Prophets and Prophecy: God Speaks in Ancient Israel and Judah

Hibbard (religious studies, Univ. of Detroit, Mercy; Intertextuality in Isaiah 24–27) explores the world of Biblical prophets with an eye toward discovering who they really were and what they did. This volume is not an examination of prophetic literature, per se. Instead, Hibbard’s focus is on the prophets as people. He begins his nine-chapter book by defining “prophet” and “prophecy.” He then examines prophets’ actions and messages in social, political, historical, economic, and religious contexts. He explains that biblical prophets came from different backgrounds; for example, many were members of the royal court or temples, and some were from private households and other places. Their prophecies were on matters local to them or to foreign empires. To advance his analysis, he conducts extensive research of biblical sources and considers what leading scholars say in Old Testament scholarship.