Hebrew Bible: Post-exilic Prophecy

Post-exilic Prophecy

Joel, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi

11/09/2011

Note:  Daniel is considered to be apocalyptic and Jonah a narrative, rather than prophets

Haggai

Timeline, BCE:

    536 -- King Cyrus of Persia allows the Jews to return to Jerusalem and rebuilt the Second Temple, called Zerubbabel's Temple.  The king renamed the land of the Jews Yehud (where we get Judah from).

  ~520 -- Haggai prophesies 

  ~515 -- the temple is rededicated 

House for God:

    Haggai admonishes the Jews to build a temple.  If they would build a house instead of worrying about their own supposedly luxurious houses, then their drought and troubles would  cease.  According to chapter 2, the glory of the Second Temple will surpass that of the first!

Messianic Expectations:

• Zerubbabel -- governor over the Jews and of the Davidic line
• Haggai seems to believe that he will become king and restore Israel as a nation, based on two requirements for the expected Messiah (see 2:20-23):
• signet ring (symbolizing kingship)
• rebuilding of the temple
• Joshua -- high priest (Zadokite?)
• both he and Zerbbabel shared authority over the Jews

Zechariah

    Zechariah is prophet who bridges standard prophecy and apocalyptic literature, notably through the highly symbolic language and use of an interpreter.  (Apocalypse means "lifting of the veil.")

    Ch. 1-8 are typically attributed to Zechariah

    Ch. 9-14 are typically not attributed to Zechariah

• 1:7-10 -- angel interpreter
• Zechariah needs the help of an angel to understand a vision of bizarre horses
• these horses are similar to the surveying horses for the Persian king--the "eyes of the king" 
• 3:13 -- Ha-Satan
• meaning, the satan, accuser, or adversary--not a name!
• he is a member of the heavenly host
• he accuses Joshua because he appeared unclean (perhaps the society thought likewise)
• he is also mentioned in Job and 1 Chronicles
• 6:9-11 -- "Crowns"
• Zechariah calls for crowns of silver and gold to be made
• in Hebrew, the text reads "crowns" not singular "crown"
• Zechariah was probably referring to crowns for both Zerubbabel and Joshua, but this detail could have been omitted by later editors
• Zerubbabel....maybe the Persians took him!

Malachi

    "Malachi" literally means "my messenger," so this book was perhaps written by an anonymous prophet (no other genealogy is given for the malachi).  Notice the similarities between Zechariah 12:1 and Malachi 1:1.

          1:11 -- "everywhere"

• the prophet declares that God's name is great everywhere incense is burned to Him
• this would imply that the Second Temple was not the only holy place to worship the Lord.
• other Jewish settlements existed and were probably viewed as legitimate--like the settlement in Elephantine, Egypt

Joel

    Although chronologically misplaced, this book was probably given its insertion because of thematic similarity with the adjacent books.

• 3:4,6 -- context justification
• Tyre and Sidon were/are in Lebannon
• trade with the Greeks!
• 2:28-29 -- everyone will be prophets!

Minor Prophets

A unifying theme is that all but the prophets Nahum and Jonah refer to escatological events, that is, concerning the end of the age/world. 

According to TaNaKh (Tenahk), the minor prophets are in the middle of the Hebrew Bible