The Hebrew Bible
נְבִיאִים
The prophets
The history of a people, told alongside the voices that argued with it.
The prophetic books divide into two halves. The Former Prophets carry the narrative forward from the entry into the land to the fall of Jerusalem. The Latter Prophets are collections of oracles, and they are poetry far more often than readers expect.
The two halves are meant to be read against each other. The narrative reports what the kings did; the oracles report what was said about it at the time.
Former prophets
Narrative books, read as history rather than as prediction.
- יְהוֹשֻׁעַ24 ch
Joshua
Yehoshua, the lord saves
Entry, campaign, and then a long and unglamorous division of land.
Open the book
- שׁוֹפְטִים21 ch
Judges
Shoftim, judges
A repeating cycle of collapse and rescue, getting darker each time round.
Open the book
- שְׁמוּאֵל55 ch
Samuel
Shmuel, samuel
A people ask for a king, get one, and then get a better and worse one.
Open the book
- מְלָכִים47 ch
Kings
Melakhim, kings
Solomon, a split, and then two kingdoms declining toward exile.
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Latter prophets
Oracle collections. The Twelve are counted as a single book.
- יְשַׁעְיָהוּ66 ch
Isaiah
Yeshayahu, the lord is salvation
Sixty six chapters whose voice and setting shift markedly partway through.
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- יִרְמְיָהוּ52 ch
Jeremiah
Yirmeyahu, the lord exalts
Warning, siege, and fall, with more of the prophet's own distress on the page than anywhere else.
Open the book
- יְחֶזְקֵאל48 ch
Ezekiel
Yechezkel, god strengthens
Written from exile: visionary, strange, and tightly structured.
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- תְּרֵי עָשָׂר67 ch
The Twelve
Trei Asar, twelve
Twelve short books on one scroll, spanning centuries and every mood available.
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