How to Read the Writings & Prophets
History Poetry Prophets
Joshua Job Isaiah Amos
Judges Psalms Jeremiah Joel
Ruth Proverbs Ezekiel Hosea
Samuel Song Daniel Micah
Kings Ecclesiastes Haggai Zephaniah
Chronicles Lamentations Zechariah Habakkuk
Ezra Malachi Obadiah
Nehemiah Jonah
Esther Nahum
In our Protestant Bibles our Old Testament Books are gathered together in three main categories: History, Poetry, and Prophets. But the Hebrew Scriptures are clustered together under different headings: Torah, Prophets, Writings (Torah, Nevi'im, Ketuvim) known as Tanakh). It's important to note that the core element of the Tanakh is the Torah. Everything that the prophets speak and write are connected to the life of Israel and Torah. And all the writings are Israel's story of themselves in relation to God and Torah and themselves.
What Are You Reading?
Genre of literatures in the Bible:
Myth Poetry Biography
Narratives Genealogy Letters
Lawcodes Wisdom Apocalyptic
Songs Prophecy History
Again, it is helpful to be able to identify what kind of literature you are reading when you open up to a book in the Bible. Becoming familiar with the different styles of writing and genres will help you better understand what you are reading.
Chronology
1400BC 1100BC 1000BC 701BC 586BC 516BC 479BC 466BC 450BC
Joshua Judges/Ruth Samuel Kings Chronicles Esther EZRA NEHEMIAH
Job Psalms Proverbs Songs Ecclesiastes Lamentations
Isaiah Jeremiah Ezekiel Daniel
Amos Joel Hosea Micah Zephaniah Habakkuk
Obadiah Jonah Nahum
HAGGAI ZECHARIAH Malachi
A chronology can be helpful in piecing together the flow of the story. With all the names and places that are stuffed into each book, it can become overwhelming. But to see the history laid out through the ordering of the books can help you get a sense of who comes where in the story. Moses comes before David. David comes after Abraham. Noah comes before Daniel.
Above you can see the history books laid out in order of chronology. Below that you can see where the poetry books fit in. Psalms were primarily written by King David. Proverbs, Songs, Ecclesiastes were written by King Solomon. The next three lines show where the prophets fit into the chronology. Isaiah and Jeremiah worked during the history recorded in Kings and Chronicles. Same for some of the other minor prophets.
Understanding What You Are Reading
History: Ideology & Theology
It is important to remember that the history recorded here is about kings, thus political in nature. But it is also about God's involvement in their nation, thus it is theological. The writers of Israel's ancient history have a particular slant they mean to convey about themselves, their kings, and God. We may read a history book as a boring collection of facts and figures. But the ancients did not record history in the same way as us. We want to ask: did it really happen this way? They want to ask: how to make sense of what has happened to us? We read the history books in order to get an accurate accounting of what really happened. But we ought to read the history books of the Bible as a way to understand their perspective on God, their political situations, and themselves.
Poetry: Parallelism or Binary Repetition
For us, a good English or American poem will rhyme, and have a beat or metre to it. By now you probably know that good Hebrew poetry is very different. It consists in its most basic form of two lines, or two ideas. The first and second line have a interdependent connection - they parallel each other in specific ways. This can become a very complex, high form of art. But once we get the hang of how the Hebrews do poetry, we then need to ask: how to understand Hebrew poetry. Part of it is practice - just read lots of it. But the other part delves into the heart of poetry - why use poetry at all to express yourself? And what were the metaphors, ideas, and issues that were important to the ancient Hebrews?
Prophecy: the words of a Prophet - from God or to God – about righteousness, justice/judgment, shalom
We tend to think of prophecy as about predicting future events. This is not a helpful way to think of Biblical prophecy. At its most basic form, Biblical prophecy is a word for God or mostly from God to people through a prophet of God. Mostly it's about calling people to repentance from their unobservance of Torah. Some of it is promise of restoration following the punishment that will come for their unrighteousness, injustice, disobedience. A little bit is about what will happen in the future.
History
From the Exodus to the Kings
-Joshua, Judges, Ruth, Samuel
During the Reign of the Kings
- Kings, Chronicles
From the Kings to the Exile
-Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther
These are the three main elements of understanding Biblical history for ancient Israel. The books fall into one of these three categories. You can see the development of the plot, the flow of the characters, the coming tragedy.
Poetry
There are three basic kinds of poems:
1) Line A and Line B repeat similar idea using key words/ideas
- Examples: Psalm 22:1, Proverb 27:2, Isaiah 55:1
2) Line A is extended in thought by Line B
- Examples: Psalm 23:1, Proverb 28:3, Isaiah 56:1
3) Line A is contrasted in thought by Line B
- Examples: Proverb 28:1, Isaiah 54:7, Isaiah 57:16-21
Prophecy
Here are examples - often expressed in poetry - of God speaking to Israel through his prophets.
From God to the unrighteous: Micah 1
From God to the righteous: Zechariah 9-10
From the righteous to God: Habakkuk 1
From God to Israel: Jeremiah 2
From God to Egypt, Edom, Assyria, Babylon, etc.: Amos 1, Obadiah, Jonah, Nahum
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