The stated prophets.

Prophecies recorded after

events.

Eras of the prophets.

an adulteress, acts predictive of judgments on Israel, and which he accordingly carried out (Hos. i. 1-11; iii. 1-5).

It is not to be supposed that the numerous persons who are designated prophets were continually engaged in giving forth predictions. That was a power exercised only occasionally, and probably but by few of them. They occupied themselves in thanksgivings and praises of God, which are accounted as "prophesyings" (1 Chron. xxv. 3). Some of the prophetic annunciations are given in methodical form, while others are scattered here and there in the midst of historic narrative and poetic effusions, in which latter certain of the prophets, such as Isaiah and the Psalmists, largely indulge. The stated prophets, whose writings have been handed down to us, are in the Old Testament but sixteen in number. In the New Testament, the four evangelists record predictions attributed to Jesus, and the Apocalypse is devoted to the subject, as the title of the book, namely a Revelation, indicates.

P.-In a former conversation you showed that the writings of the Old Testament were apparently put into their present shape not earlier than the time of Ezra. How does such a conclusion bear upon the so-called prophecies as predictions made before the events described therein took place?

S. Very decidedly. The prophecies relate to what was to befal the Jews as a nation, to judgments on other nations surrounding them, and to their expected Messiah. Taking the return from the captivity in Babylon, or the time of Ezra, as a standing point, much of the history had already been accomplished when the scriptures were made public by Ezra and Nehemiah. No announcement, consequently, of events that had then gone by, can be accepted as predictions of them before their occurrence, although put forward in the form of prophecies. It would be as if, in the present day, a book were issued, in the pages of which were introduced, as prophecies, events of the times of William the Conqueror or Charles the First.

P.-At what time did the stated prophets live?

S. The earliest of these is Jonah, who is thought to have written about B.C. 862. No testimony for the Bible can, however, be deduced from his prophecy, for it consisted merely in a denunciation against Nineveh, which, even by his own showing, was not fulfilled. He professes to have been

commissioned by God to announce to the Ninevites that in forty days their city was to be overthrown, and adds, that on their humbling themselves in penitence, "God repented of the evil that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did. it not" (iii. 4, 10). This, you will observe, indicates a want of prescience in the prophet, and a change of purpose in God, not consistent with divine operations. It is this prophet, moreover, who gives out the incredible story of being swallowed. up by a whale. I will then class six together in the order in which they are said to have written, namely Joel, Amos, Hosea, Isaiah, Micah, and Nahum, who are thought to have flourished from B.C. 800 to B.C. 713. These, you will observe, are embraced within the limits of a century. After this I will so classify eight more, namely Zephaniah, Jeremiah, Habakkuk, Daniel, Ezekiel, Obadiah, Haggai, and Zechariah, who are said to have written from B.C. 630 to B.C. 519, the last occupying from the latter year to B.C. 487. These therefore took up rather more than a century; and within that century was embraced the captivity in Babylon, which lasted from B.C. 599 to B.C. 536. This body of eight are therefore associated with the time of Ezra. There remains the prophet Malachi who is supposed to have written in B.C. 397. The result is, that taking into view the two thousand years of the history of the Jews, namely from Abraham to the Christian dispensation, we have but two periods, of about a century each, occurring in the latter half of that era, replete with prophetic writings, and a void of any such productions during the remaining time.

P.-I gather from what you tell me that prophecy must have induced prophecy; namely, that at certain periods, and there seem to have been but two such, and both of but limited extent, a spirit of prophesying arose and spread itself from man to man. Seeing the excitement to which these persons were subject, especially when in contact with one another, the thought naturally presents itself, that their predictions sprang from human influences of time and circumstance, and not from divine inspiration. Half of these prophets, for example, lived in or near the time of the captivity, which you have already noticed was one of religious ferment and literary activity, when just such effusions might be naturally expected. Is the authenticity of these writings beyond dispute?

Authenti

city of

S.-Two, and those in which the most important manifestaIsaiah and tions are made, namely Isaiah and Daniel, are much called in

Daniel

question.

The writings ascribed to Isaiah are evidently of a composite order. There is so marked a transition at the end of the 39th chapter that it is common among critics to speak of a first and a second Isaiah, as the respective authors of these two divisions. Hengstenberg, who labours to support the integrity of the scriptures, is driven to recognise the diversity of style and subject which has led others to ascribe these portions to different writers. "The first part," he observes, "containing the predictions which the prophet uttered for the present generation, during the time of his ministry, consists mainly of single prophecies which, separated by time and occasion, were first made publicly known singly, and afterwards united in a collected whole, having been marked out as different prophecies, either by inscriptions or in any other distinguishable way,—the second part, destined as a legacy for posterity, forms a continuous, collected whole." The one, he calls, "the rebuking and threatening mission of the prophet," and the other “the comforting mission." "If it be acknowledged," he says, "that the prophesying activity of Isaiah falls into two great divisions, the one, contained in the first thirty-nine chapters, pre-eminently destined for the present, the other, chiefly for the future;" this, he appears to think, accounts for the variation of style, evidencing merely the versatility of the writer.1

There are passages in Isaiah which are common to other writers, and show that the one has copied from the other, or that both have made use of a common document. Thus chap.

ii. 2-4 is identical with Micah iv. 1-3; chap. xiii. 6 with Joel i. 15; and chap. lii. 7 with Nahum i. xv. Chapters xv. and xvi., which are entitled "The burden of Moab," come from some older record, of which it is said, "This is the word that the Lord hath spoken concerning Moab since that time; contrasted with which is introduced a fresh prophecy, thus, "But now the Lord hath spoken, saying," &c. (xvi. 13, 14); and there is an historical passage, occupying from chapter xxxvi. to xxxix., which is taken from three chapters in the 2d book of Kings, namely, chapters xviii. 13 to xx. 19. Now the 1 Christology of Old Testament, II. 164, 166, 174, 193.

book of Kings closes with the captivity in Babylon, bringing the compilation ascribed to Isaiah, consequently, onwards to that time. It becomes therefore quite accountable that Cyrus should be referred to by name in Isaiah as the deliverer of the people from this captivity.

brought

to period

of capti

vity.

from times

of Assyria

to times of Babylon.

The particulars I have above made use of are pointed out by Dr Rowland Williams in his work on the Hebrew prophets. He treats of what critics calls the first Isaiah, and shows this portion to be of a very composite order. In the chapters from i. to xv. some marked transitions occur. Chapters i. to Transitions xii, relate to the "days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah," and the invasions of the Assyrians in the two latter reigns, concluding with the year B.C. 710. The Assyrian rule gave place to that of Babylon. At chapter xiii, we have "the Burden of Babylon," ending at chapter xiv. 23. This refers to the overthrow of the Babylonish dynasty by Cyrus, which took place from B.C. 550 to 530; after which, in chapter xiv. 23-27, the earlier and expired empire of Assyria is again brought on the field. The Burden of Babylon has thus been thrust, by some compiler, into the midst of what related to Assyria nearly two centuries earlier. Then the 14th chapter concludes with what respects the times of Ahaz, and this must be out of place, as the earlier portion, concluding with chapter xii., had been brought down to the posterior reign of Hezekiah.

After this, from chapter xv. to the end of chapter xix., there Detached prophecies. are various "burdens," or denunciations, namely, of Moab, Damascus, Ethiopia, and Egypt. These have the character of distinct productions, and the burden of Moab, as already pointed out, appears to have come from an older source.

Assyria

Then chapter xx. brings us again to the Assyrian empire, Times of when the king's general, Tartan, invaded Ashdod in the land and of of the Philistines (2 Kings xviii. 17), or B.C. 710. At chapter Babylon. xxi., as far as verse 10, there is a leap forwards to the fall of Babylon, B.C. 550 to 530. After this, to the close of chapter xxiii., come various "burdens," namely, of Idumea, Arabia, the Valley of Vision, and of Tyre, all seemingly distinct productions. The burden of the Valley of Vision relates to Jerusalem in the times of Eliakim and Shebna the scribe (2 Kings xviii. 18), when we are taken back to the reign of Hezekiah, or B.C. 710.

Idumea.

The final section given in three parts.

From chapter xxiv. to the end of chapter xxxiii. are a group of utterances expressive of lamentation, hopes of redemption, visitation on Samaria, the downfall of Assyria, and the re-establishment of Jerusalem. This, Dr Williams concludes, is "the probable end of the primary Isaiah," whose out-pourings, however, have been interrupted in various ways by the introduction of distinct predictions from independent hands, as already pointed out.

Chapters xxxiv. and xxxv. relate to a judgment on Idumea and the renovation of Judea. From style and matter Dr Williams considers this the production of another writer, who may have lived about B.C. 500. After this comes the extract already referred to from the 2d book of Kings, which closes with the thirty-ninth chapter.

The concluding section, from the fortieth chapter to the end, is recognised as the work of one and the same writer. It is replete with exalted thoughts of the deity, given forth in noble language and in poetic strain. This section consists of three pieces which have been brought together by some editing hand. The first announces comfort to Israel and the downfall of Babylon, the deliverer Cyrus being introduced by name. The prophet, writing however as if the speech were that of God, prides himself in being able thus precisely to designate his hero. "I have surnamed thee," he says, "though thou hast not known me" (xlv. 4). "There was an interval," observes Dr Williams, "according to Herodotus, between the first conflict of Cyrus with the Babylonians and his capture of their city," during which an exiled Jew, excited by the surrounding influences, may have seen in the sword of Cyrus the intervention of Jehovah. Or, which is even more probable, these utterances may have occurred after the event. The prophet, observes Hengstenberg, takes his stand in the time. of the captivity.2 The first section closes at chapter xlviii. with the words, "There is no peace, saith the Lord, unto the wicked." The next ends with the same words at the termination of chapter lvii. The third is contained in the remaining nine chapters. The subject of these portions is the redemption and renovation of the Jewish people, with passages pointing to their Messiah.

1 Hebrew Prophets, 293.

2

Christology of Old Testament, II. 169.