Introduction:

The greater part of the Old Testament is made up of prophetic

literature but what does it mean to be a prophet? The prophets were
a key part of the Old Testament Hebrew culture. They were used as
the spokespersons of God, relaying his message of repentance and
hope to the promised people. But was this tradition of prophets
unique to Israel? Was there any prophetic culture within the
surrounding nations? Is it just someone who is presenting a
message from a deity to a specific audience in a certain period of
time or is there more to it than that? This paper will discuss the
Hebrew prophets and look at prophetic traditions in the surrounding
cultures. It will look at the prophet’s role within Israelite culture and
religion and how the prophetic books should be looked at today.

Prophets in surrounding culture:

The prophetic culture was not unique to Israel. There is
mention of the “prophets of Baal” and “prophets of Asherah” in 1
Kings 18:19. Ancient texts have provided examples of prophetic
traditions in the Ancient Near East cultures. There are texts telling of
people addressing “kings on behalf of gods”, receiving visions and
having “ecstatics behaviour” like that which was “seen among
Biblical prophets in Samuel’s day (1 Sa 19:24)” (Prophets in the
Bible and Pagan Nations, 2005, p.1457).
Lemche (2008) makes note of the fact that the prophetic
tradition was well known in the Ancient Near East and that there
were various styles that were around but there is not enough
information available to show any major differences between the
various types (p.214).
Basically two main types existed, prophets in the public
service, normally at sanctuaries or at the royal court, and
prophets who were acting on their own behalf, “freelance
prophets,” who were not authorized by a public institution
but acted on behalf of the deity supposed to have called
them. Another way to differentiate between prophets would
have been to divide them into ecstatic prophets and
Hebrew Prophets

soothsayers who formulate their prophecies inspired by

certain signs and omens (p.214).
Within the Mesopotamian culture “the seer was an important
person, often a priest attached to the temple of some deity, whose
tasks it was to make known truths hidden from ordinary men and
women”. By looking at 1 Samuel 9:1-10:15, it can be seen that “the
Hebrew and Mesopotamian perceptions of the nature of the seer”
are similar (Newsome, 1984, p.2).
Von Rad (1965) suggests that the prophetic movement which
consisted of “men possessed by the spirit only appeared in Israel
after the conquest of Canaan. In the eleventh-century Syria and
Palestine there [were] signs of the rise of an ecstatic and mantic
movement whose origins are apparently are apparently outside that
area…Canaanite religion, then, must have been the medium by
which the movement came to Israel” (p.7-8). However, Drane (2000)
argues that this is not the case. He says that “the social functions
performed by diviners, ecstatics, and so on can arise in any society,
ancient or modern, quite independently of external, direct contact”
(p.170). Thus Drane proposes that the Hebrew prophetic tradition
came about on its own without any influence from the surrounding
cultures.

Prophets in Hebrew culture:

The greater part of the Old Testament is dedicated to
prophetic writings, but what were their roles in Hebrew culture?
There are various words in the Hebrew language that are translated
into the English word “prophet”. One is the word nābî’ possibly
meaning “to call”, “pronounce” or even “the one who is called”. Two
other words used are rō' eh and hōzeh which mean “the one who
sees” (Lemche, p.213). Routledge classifies the role of a prophet as
one who “was to call the nation back to the ways of God, by
challenging political and spiritual leaders, and by addressing the
people directly”, who “condemned the nations unfaithfulness”,
“pronounced coming judgement” and “the ultimate restoration and
Hebrew Prophets

renewal of the nation” (p.215). Blenkinsopp (1995) writes that “the

prophet is distinguished from other religious specialists, the priest in
particular, by being called to a mission rather than simply occupying
an office” (p.116).
Hill and Walton (1991) offer the opinion that the role of the
prophets changed throughout the history of Israel. It was a
progression from the prophets having “leadership” of the people, for
example Moses, to the role of a prophet being “one of an advisor
(though sometimes unofficially) to the king” (p.104).

Role of the prophets:

Hebrew prophets were different to priests in the way that they
were called to a mission whether it was to lead the people out of
Egypt and into the Promised Land (Moses), advice and anoint the
kings (Samuel), or call the people to repent or else judgement would
come (Jeremiah). Their messages were presented in a way that
people would understand. This often included the use of poetry,
imagery, allegories or even acting out their messages. A lot of the
prophets lived out their prophetic messages. Take Hosea and
Ezekiel for example, Hosea’s marriage was used to illustrate God’s
relationship with Israel; Ezekiel was told not to mourn the death of
his wife to illustrate how the people would react when the temple
was destroyed (Ezek 24:16-24). Rarely can a prophet’s life be
separated from their message.
Prophets were an institution set in place by God to deliver a
message to a specific audience. “The principle role of the [Old
Testament] prophets was as a mediator: bringing direct
communication from God to the people”. This can be seen in Exodus
7:1-2, the LORD said to Moses, ‘See, I have made you like God to
Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet. You are to
say everything I command you, and your brother Aaron is to tell
Pharaoh’. “The prophet received his message from God and
proclaimed it to the people on God’s behalf” (Routledge, 2008,
p.211).
Hebrew Prophets

The message of the prophets:

The messages that the prophets presented reflect their
relationship with God and their understanding of the Law and
covenant. Harrison (2005) suggests that messages “of the Hebrew
prophets were the direct consequence of their spiritual relationship
with God, and in essence they comprised variations on the
theological and covenantal themes enshrined in the Law”. He goes
on to say that the prophets were not presenting anything that could
not be found in “the Torah, thus making the prophets commentators
rather than doctrinal pioneers” (p.218). Pate et al (2004) agree with
this. They mention that “theologically, the prophets proclaim their
message from the context of the Mosaic covenant, primarily as
defined in Deuteronomy” (p.92-93). However, Pleins (2001) cautions
taking this thought too far. He argues that whilst it “can be said that
covenant traditions sparked the imagination of the prophets” and
that the “idea of a special relationship between [Yahweh] and Israel
is vital to the thinking of the prophets”, there seems to be a great
“focus on one aspect of the covenant relationship… the dire
consequences of violating it” (p.75-76). So while there is a
covenantal focus in the prophets message, that is not the full extent
of it.
The understanding, or perhaps just the definition, of a prophet
has evolved through the Old Testament. Moses was called a
prophet; he led the people out of the Egypt and brought them back
to God. Samuel anointed kings and advised them in the way of
God’s Laws. Micah tells of the coming judgement yet offers the hope
of restoration afterwards. Perhaps it could be said that the
underlying role of a prophet is a relational one? They are trying to
bring Israel back into relationship with God.
The prophetic messages can be divided into three parts: a call
to repentance, the statement of judgement and a restoration. Pate
et al suggest that this “theme of sin, exile and restoration” can be
traced through out the prophetic books (p.91).
Hebrew Prophets

The prophetic books for today:

Often it seems that people want to interpret the message of
the prophets in a way that looks forward to the coming of Christ or
looks for ways that the messages may have come to pass. “Too
often the prophetic books are studied merely by seeking out
potential fulfilments while overlooking the inspired message of
God’s words” (Hill & Walton, p.408). Prophets, for the most part,
related messages that were relevant for their hearers in their period
of time and dealt with issues that were relevant to them, such as
threats from neighbouring nations. It does not mean that there is no
relevance for readers of the prophets today, its just that there is a
need to remember the context of the messages.

Conclusion:
To say that the prophetic culture was borrowed from the
Hebrew’s neighbouring countries may not be as controversial as it
sounds. God often uses different ways to communicate his message
and the prophets would have been something that the Hebrews
would have been familiar with in other nations. Perhaps it was as
simple as that – God used something secular to achieve his purpose.
It is something that the Christian church has done with music – often
hymns were written and put to music that people would have been
familiar within that period of time which they were written. That is
not to say that the Hebrew prophets were not unique. Their
message was unique to them. It was a God-given message. A call to
repentance, a message of judgement and exile, and a declaration of
hope and future restoration. This was their God-given message that
they lived throughout their lives.
Hebrew Prophets

Reference:
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Intellectual leadership in Ancient Israel. Louisville, KY:
Westminster John Knox Press.
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UK: Lion Publishing.
Harrison, R. K. (2005). Old Testament times: a social, political, and
cultural context. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books.
Hill, A. E. & Walton, J. H. (1991). A survey of the Old Testament.
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