Bible Challenge: The Major Prophets

We are beginning the reading of the Major Prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah and Lamentations.  Ezekiel is also a part of this group - but we will be reading Ezekiel with the histories.

These books are called the Major Prophets because they are longer than the Minor Prophets.

We start with Isaiah.  Isaiah is actually three different books written by three different people at three different times in history.

First Isaiah is the first 39 Chapters and were written during the lifetime of Isaiah son of Amoz who wrote during the days of King Uzziah.  There is some material in those chapters that is later than that and was added over the years.

Second Isaiah covers chapters 40 through 55 and these were written between two and three hundred years later.

Third Isaiah is chapters 56 through 66 and those were written about 100 years after Second Isaiah and between three and four hundred years after first Isaiah.

This wee we read about the first half of First Isaiah.  The book begins with the memoirs of the Isaiah, setting the book in time and place and then moves on to oracles against the enemies of Israel - both those outside the community and those inside.

The chapters that we have this week includes all of the memoirs and the first half of the oracles.

Much of the this week's readings are written in poetic style.  You might have noticed one hallmark of Hebrew poetry - which is stating things twice in slightly different ways.