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Part of a series of Starlight Book Reviews (SBR) on Old Testament (OT) Books. Click here to see other OT SBR.
* The following post transparently exhibits my Christian faith.
5/5 Now, I move on to the Minor Prophets/ Twelve Prophets in this Starlight Book Review (SBR). This SBR pertains to the first three of the Minor Prophets — the Books of Hosea, Joel, and Amos.
Click here to check out the Sacred Texts Journey SRC.
The Minor Prophets or Twelve Prophets (Hebrew: שנים עשר, Shneim Asar; Imperial Aramaic: תרי עשר, Trei Asar, “Twelve”) (Ancient Greek: δωδεκαπρόφητον, “the Twelve Prophets”), occasionally Book of the Twelve, is a collection of prophetic books, written between about the 8th and 4th centuries BCE, which are in both the Jewish Tanakh and Christian Old Testament… In the Christian Old Testament, the collection appears as twelve individual books, one for each of the prophets: the Book of Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. Their order, and position in the Old Testament, varies slightly between the Protestant, Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Bibles.
“The Book of Hosea (Biblical Hebrew: סֵפֶר הוֹשֵׁעַ, romanized: Sēfer Hōšēaʿ) is collected as one of the twelve minor prophets of the Nevi’im (“Prophets”) in the Tanakh, and as a book in its own right in the Christian Old Testament. According to the traditional order of most Hebrew Bibles, it is the first of the Twelve… Set around the fall of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, the Book of Hosea denounces the worship of gods other than Yahweh (the God of Israel), metaphorically comparing Israel’s abandonment of Yahweh to a woman being unfaithful to her husband. According to the book’s narrative, the relationship between Hosea and his unfaithful wife Gomer is comparable to the relationship between Yahweh and his unfaithful people Israel: this text “for the first time” describes the latter relationship in terms of a marriage. The eventual reconciliation of Hosea and Gomer is treated as a hopeful metaphor for the eventual reconciliation between Yahweh and Israel… Dated to c. 760–720 BC, it is one of the oldest books of the Tanakh, predating final recensions of the full Torah (Pentateuch). Hosea is the source of the phrase “reap the whirlwind”, which has passed into common usage in English and other languages.”
“The Book of Joel is a Jewish prophetic text containing a series of “divine announcements”. The first line attributes authorship to “Joel the son of Pethuel”.It forms part of the Book of the twelve minor prophets or the Nevi’im (“Prophets”) in the Hebrew Bible, and is a book in its own right in the Christian Old Testament. Joel is not mentioned elsewhere in either collection… The book of Joel is a short collection of prophetic poems that are both powerful and puzzling. This book is unique among the books of the prophets for a few reasons, starting with the fact that there’s no explicit indication of when it was written. It’s most likely set during the time period of Ezra-Nehemiah, after the return from the exile, because he mentions Jerusalem and the temple but not a kingdom. Another aspect that sets this book apart is that Joel is clearly familiar with many other scriptural books, as he alludes to or quotes from the prophets Isaiah, Amos, Zephaniah, Nahum, Obadiah, Ezekiel, and Malachi, as well as the book of Exodus. Finally, Joel never accuses Israel of any specific sin. Like the other prophets, he announces that God’s justice is coming to confront Israel’s sin, but he never says why. This is because Joel assumes that, like him, you’ve been reading the books of the prophets and already know all about Israel’s rebellion.”
“The Book of Amos is the third of the Twelve Minor Prophets in the Old Testament (Tanakh) and the second in the Greek Septuagint tradition. Amos, an older contemporary of Hosea and Isaiah,was active c. 750 BC during the reign of Jeroboam II (788–747 BC) of Samaria (Northern Israel), while Uzziah was King of Judah. Amos lived in the kingdom of Judah but preached in the northern Kingdom of Israel.His major themes of social justice, God’s omnipotence, and divine judgment became staples of prophecy.
Of these first three of the Minor Prophets, my reading of Hosea stands out the most. The Prophet Hosea and his relationship with Gomer inspired many including the band Third Day and author Francine Rivers (Redeeming Love). What struck me most with Hosea as well as Joel and Amos with my 2023 reading was the timelessness of their content. Also, below are verses from each book that masterful.
2 After two days he will revive us;
Hosea 6:2 NIV
on the third day he will restore us,
that we may live in his presence.
32 And everyone who calls
Joel 2:32 NIV
on the name of the Lord will be saved;
for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem
there will be deliverance,
as the Lord has said,
even among the survivors
whom the Lord calls.
15 Hate evil, love good;
Amos 5:15
maintain justice in the courts.
Perhaps the Lord God Almighty will have mercy
on the remnant of Joseph.
Select Bibliography (Alphabetical Order by Author’s Surname)
- BibleProject Guides – Guide to the Book of Joel Key Information and Helpful Resources – https://bibleproject.com/guides/book-of-joel/
- Cook, Stephen L. (1989). HarperCollins Study Bible; New Revised Standard Version With the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books Student Edition (San Francisco: Harper Collins Publishers, Meeks, Wayne A. ed., p. 1193.)
- Dearman, J. Andrew (2010). The Book of Hosea. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. ISBN 9781467423731.
- Finkelstein, Israel. The Forgotten Kingdom: The Archaeology and History of Ancient Israel. Atlanta: SBL, 2013. Ancient Near East Monographs, Number 5. p. 4.
- Harris, Stephen L., Understanding the Bible. Palo Alto: Mayfield. 1985.
- Jerusalem Bible (1966), Introduction to the Prophets, p. 1135, London: Darton, Longman & Todd Ltd and Doubleday and Co. Inc.
- Keller, C. A., 28. Joel, in Barton, J. and Muddiman, J. (2001), The Oxford Bible Commentary Archived 2017-11-22 at the Wayback Machine, p. 578
- Sweeney, Marvin A. (2000). The Twelve Prophets: Volume 1: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah. Liturgical Press. ISBN 9780814682432.
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