The Wild West Bank: Showing the Truth About the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
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An overview of the books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the Twelve Minor Prophets.
The Jewish, or Hebrew Bible, is known as Tanach (תנ׳ך), which is an acronym for its three main sections, Torah, Nevi’im (Prophets), and Ketuvim (Writings). That second section, Prophets, is divided into two parts, the Early Prophets and the Latter Prophets.
The Latter Prophets contain four books: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the Twelve Minor Prophets. Unlike the Early Prophets, which are written in a narrative style and chronicle the history of the Jewish people from the time of Joshua’s conquest of Israel through the destruction of the First Temple and the Babylonian exile, the Latter Prophets are a collection of exhortatory writings that implore the Jewish people to follow the Torah’s laws, stay committed to their belief in God, and promise a future Messianic era.
The period of the Latter Prophets extends from the time of Isaiah, who lived during the reign of King Hezekiah (as described in Kings II 18-20), and ends with the prophecies of Malachi, which were recorded at the beginning of the Second Temple period (according to Jewish tradition, work on the Second Temple started in 370 BCE).
According to the Talmud (Megillah 14A), the Jewish people heard thousands of prophecies during the biblical period, and thousands of prophets prophesied. However, only the prophecies that were relevant to future generations were recorded, and canonized as part of Tanach. The rest, for the most part, are lost to history.
The Latter Prophets were compiled and redacted, along with the rest of Tanach, by a group known as the Great Assembly. In the fourth century BCE, that era’s Jewish leaders—those returning to Israel from exile in what is today Iraq—expanded the Jewish high court, or Sanhedrin, to 120 members. That expanded court—called the Great Assembly, or the Anshei Knesset Gedolah in Hebrew, which is the inspiration for both the name as well as the number of seats in modern-day Israel’s parliament, the Knesset—did a number of things in order to standardize, as well as strengthen, Jewish practice and observance: they composed the daily prayer service, along with other short prayers and supplications; helped arrange the Oral Law into a more standardized system to preserve its integrity and accurate transmission; enacted a number of laws and decrees; and canonized Tanach.
The individual books of the Latter Prophets were composed by various authors. According to the Talmud,1 Hezekiah and his colleagues compiled the book of Isaiah; Jeremiah composed the book that bears his name, along with other works like the book of Kings, and Lamentations; and the Great Assembly were responsible for Ezekiel and the Twelve Minor Prophets.
According to the great 11th century biblical commentator, Rashi (Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki 1040-1105), the prophets Chaggai, Zechariah, and Malachi—themselves also members of the Great Assembly, and also the last of the prophets—transcribed their own prophecies and combined them with the other nine minor prophets to form one large work in order that the shorter books wouldn’t be lost due to their brevity.2
The prophet Isaiah lived during the reigns of the Judean kings, Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, as described in the book of Kings II. He was a member of the royal family, and had access to the highest levels of government. His prophecies also demonstrate a firm grasp of Jewish law, history, and the realities and technologies in use at the time.
Isaiah’s prophecies speak of the troubles that will befall the northern kingdom (what became the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel), as well as of the Babylonian exile, although they primarily focus on themes of consolation and redemption.
Isaiah, by Michelangelo
Nineteen sections from the book of Isaiah are read as a part of the synagogue service—as the Haftorah, or supplementary reading that’s read after the weekly Torah reading—which is more than any other prophetic book. That includes the harrowing description of God’s disgust with the Jewish people that’s read on the Sabbath that precedes the the Ninth of Av—the annual fast that mourns the destruction of the ancient Temple in Jerusalem and subsequent exile—“When you spread your hands [in prayer], I will not listen, [for] your hands are full of blood (Isaiah 1:15);” as well as the seven sections of consolation read in the weeks following the fast.
The messianic themes in Isaiah are also well-known, including the famous inscription, known as the “Isaiah Wall,” that stands in Ralph Bunche Park across from the United Nations building in New York City. “They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more (Isaiah 2:4).”
Jeremiah lived at the end of the First Temple period, as described in the last chapters of Kings II, and witnessed its destruction. He also saw the death of the righteous Judean king, Josiah, as well as the calamities that happened to the nation in the first years of exile.
The Prophet Jeremiah, by Michelangelo
Jeremiah warned the Jewish people to change their ways, and that their bad behavior—which included pagan worship, idolatry and occult practices, civil war, murder, and other immoral acts—would be their undoing. They not only didn’t listen, but took consolation in false prophecies, mocked him, and plotted against him. At one point, the king, Jehoiakim, even burnt the book of Lamentations, the scroll Jeremiah wrote to mourn the dismal state of the nation.
But Jeremiah’s prophecies were not in vain. In a world of politics and intrigue, they provided—and still provide—an understanding that Jewish history is not random, but God’s will, and an integral part of its destiny.
Ezekiel was a contemporary of Jeremiah, and accompanied the Jewish people into exile in Babylon, where he lived for at least 22 years. His prophecies describe the horrors of the age, although his message, ultimately, is of redemption and hope.
Ezekiel opens with a mystical vision, known as the “Vision of the Chariot,” which the Talmud often describes as the kabbalistic teaching, “the Workings of the Chariot.” It contains the vision of the “Dry Bones” (chapter 37), which describes the resurrection of a field of human skeletons, and has been interpreted as either a message of hope; an allusion to a future time, when God will bring the dead back to life; and other possible explanations as well. It also tells of the war of Gog and Magog, which could be the description of an apocalyptic struggle that precedes the messianic era.
Ezekiel, by Michelangelo
The book of Ezekiel also describes, at length, the dimensions and details of a future Temple, which informed the design of the Second Temple (that the Jewish leader, Ezra, began work on not long after Ezekiel’s death), but which may also describe the intricacies of a third, and final Temple to be built in the future.
The book, the Twelve Minor Prophets, include the collected prophecies of:
As noted, these short prophecies—some of these books are only a single chapter—were transcribed and collected by the Great Assembly (a body that included a number of prophets as well), and published as a single work in order that the shorter books wouldn’t be lost due to their brevity.
The period of the Twelve Minor Prophets spans about 400 years. The earliest, Obadiah, lived during the reign of King Ahab, as mentioned in Kings I 18:3, “Ahab summoned Obadiah, who was in charge of the king’s palace.” The latest is Malachi, who was a member of the Great Assembly, and, according to some, may have prophesied after the Second Temple was built.
The Latter Prophets hail from the period of the divided monarchy—when the Jewish nation was divided into two kingdoms, Israel in the north and Judah in the south—of which much evidence has been unearthed. For example, some of the Israelite kings, especially from Ahab’s reign and onward, are mentioned on the Mesha Stele (also known as the Moabite Stone), which was found in modern-day Jordan and today sits in the Louvre; the Kurkh Monoliths found in eastern Turkey; and the Tel Dan stele, which may be the earliest found reference to the “House of David.”
Jeremiah, by Marc Chagall
The conquest of the Assyrian king, Sennacherib, which took place during the prophet Isaiah’s lifetime, is described in great detail in the Lachish Reliefs that were excavated near the Iraqi city of Mosul. Recent findings in the Jerusalem area may indicate the site where Sennacherib’s army—as described in Kings II 19—encamped as well.
Prophecy is the final step in a meditative process, the purpose of which is to silence the almost-constant mental static that your imagination produces. According to Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan, quoting the important 14th century writer and thinker, Rabbi Levi ben Gershon (known as the Ralbag), “[Meditation isolates] the essence of one’s consciousness from the imagination, which is the part of the mind that produces such mental static. When one accomplishes this, he can see and understand things much more clearly, and even gain a perception of the spiritual domain.”3 Obviously, clearing mental static is just the first step in a process, climbing that ladder to the higher spiritual realms requires a system, as well as a master to guide you.
As Rabbi Kaplan notes, “Maimonides writes that prophecy will have to be restored before the coming of the Messiah … however, prophecy does not occur automatically, but must be cultivated with extensive discipline through very specific practices. Before the Messianic age, therefore, these practices will have to be revealed and taught.”4
In other words, prophecy isn’t magic. It’s a serious discipline that’s not for the uninitiated. It requires a foundation in Jewish tradition and law, a commitment to character development and growth, and—most importantly—a teacher. You won’t figure it out on your own; and no one will teach it to you if the time isn’t right, and you aren’t ready.
A Haftorah is a supplementary reading from either the Early or Latter Prophets that’s read after the weekly Torah portion. It’s read as part of the synagogue service each Sabbath, and specific blessings are said both before, as well as after, it’s read. For a more detailed discussion of the Haftorahs, and for different reasons for why they’re read each week, go here.
The books of the Nevi’im (Prophets) include the Early Prophets: Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings; as well as the Latter Prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the Twelve Minor Prophets.
"The Latter Prophets were compiled and redacted, along with the rest of Tanach, by a group known as the Great Assembly. In the fourth century BCE, ..."
For me, this is the most important part of this article. You are telling us that we are reading the Tanach as edited in the 4th Century BCE. While the stories may be based on actual events, they were selected and edited to serve the purposes of that time; a time of rebuilding following the destruction of the First Temple and the Babylonian exile. Prophesies of events that took place before that time are retrospective. They need to be read from that perspective.
Wow thank you for above article. Please everyone pray to your G-d I think the Vision of the Chariot and everything else the Prophet Ezekiel has mentioned is happening right NOW. Please keep close to your G-d and try so hard to be with the Creator 24/7. The love you feel or light no human can give you and if you are fortunate enough to get this light/love send this t to the places that are in chaos right now, I guess it is the whole world. I pray for Israel leaders and soldiers right now especially.
Peace, God's Light, LOVE, G