Page 79 - Old Testament Survey Student Textbook

prophet whose name appears as the title of a book had little to do with the authorship of the book,
since it is a writing about the prophet, his life, and message.

The dates reflect the active ministry of the prophets as determined from datable portions of the biblical
accounts. Except for the Isaiah traditions, there is no attempt here to sort out the different time periods
that are reflected in the prophetic books themselves. For example, it is clear that the collection of
sermons and stories from Amos underwent editing (redaction) in the Southern Kingdom after the
destruction of Jerusalem in 587 BC, some 150 years after the ministry of Amos in the Northern Kingdom
(Amos 9:11-15).

This simply reminds us that there is a difference between the immediate historical context of prophetic
figures of the Old Testament and the historical context of the books that bear their name. The books
are the products of the community of faith sometimes over many centuries as they collected, reflected
upon, and used the messages brought by the prophets themselves. The books often bear clear evidence
of this dynamic use of the prophetic traditions over a period of time, which also speaks of the ongoing
vitality of the writings as God's living word to the people.

Daniel is not included here because the book is not normally considered a prophetic book, but rather
part of The Writings, the reflective and devotional literature of Israel. There is little historical evidence
to date the book of Joel, and it could fall anywhere between 835BC to 800 BC. The historical
setting of Jonah is the Assyrian era of the 8th century BC, but many scholars place the actual writing of
the book in the middle fifth century BC, shortly after Nehemiah's reforms. This suggests that the book
uses much older traditions from the Assyrian era as a means to address a different set of problems in
x
the post-exilic community.

16
Figure 1.3.0
Israelite Prophets Date Chart
By Dennis Bratcher (used by permission)

The United Monarchy

Dates Prophets of United Israel
(BC)

1020- Samuel
1000

975-960 Nathan

The Divided Kingdoms

Dates Israel (Northern) Judah (Southern) Dates
(BC) (BC)

870-850 Elijah

850-800 Elisha Joel 835-800

16 Figure 1.3.0 By Dennis Bratcher (used by permission)

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