The bible mentions no prophets during what periods of ancient israels history. But it has the single most terrifying message of any book in the bible. The noteworthy exception is the book of jonah, an anonymous work containing no prophetic oracles, which katherine dell holds was probably composed in the hellenistic period 332167. Since the book of ezekiel contains more dates than any other ot prophetic book, its prophecies can be dated with considerable precision. It is also the longest book of the bible, spanning 66 chapters. The exodus who is the first prophet mentioned in scripture and about what year does he make his appearance.
Books of the bible list order complete new and old testament. Weve taken a look at the shortest books in the bible, but what about the longest book in the bible if youd asked me about it in sunday school, my answer would have been a quick, confident psalms. The bible is a pretty long book, and that might give the impression that every book of the bible is long, too. List of books in the bible from shortest to longest. The longest book of the major prophets, isaiah, includes 66 chapters, while the shortest book in the minor prophets, obadiah, includes just one. Watch for jeremiahs encouragementprophecies that are still being fulfilled today whenever sinful hearts are transformed by god. Sandwiched between the prophetic utterances of amos, a farmer, and jonah, who was sent by god to speak to the ninevites but refused and ended up spending a few nights in the belly of a fish before obeying, obadiah speaks of a. There have been prophets throughout every era of gods relationship with mankind, but the books of the prophets address the classical period of prophecyduring the later years of the divided kingdoms of judah and israel, throughout the time. Verse divisions were added in the year 1551 by robertus stephanus. Prophetic books of the bible prophets have existed throughout every era of gods relationship with mankind, but the old testament books of the prophets address the classical period of prophecy from the later years of the divided kingdoms of judah and israel, throughout the time of exile, and into the years of israels return from exile. I figured this because the book has 150 psalms, and the runnerup in chapter count would have been isaiah, with a meager 66 chaptersthats less than half of what psalms has. Listen to chuck swindolls overview of obadiah in his audio message from the classic series gods masterwork. Obadiah, with only one chapter consisting of 21 verses, is the shortest of all old.
Obadiah means servant of jehovah and worshiper of yahweh. Jan, 2019 prophetic books of the bible prophets have existed throughout every era of gods relationship with mankind, but the old testament books of the prophets address the classical period of prophecy from the later years of the divided kingdoms of judah and israel, throughout the time of exile, and into the years of israels return from exile. Reading the prophetic books of the bible can be as easy as. Apr 27, 2014 the longest name in the bible is mahershalalhashbaz, a prophetic name, can be found in the book of isaiah. The former contains a series of laments over the destruction of jerusalem by the babylonians. Increasingly throughout the bible jerusalem becomes a symbol of heaven. The second shortest book by word count, 2 john, has 245 words, but it has fewer verses than 3 john.
Individuals who spoke on gods behalf the books of prophecy in the old testament if we understand both. Ive noticed astrics on certain books, what does that mean. In the case of joseph smith, one is pushed to discern whether smiths claim of divine prophetic authority in translation of the bible, the bom, the kinderhook plates, and the book of abraham is authentic. Aug 05, 2017 the criteria typically used to determine the length of the shortest book in the bible is the number of words in the book. The book of obadiah is based on a prophetic vision concerning the fall of edom, a mountain dwelling nation. The collection is broken up to form twelve individual books in the christian old testament, one for each of the prophets. The shortest prophetic book in this series is obadiah, with only one chapter, followed by haggai, which has only two. What is the greatest prophetic book in the bible answers.
The number of letters or characters can also be used as a measure of book length, but character count has been traditionally applied to the length of verses and not the length of. In this first class we will look at some of isaiahs famous prophecies of the impending assyrian devastation. Introducing the biblical prophets restoring the pophecies. What is commonly known as the minor prophets is a collection of writings in the old testament from twelve different men inspired by god. The text consists of a single chapter, divided into 21 verses, making it the shortest book in the hebrew bible. Book of obadiah overview insight for living ministries. The shortest name in the bible is og, the king of bashan and. Job, psalms, proverbs, ecclesiastes, song of solomon. Asked in bible prophecy why is it the book of lamentation placed among the prophetic books. In this, the shortest book of the old testament, it seems the prophet obadiah. Written by obadiah concerning whom nothing but the name is known, this book contains a proclamation of jehovahs judgment against edom, presents the reason for that judgment, and points forward to restoration for the house of jacob. The book of obadiah is an oracle concerning the divine judgment of edom and the restoration of israel. Traditional jewish readings of the bible do not generally reflect the same attention to the details of prophecies. There are several questions that provide clues about this.
The text consists of a single chapter, divided into 21 verses, making it the shortest book in the hebrew bible in judaism and christianity, its authorship is attributed to a prophet who lived in the assyrian period and named himself in the first verse, obadiah. Nothing is known of the author, although his prophecy against edom, a neighbor and rival of israel, indicates a date of composition sometime after the babylonian destruction of jerusalem in 587 b. The beasts of prophecy written about by daniel in his book and john of the book of revelation. The final seventeen books of the old testament, and the book of revelation in the new testament.
Though a very short book, obadiah gives us the classic prophetic vision of judgment and hope. The twelve, book of the hebrew bible that contains the books of 12 minor. The 5 shortest books of the bible, in order overviewbible. In addition, modern scholarship, using archaeology babylonian annals on cuneiform tablets and astronomy accurate dating of eclipses referred to in ancient archives, provides precise modern calendar. In the hebrew bible, these works were counted as one book. The 12 books of the minor prophets include 67 chapters. Mar 03, 2015 prophetic books of the bible the prophetic books address the classical period of biblical prophecy 2.
Thus, we will spend three classes exploring this rich text. Aug 14, 2019 the twelve shorter prophetic books in the old testament are attributed to minor prophets, a title which refers to the shortness of the books, which of course were written under the same divine inspiration and contain teaching which is on a par w. Eighteen of the bibles sixtysix books are prophetic literature. These books record gods messages to the people of israel and judah in. And ultimately in the book of revelation one sees the new jerusalem coming down out of heaven to be the dwelling place of gods people. Nothing is known of the author, although his prophecy against edom, a.
This prophetic book, the shortest book in the old testament, ends by speaking of the day of the lord, when the nations will be defeated, israel will be restored, and the kingdom shall be the lords. The bible projects video on the short book notes that its hardly a. Maimonides stated that moses was the greatest of the prophets and only he experienced direct revelation. The new testament speaks so favorably in jerusalem in eternal terms. Scholars usually assume that there exists an original core of prophetic tradition behind each book which can be attributed to the figure after whom it is named. The book of obadiah is the shortest book in the old testament. In this, the shortest book of the old testament, it seems the prophet obadiah considered each word a highpriced commodity. The shortest prophetic book of the hebrew scriptures. The longest of these books are hosea and zechariah, with each having fourteen 14 chapters. The latter is considered to be a prophetic book, though it consists of a collection of six edifying diaspora tales chaps. There is a vital reason why god is finally revealing it now.
The terms minor prophets and twelve prophets can also refer to the. By counting the number of words in hebrew or greek, the shortest book of the bible is 3 john, which has 219 words. Prophetic books of the bible the prophetic books address the classical period of biblical prophecy. All biblical books are prophetic to one degree or another, but. The shortest book of the bible, containing only 21 verses, bears the distinction of being the most difficult of the minor prophets to date. List of books in the bible from shortest to longest believers portal.
Perhaps this message should be more sobering to the saints than any of gods messages. Obadiah also has one of the most inspiring conclusions of any. In english, it is sometimes referred to as the twelve minor prophets, a moniker that describes only their relatively short messages, but not their importance. This was one of the most common names in the hebrew bible. The last book of the prophets contains the prophecies of twelve distinct prophets, and is known as trei asar, meaning twelve in aramaic. Sandwiched between the prophetic utterances of amos, a farmer, and. These books do not continue with the history of the hebrew people, however, they are considered to be a transition from the history books 1 samuel through esther, to the prophetic books of. From the dead sea scrolls and the work of ben sirach, we know that these. Historically, the hebrew bible jewish version of the old testament arranged these works differently.
Im going reading the list of the shortest to the longest books of the bible. The shortest book in the bible by word count is 3 john, with only 219 words in the bible s original language. This book, the shortest among the twelve minor prophets, is a single twentyoneverse oracle against edom. Poetic books of the bible a fivebook transition the five poetic books of the bible are job, psalms, proverbs, ecclesiastes, and the song of solomon. The books beginning with isaiah and ending with malachi belong to a section of the christian bible called the prophetic books. When the bible mentions prophets, its usually referencing the following. Bible prophecy is an area which is often discussed in regard to christian apologetics. Infographic the longest and shortest books of the bible bible verses, long books. In the hebrew bible, lamentations and daniel are listed among the writings hagiographa, not among the prophetic books.
What is the shortest prophetic book in the bible answers. When modern folks talk about prophets and prophecy, theyre often referring to someone foretelling future events. Discover, understand, and share more insights from your bible study with logos 8 basic. However, in the bible, the prophets played a much larger role. The question of date relates to which battle against jerusalem the edomites were associated with vv. King james bible dictionary the longest, shortest and unique books, chapters. If youre going to read everything god has written to you in the bible, eventually youre going to have to wade into these deep, rich, and sometimes confusing books.