3. Toward a Canonical Reading of the Prophets

Primer on the Canonical Approach

The second major section of the OT is the Prophets. A canonical reading of the Prophets examines the way that narrative and prophetic discourse work together to provide an orienting framework for understanding a large portion of the OT’s storyline. A central concern is to appreciate the shape of each prophetic book on its own terms while also being mindful of the distinctive angle each of these literary works give us as we attempt to grapple with the message of the prophets as a whole. 

The Prophetic History and the Prophetic Books

The books of Joshua, Judges, 1–2 Samuel, and 1–2 Kings form the first sweeping movement of this section. These books are sometimes called the “historical books” of the OT because they are historical in nature. However, in the Hebrew Bible, they are grouped with the Prophets and sometimes called the Former Prophets. They thus provide the prophetic history of the people of Israel and God’s dealing with them.

The second movement of the Prophets includes the three major prophetic books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel alongside the Book of the Twelve. These books are sometimes characterized as the “Latter Prophets” or the “writing prophets.” These prophetic books are set within the storyline told by the prophetic history and often provide theological commentary on those events. Collectively, these biblical books continue the story of God’s dealings with his people as they look back to previous promises and look forward to future deliverance. They also contain the revelation of God as he pronounces words of both salvation and judgment through his prophets.

The Theological Grammar of “the Law and the Prophets”

One of the key features of the Prophets as a major section of the Hebrew scriptures is its clear and consistent connection to the Book of Moses. Joshua through 2 Kings continues the narrative storyline of the Pentateuch. In particular, the Former Prophets support and illustrate the basic message and outlook of the book of Deuteronomy.

In both literary and theological terms, the prophetic history acts as a continuation of the story that leaves off in Deuteronomy. What is more, the prophetic history as a whole does something similar to what the Pentateuch as a whole does: it looks back on Israel’s history and provides both warning and hope for future generations of readers.

Like the Pentateuch as well, the prophetic books weave together individual texts like genealogies, accounts of brief episodes, building instructions, land distribution details, and reports of divine discourse. Each book has a strong narrative frame that gives a sense of unified forward momentum while also including within its scope a diverse collection of sub-genres.

Together, these two major sections (Genesis—Deuteronomy & Joshua—Kings) form the core of the Hebrew scriptures as the Law and the Prophets. 

Another important feature of this section is the unity of books typically separated into multiple parts in English translations. For example, 1 Samuel and 2 Samuel comprise the single book of Samuel, and 1 Kings and 2 Kings comprise the single book of Kings. Moreover, what are sometimes known as the twelve “Minor Prophets” (Hosea through Malachi) constitute the unified Book of the Twelve.

In this way, the writing Prophets as a group consist of four major prophetic books of relatively equal length with a similar scope and sequence. Noting these textual and book-level features will help you see the guidance that the canonical context provides as you read these books and encounter the story of the Prophets. 

Snapshot of the Story of the Prophets

By way of summary, we can say that the story of the Prophets provides a narration and interpretation of Israel’s rise and fall. In this collection of books, we see Israel enter the land (Joshua), experience exile within the land (Judges), gain a king (Samuel), and finally lose the kingdom (Kings).

The overarching purpose of the prophetic history and its commentary is first to explain the exile and Babylonian captivity, and second to hold out hope for a return from exile.

Throughout the storyline of the Prophets, the theological emphasis is on the Lord’s faithfulness to the covenant (he keeps it and graciously renews it) and the people’s failure to keep the covenant (they break it and continually neglect it).

As the prophetic books convey their message, they draw on the history of Israel depicted in the Book of Moses. They also continue to develop the theological reasons for despair and hope that are initially found in the story of the Pentateuch. The themes of the nature of the covenants, God’s rule through his kingdom, and the promises connected to the coming ruler from the line of David are particularly prominent in the story of the Prophets.

The prophetic history continues the epic account of redemptive history and also develops the hope of redemption articulated in this storyline.

Annotated Walking Tour

Stephen Chapman, The Law and the Prophets: A Study in Old Testament Canon Formation (Baker, 2020; Mohr Siebeck, 2009). In this landmark study on the formation of the OT, Chapman makes the case that “the Law” and “the Prophets” developed alongside one another and mutually influenced each other as they became an inseparable global grouping (“the law and the prophets”). Chapman challenges two major theories: 1) that the Pentateuch was completely closed prior to the formation of the Prophets corpus, and 2) that the Prophets corpus preceded the formation of the Pentateuch (which was retrofitted later). Chapman also gives a thorough history of interpretation on this question, a theological account of “canon” and “canon-consciousness,” and reflects on the interpretive significance of the law/prophets structure. 

Stephen Dempster, “The Prophets, the Canon, and a Canonical Approach: No Empty Word,” in Canon and Biblical Interpretation (Zondervan, 2006), 293–329. A helpful orientation to the issues involved in studying the prophetic corpus and the effect that a canonical approach has on understanding the “message of the prophets.” Dempster also considers the nature of the connection between this prophetic message and the Torah on the one hand (in terms of “continuity and overflow”) and the NT on the other (in terms of “continuity and rupture”).  

Christopher Seitz, Prophecy and Hermeneutics: Toward a New Introduction to the Prophets (Baker, 2007). Seitz asks how an “introduction” to the prophets would change if the coherence of the canonical context was prioritized over the historical background and reconstructed setting of the individual prophets. As he puts it, he seeks to “give indication of what is at stake hermeneutically in the shift toward a newer canonical reading for figural interpretation of Christian Scripture.” After his description of the “problem,” particularly helpful are chaps 4–5 (“prophetic associations in the canonical form” and “the prophets reconfigured”), where he illustrates what he sees as the significance of this canonical turn in the study of the prophets. Seitz also interacts at length with Gerhard von Rad’s proposals and recent scholarship of the Book of the Twelve. This book would serve as a usefel orientation to his many more technical studies in Essays on Prophecy and Canon: The Rise of a New Model for Interpretation (Mohr-Seibeck, 2021). Cf. my review for a summary of this work.

John Sailhamer, “Preaching from the Prophets,” in Preaching the Old Testament (Baker, 2006), 115–36. Sailhamer considers what it means to discern and preach the message of the prophetic books. The fact that the prophetic writings have “come to us as inspired Scripture,” Sailhamer notes, “obliges us to take seriously their final written form and to strive all the more to understand them as a function of the meaning of a ‘book’” (115). One of the claims Sailhamer makes is that “when viewed from the perspective of the prophets as authors, it is possible to see in their books a line of thought already moving in the same theological direction as the NT books themselves” (116). Sailhamer here blends a focus on canonical context and compositional shape. This is also the final essay from Sailahmer that was published. 

Andrew Shead, A Mouth Full of Fire: The Word of God in the Words of Jeremiah (IVP, 2012). Discerning the message of Jeremiah as a whole is difficult because of the book’s scope and the complexity of its textual shape. Shead gives a theological reading of Jeremiah by focusing on a theme that is also central to the book itself: divine discourse. In particular, Shead traces the theological relationship between the “Word of the Lord,” the words of the prophet, and the shape of the prophetic book. The strategic contribution here is also that Shead develops these themes by showing that the book itself develops these thematic trajectories through distinct structural and textual features. In this vein, too, Shead concludes with a dogmatic reflection on the doctrine of revelation and Scripture in light of the meaning of Jeremiah. 

Michael Shepherd, The Twelve Prophets in the New Testament (Peter Lang, 2010). Shepherd examines the reception of the book of the Twelve in the NT. Part of Shepherd’s observation involves not only that the 12 are cited but also how they are cited. For Shepherd, the manner in which the 12 are cited oftentimes demonstrates that they are being viewed as part of the Book of the 12 rather than as individual historically discrete texts. For a summary of his argument regarding the 12, see his article, “Compositional Analysis of the Twelve,” ZAW 120 (2008): 184–93.

A few more helpful articles: 

• Brevard Childs, “The Canonical Shape of the Prophetic Literature,” in Interpreting the Prophets (Fortress, 1987), 41–49; and “Retrospective Reading of the OT Prophets,” ZAW 108 (1996): 362–77. 

• John Sailhamer, “The Canonical Approach to the OT: Its Effect on Understanding Prophecy,” JETS (1987): 307–15.

• Andrew Dearman, “My Servants the Scribes: Composition and Context in Jeremiah 36,” JBL 109 (1990): 403–21.

• Greg Goswell, “The Macro-Structural Role of the Former Prophets and the Historical Books in OT Canons,” JETS 63.3 (2020): 455–71; and “Making Theological Sense of the Prophetic Books of the OT Canon,” JETS 64.1 (2021): 77–94.

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