Scriptural prophets
Scripture prophets are prophets from pre-Christian Judaism, of whom longer, coherent passages of prophetic speech have been passed down in the Hebrew Bible , which - like all parts of the Hebrew Bible - were taken over into the Christian Bible . These texts date from between 750 and 400 BC. It is different with the biblical prophets of earlier times like Samuel , Natan , Elijah , Elisha and others. With these prophets individual words and deeds are in the foreground in the biblical description; In the Jewish tradition they are called first / front prophets ( Neviim Rishonim ), while the scriptural prophets are called last / rear prophets ( Neviim Acharonim ). All of these terms rarely designate the individual person, but mostly refer to the coherent group of biblical writings.
From the word scriptural prophets one should not infer that these prophets conveyed their message in writing. Rather, they are recordings of spoken speech made by the prophet himself or someone else. There are also biographical sections in between that are written in the first or third person , to varying degrees .
According to the length of the biblical account one differentiates:
- Great Prophets : one biblical book each with the name of the prophet in the title
- Minor Prophets : twelve shorter pieces of writing that fit together on one scroll, the Book of the Twelve Prophets
These terms only refer to the length of the text and are not an evaluation of the meaning of a prophet.
In the Hebrew Bible, the writings of the prophets Isaiah , Jeremiah and Ezekiel are each a book, and those of the twelve minor prophets together are the book of the Twelve Prophets. These four books form the group of " rear prophets ". The younger book of Daniel (around 160 BC) is included in the " Scriptures ".
In the Christian Bible, the writings of the prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel and the twelve minor prophets are each one book. These sixteen books make up the group of Old Testament " prophets ". There you can also find the Book of Lamentations and, in the Catholic and Orthodox tradition, some deutero-canonical writings.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Diego Ahrenhoevel, Alfons Deissler , Anton Vögtle (ed.): The Bible . German edition with the explanations of the Jerusalem Bible. 11th edition. Herder, Freiburg i. Br. 1968, ISBN 3-451-14670-3 , pp. 1011, 1023, 1032 .