in 1 Sam. 10, 5, 10, may not have had a permanent residence in Gibeah. Perhaps the host of prophets performed only a religious procession, which is apparently hinted at by the fact that the host of prophets descended from the hill and had with them musical instruments, nebels, kipnors, etc. Keil also admits this assumption (Op. cit. S. 74), contrary to Verzhbolovich’s statement that Keil is inclined to the opposite opinion (Cit. cit. P. 230. Note 1). Vitringa in "De synagoga vetere", where there is a meaningful "Dissertatio de publicis scholis Prophetarum" (C. VII. P. 349-361), however, notes that, without a doubt, on the hill from which the first mentioned host of prophets descended , there was a prophetic school (“haud dubie, quod Prophetarum ibi schola fuerit.” P. 356).

[7] M. Verzhbolovich. Quote Op. pp. 232–233.

[8] “Also nicht die Forderung des Königs, sondern die Art und Begründung dieser Forderung war es, die Samuels und lehovas Missfallen erregte, und womit das Volk sich versündigte,” notes FM Zahn in the miniature brochure “Samuel der Prophet und Reformator. Ein Beitrag zum Schriftverständniss” (Brämen, 1873. S. 33).

[9] M. Verzhbolovich. Quote Op. P. 235.

[10] S. Maybaum. Op. cit. S. 38–39.

[11] Ibid. S. 7–29 (“Die vorsamuelische Zeit”).

[12] At least for as long as the prophetic schools were under the personal direction of Samuel. Ibid. S. 49.

[13] Ibid. C. 1. S. 41–12.

[14] M. Verzhbolovich. Quote Op. P. 11.

[15] Kosem from the verb kasam, which means “to conjure.” In the Old Testament, kosem means one who tests the will of the gods through spell formulas, generally means a superstitious fortuneteller. In this sense kosem is used of false prophets in Deut. 18, 10, 14; 2 Kings 17, 17; Mich. 3, 6, 7, 11; Is. 3, 2; about Balaam - in Nav. 24, 9–10 (Slavic “magician”), about the Philistine prophets in 1 Samuel. 6, 2; also about the Sorceress of Endor in 1 Samuel. 28, 7. Kosem is not used about the Jewish true prophets.

[16] There were such people at the beginning of the work of the prophet Samuel. Samuel did not create a prophetic host out of thin air, but he called on former societies to help him in the religious and moral revival of the people, and he himself relied on the host of prophets. Of course, the formation of the prophetic hosts called to activity by Samuel has moved far forward. Wed: FM Zahn. Op. cit. S. 26–27.

[17] This is the time of “die Heldenzeit des Prophetenthums,” as Maybaum puts it. Op. cit. S. 60.

[18] This circumstance especially exposes Keil. Op. cit. S. 147–148. For the same see: M. Verzhbolovich. Quote Op. P. 248.

[19] Such a continuous existence of prophetic schools is decisively proved by Maibaum. Op. cit. S. 46–47.

[20] This can be thought on the basis of 2 Kings. 6, 21 and 4 Kings. 13, 14. Wed: 2 Kings. 2, 12.

[21] “Similitude, inquam, mihi in hac locutione videtur desumpta abeo, quod ilia aetate cultores literarum edita urbium aut agrorum loca elegerint, iu quibus scholos suas aperuerunt.” Vitringa. Op. cit. P. 352.

[22] For more details on this, see: M. Verzhbolovich. Quote Op. pp. 284–286. Oehler writes: "In dem später nicht vorkommenden 'ben nabi' dieser Stelle liegt die letzte Spur der Prophetenschulen." Herzog. RE2. Bd. 12. S. 278.

[23] According to Ewald’s chronological table, this period covers 111 years.

[24] See: Prof. S. S. Glagolev. Supernatural revelation and natural knowledge of God are outside the true Church. Kharkov, 1900. P. 105.

[25] See: Prof. S. S. Glagolev. Supernatural revelation and natural knowledge of God are outside the true Church. Kharkov, 1900. P. 105.