KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T.

PEDZISAI)

COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI

1|Page
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

JUDAISM NOTES

Tenets of Judaism

COVENANT

What is a covenant?

 A covenant is a binding agreement between two or more parties.

 According to PT Chakabva and WN Dingani the term covenant refers to the sacred agreement between
God and a person or a group of people
 According to Scott V Johnson et al The Pentateuch defined the term covenant as a gracious relationship
of love between God and humanity , where God takes the initiative by creating the world to be a place
where this relationship can be realised
 There are two types of covenants conditional and unconditional
 A conditional covenant is an agreement which includes two parties cementing relationship whilst the
unconditional covenant refers to agreement of two parties whereby only one has something to do while
the other party have nothing to do for instance the Abrahamic Covenant were God made a covenant
where there was nothing required from Abraham
 A covenant is ‘a formal agreement, contract, testament, or treaty between two parties, with specific
obligations on each side.
 Covenant is coming from the Hebrew word ‘berith’ translated as "treaty", "pact", "agreement", "solemn
promise", "obligation" or more familiarly as "covenant"
 Biblical covenants, refer to instances where God has entered into an agreement with mankind that
involves both promises and responsibilities for each party.
 The primary covenants in the Old Testament are the Noahic, Abrahamic,Mosaic, Davidic, Palestinian and
the New Covenant.

Characteristics of Covenants

 Covenants often promise specific benefits, rewards, or blessings for people who keep the terms
of the covenant;but they also threaten sanctions, punishments, or curses for people who break
the terms of the covenant.

2|Page
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

 covenants need to be ratified formally, usually sealed with blood, and thus often involve animal
sacrifices;
 the parties involved might be individuals, families, states, kings, or even God;
 the parties might be on the same level (two families, two kings) with mutual obligations agreed
upon freely or they might be on different levels (God and humans;
 a large empire and a smaller nation) with the stronger party imposing the conditions on the
weaker party (obedience, taxes, tribute) in exchange for certain benefits protection).

Noahic Covenant (covenant with creation)

 Key scripture Genesis 9. It was a covenant between God and Noah in which Noah was the
representative of both mankind and the creation. Covenant conditions.
 Prohibitions against murder and the consumption of blood (9:4-6).2. Sanctity of human life, i.e.,
that “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for God made man in his
own image.”
 Following punishment through the flood God promised Noah not to destroy the whole human
race again with a universal flood flood.
 Gen 9:11, “I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the
waters of a flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.”
 The Lord made an everlasting covenant with Noah and his descendants, establishing the
rainbow as the sign of His promise (Gen. 9:1-17).

Abrahamic Covenant

 The covenant was between God and Abraham

 It was an unconditional covenant because Abraham was required to do nothing
 This covenant was a sovereign promise God made with Abraham.
 Its validity and fulfilment depend wholly upon God’s sovereign faithfulness
 The elements of the Covenant were that God would make Abraham great, that he and his
seed/descendants would be a blessing to all mankind, that God would bless those who

3|Page
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

blessed them and curse him that cursed him, that Abraham would have innumerable offspring
(physical and spiritual), and that God would give Abraham and his offspring land– “from the
river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates.”
 According to Keith H. Essex (1999) Abrahamic Covenant is important as God makes promises to
make Abraham a great nation and the blessing of his name

Mosaic Covenant

 Mosaic Covenant was between Moses , God and the people of Israel
 Moses was a covenant mediator between God and Israel (one of the roles of prophets)
 The covenant is recorded in Exodus 19-24
 It was also called Sinaitic or Sinai Covenant
 It is when Moses was given Ten Commandments or Decalogue so as to present to the Israelites
 People were reminded to follow the Ten Commandments as evidenced in Exodus 19:5
 The Mosaic Covenant is important because God promised to make her a great and holy nation
 The Mosaic Covenant is believed to have been a pillar of the religion of Israel
 According to Botterweck and Ringgren the covenant idea was a special feature of the religion of
Israel
 The covenant palyed a large part in giving Israel's religion it's distinctive character in comparison
to religion of her neighbours , her characteristic monotheism
 The Israelites were promised holy Land and blessings based on conditions

Palestinian covenant

 Palestinian covenant is recorded in one of the pentateuch books which is Deuteronomy 29:1
 It is prudent to note that this covenant was between God and Israelites before reaching the
promised Land , Palestine
 The covenant is sometimes known as the land covenant
 The covenant was established after the Mosaic Covenant had been made and after the Israelites
Habs wandered in the wilderness for forty years
 The covenant is unconditional as it promises what God will do for Israelites regardless of their
disobedience
 The covenant includes the promises of blessing and the land , Palestine

4|Page
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

 It reinforces the land aspect of the Abrahamic covenant and was sovereignly established and
eternal.
 It specifies the geographical boundaries of the promised land of Canaan. God promised to the
nation of Israel the land from the river of Egypt to the Euphrates river (Genesis 15.18).

Davidic Covenant

 The Davidic Covenant was established between David and Yahweh during the days of Nathan
the prophet
 The Davidic Covenant refers to the God's promises to David that his dynasty will last forever
 According to Dr. Constable God has blessed David in the past by choosing him as Israel's
Shepherd-King
 Dr. Constable say there are four features which include :
 The great name or famous reputation of King David
 The everlasting dynasty and kingdom of David and his heirs
 Rest from all Israel's enemies
 Homeland for Israel
 Prophets also echoes the Davidic Covenant Amos 9:11 "In that day I will restore, David's fallen
tent.I will repair it's broken places....'

New Covenant

 The new covenant is also termed the renewed covenant Jeh 31:1-34, Jeh 33:14-26.
 Covenant predicted by prophet Jeremiah.
 It prescribed that the Lord will make "a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of
Judah" (Jer 31:31)
 God's Law will be within people, written on their hearts (Jer 31:34)
 According to Dr. Constable Jeremiah's revelation of the new Covenant was his greatest
theological contribution
 The covenant would be different from Mosaic Covenant which Israelites consistently broken
inspite of Yahweh faithful commitment to them
 The covenant was unconditional as God promisto restore them
 Characteristic's of the new Covenant are as follows:

5|Page
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

a) Mosaic Covenant was broken , New Covenant relationship would begin

b) Hope and restoration after God had forgiven their sins
c) The law was written in their hearts instead of being external to them
d) The covenant was to be made with Israel
e) The Israelites were to be blessed

LAW

 The term ‘law’ is also understood as ‘statute’, ‘ordinances’ or ‘precepts’.

 The Old Testament contain over six hundred commandments to Israel.
 The four books which contain the laws: Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.
 These books, along with Genesis, were all written by Moses and are referred to as "The Law."
(They are also called the "Pentateuch" which means a volume consisting of five books or
sections.).
 Two types of law are noted in the Hebrew law codes are Casuistic or Case Law and Apodictic
Law. These laws are given in detail on Ex 19-50.
 The Hebrew was encouraged to learn the Torah Deut 6:7

Casuistic Laws

 Casuistic, or case, law, which contains a conditional statement and a type of punishment to be
meted out
 These are laws concerned with civil matters in ancient Israel.
 Case Laws have a three-tier structure namely the introductory formula that begin
with either, ‘if….’, ‘When….’, ‘Whenever….’ etc.
 Second, the narration of the offence and then third the consequence/result.
 The case laws were conditional or they were subjunctive in terms of mood (cause and effect).
 Casuistry is reasoning used to resolve moral problems
 Case laws had striking similarities with surrounding ANE nations hence were believed to have
been borrowed from the surrounding nations.
 They are recorded in a section called The Covenant Code (Book of the Covenant): Ex. 20:23—
23:33

6|Page
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

 Many of these laws elaborate on the Decalogue or provide for its interpretation in specific
contexts.

a) God

 The Hebrew was supposed to know that God exists Exodus 20:2,Deut 5:6
 Blasphemy was discouraged Exodus 22:27-28, Lev 24:6
 Testing God was discouraged Deut 6:16
 Loving God was encouraged Deut 6:5

b) The law

 The Hebrew was encouraged to learn the Torah Deut 6:7

c) signs and symbols

 Signs and symbols were encouraged to be done to every Hebrew .

 For instance the male offspring ws to be circumcised Gen17:12, Lev12:13

d) prayer and blessing

 Hebrews were supposed to read the Shema (the hearing) in morning and at night as recorded in
Deut 6:7
 They were supposed to recite grace after every meals Deut 8:10

e) love and brotherhood

 No to put any Jew to shame Lev19:17

 Revenge and bearing grudge was discouraged Lev 19:18
 See also Lev 19:12-25 and Lev 25:17 on laws about love and brotherhood

d) poor and unfortunate

 To give charity according to one's means Deut 15:11

 To leave forgotten sheaves to the poor Deut 24:19-20
 Not to reap the entire field Lev 23:22

f) treatment of non Jews

7|Page
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

 No intermarriages Deut 7:3

 To exact the debt of an alien Deut 15:3

g) marriage, divorce and family

 Men were expected to divorce by a written document Deut 24:1

 Israelites were discouraged from cursing parents Exodus 21:17
 Men were expected to marry by the sacrament of marriage

h) forbidden sexual relationship (Lev 18)

 Having intercourse with another man's wife Lev 18:20

 Having intercourse with animals Lev 18:23
 Having intercourse with a woman in her menstrual periods Lev 18:19

I) times and season

 To eat unleavened bread at the first night of the Passover Exodus 12:16
 Encouraged to celebrate festivals Exodus 23:14

k) Dietary laws

 Discouraged from eating winged insects Deut 14:19

 Not to eat a best which died by itself Deut 14:21

l) Nazarenes

 Were forbidden to eat kernels of grapes and drink wine

 We're not supposed to cut their hair Num 6:5
Apodictic Laws
 Apodictic law, or "absolute law," gives laws in unconditional commands and prohibitions. They issue
absolute orders and allow no exceptions.
 For example, the Ten Commandments (Ex. 20:2-17; Deut. 5:6-21).
 They can be negative in form: for example, Ex 20:13, “You shall not kill.”
 They can also be positive in form e.g. Ex 20:12, “Honour your father and your mother, that your
days may be long in the land which the LORD your God gives you.”

8|Page
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

 The ten apodictic laws are divided into two groups.

 The first four deal with the people’s relationship with God.
 The last six address the relationship of the people to one another.
 Unlike case laws the apodictic laws have a two tier structure beginning with an introductory
formula, ‘Thou shall…’, then the narration of what is to be done or what is forbidden.
 In terms of mood they are imperative (not conditional, absolute instruction) and they have divine
sanction.
 The apodictic laws are believed to be authentic or unique to Israel as they have no parallels from the
ANE.
 Such commands are not designed for application in the court. Is killing in war acceptable? (Some
Bibles even translate Ex 20:13 "murder", though the Hebrew is not specific about the kind of killing
being forbidden.) What about accidental killing?

Decalogue/Sacral Law /Ten commandments

 The decalogue is also known as the Ten Commandments

 These were presented by Moses the Israelites
 The Ten Commandments were unique in the Old Testament Times because they possessed
prohibitions .
1. You shall have no other gods before me
2. You shall not make yourself a graven image , or any likeness of anything that is in heaven
above ...."
3. You shall not take the name of the Lord in vain, for the will not hold him guiltness who takes his
name in vain
4. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy
5. Honor your father and your mother ,bthat your days may be long in the land which the Lord
your God gives you.
6. You shall not kill
7. You shall not commit adultery
8. You shall not steal
9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor

9|Page
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

10. You shall not cover your neighbour's , you shall not cover your neighbour's wife , or his
manservant , or his maidservant, or his of , or his assb, or anything that is your neighbours

PROPHECY

Prophecy and it's origins

What is prophecy?

 There is no single definition for the term prophecy

 Some scholars define prophecy as as an ability to foretell and forth tell future events
 USA English Dictionary defines prophecy as a prediction made by someone who is divinely inspired
 Bruce Vawter defines prophecy as the meditation and interpretation of the divine mind and will

What is a prophet?

 Various scholars define the term “Prophet” with close reference to the relationship between God
and a particular individual who is called to be a prophet.
 Hermann Gunkel defined a prophet as a person who has a relationship with the divinity or God.
 James Muilenburg says that a prophet was a covenant mediator who represented the covenant
demands to the people from the perspective of the deity. He further says the prophet uses the
messenger – style of speech, “Thus Says the Lord” to legitimize his divine mission.
 Robert Wilson defined a prophet as one who stood between God and human beings. Prophets are
intermediaries.
 Bernard Anderson defined a prophet as one who communicates the divine will.
 A prophet could be defined as a spokesman or mouthpiece of a deity or someone who speaks on
behalf of another. E.g. when Moses could not speak fluently before Pharaoh, Aaron became his
spokesperson, hence prophecy. This is supported by the use of the messenger formular; “thus says
Yahweh.”
 A common aspect in all these definitions is the emphasis on the “master – servant” relationship
between God and his prophet.
 The latter would serve the will of the former. These definitions will help to understand how and
why prophecy began in Israel.

Origins of prophecy
10 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

 The origins of prophecy is debatable , scholars Ara yet to agree where prophecy might have
originated
 Scholars like Lindblom believe that prophecy was borrowed by Israel from surrounding natiosn
(ANE) Ancient Near East , this include Mesopotamia, Canaan , Egypt, Syria , Arabia among others
 However some scholars argue that prophecy might have been originate among Israelites

The Two Broad Theories on the Origins of Prophecy in Israel

 Basically there are two broad theories on the origins of prophecy in Israel.
 The first broad theory is that prophecy originated in Israel as a phenomenon that was borrowed
from the rest of the ANE.
 The second broad theory is that it originated in Israel as a unique feature of Israelite religion.

A) Prophecy as a borrowed phenomenon

 This school of thought utilizes what they consider as evidence of prophetic activity in the ANE and
compares this to Israelite prophecy.
 Such evidence includes the legends of Wen Amon and Zimri-lim respectively, the oracle from the
stele of Zakir, evidence of seers and similar men of god from Mari (For a full narration of these and
other pieces of evidence, see Pritchard, 1955).
 below are summaries of the stories from where the premises for the conclusion that prophecy in
Israel originated as a phenomenon borrowed from the ANE are drawn

The Legend of Wen-Amon

 The legend of Wen-Amon is a story of the Egyptian ecstatic Wen-Amon who went to Byblos, a cultic
centre in Phoenicia, looking for timber to build a temple for his god Amon-Re
 . It is believed that when he arrived, Wen-Amon forwarded his request to the prince of Byblos who
seems to have ignored Wen-Amon, as he was busy offering sacrifices to his own gods.
 During the sacrificial ceremony, a certain youth is believed to have gone into ecstasy and in that
state the youth summoned the prince to consider WenAmon’s request. Acting on the youths’
command the prince gave Wen-Amon the timber.
 The forms of prophecy we see in this legend are strikingly similar to those in which the prophets of
Israel participated.

11 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

 Three prophetic traits can be isolated in this regard namely, ecstasy, the ability to forth-tell and
prophetic authority.
 All three forms are evident in the behaviour of the youth and therefore, there is a sense in which we
can regard the youth as a prophet. In this case, prophecy was not unique to Israel.

Critique of the story

a) ecstasy

 The youth of Byblos is believed to have fallen into ecstasy and itis generally agreed that ecstasy was
a feature of Israelite prophets
 In this sense prophets were ecstatic thus according to these scholars it is clear that even Israelite
prophets were ecstatic
 For instance the seventy elders recorded in Num 11:22-26, band of prophets recorded in 1Samuel
10:9-10. Therefore there is a chance that the youth was a prophet

b) prophetic authority

 The youth displayed prophetic authority , as he commanded the Prince to grant Wen -Amon's
wish and permission was granted

c) ability to forth tell

 The youth displayed the ability to forth tell- this is a characteristic of a prophet

NB. Hence , the above features of prophecy affirm that prophecy might have been borrowed from
Ancient Near East

The Legend of Zimri -Lim

 The legend of Zimri-Lim is a story from Mesopotamia, which we find in the Mari texts.
 Mari was a cultic centre in Mesopotamia.
 A. Parrot discovered about 20 000 tablets at the ruins of a palace in Mari, isbelieved to have
belonged to Zimri-Lim the legendary king of Mesopotamia.
 Most of the texts are letters from state officials to the king.

12 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

 The legend describes a certain seer who went to Zimri-Lim with a message from a deity, (god)
Hadad.
 The seer delivered the message in the form of an oracle, which reads:
“I am the god who made you King over Mesopotamia.
If you obey, I will bless you, if you disobey, I will punish you.”
 The seer is said to have uttered this oracle in a state of ecstasy.
 Once again there are forms and techniques of prophecy that were also used by prophets in Israel.
 First, we witness once more the prophetic form of ecstasy
 . Second, the title ‘seer’ is a title that was also used to refer to some prophets in Israel.
 The oracular type of prophecy was also found among Israelite prophets.
 Further, not only is the oracle similar to Israelite prophetic utterances in form, but also in content.
When
 Israelite prophets delivered oracles from Yahweh to kings, they often confirmed that it was Yahweh
who made them kings over their respective lands and therefore, obedience would be rewarded
while disobedience attracted a curse in line with the Deuteronomistic prescriptions or statues

The Stele of Zakir

 On this stele, there is evidence of what some scholars believe to be prophetic activity.
 Zakir, the king of Hamath and Luash during the eighth century prayed to a deity called Baal
Shamanyn who answered him through “visionaries”.
 The Aramaic term, which is used in the conversation to refer to visionary, is “Hyzn”, which is quite
similar to the Hebrew term “Hozeh” that was translated as “seer”.
 Hamath and Luash were involved in serious battle in which Zakir and his troops were surrounded by
enemies
 Having realized that he was surrounded Zakir , knelt down and prayer for his God Baal Shamanyn
 And Baal Shamanyn respondend through a seer "I made you kind , if you obey I will protect you and
will rescue you
 He was rescued , the seer delivered the message in ecstasy
 NB : Due to similarities between the prophecy of Israel and that of Stele of Zakir , one may conclude
that prophecy might have been copied from ANE

Biblical evidence
13 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

 The view that it was borrowed from the surrounding nations is supported by Numbers 22 where
Balaam, a Moabite seer could declare a blessing or a curse. He also received a message from
Yahweh that he could not curse Israel and he complied contrary to what Balak had planned.
 The Philistines practiced Baalism, with its prophets who worked themselves into ecstatic behavior.
The land of Canaan was dominated by the religion of Baal. At settlement the Israelites compromised
Yahweism with Baalism (religious syncretism).
 The marriage of Ahab to Jezebel brought in hundreds of prophets of Baal into the Israelite society.
As a result Baalism and Yahweism existed in juxtaposition with each other. Such a set up would
permit a compromise of cultures.
 This scenario also explains why Elijah quarreled with Ahab and accused him of being “a troubler of
Israel”.

Conclusion from the evidence

 While a number of scholars do state the conclusion differently and with variation in its fine details,
the basic conclusion that scholars arrive at from an analysis of these and other pieces of evidence
that we did not cite here is two-fold.
 First, connections between prophetic figures, forms and techniques of delivering messages from a
deity or deities in Israel and her neighbouring nations, prove that prophecy was not unique to Israel.
 In other words, Israel’s prophets must have participated in religious forms and techniques of their
broader cultural environment (Hanson, 1979:12)
 . Second, the evidence of prophetic activity from Israel’s neighbours is dated earlier than Israelite
prophetic activity.
 Therefore, it is logical to conclude that Israel must have borrowed the phenomenon of prophecy
from her neighbou

Critique of propecy as a borrowed phenomenon

 This theory has received a lot of criticism. We think that this theory presents a very simplistic view of
the origins of prophecy in Israel.
 For instance, the theory assumes that we have clearly identifiable features of prophecy, which we
can use to establish links between prophecy in Israel and a similar phenomenon in the rest of the
ANE, chief among these features is ecstasy.

14 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

 The assumption that ecstasy was a key feature of Israelite prophecy is now seriously disputed as
some scholars argue that ecstasy was not part and parcel of Israelite prophecy, in fact it was a sign
of false prophets.
 Other scholars argue that, from the evidence cited so far, it seems the so called prophecy in the
ANE was almost always divinatory in nature and while the prophet-type persons from the ANE
uttered certain predictions, in most cases the persons did not present these predictions as divine
revelation.
 According to Huffmon (1976), the prophetic figures from the ANE do not always show that they
were commissioned by a deity or deities to deliver their revelations to another party.
 Thus, the so-called prophecy in the ANE was different from Israelite prophecy.
 The apodictic law, which as the majority of form critics confirm was authentic to Israel, formed the
basis of monotheistic Yahwism for which the prophets became spokespersons.
 Thus, the religion of Israel in essence, contrasted sharply with that of major city-states of
Mesopotamia and Canaan in that the cults of the latter two centred around a pantheon (Baal, for
instance, was a pantheon of deities) of cosmic deities charged with regulating the cycles of the
natural order; but the God of Israel, Yahweh, was not in the first instance identified with the
rainstorm in its yearly struggle to overcome the threat of drought so as to send the fructifying rains
upon the land (Hanson, 1979:12)
 Rather he was recognized in the events leading up to the emergence of Israel as a nation (Hanson,
1979:12)
 Thus, Yahweh served initially as the guarantor of the nation that stood in a stark covenantal
relationship with him as their patron deity
 Once we link prophecy with the Israelite apodictic law then it is inevitable that we see prophecy as
essentially unique to Israel because the Israelite apodictic law was unique to Israel. Hayes (1979)
summarizes, and argues much more clearly for this point.
 If the uniqueness of Israelite prophecy was marked by these three basic cultic features of Yahwism
namely, prophetic ethics, monotheism and judgment, then Israelite prophecy must have been a
development of the sacral law, priesthood and, or covenant traditions within Israel

Prophecy as unique to Israel

 This theory thrives on the assumption that ecstasy was a key feature of ancient Israelite prophecy.

15 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

 However, the theory is criticised along three or so lines.

 Based on the form and techniques of communication, the phenomenon in the rest of the ANE was
almost always divinatory in nature and while the prophet-type persons from the ANE uttered certain
predictions.
 In most cases the persons did not present these predictions as divine revelation neither did they
always show that they were commissioned by a deity or deities to deliver their revelations to
another party.
 In terms of its inner logic, thefundamental core of Israelite cosmology for which prophets were
spokespersons was essentially different from the cosmologies of the nations of the rest of the ANE.
 Yahweh served initially as the guarantor of the nation that stood in a stark covenantal relationship
with him as their patron deity.
 Thus, ancient Israelite prophecy had three very unique features namely Yahwistic monotheism,
prophetic ethics and strictly related to this, prophetic judgement.
 Therefore, Scholars who subscribe to this broad theory agree in principle that prophecy in Israel
had no foreign origins.
 However, the scholars belonging to this school of thought do not necessarily agree on a number of
things.
 They differ on when and where exactly within Israel did this phenomenon originated and how
exactly this happened.
 For this reason this second broad theory on the origins of prophecy canfurther be divided into
various sub-theories that come under various titles, which differ with different scholars.

a) Traditional Theory

The Traditional Theory on the Origins of Prophecy in Israel

 The traditional view on the origins of prophecy in Israel is that the phenomenon originated within
Israel herself as a basic mechanism through which Yahweh communicated the meaning and
demands of his covenant with Israel.
 In this case, prophets were messengers of Yahweh who were covenant mediators.
 A necessary conclusion that we can draw from this traditional theory is that prophecy in Israel was
covenant-specific

16 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

 In other words, behind the message of each prophet was some covenant tradition that informed his
message
 It relates Yahweh as a unique God , of a unique prophet of a unique covenant
 It assumes that Prophecy originated with Moses within the unique Mosaic Covenant
 It is in this context that some scholars have arrived at a much more specific conclusion that
prophecy in Israel originated with the Sinai covenant; in which case it originated with Moses.
 The reason for this specific conclusion is that it is at Sinai that we begin to see Yahweh entering into
a covenant with Israel as a nation.
 Before this covenant, we see him entering into a covenant with individuals. We could more
appropriately describe the covenant at Sinai as a national covenant.
 Prophecy therefore originated with this covenant

Critique

 A second and more serious critique has to do with the assumption behind this theory that the
concept of the covenant itself was unique to Israel.
 Some scholars have observed striking similarities between the Mosaic covenant and similar treaties
among the Hittites (Anderson)
 In any case, some scholars argue that Mount Sinai was located somewhere in Midian and was a
cultic centre for Jethro the Midianite.
 Therefore, the Sinai covenant probably had foreign origins.
 This is probably plausible especially when we consider that later in the Exodus narratives, Jethro
does not hesitate to offer advice to Moses concerning matters of religious principle and Moses does
not query Jethro’s authority to do so.
 Hence, it is not quite convincing that prophecy was unique to Israel based on the supposed
uniqueness of the institution of the covenant
 There are some serious weaknesses of this theory which include the evidence of Abraham who was
a prophet before Moses(Gen20:7)
 There are some covenants which existed before the Mosaic covenant which include Abrahamic and
Noahic

Evolutionary Theory

17 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

 The popular verse which scholars cite to discuss the theory is I Samuel 9:9
 It holds that prophecy originated in Israel through the process of evolution-prophecy evolving from
seership .
 Formerly in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, he said, “Come let us go to the seer”; for he
who is now called a prophet was formerly called a seer.
 The implication of this verse is that the office of the prophet evolved from that of a seer and this is
basic import of the theory.
 This is why too scholars refer to this theory as the evolutionary theory on the origins prophecy.
 A necessary conclusion from this basic implication of the theory is that the office of a prophet was
fundamentally different from that of a seer.
 Indeed some scholars made efforts to distinguish between a prophet and a seer

Critique

 The theory fails to account for the prophets like Moses and Abraham who existed before Samuel
 There are no clear reasons given for evolution

Efforts have however been made to come up with the distinction and some of the points that have been
raised are as follows:

 Seer (roeh/hozeh) is a person who has the gift of second sight whereas a prophet (nabi) is one who
communicate with divine will
 Seers were more or less the same with cultic priests in which case they were associated with
specific cultic centres.
 Prophets were wonderers who were not associated with specific cultic centres.
 Seers derived their authority from their office, while the prophet derived his authority from his call
or from God.
 Seers were part and parcel of the leadership and therefore received remuneration from the state.
 Prophets did not receive remuneration especially from the state. Almost always the seer supported
the status quo while prophets were critical of it and usually clashed with the leadership.
 Operate from sanctuaries whereas prophets were not involved in cultic centres

Institutional Conflict

18 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

 The theory we have just considered, necessarily implies that prophecy originated during the
settlement of the Israelites in Canaan.1 Samuel 8
 This settlement of course may have extended to the period of Samuel.
 The Israelites clamored for a king , human leadership in the form of a king for them to be like other
nations
 However, some scholars develop this theory further into the theory of institutional conflict.
 According to this theory, prophecy in Israel did not necessarily originate during the settlement.
 Rather, it originated with the rise of the monarchy as an institution.
 This was necessitated by the fact that Samuel was old and his sons were corrupt and continuation
with this system did not suffice the needs of the nation hence the emergency of a prophet
 Once again, the priest must have received remuneration from the state and logically must have
supported the status quo.
 In this context the priest could not criticize the king easily even when it was obvious that the king
was abusing his power and was diverting from the values and, or ideals of the liberation struggle. In
this context the office of a prophet emerged.
 This new office did not derive its authority from the state and therefore it originated in a bid to
provide checks and balances to the system of the monarchy.
 The clashes between kings, on one hand, and prophets, on the other hand, must be understood in
this context. Considering their role in the struggle and as the custodians of the values and ideals of
the struggle the prophets would be involved in both the installation of kings and their
dethronement.
 Therefore, in as much as they were kingmakers, the prophets often undermined and removed kings
from the throne.
 There is evidence of such functions in the prophetic narratives.

Cultic origins Theory

 The priestly theory is in support of Samuel as the first prophet as is proven in 1Samuel3.
 It states that prophecy is just an advancement of priesthood.
 Partly in support of the above theory is the seership theory which states that prophecy originated
from seership and this is also regarded as the evolutionary theory by M. Noth.

19 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

 This theory is mainly based on 1 Samuel 9:9. The implication of this verse is that the office of a
prophet evolved from that of a seer.
 There was a historical development from the office of a seer to that of a prophet.
 The assumption is that there should be a distinction between a prophet and a seer.
 theory is supported by semantics (Of or relating to semantics or the meanings of words.)
 A semantic analysis of the Hebrew terms which are used to refer to a seer are roeh and hozer
meaning one who is gifted with the ability to foretell, whereas the Hebrew term for a prophet is
nabi which refer to a person who can do both foretelling and forth telling.
 Seers were primarily divinatory in that their emphasis is in the future but prophets were concerned
with the present. If at all they refer to the future there was specific reason to relate the future to the
present.

Critique

 This theory is based on 1 Samuel 9:9 and the assumption is that Samuel was the last judge and the
first prophet, yet Genesis 20:7 refer to Abraham as a prophet and Deut 18:18, Hosea 12:13 refer to
Moses as the first and architect of prophecy. Therefore we cannot assume that prophecy began with
Samuel.
 This theory assumes that there is a clear distinction between a seer and a prophet, yet the two
terms are used interchangeably, e.g. 2Samuel 24:11, Gad is regarded as both a seer and a prophet.
 Amos in Amos 7:14 when he was addressed as aseer he responded denying that he was a prophet
nor a prophet’s son, as if to suggest the two terms mean one and the same thing. However some
scholars try to distinguish a prophet and a seer.

Conclusion

 From this discussion one can note that there is no singular explanation to the origins of the
phenomenon of prophecy
 The evolutionary theory on the origins of prophecy in Israel, the theory of institutional conflict to
mention just a few affirm that prophecy originated within the political life of Israel

Manifestations of prophecy

Earliest manifestations of prophecy in Israel

20 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

How did prophecy begin in Israel?

The need for communication between God and his people Israel necessitated the call of prophets.
Johannes Lindblom listed the following as the earliest forms of prophecy in Israel:

1. Visions 2. Dreams 3. Inspiration 4. Divination

Visions

 They are a gift of second sight from God. God gives pictures to the inner – eye of an individual e.g.
God spoke to Moses in a vision at Mount Sinai (Exodus 3).
 A picture of an event or a scene is screened to the individual. He hears a voice of God speaking to
him.
 The individual answers.
 A form of dialogue goes on during the vision.
 From that scene God asserts his authority while the individual may show reluctance to obey.
 Fear may affect the individual and excuses may be given. In the earliest days of Israelite prophecy
this occurred to Moses when he saw a burning bush at Mount Sinai.
 God commanded him to take off his shoes and listen to him.
 God introduced himself to Moses. It was this visionary encounter that gave Moses his mandate to
be a prophet.

Dreams

 A dream is an event that is seen by a person when he is asleep.

 God can visit a person in a dream and speak with him e.g. Samuel was called into prophetic office in
a dream (1 Sam 3). Dreams were respected from ancient times.
 Kings also relied on dreams e.g Joseph interpreted Pharaoh’s dreams; Daniel interpreted
Nebuchadnezzar’s dreams. In early Israelite prophecy Samuel is presented as a prophet who
received his call in a dream.

Inspiration

 It is when a person is moved or aroused by the Spirit to act or write in a certain way. Inspiration
could influence one`s behavior.

21 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

 Earliest forms of inspiration influenced people to behave ecstatically, hence we hear of ecstatic
prophecy in connection with Saul who behaved ecstatically in (1 Sam 10: 5-9). E
 Ecstasy is a state whereby the spirit of a god overshadows the recipient such that his or her power
of reasoning could be suspended.
 One could be inspired by God to prophesy at a particular time. In this type of prophesy the power to
prophesy would be temporary. It could be induced by music, vigorous dancing and cheering.
 These preconditions are carried out by other people in the group who are not themselves inspired.
 In the midst of hyper activity an individual is inspired or filled with the spirit of God.
 He is compelled by the spirit to speak out certain matters. In the process the individual may behave
strangely.
 He may take off cloths, drop himself down, run wildly, scratch his body all over etc to the
amazement of on –lookers
 An example of this is when Saul, the son of Kish joined a band of singers and dancers and he was
possessed and prophesied ecstatically. (1Sam 10:5-9)

Divination

 It was a technical way of deducing information-using objects

 Bones and dice were commonly used by experts who claimed to be using God`s powers to interpret
behavior of objects e.g Joshua used lots to allocate land to Israelites at settlement in Canaan
 . Diviners would claim that what they did had the authority of God; that their oracles were
sanctioned by God. They could be consulted on various matters at a price.
 Necromancers also fell into the category of diviners. Saul approached a woman necromancer in
disguise to request a divine over the dead Samuel. (1 Sam 28:3-17).

FORBIDDEN FORMS OF PROPHECY/DIVINATORY PRACTICES

 There is a strong condemnation of these forms in Deuteronomy 18:10 ‘There shall not be found
among you anyone who burns his son/ daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination, a
soothsayer, an auger, or a sorcerer or a medium, or wizard, or a necromancer…’.
 Divination is a process of discovering the unknown or the future through supernatural means.

ASTROLOGY

22 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

 It is the study of heavenly phenomenon, for example stars, moon, sun e.tc.
 This method was common amongst the Babylonians as they were skilled in foretelling the future
from the movement of stars and planets.
 During the time of Jeremiah he attacked bitterly the worship of the Queen of heaven (the mother
goddess (Jeremiah 7:18). This is also condemned in Deuteronomy 4:19.

NECROMANCY

 It is the process of seeking guidance from the spirit of the dead.

 This method is strongly condemned both in Levitical laws and in deuteronomic writings, for example
in Leviticus 20:28 ‘if a person turns to medium and wizards playing the harlot after them, I will set
my face against that person and will cut him off from among his people’.
 Though condemned this practice was still practiced in the eighth century (Isaiah 8:19-20).
 Necromancy includes two ideas:Worship of ancestors and the dead being consulted to determine
the future.
 1Samuel 28:1ff Saulconsulted the witch of Endor to raise the spirit of Samuel who was dead.

HEPASTROPHY/AUGURY

 It is the process of divining from the liver of the sacrificed animal. Ezekiel 21:21 ‘For the king of
Babylon stands at the parting of the way, at the head of two ways to use divination he shakes the
arrows, he consult the teraphim, he looks at the liver’.
 It was only commonly practiced among the Babylonians.

HYDROMANCY

 This refers to the use of water or it is divination by water.

 It is alluded to in Joseph narratives in genesis 44:5. ‘it is not from this that my Lord drinks, and by
this that he divines…

TRANSITION FROM PRE-CLASSICAL (PE-CANONICAL) TO CLASSICAL (CANONICAL)

Prophecy:

23 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

 Von Rad (1965:77) says early Israelite (pre-classical) prophets discussed so far, on top of the
characteristics that other scholars identify as features distinguishing them from classical prophets,
were marked by one clear pattern of behaviour and that is, they operated in prophetic guilds.
 predecessors of classical prophets, say, Moses , Samuel, Nathan, Ahijah of Shiloh, Elijah and Elisha to
mention a few, clearly did not write their utterances hence the designation non-writing prophets
(Eissfeldt,1974:148).
 According to Eissfeldt, concerning pre-classical prophets we have only third person narratives of the
saga and legend type (Eissefedt:1974:148).
 In other words, we are hardly justified in assuming that, as isclearly the case with classical prophets,
collections of saying existed also for prophets, and that the compilers of the third person narratives
used these sayings (Eissefeldt,1974:148)

PRECANONICAL/PRECLASSICAL PROPHETS .

MOSES

 Moses is introduced as an infant hidden by his mother in the reeds of the Nile to protect him
from Pharaoh’s decree.
 Pharaoh’s own daughter found him, takes pity on him, and adopts him.
 With the help of his sister, who was secretly watching over him, the Egyptian princess arranges
for the infant to be breast fed by a Hebrew wet nurse, who is none other than the baby’s
mother.
 Thus the child Moses was rescued from death, nursed by his own mother, and raised in the
Egyptian palace. The infant who escaped peril grew up to became a leader of his people.

His Call

 Moses was leading his father- in - law’s sheep to Mt Horeb, where he was astonished to see a
bush that was burning but not consumed.
 He did not realise that what he had encountered was a messenger or an angel of Yahweh in the
form of a flame until approaching the bush, he heard a divine voice speaking in the fire.
 Knowing that it is fatal for a human being to see God, he covered his face and listened.(Exodus
33:20)
24 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

 The message Moses received included an announcement and a commission Yahweh had taken
notice of the affliction of the Israelites in Egypt and he sent Moses to bring them out of the land.
 Briefly this is the leading story that brought Moses to the top of the chart of Hebrew history.

Was Moses a prophet?

 The question whether Moses was a prophet or not depends on the definition one gives for a
prophet.
 Bernard Anderson defined a prophet as one who communicates the divine will. Jan Thompson
defines a prophet as simply a messenger of God.
 From these definitions this discussion will view Moses as a prophet with a wide variety of duties.
 His responsibilities covered issues from the social, the economic, the political and the religious
realms
 Therefore to be more precise Moses was a leader as well as a prophet.
 on the nature of his initial assignment, one notes a divine mandate being assigned to Mosses – to
go and confront Pharaoh and demand the liberation of the Hebrews from Egypt.
 The order came from a deity, hence it was divine.
 The task is a political one. The approach itself is political.
 Looking at the role he played during the wilderness journey, Moses plays the role of a leader as well
as a prophet.
 He is responsible for the welfare of the Hebrew community.
 He shoulders all logistical duties. , but he is guided by the divine spirit.
 Therefore he was more of an inspired leader, hence a prophet.
 The sinaitic covenant which Moses mediated (Exodus 19) presents him as an agent, and
representative of God to his people and vice versa.
 He is given the law and the authority to make further ordinances.
 Moses seals the Sinai declaration on behalf of the people.
 In this case Moses posses as a mediator between God and his people, hence a mediator – prophet.
 The powers that were vested on him to make laws qualify him as a legislator.
 The custodianship of the torah that was given on him confirms him as “a real man of God.”

25 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

 Moses could be seen as a legendary figure, considering his escape from Pharaoh’s inferno and how
he was bred in the king’s palace.
 Considering his death which remains a mystery, he is a man without a grave.
 It is therefore no doubt that Moses was a prophet. Perhaps special attention can only be given to
the type of prophecy that he practiced.
 His duties were all round.
 He was the founder father of the Yahwheistic cult, which was sealed at the Sinai declaration.
Deuteronomy 34:10 has described him as “the greatest prophet Israel ever had”.
 the final analysis it is reiterated that Moses was the first real prophet of Israel although his
contributions to its development may be minimal compared to his successors.

Moses and the origins of prophecy

 Prophecy developed from what Moses laid down.

 Also to be considered is the fact that the passages which make Moses a Prophet were written after
the exile which makes them a read back in history e.g Numbers 11, the redactors wanted vindicate
ecstasy, otherwise the historical authenticity of this event cannot be ascertained with certainty.
 God actually raised Moses and would raise another prophet like him from Israel. (Deutr 18:18).
 There had never been any other prophet like Moses before him.
 So Moses was a model of Israelite prophets.
 Arguably Moses was a seer trained under his father – in – Law Jethro, a judge, a Law giver as well as
a leader. From these credentials he was a model for Samuel, Joshua etc.
 According to Johannes Lindblom God revealed himself to a prophet through visions and inspiration
(the earliest forms of prophecy).
 Moses received a vision at the burning bush. He was inspired with the spirit of God in the
Wilderness. So he was a model for future prophets. (cf. Num. 11: 24 – 29
 Prophets of Israel harked back to Moses the founder of Yahweism.
 Elijah was a second Moses.
 All later prophets dwelled on the Mosaic covenant.
 So Moses was a model for later prophets.

SAMUEL

26 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

Introductory facts

 His ministry is dated to the 11 th century BCE after settlement in Canaan. He appeared during a
period of wars with the Philistines and he helped people to choose a king (Saul).
 The Philistines destroyed the holy shrine of Shiloh and captured the arc of God.
 The people of Israel felt they needed an army commander instead of the old charismatic Judges like
Gideon to deal with the menace.
 Saul was chosen to be the king and commander of the Israelites but Samuel was protesting, arguing
that it was a rejection of God’s rule in favour of a human ruler.

Religious Credentials of Samuel

1) Samuel served as a seer in Israel. Evidence is found in 1 Samuel 19:20 and 1 Samuel 10 : 2-8.

 Samuel was paid a small fee for his services says R.A.B Ewbank.
 But other scholars, including Anderson argues that he was not charging fees as such, but
accepted tokens of appreciation. This controversy arises from the conversation between Saul
and his servant in 1 Sam 9: 8 “What have we?” The servant answered Saul again, “Here l have
with me the fourth part of a shekel of silver, and I will give it to the man of God to tell us our
way”

2) Samuel was a father of the ecstatics at Ramah. He led the enthusiastic prophets in a campaign to
withstand foreign gods (1 Sam 19:10).

3) He received a call when he was a child. The call came in a dream.

4) Samuel was a priest as well as a prophet.

5) Samuel was also a Judge. After the destruction of the national shrine of Shiloh, the Israelites had no
central shrine and Samuel, who lived at Ramah, went on circuit in the central highlands, trying and
settling disputes. The term “circuit” is used in judicial systems to refer to seasonal visits by a High
court Judge to remote districts to try serious criminal cases that were committed in those districts.

6) Samuel presided over religions ceremonies at the altars of Bethel, Gilgal and Mizpah. This suggests
that he was a priest as evidenced by 1 Sam 7:15-17.

27 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

7) Samuel advocated monotheism and campaigned against idolatry. Monotheism refers to worshipping
only one God.

8) On one occasion he led the people to victory over the Philistines (1 Sam 7:3-10) and so kept alive the
spirit of resistance and devotion to Yahweh during the Philistine occupation.

9) Samuel opposed the idea of a king and preferred the old systems of a confederacy of tribes led by
charismatic judges of whom he was one.

10) Samuel anointed the first king of Israel, Saul whom he did not support.

11) Samuel was an intercessor on behalf of the people of Israel, “Far be it from me that I should sin
against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you and instruct you in the good and right way”. (1 Sam
12:23).

12. Samuel quarreled with Saul when he took Samuel’s prerogative by offering a sacrifice in the shrine
when Samuel had delayed to arrive. Offering of sacrifices was the responsibility of priests. (1
Sam13:8-15).

13. Samuel’s last action was to anoint David as king of Israel in place of Saul.

Conclusion

 Samuel had the characteristics of a true prophet because he was empowered to speak true words of
God and had also the gift of second sight.
 Like Moses he influenced the course of public events and acted as the conscience of the King, and
interceded both for the King and people.
 He was a patron of the ecstatics who were enthusiasts for the religion of Yahweh.

ELIJAH

THE ELIJAH – ELISHA STORIES

OMRI AND AHAB AND THE POLITICAL ENVIRONMENT DURING THE

TIME OF ELIJAH

28 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

 Deductions from the sources show that during the time of Omri and Ahab his son Israel became
a great nation.
 There were a lot of building projects that included the building of important cities such as
Samaria, Hazor and Meggido. During this time Israel celebrated a certain amount of peace and
prosperity
 . This resulted in both economic and religious growth. This opened gates to religious tendencies
such as Baalism.
 On the political scene Omri succeeded in bringing the Philistines under control.
 Moab was also brought under control.
 When the Assyrians developed an aggression policy, Ahab, with the help of Syria and Moab,
managed to stop them.
 Having stopped the Assyrians his focus shifted to internal growth.
 Omri was a diplomat.
 One of the strategies that he used to silence the surrounding nations was through marriages.
 He arranged a marriage between Ahab his son and Jezebel the daughter of the Phoenician king.
 He also arranged a marriage between his daughter Attaliah and Joram the king of Judah. As a
result Israel,
 Judah and Phoenicia became friendly.
 Omri however bought peace at a terrible cost.
 The course of Israel’s history was greatly affected by Jezebel. She was very aggressive and she
became very influential in the politics and religion of Israel.
 After his marriage with Jezebel, Ahab tried to make his wife happy in Israel.
 He gave her freedom of worship and built her a temple of Baal with an altar and an image of
Asherah the mother goddess.
 Jezebel however was not just a simple person.
 She was a proud and domineering woman who would stop at nothing to achieve her desired
objective.
 She was an overzealous evangelist of the Baal religion.
 She therefore imported 450 Baal prophets who she supported materially and financially.
 Yahwism clearly spoke against foreign marriages, yet Omri needed them to achieve regional
stability.

29 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

ELIJAH THE TISHBITE

 Elijah’s home town was Tishbe in Gilead (1 kings 17:1).

 According to John Bright before Israel came into Canaan this area was not occupied and the
Manasseh tribe were the first group of people to settle in this area. The majority of them were
peasant farmers.
 This group had little or no contacts at all with the Canaanites.
 For this reason they managed to preserve and maintain the exodus and the Sinai traditions.
 They were free from the influence of the Canaanite religious practices.
 They were very conservative such that they strongly their tribal values and the Mosaic laws.
 Elijah therefore seems to have been influenced by his place of origin where strict Mosaic
monotheism was practiced.
 He had little exposure to the Canaanite culture and urbanisation.
 Elijah moved to Samaria the capital city, the situation was different. Baalism, feudalism, and other
Canaanite values were the order of the day.
 Yahwism as demanded by the Mosaic covenant was no longer being followed.
 There was a mixture of Baalism and Yahwism in which Yahwism was second to Baalism.
 This was largely because of the policy of religious freedom pursued by Ahab.
 this time when Jezebel embarked on a programme of exterminating
 Yahweh prophets, when she aimed at completely erasing Yahwism, Elijah’s first act was to announce
a three year drought in the name of Yahweh.
 This was a direct challenge to Baal in his own territory i.e. fertility.
 The central concern in this incident was to demonstrate that Yahweh was the one who controls
fertility over the whole land.
 It was to show that Yahweh does not only control fertility in
 Israel but also in Phoenicia the special province of Baal hence the visit to the widow of Zarephath.
 At Zarephath Elijah showed that Yahweh does not only control fertility, but human life.
 The objective of these stories is to determine the true god who had the power over fertility and
human life:
1. It is Yahweh and not Baal, who controls fertility.
2. He controls fertility not only in Israel but also in Phoenicia.
3. He controls not only fertility but also human life.
30 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

4. It is therefore Yahweh and not Baal who is God.

THE CONTEST ON MOUNT CARMEL

 To clearly show that it is Yahweh who is God, Elijah appeared after three years to announce the
return of rainfall.
 He meets Obadiah the kings’ servant and sends him to fetch the king.
 Obadiah must have been a true prophet who was also a member of the court prophets.
 The kings’ first words on his encounter with Elijah were, “is it you trouble of Israel?” He must have
been thinking of the drought that the prophet had caused.
 Elijah responded by reminding the king that he was the one who brought trouble by supporting the
worship of Baal.
 Elijah challenged the 450 Baal prophets to a contest.
 He accused the people of “limping with two different opinions” and confronted them with a clear
either or question: “If Yahweh is the real God then follow him. If Baal then serve Baal”.
 This was an hour of decision. Elijah makes the Mosaic tradition to live again. Yahweh is a jealous God
who does not tolerate rival gods.
 The purpose of the contest was therefore to determine there and then who is God.
 It was therefore a culmination of events beginning with the announcement of drought. It was
indeed a battle for supremacy.
 The contest was very fair in that it had ground rules that both parties agreed to: the god who brings
fire and rainfall is the true god and his intermediary is the true prophet.
 Baal prophets went into ecstasy, singing, dancing, shouting and cutting themselves in desperate
attempts to attract Baal.
 Unfortunately “there was no voice, no one answered, no one heeded”.
 Elijah’s first act was to repair Yahweh’s altar.
 After that he poured water on wood.
 According to B. W. Anderson he wanted to bring rain by sympathetic magic i.e. by imitating the fall
of rain.
 Fire descended from heaven and all Israel exclaimed, “It is Yahweh who is God”.
 The 450 Baal prophets were massacred. Elijah the prophetic champion saved the day for the Mosaic
tradition and handed Yahwism a new lifeline.

31 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

 Yahweh’s power having been proven beyond reasonable doubt, rainfall will demonstrate it in the
climax of the whole episode.
 Rainfall descended and brought an end to the drought.
 As Ahab hurried in his chariot Elijah ran and overtook him in a state of ecstasy.
 Besides proving that it is Yahweh who is God the Mt Carmel contest was also a direct attack on
Israel’s foreign policy.

THE FLIGHT TO MOUNT HOREB

 The Elijah portrayed in this chapter is a broken and fatigued man running for his life and wishing to
die.
 As he ran through wilderness he might have pondered: “how can Yahweh really be sovereign when
Jezebels’ power was undiminished”, when Jezebel was threatening to track him down? Yahweh
however was sovereign and had not deserted his prophet as shall be seen.
 The prophet was only being treated to an experience that would lead to a new understanding of
Yahweh’s sovereignty.
 Threatened with unprecedented emergency and frustration at his attempts to crush Baalism, Elijah
runs from danger with his life.
 For forty days and forty nights he travelled to Mt Horeb, the mountain of God to lodge a complaint
to Yahweh.
 In his darkest hour Yahweh did not desert his prophet but mercifully supplied him with food and
strength for the journey.
 At Mt Horeb a divine visitation/theophany took place as in exodus when God revealed himself to
Moses.
 In this narrative however Yahweh was not in the traditional symbols of divine presence.
 He was not in the earthquake, wind or fire but in a still small voice, “a kind of silence so intense that
you can hardly hear it” (B. W. Anderson).
 When Elijah heard this voice he covered his face and moved to the entrance of the cave since,
according to tradition, “no one could see God and live”.
 The question addressed to Elijah implied that he had no business there.

32 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

 The prophet however complains that he had been jealous for Yahweh but the people, under the
influence of Ahab and Jezebel, had “forsaken the covenant, thrown down altars and slain the
prophets”.
 Elijah was quickly challenged by three divine commissions, two of which were later carried out by
Elisha.
 Elijah had to return to Israel and incite a revolution that would make a clean sweep of the house of
Omrii.e. Jehu’s blood bath.
 It is important that Elijah journeyed to Mt Horeb where Moses received a revelation from Yahweh.
 The whole journey was a pilgrimage back to Sinai, the source of Israel’s faith. He was there to renew
the covenant.
 It is in this light that B. W. Anderson states that “prophets did not claim to be innovators or
individuals who came with new ideas.
 They were reformers who took their stand on the ancient ground of Sinai”.
 The account of Elijah’s flight to Mt Horeb betrays the authors’ motif to show that Elijah is a proto-
type of Moses.
 A number of similarities can be drawn between Moses and Elijah:
1. They experienced theophanies at the sacred mountain.
2. Elijah fasted for the forty days and forty nights that he took to reach Horeb. When Moses received
the law he fasted for the forty days and forty nights that he spent on Mt Sinai (Exodus 24:18).
3. At Mt Horeb Elijah found shelter in a cave, probably the same cave where Moses hid to protect
himself from the glory of Yahweh (Exodus 33:22—23).
4. In his conversation with Yahweh Elijah complained that the people had forsaken Yahweh’s
covenant. This is similar to Moses who went to the mountain to receive the law and on his return
found that the people had forsaken Yahweh and were worshipping the golden calf.
5. Both performed miracles. Moses struck the Red sea and Elijah did the when he parted the Jordan
river.
6. Elijah appointed successors to their work. Moses appointed Joshua and Elijah appointed Elisha.
7. The feeding by the ravens reminds us of the manna from heaven during the time of Moses.
8. Both of them did not die. Elijah is taken up to heaven by a whirlwind.

Differences have also been noted.

33 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

 The theophany experienced by Elijah marked the transition from the primitive forms of
theophany like cloud, fire, wind and earthquake to the classical forms of auditions.

ELIJAH AND THE AFFAIR OF NABOTHS’ VINEYARD

 Ahab wanted to purchase the vineyard of Naboth.

 He therefore offered a land exchange and money as a second possibility.
 Naboth refused because of two reasons.
 Firstly it was a family estate and secondly Yahweh would not allow him to do so.
 To be sure it was not Naboth’s private property.
 It belonged to the whole family (Leviticus 26:23—24, Numbers 36:7). In Israel the real owner of the
land was Yahweh.
 It was him who brought them into that country.
 Naboth’s insistence that he could not sell the land was in line with Israelite land laws.
 Ahab himself saw the validity of Naboth’s position.
 This explains why he was sullen and vexed.
 Jezebel however had her own conception from her religion which placed no limit to the powers of
the king hence the question: “are you the king or aren’t you?” She promised to get the vineyard for
him.
 She made false accusations of blasphemy and treason against Naboth. As a result of the accusations
Naboth was stoned to death.
 With Naboth dead Ahab thought he was now free to take the vineyard.
 Little did he know that he had yet to stand before Elijah in yet another encounter between prophet
and king.
 The prophet announced impending judgement and the king felt remorse but that was too little too
late.
 He was doomed to death.
 The story provides an excellent introduction to the message of the later prophets.
 It is an encounter between Yahweh and Baal in the field of social relations.
 In fact according to N. K. Gotwald the clashes between Ahab and Jezebel on one hand and Elijah
should be viewed as cultural as shown by the Naboth story.
 The religious factor was not however completely out.

34 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

 The dominant factor was the cultural.

 There was a clash of two cultures; the Phoenician culture and the Israelite culture.
 Phoenician culture was attractive and was considered superior such that many were going for it.
 The identity of Israel was severely threatened.
 Only those who were strongly in favour of it arose and spearheaded the Israelite culture whereas
the ruling class and the middle class who benefited from the status quo went for the Phoenician
culture
 The Phoenician culture promoted by Jezebel was feudal. It had the ruling class and the rich at the
top followed by the middle class and then the poor peasants at the bottom.
 This hierarchical structure promoted imbalances, yet the rich and the ruling class who benefited
embraced it.
 Elijah therefore stepped up to counter this injustice and fought for the creation of the traditional
egalite – a classless community legitimized and perpetuated by the Mosaic faith.
 Yahweh had created a community in which every person stood equal before the law.
 When justice of one member is down trodden by those in power Yahweh will defend/liberate the
weak.

ELISHA AS A PROPHET

1. He performed miracles, for example parting of the Jordan waters (2 kings 2:14)

2. He was a forth teller, for example when he told Gehazi what he had done in his absence (2 Kings 5:2)

3. He foretold the end of famine (2 Kings 7:1) and predicted the death of the death of

the Shunnamite’s son (2Kings4)

4. He anointed Jehu to be king

5. He had prophetic authority, for example when he cursed Gehazi for not being faithful

and when he cursed the young boys who jeered at him.

6. Elisha participated in the politics of his day when he opposed the foreign policy of the Omrides

Nathan

35 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

 Nathan was a prophet at King David's court

 He had cordial relationship with the king's court as evidenced by his acces
 Nathan assures David that, “Yahweh will make you a house (dynasty) ........... and your house and
your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me; your throne shall be established forever”
 it is noted that he advised King David on the building of the great temple.
 When consulted by David, he advised him to continue building the temple.
 But God reversed the plan. May be the prophet had spoken presumptuously.
 Nathan is also remembered for the reprimand he made to David when he took Uriah`s wife.
Nathan also anointed Solomon.
 He recorded the death of David and advocated the revival of the covenant.
 The Davidic house was declared the royal house of Israel during the service of Nathan. (2 Sam 7)

Ahijah of Shiloh and the Division of the Kingdom (1King11)

 He hailed from an ancient cultic shrine Shiloh

 Ahijah of Shiloh was against the oppression of northerners by the Southerners
 He performed a symbolic action by tearing a new cloak into 12 pieces symbolising 12 tribes
 He then gave 10 pieces to Jeroboam I the son of Nebat signifying the division of split of ten tribes
from the house of David
 Rehoboam the son of Solomon was given two tribes Judah and Benjamin
 Ahijah was from the northern town of Shiloh.
 Shiloh was an important sanctuary in the north associated with the Elide priesthood and the
prophet Samuel.
 Before David removed the Ark of the Lord from Shiloh to Jerusalem, it used to have the status of a
national shrine.
 The Ark had stayed there for a long time.
 Ahijahs’ condemnation of Solomon therefore might have been politically or religiously motivated.
 David’s removal of the Ark from Shiloh meant that Shiloh had lost its status as the national shrine.
 This did not go down well with the northerners who,
evidently, had never supported the kingship of David.
 Besides that the idea of a dynasty of the house of David had never at all impressed the northerners.

36 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

 The arrangement had tilted the balance of power infavour of the southerners and the northerners
were somehow jealous
 David tried to pacify the northerners by maintaining some kind of a unity accord in which Abiathar
and Zadok were the high priests at Jerusalem.
 When Solomon assumed power he dismissed the two because they were opposed to his succession.
 Abiathar was banished to Anathoth with all his priestly relatives. This move by Solomon signalled the
end of the unity accord.
 This may explain why Ahijah took a leading role on the division of the monarchy.
 He might have wanted to achieve a balance of power between the two.
 To make matters worse Solomon exploited the northerners in projects thatbenefited the south.
 He implemented policies such as forced labour and heavy taxation to the northerners.
 Ahijah therefore can be viewed as a proponent of social reform, the voice of the oppressed
northerners.
 By anointing Jeroboam he was actually pushing the northern political and religious agenda even
thou some have accused him of promoting tribal conflict.

Causes of the division

1. Tribal jealousy between Ephraim and Judah.

2. Sectionalist military policies favouring Judah, through which Solomon

alienated much of the north.

3. Solomonic exploitation of the population for personal enrichment.

4. Solomonic apostasy, idolatry and intermarriage with pagans with pagans which resulted in divine
judgement

Other precanonical prophets

Task find out notes on the following prophets:

 Elisha (Elijah's successor)

 Shemaiah

37 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

 Gad

 Micaiah the son of Imlah

Functions of prophets

a) Messengers of Yahweh

 Israel prophets were messengers of Yahweh

 In the OT a prophet is portrayed as a messenger of a God as it is evidenced in Deut 18:18 and
Amos 3:7
 Prophets used Messenger style of speech "Thus says the Lord" indicating they were his
messengers Moses Exodus 5:1; Samuel 1Sam 10:18, Nathan 2Sam 12:7

b) fought for justice

 Israel prophets fought for justice in the society , they stood on behalf of the poor and
disadvantaged
 In other words they were the voice of the voiceless
 Moses condemned Pharoah in order to free the Israelites Exodus 5:1
 Nathan condemned David for ordering the killing of Uriah and taking his wife Bathsheba 2Sam
12:2
 Elijah stood on behalf of the disadvantaged Naboth when he confronted Ahab 1Kings 21:7
 Amos condemned the women of Samaria Amos4:1 and he advocated for fairness in the society
Amos5:24
 Isaiah in his first ministry advocated for fairness Is1:17
 Jeremiah 22:3

c) Advocated for monotheism

 They fought for worshipping of one God , the idea might have originated with Moses as he
destroyed the Golden Calf which had been made by Israelites Exodus 32:20
 The Decalogue advocates for the worshipping of one God as evidenced by the first and second
commandments. "You shall not have other gods before me" , "You shall not make yourself a
graven image....."

38 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

 Moses fought for monotheism

 Samuel is believed to have fought for monotheism 1Sam 7:3
 Elijah fought for monotheism nwhen he butchered Baal prophets during the Mt Carmel contest
1Kinhs 18:26-40

Roles of early prophets in General

 They predicted the future, interpret the present advised individuals and Kings
 They led the nation in times of war
 They encouraged the spirit of nationalism and cultivated morale in the people to fight in defense of
their nation
 They communicated the divine will
 They were custodians of the national religion
 They were also custodians of justice e.g. Samuel the seer was also a judge.
 They were bearers of the word of God to the people e.g. Amos “The Lord called me from following
the flock” Amos 7:15.
 Pronounced judgement as a punishment from God e.g. Amos, Jeremiah
 Promised hope or salvation to the people e.g. Hosea, Isaiah, Jeremiah
 proclaimed social and moral justice to the people e.g. Elijah, Amos, and Isaiah.
 They preached about repentance and salvation of men e.g. Hosea and Isaiah
 Advocated the worshipping of one God e.g. Elijah, Moses and Jeremiah
 Custodians of God’s Law e.g. Moses and Isaiah
 Advised Kings on national issues e.g. Nathan and Samuelchecked the power of kings.
 They reprimanded kings wherever they went wrong e.g in Samuel and Saul’s conflict, Amos vs
Jeroboam II, and Ahab vs Elijah over religious ceremonies e.g. Samuel
 Covenant mediators e.g. Moses, Hosea and Jeremiah
 Experts in intercessory prayer e.g. Samuel and Jeremiah
 Anointed kings e.g Elijah anointed king Hazael
 They were custodians of God’s religion, they advocated monotheism.
 predicted the future e.g Amos predicted about the fall of Samaria.
 They interpreted history and politics of the nations e.g Isaiah and Jeremiah

39 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

NB: Textual references for the above functions will be obtained from the Bible in the process of Studying
particular prophets

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ECSTACY AND PROPHECY

 Some scholars argue that the term prophet originated from the agitated behavior of ecstatics.
 According to Robinson no Hebrew prophet would venture to prophecy without an initial experience
of an extra- ordinary character, that is, ecstacy.
 It served as the climate of prophecy.
 Certainly this condition was the medium of genuine religious experience in which true conduct with
God was achieved.
 According to J. Lindblom ecstacy was physical evidence which showed that someone has the spirit
of Yahweh.
 It gave prophets authority hence distinguished them from ordinary people, eg is Saul among the
prophets?’ it was normally induced by music and it had influence in politics eg Deborah led people in
war and inspire them with music. Prophetic guilds, for example those stationed near the Philistine
garrison were functional in the holy wars.
 Music was used to induce patriotism in people.
 The analogy of other groups of Yahweh’s devotees such as the Rechabites are the prophetic guilds.
 Association of saul with the sons of the prophets after he had been set aside to deliver Israel suggest
that they were a religio- patriotic movement making use of dervish techniques.

Ecstatic prophecy as a form of inspiration

 Bernard Anderson defined ecstasy as: an emotion which is so powerful, which takes control of the
self. Ecstatic prophecy was aroused by music and dancing.
 The practitioners of it were members of a group or a band.
 Their roles were of a social, political and religious nature.
 They performed their activities under a leader whom they called “their father”. Arguably they
charged fees for their services.
 Some scholars argue that these ecstatics did not charge fares, but they accepted tokens of
appreciation.
40 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

 The case of Saul is a classic example of these early prophets.

 It is reported in 1 Sam 10:9-13 that Saul joined a group of ecstatics who were preparing for war
against Philistines.
 When the group danced and sang, Saul got possessed and prophesied ecstatically, “Is Saul also
among the prophets?”(1 Sam 10:12).This question shows that: (i)The so-called prophets were
expected to behave this way (ii)Saul was not known to belong to this group
 The following sections should be studied carefully in the bible on ecstasy and divination to acquaint
yourself with evidence for early forms of prophecy in Israel.1 Samuel 10 : 5-8, 1 Samuel 20:18-24, 2
Kings 2: 4 and 2 Kings 4 :1; 1 Sam 19:20; 2 Kings 3:15;Num 11:25, Num 22:6; 1 Sam 28: 1 – 17;
1 Sam 14:41; Sam 20:35-41.

Characteristics of ecstatic prophecy

(1) It was catalyzed by Music, vigorous dancing and cheering (see the RSV Bible for textual evidence
at 1 Sam 10:5)

(2) It was practiced by a group of people. The group was also called a band or a guild because they
used musical instruments to induce the spirit.

(3) It was also associated with military activities of the nation to give encouragement to withstand
the enemy. The evidence that is in 1 Sam 10:5 says that the band which Saul joined was
performing near a Philistinian garrison

(4) The band belonged to a leader whom they referred to as the “father.” He was not a biological
father as such but a leader who regulated their activities, “And who is their father?” (1Sam
10:12) This question purports to imply that every group had a leader who is regarded as “their
father.” Most scholars believe that this group belonged to Samuel.

(5) They behaved in an awkward manner during the process of prophesying, “What has happened
to the son of Kish?” (1Sam 10:11). This question suggests surprise on the way Saul was then
behaving.

(6) The possessed prophet might only prophesy once and no more again in his life time. Eldad and
Medad (the two ecstatics mentioned in Numbers 11: 25, prophesied ecstatically in the camp and
they did it no more.
41 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

Ways and methods by which prophets received their messages

a) visions

 Yahweh explained to Aaron and Miriam that he communicated through visions, this is recorded
in Numbers 12:6
 Yahweh communicated with prophets through visions e.g Amos 7:1 , Jeremiah 1:11-13

b) Dreams

 Yahweh communicated with prophets in dreams ad recorded in Numbers 12:6

 Samuel received his call in a dream according to biblical scholars

c) Audition

 A number of so many old testament prophets communicated with Yahweh through audition ,
this include Amos 7:8,8:2,9:1,Hosea 3:1, Isaiah 6:11, Jeremiah 1:7

Other ways include angels and casting lots

Methods used by prophets to deliver their messages

 There are various methods which were used by prophets to utter their messages to their
audience
 The term method can be defined as a way of doing something

a) visions

 Prophets used visions for example Amos who used visions of destruction
 The visions include the vision of locust , fire , plum line, altar - they clarify Israel's punishment
(Amos7-8)

b) Messenger style of speech

 Israel prophets used Messenger style of speech "Thus says the Lord"
 The style was used by prophets in demonstrating that they were divinely inspired to their
audience or listeners

42 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

 Moses used Messenger style of speech as a way of proving to Pharaoh that he was divinely
inspired Exodus 5:1
 Samuel used Messenger yof speech when he was addressing people of Israel 1Sam10:18
 The court prophet Nathan used Messenger style of speech during the establishment of Davidic
Covenant (2Sam 7:8-16) and when condemning David for marrying Uriah's wife (2Sam12:11)
 NB there are so many prophets who used Messenger style of speech e.g. Amos 1:3, Jeremiah
2:2, Isaiah 7:7, 1Kings 21:19

c) Symbolic actions

 The OT prophets sometimes behaved in an unuy and fury way and even against the normative
ethics of their day
 .B Vawter defined symbolic actions as signs that looks beyond themselves to other realities
 The symbolic actions were effective as they easily convinced the audience and attracted hearers
 Isaiah was naked for three years to symbolise Assyrian captivity Isaiah 20:1-5
 Ahijah of Shiloh in attempt to symbolise the division of the kingdom tore his new clith into 12
pieces and gave 10 to Jeroboam (1Kings11:30-32)
 The marriage of Hosea to a harlot was orders by God and children were given symbolic names
(Hosea 1-3)
 Jeremiah made a joke and carried it on neck proclaiming Babylonian exile (Jeremiah 2:7)

d) miracles

o Miracle is something that happens contrary to nature. It is an extra-ordinary event.

o This method was used by prophets to show that the spirit of god was working through them.
o Prophets used this as a way of inducing belief in their audience that they were not merely
ordinary beings, but were being used as mouthpieces of Yahweh.
o Deuteronomy 13:1-12 seem to suggest that miracles were one way people could use to
distinguish true from false prophets. ‘if a prophet has arisen among you, or a dreamer of dreams
or gives you a sign and what he tells you come to pass…’
o The archetypal figure Moses performed quite a number of miracles:. Changing the rod into a
serpent before Pharaoh, Ten plagues etc

43 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

o Elijah and Elisha were carbon copies of Moses. Elijah in his battle with Baalism performed
miracles.in 1 Kings 17:1ff he announced drought to prove that it was Yahweh who provided
rains and not Baal.
o Elisha healed Naaman the leper (2 Kings 5:1ff)
o Raised the Shunamite woman’s son from the dead (2Kings 4:8-25)

e) parable

 Parables are comparisons which use story telling techniques and details drawn from everyday
life experiences in order to present religious truth in a way which attracts the attention of the
listener or reader by its vividness or strangeness and thus provokes further reflection and
appropriate action.
 When prophet Nathan rebuked king David for his sins in seducing Uriah’s wife Bathsheba and
murdering him.
 Nathan used a parable of the rich man who took a poor man’s only lamb. The use of parables for
sinners to condemn themselves is a prophetic device (2 Samuel 12:1-14).
 David was made to condemn himself.
 David was also caught out again in the same way by the wise woman of Tekoa (2 Samuel 14:1-
23)

NB: More Methods can be added

 Songs(Amos 5:2, Isaiah 5:1)

 Scrolls (Jeremiah 36:4)
 Tablets (Isaiah 8:1)
 Rhetoric questions (Amos 9:7; Jeremiah 13:22)

True and false prophets

 The issue of true and false prophets in Israelite religion has always been met with some mixed
reactions with scholars citing different criteria.
 There are several criteria that have been put forward as explanation to distinguish true from
false prophets

 Scholars have brought forward various criteria this include

44 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

a) Fulfillment
 The prediction of a true and false was supposed to come to pass as it is indicated by
Deuteronomy 18:22
 Predictions of true prophets come to pass e.g Elijah predicted the drought and the death of
Ahab (1Kings17:1, 1Kings 21:19)
 The prediction of false prophets did not come true e.g Zedekiah during the Ramoth Gilead war
between Israel ,Judah Syria versus Syria
 The prophet Hananiah should not be ignored as a false prophet when he predicted that the exile
will last Jeremiah 28:3
b) Professionalism
 What scholars are trying to arrive at, by professionalism has something to do with
remuneration.
 If a prophet expected to be paid for his service, then this person was a false prophet.
 Especially if a prophet received remuneration from a King or from a state institution, chances
are that he/she was a false prophet or was one who could be tempted to prophesy what was
wrong so as to please the King, resulting in him getting paid.
 However, we need to be careful since prophets like Samuel receive remuneration in some
sense, so was he a false prophet?
 The prophet Nathan appears to have been a court official, chances are that he received
remuneration and so was he a false prophet?
 Isaiah also appears to heave been a court official and a member of the royal family, was he a
false prophet? In the case of Amos, Amos approaches Amaziah and he is told to flee to Judah
and have bread there, from this professionalism criterion the idea is that if the prophet is
associated with a King’s court or sanctuary chances are that he was a false prophet but again
form the same criterion there are certain prophetic figures who seem not to be false prophets
although they were associated with institutions.
 Scholars therefore move on to suggest a third criterion and this is very much centred in
Jeremiah 29:26 and Deuteronomy 13:1f which they called the History Criterion.
c) Call
 Israel prophets received calls , for instance Moses when experienced a vision of the burning
bush Exodus 3:1 and Samuel in 1San=m3:1

45 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

 It is not recorded that the false prophets had calls since the primary evidence is silent about
their calls
 The weakness of the criterion is that not all true prophets are recorded to have experienced
calls
d) Morality
 This criterion can be found in Jeremiah 13.
 It suggest that even if what a prophet predicted came to pass, if a prophet led an immoral life
then that prophet was a false prophet.
 A true prophet followed specific standards and sought to turn people away from their evil ways
verse 22. However, such a criterion should be treated with caution.
 For instance, in the case of Hosea, he claimed to have been commanded by Yahweh to marry a
prostitute. In the Israelite culture and tradition no man could marry such a woman more so a
prophet.
 So was Hosea a true prophet? In Jeremiah 13:29, a true prophet had a message of judgment
upon sin.
 messages of peace.
 According to Jeremiah peace could only come when people lived holy lives. If people disobeyed
Yahweh there would be no peace; so false prophets promised peace irrespective of the fact that
people were living sinful lives.
 This is the message that appears to come practically from all the prophets.
 Isaiah thought that if Israel were to have faith in Yahweh they were not going to be attacked by
Assyria. For Isaiah obedience to Yahweh resulted in peace.
 Amos prediction of doom could be viewed in this context.
 All the foreign nations sited by Amos were judged because of their disobedience. Israel was
going to follow suit if she continued to disobey God
e) Prophetic ecstasy
 Prophetic Ecstasy It appears within certain circles of the Israelite prophecy.
 Prophetic ecstasy was a mark of false prophecy.
 Jeremiah 29:26, ecstasy was associated with madness.
 However, you have to be cautious because elsewhere especially in the book of Samuel it
appears, group ecstasy was a common mark of nabi or prophet.

46 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

 In 1 Samuel Chapter 9 – 10 verse 5, ecstasy could be spontaneous but could also be induced by
music and dance.
 The reason why some people within the Israelite society regarded with suspicion the ecstatic
person is that, this person could cease to think because of ecstasy or was often forgetful or the
person was often insensitive to pain. He could step into the fire without feeling any pain.
 The question which was raised is how far reliable is the message and advice given by such a
person?
 From a religious perspective ecstasy was known to be a cheap characteristic of baalism and
Canaanite culture in general (Anderson, 1956).
 This is why genuine Yahwists viewed with suspicion this prophetic trend.
 However, this can not be regarded as sufficient ground and reason to regard ecstasy as a mark
of false prophecy.
 So in views of this understanding the question is, if ecstasy signified the characteristics of a true,
as well as of a false prophet.
 How then can one distinguish true prophecy from false prophecy?
 Scholars however, opted for a different criterion and this they called it the professionalism
criterion.
NB: More criteria to distinguish between true and false prophets , this include
(a) Cultic criteria
(b) messenger style of speech
(c) courtship
Prophets politics and social justice-should linked with the knowledge of individual prophets’

THE PROPHETIC BOOK OF AMOS

Introduction
- Amos was an 8th century who prophesied during the reigns of Jeroboam II.
- King of Israel and Uzziah King of Judah.
- He is believed to have written the prophetic book since it bears his name. The prophet begins his
message by attacking foreign nations and then Israel.

47 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

- In these oracles Amos clearly shows the sovereignty of God over the nations. He condemns the
nation for the sins committed against humanity.

Objectives By the end of this topic you should be able to:

1. explain the political and economic reasons giving rise to Israel’s prosperity
2. describe the social and religious conditions which emerged as a result of prosperity.
3. discuss the identity (place of origin) and profession of Amos.
4. explain why Amos became unpopular with the people of his time. • explain why scholars doubt
the authenticity of Amos 9v11-15.
5. identify the major themes contained in the message of the prophet Amos.

Historical Background to the Books of Amos and Hosea

- In order to understand the message of Amos and Hosea, the key factor is the reign of Jeroboam II
which lasted up to 746BC.
The Age of Jeroboam II

- According to Anderson (1958) the age of Jeroboam II was the one which had economic prosperity.
Again, Israel’s position improved internally.
- The political and economic conditions obtaining gave rise this prosperity which is also known as the
golden age.
- During this time in history, Israel’s enemies were weak and that gave her a chance to build her
economy politically,
- 1. Assyria, a major power was busy with internal problems in her empire.
- 2. Syria, the major enemy of Israel was destroyed by Assyria and was very weak.
- 3. Judah (Southern Kingdom of Israel) attacked Israel (Northern Kingdom) and was defeated and
became a vassal of Israel.
- The Israelite Kingdom during Jeroboam II extended greatly.
- It extended Northwards as far as Hamath and Southwards as far as Arabah (2Kings 14v2325) Apart
from the political situation creating room for prosperity there is also the economic aspects.
- During Jeroboam II’s reign, Israel established trade conducts with Phoenician merchants.

48 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

- The commercial activity of Phoenicians was at its Zenith in the Mediterranean worlds.
- Bright (1972) states that Israel became rich by controlling trade routes and levies on goods passing
to and from the Mediterranean through Israelite territory, tolls from caravans and Israel also shared
in the profits from the exchange of goods and services.
- As if this was not enough, the conquest of the trans-Jordan put Jeroboam II in control of trade
routes from Syria and the commercial highway from Arabia and Samaria became the centre of trade
and a powerful merchant class arose in Samaria.
- Douglas (1980) has it that though Jeroboam II had built up a lucrative trade which gave birth to the
emergence of a powerful merchant class in Samaria, there was however an uneven distribution of
wealth and the peasants suffered greatly.
- The above described situation ushered Israel into the golden age and this time we find Amos and
Hosea entering into the prophetic scene.
Social and Economic Conditions Born Due to the Prosperity of the Time
- Social classes began to emerge in Israel due to prosperity.
- Amos speaks of silver coaches, beds of ivory, winter and summer houses of hewn stone, ivory
towers and drunkards. Amos was disgusted (3v15, 4v1, 6v4).
- Anderson (1958) explains that despite prosperity an oppressive social pyramid grew up with the
royal courtiers and the merchant class at the top and the majority of people who were peasants at
the bottom.
- The privileged classes prospered highly from trade and continued to spend the newly found riches
on improving their own living standards (3v10, 12, 15,6v4) and neglected the peasant class which
was the backbone of Samaria’s economy.
- Peasants were the beast of burden and poverty stricken.
- For Alington (1952) there was therefore a high level of oppression and cruelty directed towards
the poor by the rich.
- To make clear the above point there is information that the rich sold “the righteous for silver and
the needy for a pair of shoes:, they “trample the heads of the poor into the dust of the earth...”
(2v6-7), they “oppress the poor and crush the needy” (5v10-11) that “they store up violence and
robbery in their palaces” (3v10) and abhor him that speaketh uprightly” the economic tyrants also
sanctioned corrupt courts and the judges were venal and the poor had no redress,
- Justice however went to the highest bidder (2v6, 8v6).

49 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

- Douglas also has it that during drought (4v7-9) the poor had recourse only to the money lender
(5v11, 8v4-6) to whom he was compelled to mortgage both his land and his person.
- Bribery (5v10) and falsification of weights and measures (8v5) were ways of bargaining. Highway
robbery, rape and murder were scandals committed against humanity.
- Priests were also involved in shrewd methods of obtaining money. Homes were also broken due to
a high rate infidelity e.g. Hosea wife.

Religious Conditions of the Time

- Social conditions in Samaria affected the religious habits of the people. It is argued that religion
was not being neglected but perverted.
- The great national religious shrines were thronged with worshippers and rituals done (4v4, 5v21-
24) but Yahwism in its pure form was no longer being maintained.
- Baalism was now rooted in the Northern Kingdom. Holy women as they were called were kept at
centres to satisfy the lust of men (temple prostitution).
- Also, graven images were dedicated to gods and goddesses.
- The golden bull was still being worshipped at Bethel. Despite the golden age in Israel and Judah,
the society was rotten.

Activity
1. Discuss the political and economic reasons which gave rise to the golden age during Jeroboam
II’s reign in Israel.
2. Social classes and religious pervasiveness emerged in Israel due to prosperity. Discuss.
3. How does the social and economic conditions which obtained in Israel due to prosperity fully
explain the Zimbabwe situation today? Give five points.

Amos Background and superscription

 The background has two things a) Where Amos came from and b) His occupation
 These 2 are important in that they help us understand his message.
Identity and Place of Origin of Amos
- The book of Amos is believed to have been written by Amos as said and in Amos (1v1)

50 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

- He prophesied during the time when Uzziah was the king of Judah and when jeroboam II was the
King of Israel. According to Hayes (1977) the prophet Amos came from Tekoa.
- But where was Tekon located? Scholars differ on this one. Some scholars concur that Tekoa was
located 12 miles South of Jerusalem in the hills overlooking Judea in the (a) wilderness that people
believe John the Baptist grew into manhood.
- The above position therefore suggests that Amos came from the south or the Judean Tekoa.
- May be that is why Amaziah the priest of Bethel clashed with Amos since that was unheard of say
for one from the South to prophecy in the North and vice versa.
- Despite the sharp and strong arguments about the location of Tekoa some scholars say there is a
great possibility in Amos being a Northerner.
- However the general consensus among many scholars is that Tekoa was in the South and that Amos
was a Southerner whose prophetic ministry was confined to Israel in the Northern a deviation from
the normal practice by the prophets of his day and age.
Profession of the Prophet
- The other complication with Amos has to do with his profession after his call.
- The superscription in Amos 1v1 tells us that Amos was a shepherd or was from among the
shepherds (noqedim/nokedim) of Tekoa.
- So the quick conclusion we get is that Amos was a shepherd from Tekoa. The wilderness life
trained Amos to endure hardships.
- Tending sheep was work done by poor peasants. From the Jewish point of view being a
shepherd was the lowest denigration done by poor people.
- His manner of life provided him with images that he reproduced in his oracles. The text says he
was tending sheep when God called him.
- He was a very humble and simple man from a poor agriculture sector in Judah yet he preached in
the northern Kingdom.
- The north was economically advanced due to merchant capitalism.
- It was his attack on Israel that made him unpopular, hence it goes without saying that Amos’
message was incompatible to the circumstances of his day.
- There is however several problems associated with the idea that he was also a shepherd. If so
why it is not stated clearly.
- Again, was he a shepherd in the sense that he had his own flock or took care of some day’s flock.

51 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

- The other problem is that in Amos 7v14-15, Amos does not identify himself explicitly as a
shepherd but as a herdsman and a dresser of sycamore trees.
- By herdsman Amos was suggesting that he was looking after cattle and a dressers of sycamore
trees means that he looked after sycamore trees by giving them a mulch and pruning or it means
one with a skill of grafting trees or that Amos was a pitcher of sycamore fruits.
- All this shows that it’s not immediately clear as to which profession Amos did during his day. Be
that as it may, Hayes comes to our rescue here.
- For him Amos is being described as from among the noqedim of Tekoa (1v1) and as a herdsman
and a dresser of sycamore trees (17v14).
- The only other person described as a noqek/noked in the Bible was Mesha of Moab as stated in 2
Kings 3v4. The Hebrew term noked is translated as sheep breeder.
- So Amos is believed to have owned flocks of sheep.
- The general conclusion about Amos is therefore that he could have been a mixed farmer that is
keeping some herds of animals and dressing sycamore trees.
- Scholars however differ on the issue of sycamore trees.
- For some sycamore trees could not grow on land which is above 2800 feet at sea level and Judean
Tekoa was above this.
- Amos could have has a plantation of trees but not in Judean Tekoa.
- What it means therefore is that he could have done that on low grounds where these trees could
thrive.
- So it might be that Amos could have owned some estates where sycamore trees were planted on
a commercial scale, if that was the case.
- Amos could have been a tycoon and a man of high social status considering the fact that he was a
sheep breeder and a plantation owner.
- Even though it is agreed that Amos was a sheep breeder and a plantation owner there is still a
problem with this.
- There is information that Amos could have been a cultic figure who looked after either temple
cattle or sheep or even both.
- Though the possibility of him being a sheep breeder is not being out ruled here, it might however
be argued that the sheep he bred were for cultic purposes.

52 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

- It is also most probable that the animals he kept were cultic animals and that he was just a seer as
he is addressed by Amaziah.
- This position strongly suggests that Amos and all the animals he was in charge of were not his but
for the temple and its purposes.
- coming also to the issue of sycamore trees, he was only a dresser or a keeper of these and not
necessarily an owner.
- Amos profession is what I can call a current hot potato given that scholars are divided on his
profession. Some say he was a mere shepherd, a herdsman and a keeper of sycamore trees.
Hayes and the others say he was a sheep breeder and a grafter of sycamores.
- This suggested that he was an elite. But if he was a shepherd and a grafter and of tress he was
then a peasant.
- In conclusion on whether Amos was poor or rich is, it depends on how one takes it.
- What is important is taking a position and be able to substantiate it.
General Character of His Message
- Amos came into the prophetic scene in 760BC.
- He was not a prophet by training, neither was he a prophet’s son but God called him to be a
prophet while following his sheep.
- Amos spoke largely in the accents of doom.
- However, it would be incorrect and unfair to characterize the whole message as one of doom since
there is a promise of the remnant or restoration.
- His message and understanding of God conflicted with that of his contemporaries.
Amos’ Message

- Amos’ message can be understood much more adequately in the light of the socio-economic and
political conditions of Palestine during his time.
- Amos walked through the streets of Bethel and was horrified at what he saw. In the market
places traders cheated with short weights and measures.
- They gave wrong change to those who could not count and check it by themselves.
- Money lenders charged high rates of interest (usury system) and children were sold to pay debts.
Corruption emerged in both the commercial and civil life of Israel.

53 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

- The poor were exploited as cheap labour and were generally oppressed. Bribery in courts was
the order of the day.
- There was a lot of social injustice which included the grabbing of land from the poor and making
them landless.
- The bulk of Amos’ message is directed to people living in such conditions and the target groups of
his message are largely within Israel and these include: - Merchants - The judiciary - Priests and not
priests - Kings or the ruling class
Divine election Amos 3
- Amos reverses the popular idea of the consequences of Israel being a chosen people in 3v2 Israel
was a chosen nation, “You only have I known of all the families of the earth.....” Israel had been
given a special responsibility to illustrate Godliness to other nation.
- She was to set a standard that God wanted of all people on earth.
- The Israelites were ignorant of the fact that the idea of election meant greater responsibility.
- Israel had entered into a covenant relationship with Yahweh, but the nation had rejected the
responsibilities of the covenant.
- The Israelites were however mistaken in that they believed that special responsibility meant
exemption from punishment.
- On the contrary, special responsibility meant greater punishment.
- Amos was here conflicting with the popular view that the idea of election meant exemption from
punishment for Israel.
The Day of the Lord: 5V18f
- The nation looked forward to this day as being one on which God would vindicate his people and
elevate them above the nations and destroy their enemies.
- Again, basing on (3v2) which talks of divine election Israelites looked to a day when God would
bless Israel while the unchoosen would suffer punishment.
- So for Israel it was a day of joy and jubilation.
- Amos however held an opposite view regarding this day and he saw no reason why the Israelite
anticipated the coming of this day.
- For Amos the day of the Lord would be a day of national defeat and destruction, darkness
instead of light, and gloom instead of hope.
- The prophet emphasized that the defeat would be inescapable (5v19-20).

54 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

- The idea that a man is run after by a lion and a bear meets him and he goes into his house and a
serpent bites him explains that there is no way of escape.
- So according to Amos the day of the Lord would never come whilst there was slavery and cruelty
to the poor. Israel thought that its tithes, gifts and sacrifices would save them, but only to be told
that their temple sacrifices were not enough.
- Yahweh was portrayed saying “I hate and despise your feast days. Though you offer me sacrifices
of animals I will not accept them, but let justice roll down like waters....” (5v21-24).
Women of Samaria Amos 4
- Chapter 4 is a description of pompous and lazy women who survived on other people’s sweat
especially the poor.
- The women of Basham were accused of oppressing the poor and crushing the needy.
- They overruled or encouraged their husbands in a wicked waste of money in strong drink and other
luxuries. In a way they encourage the exploitation of the poor.
- Those who could not pay the depts had their vineyards confiscated.
- The usury system was expanded.
- All this was done to fulfil the needs of the lazy women.
- Amos referred to those lazy women as cows of Bashan.
- Bashan was a very fertile valley on which a special breed of cattle was fattened.
- Their sin was that of debauchery.
- After rebuking the women whom he referred to, as cows of Bashan, Amos ironically invites people
to come to Bethel and Gilgal to offer sacrifices.
- The activities were mechanical, devoid of spiritual commitment.
- Instead of pleasing Yahweh their worship became a spiritual bore to Yahweh.
- Amos explains how Israel was reluctant to repent amidst Yahweh’s warning signs.
- The warning signs are as follows:
- a) Cleanliness of teeth – referring to lack of food or a situation of famine or drought due to erratic
rain (4v6-7).
- b) Population pressure – this was an overcrowding for resources as a result of God sending rain in
one city and not sending it to another.
- c) Crop diseases and locust which devoured the planted crops
- d) Pestilence/an epidemic resulting in human death and wars

55 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

- There is also an announcement of the total destruction of cities and this speaks of God’s judgment.
- In his message also, Amos pronounces an elegy or a funeral dirge over Israel. For Amos, Israel’s fall
is complete and irreparable and cannot be avoided.
- In Amos 5v2 Israel is personified as a virgin.
- This means that Israel’s religion was once good just like a woman in her virginity.
- Israel’s religion was now bad due to religious accommodation of Baals.
- So because of these loopholes in religion Israel stood condemned. The solution which the prophet
saw was repentance manifesting itself in the establishment of justice is the main theme in Amos.

Amos attack on rulers

- Chapter 6 is an attack on prosperity and extravagance.
- Amos pronounces doom to the rulers who were relaxed and comfortable at Mt Zion.
- They are condemned for a false security in God.
- Evidence of wealth include: a) Ivory beds b) Winter and summer houses c) Invasion of fine music.
- The Kings (rulers) unlike the earlier ones, those of Amos’ time were indifferent to the needs of the
poor. Earlier King’s had the zeal to improve the conditions of the poor but the Kings of Amos time
had no zeal to improve the conditions of the poor people.
- The rich were however relaxed while the poor were building.
- The rich were however relaxed while the poor were suffering.
- Their sin was one of pride based on belonging to the first of the nations, gluttony and artificial music
and music and misuse of wealth which was acquired through exploitative means.
- The result of such sin was total destruction.
- This was so because the Jews had done what was impossible and logically undone, for example the
rhetorical question asked by the prophet, “do horses run upon rocks” and the answer is no.
- The Israelite had turned justice into wormwood or poison and that meant that they would not go
unpunished.
Visions of Judgement: 7v1 – 9v1ff
- In the visions the prophet describes the downfall of Israel.
- The prophet saw 5 visions of judgement and the vision are as follows: a) Vision of locust – 7v1-3 b)
Vision of fire – 7v4-6 c) Vision of the plumbline – 7v7-9 d) The basket of summer fruit – 8v1-3 e)
Smiting of the altar – 9v1-10

56 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

A) Vision of locust
- In this vision Amos saw locust devastating the land (7v1-3).
- The eating of crops by the locust may mean famine.
- The locust ate the crops and grass.
- People could die due to lack of food and the shortage of grass would be dangerous for without
grass the Kings’ horse would die and this implied defeat in warfare.
B) Vision of a consuming fire
- This could have been literal or physical fire.
- Some scholars think that fire is a symbol of God’s judgement.
- So fire represents God destroying Israel by fire.
C) Vision of the plumbline
- A plumbline is a building tool or instrument used to measure the straightness, of things especially
walls. When the building is crooked, the builder destroys the wall and start building it up again.
- God had gone through Israel’s religion to measure faithfulness to see if she held fast to the
promises and laws of God. Israel was however found faithless and corrupt.
- So just like a crooked wall Israel needed destruction and reconstruction later.
- God relented in the first two visions but did not on the third one and, a question can be asked why?
- It could be that Amos had stopped interceding for the house of Israel or that because of many sins
God could no longer spare them.
D) Vision of the basket of summer fruit:
- Amos 8 Amos saw in a vision a basket of summer fruit.
- The fruit was over ripe, representing Israel’s readiness for destruction.
- The summer fruit also represented the lovely outside appearance of Israel’s religion yet rotten at
heart.
E) Vision about the destruction of the altar: Amos 9
- The picture is one destruction, capitals had become places of corruption and destruction could not
be avoided.
- However verses 11-15 of chapter 9 give Israel a ray of hope.
- God promises to build the fallen cities of Israel.
- The last verses are not consistent with the tone of destruction in the previous chapters, they talk
about hope and restoration is also found in the same book.

57 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

- Anderson and Forrester (1977) however concur that the hopeful prophesies with their Judean
interests in 9v11-15 are apparently regarded as being later additions to the book or interpolations.

Amos Amaziah Conflict: 7v10-11

- Amos was charged by Amaziah the priest of Bethel of misleading the nation and conspiring against
the King.
- The chapter serves to illustrate that prophecy and priesthood were complimentary. In another
way prophecy and priesthood were at loggerheads.
- It might be that Amos’ message pointed out the corruption by priest that he was stooped and told
to go back to the land Judah.
- Priests are accused of preoccupying themselves with rituals, thus turning religion into formal
religion. It seems according to Amos these formal rituals were meaningless unless they address real
problems affecting society.
- So Amos is not against songs sung, feast or even the offering but he is against practicing all this at
the expense of the real problems affecting society.
- Amaziah mistook Amos as a professional prophet – doing it for business purposes.
- Amos however replied that he was no prophet nor a prophet’s son neither, either did he attend
any prophetic schools or college but got his training by following his sheep and had been sent by
Yahweh himself to prophesy to the people of Israel and that he had come to Amos then
pronounced adeadly curse upon the household of Amaziah.
- The wife of Amaziah was to become a harlot in the city, his sons and daughters would be killed by
the sword and Amaziah was to doe in a foreign land and that Israel would go into exile
Major Themes Found on the Message of Amos
1) Injustice
- Amos condemned the rich for perpetrating injustices against the poor.
- The rich were not being nice to the poor but cruel.
- The prophet Amos has it that the rich “turn aside the needy in the gate from the right”, “oppress the
poor and crush the needy”, “take a bride” and “abhor him that speaketh uprightly’.

58 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

- The information given above shows that the poor were being exploited by the rich and they also
used false trading balances and bribed judges who could then make determinations in courts in their
favour.
- It was also surprising to find out that there was also the selling of people into virtual slavery.
- The rich were accused of selling the righteous for silver and the poor for s pair of shoes. the
women of Samaria whom Amos likens to cows of Bashan had grown sleek and fat from the labor of
the poor people.
- The prophet Amos therefore condemned the injustice and the wealth gamed through exploitative
means. Amos 5v24 goes, “let justice roll down like water...” Amos was for justice and not vice versa.
2) Divine election and responsibility
- Israel was a chosen nation. Amos 3v2 reads, “you only have I known of all the families of the
earth......” Thus is an acknowledgement by Amos that God had chosen Israel.
- After being chosen Israel was given a special responsibility to illustrate guidelines to other nations
so Yahweh and his people worked hard made a covenant and has walked together.
- But with time Israel broke the covenant responsibilities.
- The Israelite believed that a special privilege meant exemption from punished.
- Amos however printed out that divine election does not mean exemption from punishment, but
that violation of the divine law deserved exact retribution.
3) The day of the Lord
- The Jews strongly believed in election.
- For them, one day the whole world would come to amend and that God would bless Israel and
elevate them above the nations and destroy their enemies, so to the Israelites the days of the Lord
was a day of victory and happiness.
- Amos however told them that the day as the Lord would bring destruction to Israel. There was
nothing to celebrate for with regards to the day of the Lord.
4) Universalism
- In his book the prophet Amos also pursues the theme of the Universal sovereignty of Yahweh Amos
can be regarded as an international prophet His prophecy was not only limited to Israel but to other
nations as well.
- Apart from Israel Amos directed him prophecy to other nation such as Damascus, gaza, Tyre, edom,
Ammon and Judah.

59 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

- These nations breached the international code of ethics or code of law and were to be judged for
the atrocities committed during some wars fought.
- God was punishing them for war crimes.
5) Doom and destruction
- Amos message dwelt very much on doom and destruction.
- The doom was largely directed towards Israel, God’s elect and her highbous as well.
- His prophetic formulas for three transgressions and for four.
- I will not revoke my punishment’ show the extend at which God was determined to destroy
Israel.
- The destruction was irrevitable given that she has failed to illustrate godliness to other nation and
setting the standard that God wanted for all the people on earth.
- To cement his view on destruction the prophet talks of the fires nations were to recieve of
destruction and there was no way Israel would escape the looming destruction.
6) Hope and restoration
- Apart from the destruction that Amos dwelled much on say in 9v1-10, the prophet also talks of hope
for Israel.
- In 9v11-15 there is a lot of hope for Israel.
- His message quickly changes from that of destruction to hope and restoration. Israel was going to
be restored to her former position and glory by God.
- The verses however found in chapters 9v11-15 are not however consistent in it’s tone of doom and
destruction which is abundantly clear in the book
- . Such a digression by the prophet led some scholars to suggest that the verses 11-15 of chapter 9
are not part and parcel of the whole book and that some redactor might have included the verses to
Amos work.
- Be that as it may, to say that Amos work dwelled on doom and destruction alone would be an
unfair assestation on the prophet given the hope and restoration which also feature in his book and
message.
THE BOOK OF HOSEA
Historical background

- Hosea was a prophet who operated at almost the same time with Amos.

60 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

- We are told his prophetic ministry was carried in the Northern Kingdom.
- The book of Hosea has extremely little help to give us about the prophet himself.
- (Von Rad 1965; 138) we are told he was the son of Beeri and that he lived and worked during the
calamitous last years of the Northern Kingdom up to about the time of the capture of Samaria by the
Assyrians (721).
- We know as little about his home as we do of the place where he made his appearance, or of any
conflicts in which he may have been engaged or of other personal circumstances.
- It has been assumed with some probability that he was closely connected with the Levitical
movement in the Northern Kingdom, which, like the prophetic one, had been pushed aside in the
general Canaanisation; both reforming groups fostered and preserved the old traditions of Yahweh
(Wolf 1956; 83).
- Hosea is the only “writing prophet” of the Northern Kingdom.
- During his time the North was experiencing the disintegration of patriarchal Yahwism in the
Canaanite fertility cult and the peculiar political and governmental system which existed there.
- Israel had been seduced into practicing Baalism at the expense of Israelite religion and culture.
- Hosea addresses these issues in the form of a marriage relationship represented by his marriage to
a prostitute named Gomer.

The Religious Situation

- The prophet Hosea’s protest seemed to have been mainly against the religious life of Israel which
was the basis for all her existence as God’s chosen people.
- The protest can best be found in his preaching which is characterized by personal emotions, anger,
love, disappointment and distaste.
- His preaching is backed by the extensive use of Israelite historical traditions (12:3-4) which refer to
the patriarch Jacob.
- Yahweh is Israel’s God from the land of Egypt “Hosea 12:10) and (13:4) by the prophet Moses
Yahweh brought Israel up from Egypt (12:14), but the people proved unfaithful even before reaching
the promised land (9:10) (Von Rad 1965).
- Once there, they refused and failed to recognise the true source of success ascribing to Baal, the
local god (11:1-2).

61 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

- His marriage symbolism seemed to have portrayed the whole process of Israel’s unfaithfulness as
the letter was seen as having gone and abandoned Yahweh like a faithless wife who has run after
her lovers. In this marriage symbolism Hosea again portrayed a complete subverted relationship of
Israel to Yahweh and used symbolized names of his children born of it to announce the message of
protest against Israel.
- The symbolism of marriage again gives the key note for practically all the message characteristics of
Hosea in his protest against Israel’s disloyalty and her approaching danger (Greenspahin 1982; 407).
- Von Rad (1965) argued that Hosea was the first prophet to describe Israel’s submersion in the
Canaanite nature religion as ‘harlotry’.
- However although Yahweh’s reaction to this sexual aspect of the nature religion was particularly
sensitive this was not the only reason which brought the prophet on the scene as an agent of
protest, he was also prompted by what Von Rad (1965) calls Israel’s general breach of faith and her
violation of the first and also second commandments. (Hosea 4:20; 17:8:4:13:2).
- The sin of Israel was that, she was convinced that it was the Baals whom she had to render
gratituites for these blessings, yet it was Yahweh who was her divine providence from time
immemorial.
The message of Hosea
- At the heart of Hosea’s message stands his concern with the relationship between Yahweh and
Israel.
- Depending heavily on the ancient tradition of Israel’s salvation and election through the Exodus, he
recalls the Lord’s past and present faithfulness to the chosen people he accuses, and indicts the
people not so much for specific sins, though those were noted but for unfaithfulness.
- The specific form of this breach of faith is apostasy, the acceptance of other gods.
- From this sin all others follow including ritual, political and social abuses.
- The unfaithfulness of Israel justifies the announcement of judgment in the form of military defeat
and destruction
- Although that judgment is in accord with the law and seems absolute, Yahweh struggles within
himself, and then renounces the punishment of Israel (Hosea11:5-9).
- At certain points the punishment seems designed to correct Israel’s ways, to re-establish the
relationship with Yahweh. In this context, whether before, during or after the punishment is
renounced, Hosea proclaims Yahweh`s courtship of unfaithful Israel and announces salvation.

62 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

- Like Jeremiah, Hosea emphasizes the two themes: the covenant relationship with God and the Love
of God. With respect to his emphasis on the core of God, it is remarkable that Hosea, though
attacking Canaanite religion, introduced into biblical thought some of its language and symbolism.
- Throughout his book Hosea has left the imagery of a God who is like a faithful husband to people
who are like a prostitute, a God who struggles over that people’s future like a parent agonizing over
a wayward child.
The marriage and symbolic signs: Hosea 1-3
- Much in these chapters concern Hosea’s family life, but the fundamental message concerns the
relationship between Yahweh and his unfaithful people.
- In large measure because of the initial report that Yahweh commanded Hosea to “take a wife of
harlotry and have children of harlotry”, (1: 2), these chapters have presented serious problems for
interpreters and have evoked a wide range of explanations.
- Some early Christian and Jewish commentators took the references to Hosea’s marriage and family
as allegorical, thus avoiding the embarrassment that God would actually command an immoral act.
- Others argued that Hosea merely reports a dream or vision.
- Neither interpretation seems reasonable because the accounts are written as direct reports of
events.
- One theory says that Gomer was not a whore when Hosea married her but had such tendencies.
- Eventually she took a lover or lovers, but the prophet found her and brought her back.
- This view assumes that the woman of chapter 3 is the Gomer of chapter 1 and that the order of the
chapters corresponds to the chronology of Hosea’s life.
- Another view says that these chapters, more likely contain reports of symbolic actions by the
prophet, actual events performed to show that Hosea knew the word of God before his marriage
and before he gave his children their symbolic names. (Not-Pitied and Not- My-People, showing
God’s attitude to his people).
- Hosea’s marriage and family life result from his understanding of God’s word and do not provide
experience that taught him what to believe or say.
- Gomer as a “wife of harlotry” represented unfaithful Israel and like most Israelites, had participated
in the Canaanite fertility cult.
- Hosea’s message is not that his wife and family are so unusual but, to the contrary, all Israel has
prostituted itself to false gods.

63 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

Wife and Children: Gomer, Jezreel; Not -Pited; Not- My-People (Hos:1: 2-9)
- This third person narrative reports Yahweh’s command to Hosea and the prophet’s fulfillment of it.
The command includes a reason.
- The reason is, “because the land commits great harlotry by forsaking the Lord.”
- The account of the carrying out of the command occurs in three parts corresponding to the births of
the three children each of whom is given a symbolic name.
- Although the birth and naming of each child presents a complete message, the unit as a whole
develops from accusation and threat of punishment (vv4-5), to the Lord’s withdrawal of forgiveness
(v6), then to the radical proclamation that the ancient covenant between Yahweh and Israel is
terminated (vv8-9). The passage announces unqualified punishment upon Israel.
Meanings of Names

- Jezreel: The name is given in memory of Israel’s sin in the valley of Jezreel where Jehu, a military
commander in Israel revolted and murdered Jehoram and the Judean King Ahaziah. Such a case is
remembered in God’s Punishment plan against Israel.
- Not-My- People: The name marks Yahweh’s rejection of the people of Israel as their God because
of the continued unfaithfulness they have shown. They continue to sin in the manner of baalism.
- Not Pitied: The name symbolizes God’s withdrawal of all mercy and his commitment to punish the
people of Israel. The ancient covenant ceases to be of any force any more.When the names
changed the relationship scenario is reversed. A new covenant with Israel comes into force.
Yahweh’s forgiving love (Hosea 3:1-5)
- Hosea’s purchase of an adulteress in this unit is not autobiography (personal history) but a
prophetic proclamation.
- Once Hosea purchases the woman, he places her in isolation from all sexual contact. The
interpretation for this is that the Lord will deprive the people of Israel of any leaders, and any
religious practices so that they will eventually return to their God.
- The newly purchased woman is not here named. She may or may not be the Gomer of the
previous chapters. The meaning of this symbolic action report is that although Israel acts
unfaithfully, Yahweh continues to love her so much that he will buy her away from her other
lovers.

64 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

- God’s love includes discipline, for he will withdraw government and religion, in effect removing
the structures of civilisation from the land. As a result, Israel will eventually return and seek its God
directly.
- The ultimate result of this action is already mentioned in Hosea 2:16-23 where the emergence of a
new covenant is heralded. A promise for a renewal of the covenant by God’s own initiative is
alluded to.
- This new covenant will include all living things thought by many of Hosea’s contemporaries to be
under the control of fertility deities.
- The relationship between God and people will be characterised by depth of righteousness, justice,
steadfast love, mercy, and faithfulness and will endure forever.
- The names of children which provide dominant metaphors will each be reversed from its initial
meaning to reflect the new scenario as follows: Not-Pitied will be Pitied, Not-my people will be
You are my people
Prophecies of judgment and salvation Hosea 4-14
- Virtually all the material in these chapters is presented as the written form of prophetic speeches.
The first chapters 4 to 11, and then chapters 12 to 14 proceed from accusation and announcement
of judgment to announcement of salvation.
- The first unit (Hos4:1-3) can be described as Yahweh’s lawsuit. The passage summons and provides
an indictment of Israel.
- The section follows the pattern of a trial. Professor Gene Tucker submits that the term
“controversy” in verse one (1) is a technical term for a law suit. It is, however not certain whether
the prophet is following a ritual pattern for a trial against those who break the covenant or simply
using the language of ordinary courtroom procedures.The general indictment states Israel’s
failures as follows: there is no faithfulness, kindness, or knowledge of God. The specific indictment
lists five crimes that correspond to half of the
- in the Decalogue (insult, deceipt, murder, theft, adultery).If the covenant fails this will lead to
crimes against persons, which in turn leads to the destruction and suffering of the natural order
itself, including land, air, the sea, and their inhabitants.
- In Hosea 4:4-10, Priests of Israel are also tried in the courtroom of Yahweh.
- The priests have failed in one of their central responsibilities, that is, teaching the law to the
people as a whole.

65 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

- Thus they bear responsibility for the destruction of the people. They are blame worth for this. The
term “knowledge” is a major theological term for Hosea. In this context it refers to the teaching
and learning of the content of the law.
- in short, the priests are guilty of prostitution, namely, forsaking Yahweh.
- Their punishment will suit their crimes, and this includes rejection by Yahweh; destruction of their
families, and shame.
- Hosea 4:11-14, the prophet condemns the corrupt worship in Israel.

Conceptions of hope: Hosea 11 and 14

- The book of Hosea is contrasted with Amos on the theme of doom.

- While both have a gloomy picture of the future of Israel, Hosea takes a respite and express hope of
restoration for Israel.
- Bernard Anderson has described Hosea’s hopeful conception as “an optimism of grace”. He
quantifies the chances of surviving as very slim, but a remnant would return “Despite the eclipse
there is still a ray of light shining in the distant horizon “ but this restoration is well qualified by
Anderson when he notes that restoration of Israel would be conditional – provided they repent and
return to their God.
- Gene Tucker notes that the use of metaphors of parent and son by Hosea have already established
the basis for a hopeful outlook.
- In Hosea 11:8-9. Yahweh is heard to express doubts, to question his decision, and even to have a
change of heart, deciding not to act on the basis of his legitimate anger.
- Yahweh’s care for Israel has always been like that of a parent for a child, and his compassion goes
beyond even that.
- Hosea takes human metaphors for God’s love as far as they will go and then stresses that the
difference between God and human beings involves his capacity for radical, forgiving love.

THE BOOK OF JEREMIAH

Historical Background to Jeremiah’s Ministry
- The call of Jeremiah to prophecy, however, coincided with the crumbling down of Assyrian power.
Traditionally three historical periods are distinguished in Jeremiah’s life and ministry.

66 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

- First, was the time of the crumbling down of Assyrian power when Judah was under King Josiah.
- Jeremiah began his ministry in the 13th year of this king (Jer. 1:2, 25:3), probably around 625 B.C.E.
Josiah took advantage of the defeat of Assyria by the Babylonians and the Egyptians to declare
independence from Assyria and to introduce radical religious reforms.
- This first ministry lasted up to the time of the death of Josiah in a battle with the Babylonians in
about 609 B.C.E.
- The second historical period was the period of the reign of Jehoiakim, from about 609 to 598
B.C.E.
- During this time all the religious reforms that had been made by Josiah collapsed and Judah
shifted alliances between Egypt and Babylon remaining a vassal and reeling under heavy tribute.
- The third and final period of Jeremiah’s prophetic career took place between 597 and 586 B.C.E.
when Judah was finally ruined by the Babylonians.
- The oracles of Jeremiah therefore have to be understood in the light of these three historical
periods. Jeremiah had to address Judah during these periods of political turbulence, informing her
of what God’s advice was

The Person and Call of Jeremiah

- The book of Jeremiah contains some substantial information about the person of Jeremiah. He was
born into a family of priests to the north of Jerusalem at a place called Anathoth.
- Scholars have, however, suggested that he was descended from the priestly family of Abiathar,
banished to Anathoth by Solomon for supporting Adonijah (1 Kings 2:26).
- There is no information concerning his date of birth but an intelligent guess can be made by
considering the year in which he was called. He tells us that he was called in the 13th year of Josiah
(about 625 B.C.E.).
- At his call, Jeremiah tells us that he was young, probably a boy or a young man. This points to the
middle of the 7th century (about 650 B.C.E.) as the time when he was born.
- Although he started his ministry in the 13th year of Josiah’s reign, at his call God told him that he
had set him aside from his mother’s womb (1:5).
- Jeremiah’s rejection of his call (citing his age as the reason) fit well within Hebrew Bible prophetic
call narratives.

67 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

- This rejection can be compared to Isaiah’s. Do you remember the excuse Isaiah gave? It also
compares well to Moses’ excuse (Num.11-14) and to Ezekiel’s excuse (Eze. 1-3).
- From the beginning of his call, Jeremiah was told that he was going to speak a message of doom
(1:10). Two visions confirmed that God was watching and brewing trouble for Judah. Because of the
nature of his vocation, Jeremiah was destined to face trouble in his career.
- We hear of conspiracies against him (11:19ff, 18:18ff). He is brought before the court on charges of
blasphemy (7:1ff, 26:1ff) and is ever hunted by his enemies who are prepared to kill him.
- Thus Jeremiah is sometimes described as a suffering prophet.
- He identified closely with his prophecy than any other prophet before and after him.
- He was a very emotional man and as B. W. Anderson (1993:392) says, “The wound of his people cut
deeply into his heart, prompting him to mix with his prophecies of doom outcries of agony and
grief.”
- He cried out to God in the language of individual laments which were used in temple worship
(11:18-12:6, 15:10-21, 17:14-18, 18:18-23, 20:7-13, 20:15-18). He was a lonely man, without wife
and children.
The First Prophetic Ministry of Jeremiah
- Jeremiah’s first ministry must have been undertaken during the reign of Josiah.
- During this ministry Jeremiah addressed the syncretism of Judah and warned people of
destruction from the north. He saw syncretism in Judah’s practice of Baalism in form of worship
“upon every high and under very green tree” (2:20-37).
- Like a camel on heat, the people were going after idols (2:23-24) even calling a piece of wood
‘father’ (2:27-28, 10:3-5). He accused Judah of adultery, as she left God to go after foreign nations
like Assyria and Egypt (2:17-18). Adultery and fornication were quite widespread (5:7-8).
- For this reason Jeremiah pronounced that Yahweh was preparing evil for Judah.
- An enemy was to come from the north to destroy her (4:5-31). At his call, Jeremiah had also seen,
in a vision, trouble coming out from the north.
- Scholars have spent time and effort trying to establish who this enemy from the north was.
- Although we will never be certain, the general consensus is that Jeremiah was referring to
Babylon.
- This was the time when Babylon was entering the world stage as a super power and threatening to
march over little nations like Judah.

68 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

- Jeremiah’s message of doom was accompanied by signs of doom.

- Two such signs are recorded: the spoilt linen cloth (13:1-11) showing that Yahweh was going to
spoil Judah’s pride and the broken clay flask (19) which symbolized that Yahweh was going to
break Israel into pieces. Because of his message of doom, Jeremiah was during this ministry,
seized, flogged and put in stocks for a night by Pashhur the priest (20:1-6).
- Although Jeremiah pronounced doom, all hope was not lost for him.
- He believed that if people could repent, they were going to be spared from the impending
catastrophe.
- Mixed with Jeremiah’s message of doom is therefore a call for repentance (3:22, 4:1, 7:3, 8:5,
18:8).
- Like a piece of ruined clay in the hands of a skilled potter, Judah could still be remade if she
repented (18:4-6).
- To help them repent, Jeremiah even reminds the people of their faith during the exodus and
God’s care for them during that time.
- Repentance is therefore a key theological term in Jeremiah’s message during his first ministry.
- To repent is to turn away from, and in Jeremiah’s use of the term, repentance means to come back
to the covenant relationship with Yahweh.
The Second Prophetic Ministry of Jeremiah
- Sometime during the reign of Josiah, Jeremiah disappeared from public ministry.
- Scholars have suggested that this may have been prompted by Josiah’s reforms (Beasley et al
1991:215). Beginning around 627 B.C.E.
- Josiah inaugurated a series of religious reformations which were meant to revitalize the Yahwist
religion. According to 2 Chronicles 34:3, he began his reforms by removing all traces of Canaanite
and Assyrian influences in the Jewish religion.
- Josiah’s reforms were given a boost by the discovery of a law book believed to be the early version
of Deuteronomy in 622 B.C.E. during the repair of the temple.
- On the basis of this book which was given divine authentication by the prophets, the priests and
scribes (2 Kings 22), he made various reforms.
- In a world where politics and religion went hand in arm, Josiah’s reformations had strong political
undertones.

69 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

- He destroyed all local shrines and centralized worship in Jerusalem, he redeployed all priests to the
Jerusalem cult and even took advantage of the decline of Assyrian political power to expand his
kingdom northwards into Israel.
- He also transformed the family festival of the Passover into a pilgrim festival to be observed in the
city of Jerusalem. It is probably these reforms that made Jeremiah to feel no need to speak the word
of Yahweh.
- Either he was disappointed that the reforms were artificial and did not address the fundamental
issues of morality or things were going on well religiously and so he found no need for a prophetic
word.
- Jeremiah came back to a second prophetic ministry on the heels of a major political development. In
609 Josiah met his death at the battle of Megiddo as he tried to stop the Egyptian advance towards
Judah under Pharaoh Necho (2 Kings 23:28-30).
- This saw the disintegration of the Judean kingdom.
- The Egyptians asserted their authority over Judah by deposing Jehoahaz and appointing Jehoiakim
followed by the exile of Jehoahaz to Egypt. But soon the Egyptians would be defeated by the
Babylonians who finally destroyed the city of Jerusalem carrying thousands into exile in 586 B.C.E.
- It was probably during the coronation of Jehoiakim or soon after that Jeremiah gave what has come
to be called the temple sermon.
- We have two accounts of this sermon, in chapters 7 and 26. In the sermon Jeremiah denounced the
Judeans’ confidence in the temple describing the temple as a den of robbers.
- Based on the Davidic covenant theology, the people were confident that Jerusalem, as the residence
of God, was never going to be destroyed.
- And history had proved them right. You still remember that during the time of Isaiah, Jerusalem was
miraculously spared from Assyrian destruction
- The people therefore remained confident that Jerusalem would never fall despite the Babylonian
advance. Jeremiah, however, said just as Shiloh was destroyed during the time of Samuel, Jerusalem
was also going to be destroyed. Jeremiah’s words infuriated people and he was arrested and almost
put death.
- Jeremiah actually had a cat and mouse relationship with Jehoiakim. He saw in Jehoiakim, the exact
opposite of his father, Josiah (Jer. 22:13-19).

70 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

- He was cruel, selfish and indulgent as he introduced forced labour and shed much blood. He even
wanted to kill Jeremiah. For all this Jeremiah did not give up denouncing him.
- He even predicted that the king was going to die a shameful death like that of a donkey.
- Banished from appearing in public, Jeremiah dictated his message to his secretary Baruch and asked
him to read it in public (Jer. 36).
- We therefore find here a shift from oral to written proclamation.
- In the scroll Jeremiah reiterated that Jerusalem was going to be destroyed by the Babylonians.
- When the people heard the harsh words of the scroll they took the book to the king who had the
audacity to shred the scroll into pieces and setting them on fire.
- But hiding from the Jehoiakim’s wrath, Jeremiah had to dictate another, even expanded, scroll. In
his second ministry, Jeremiah was no longer talking of impending disaster in general terms, he now
made definite predictions accompanied by prophetic symbolism.
- At one time he walked around in Jerusalem with a yoke as a sign that the Judeans were going to
suffer slavery under Babylon. Like Isaiah before him, he saw Babylon as an instrument of Yahweh
and that rebellion against her was tantamount to rebellion against Yahweh himself.
- Towards the end of Jehoiakim’s reign therefore, Jeremiah encouraged Jehoiakim to throw his
weight behind Babylon. Soon his words came true when in 598 B.C.E., the new Babylonian king,
Nebuchadnessar advanced towards Judah.
- He besieged Jerusalem and during the last month of the siege Jehoiakim died (2 Kings 24;6ff).
- The city finally fell and the elite and the royal family were deported to Babylon.
- Jehoiachin, who had replaced Jehoiakim, was replaced by Matthaniah whose name was changed to
Zedekiah (2 Kings 24:17ff). It is during Zedekiah’s reign that Jeremiah had his last ministry.
The Third Prophetic Ministry of Jeremiah
- Thus this far we have been trying to find the information for the first and second ministries on the
basis of the political developments.
- Be that as it may, at least some of the material in chapters 27-29, 3234 and 37-39 talk about
Jeremiah’s ministry during the reign of Zedekiah.
- In short, Jeremiah’s message during this time was that Babylon was going to overrun Judah and
therefore there was no need for Judah to resist Babylon.
- For this message Jeremiah faced opposition from both political and prophetic groups who accused
him of being a traitor.

71 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

- Chapters 27-28 tell us that one popular prophet called Hananiah publicly challenged Jeremiah.
Hananiah’s message echoed that of Isaiah as he preached the permanency of the city of Jerusalem.
- When he saw Jeremiah putting on the wooden yoke as a sign of Judean slavery under Babylon, he
took and broke it as a sign that the Jews would not be enslaved.
- Hananiah even retorted that Babylonian rule would come to an end in two years and that those
already in prison would soon come back. But Jeremiah insisted that it was folly to resist
Nebuchadnessar.
- He even described him as a servant of Yahweh (25:9, 27:6, 43:10) in the same way that Isaiah had
described Assyria.
- He also wrote a letter to the exiles (29) exhorting them to settle in the new country, plant and build
without an expectation of a speedy return.
- Thus for the popular prophets, Jeremiah’s words were treasonable. He described Zedekiah and the
contemporaries as bad figs and the exiles as the good figs (24).
- For this, priests and even his countrymen from Anathoth joined in attacking him as a traitor (11:21-
23, 12:6). He was even accused of communicating with the enemy.
- He therefore suffered several imprisonments at one time in an empty water cistern where he was
likely to die were it not for the king who helped him in secret (37-39).
- It was probably during these imprisonments that he made the ‘confessions’. It is also probably
during these times that Jeremiah saw what lay beyond the doom that was befalling his people.
- Thus he also made prophecies of renewal and restoration. In a section of the book that has come to
be known as “The little Book of Comfort” (30-33) (Anderson 1993:419), Jeremiah is said to have
bought a piece of land from his relation in Anathoth as a sign that there was a future beyond the
exile.
- In this little hook of hope, Jeremiah also foretold the formation of a new community under a new
covenant.
- In 588 B.C.E. Nebuchadnessar besieged the city of Jerusalem for the second time.
- During the siege, Jeremiah encouraged Zedekiah to surrender to the Babylonians (38:17-23). He
spent the last days before
The struggle against “false” prophecy
- There is abundant evidence in the book of Jeremiah for conflict among prophets (in chapters 5, 6,
8,14,23,etc.

72 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

- The point of contention seems to be the content of the prophecies: Some predict that the nation
will dwell securely and at peace; others convey a message of doom.
- The account about Hananiah and Jeremiah in chapter 28 highlights this conflict in a striking way,
since on the surface the two seem indistinguishable except for the content of their messages.
- Such conflicts were not unique to Jeremiah`s time, though they may have intensified during the last
decades of Judah`s existence.
- In Israel, as in other societies, periods of intense prophetic activity coincided with times of crisis.
- Thus, the decision about how to respond to a prophet was a matter of some urgency, and criteria
for making a judgement became a necessity.
- It seems that the conflict between apparently genuine prophets gave rise to a crisis in confidence
about prophecy itself. The implication is that the prophet`s audience possessed no sure criterion by
which to judge between competing claims.
- Though the conflict between prophets is a major theme in the book of Jeremiah, we can discern that
there is no full proof method for distinguishing among them.
- The attempt to distinguish between the forms in which the revelation came is probably exilic and in
any case is not consistently applied.
- In fact, with respect to the narrative dominated by prophetic conflict in chapters 27-29 it is easier
to list things that are not a factor in the prophet’s evaluation of his opponents as follows: association
with cultic functionaries, personal immorality and the fulfillment of prophecy (Det 18:20 – 22).
- This is easier than to locate a specific criterion.
- People were apparently forced to respond to the prophets on the basis of an evaluation of their
message. The judgement that a particular prophet was “true” was as always, dependent upon the
viewpoint and commitments of the persons making it.
- The confrontation of Jeremiah and Hananiah in chapter 28 is a case in point.

Was Jeremiah a patriot or a traitor? Critically discuss.

The treatise:
Patriot or traitor

- Jeremiah is depicted in a climate of great political activity.

- The question of survival of the nation of Judah was at stake.

73 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

- The declining power of Assyria saw the rise of Egypt and Babylon as super powers.
- The Judean foreign policy had two options either to seek alliance with Egypt and resist Babylon or
to submit itself to Babylon.
- Such a dilemma resulted in factionalism between two influential groups in Judah.
- The nobles who rallied behind kings Jehoiakim and Zedekiah advocated the political autonomy of
Judah; they got the support of the prophet Hananiah.
- The other group was led by the house of Shaphan and other members of the nobility who sided
with the prophet Jeremiah and advocated submission to Babylon.
- (the pro- Babylonian Party) . Jeremiah had an insight into the role of Yahweh in the whole crisis
whilst Hananiah relied on personal assessment of the whole situation.
- In this whole scenario the task of judging whether Jeremiah was a patriot or not becomes a very
difficult one.
- “Patriotism” is a nationalistic notion. It revolves around one’s attitude to his nation, its welfare and
survival. Patriotism is not merely supporting the status quo but it’s to do with the survival of the
nation.
- The difficult in which Jeremiah is found, is this that he is inspired and has an insight into God’s role
in the whole crisis, whilst his counterparts are merely relying on personal judgement of the whole
issue.
- On personal judgement it would appear that Jeremiah was not patriotic since he advocated a
submission and non-resistant policy.
- That sounds like a compromise of his nation’s sovereignty.
- On a different angle Jeremiah is a figure who actually saw the survival of his nation as a priority.
He weighed chances and saw the resistance option resulting in a complete destruction of the
nation.
- Since the whole crisis was just but God’s punishment on his people, it is fatalistic for Judah to
attempt to resist God’s punishment.
- It is against this background that one should judge whether Jeremiah was a patriot or not.
- The narratives in Chapters 27 to 29 of the book of Jeremiah, stress a religious interpretation of the
political events.

74 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

- Jeremiah believed that Yahweh had established Babylon as the enemy over Judah. The opponents
of Jeremiah saw the Babylonian exile as just a short- lived punishment of God but for minor
offences.
- Therefore they opposed Jeremiah’s interpretation of the crisis.
- Thomas Overholt observed that it is important to note that there is adequate theological
justification in the Judean religious tradition for both these positions.
- Jeremiah’s view point mirrors the Sinai covenant in which national security and prosperity are
contingent upon obedience to Yahweh’s commandments.
- His opponents’ position reflects the ideology of the royal covenant, according to which the nation
may be punished by Yahweh but will not be finally abandoned by him.
- But this was not simply a dispute over points of doctrine.
- It is a struggle between political parties, each seeking for its position on the prime foreign policy
issue of the day i.e. the relationship of Judah to the dominant power in the region, Babylon.
- For Jeremiah and his group, the survival of those Judeans who remained in the land after the 597
B.C invasion depended upon continued submission to Babylonian rule.
- For his opponents who prompted for resistance to Babylonian domination and seek support from
Babylon’s greatest rival Egypt, the issue was the political independence of Judah and not merely
survival.
- In the final analysis this paper views Jeremiah as one who loved his country with a sentimentalism
that is inspired by God; one who advocates public policies that are designed in the light of God’s
will.
- He is a pragmatic national who advocates an option that would not aggravate the crisis and lead
to the death of the nation.
- Therefore Jeremiah was a patriot rather than a traitor.

ISAIAH
Introduction
- Although the book has 66 chapters not all of them are attributed to the 8th century Isaiah.
- Only the first 39 chapters are believed to have come from the original prophet
- When the Babylonians finally captured the city, they freed him allowing him to choose whether he
wanted to remain in Jerusalem or to go to Babylon.

75 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

- They even gave him a living allowance (39:11-14) possibly for the role he had played in encouraging
people to surrender to Babylon.
- Although he chose to remain in Judah he was eventually taken to Egyptian exile where he probably
died.

Historical Background to Isaiah’s Ministry

- . Isaiah intervened in many political and social crises that the Southern Kingdom underwent during
his long prophetic ministry.
- Isaiah’s prophetic ministry should be understood against the background of the rise of Assyria as a
super power.
- Assyria’s attempts to conquer the Syria-Palestine territory started during the times of Ashurnasirpal
II (884-859 BCE) and Shalmanezzar III (858-824 BCE).
- These efforts did not bear fruits. It was during the reign of Tiglath-pileser III (745-727 BCE) that the
Assyrian expansionist policy resumed in 745 BCE.
- Tiglath-pileser III was a typical imperialist. He employed three major tactics to instill fear in the
conquered states.
- First, was the military conquest of the state.
- Each conquered state was made to pay tribute to Assyria and to provide auxiliary forces when the
need arose.
- The second tactic concerned those states that would show signs of unfaithfulness.
- The vassal kings of such a state were removed and replaced by puppet kings. Such conquered states
were then regarded as Assyrian provinces.
- The third tactic involved deportation.
- This often happened to those states that rebelled against Assyrian rule.
- The vassal king and members of the upper class of that state were deported to Assyria.
- The state would be declared an Assyrian province and a governor was appointed directly by the
Assyrian king.
- Assyria’s expansionist policies had a direct effect on Israel and Judah.
- The call of Isaiah to prophecy actually coincided with the rise of Tiglath-pileser to power. As you
shall find out below, he had to address

76 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

The Person of Isaiah

- Like most of the Old Testament prophets, we know very little of Isaiah’s biography.
- The little we know of Isaiah, however, is that he was the son of Amoz (not Amos the prophet!).
- We know nothing about his father apart from the name. Isaiah was married to a prophetess
(nebiah).
- It is not clear whether she had a prophetic role herself or she was called after the profession of her
husband in the sense we refer to the mayor’s wife as the mayoress.
- From the book we learn that they had two sons who were given symbolic names. The first one was
named Sher-jashub meaning a remnant shall return (7:3).
- The second one was Maher-shalal-hashbaz meaning destruction quickens (8:3). Isaiah was a resident
of Jerusalem, an urbanite.
- This accounts for the urban metaphors he used in his message. It probably also explains why he
never believed that the city of Jerusalem would ever fall into the hands of the enemy.
- He must have belonged to an elite family as evidenced by his easy access to the king (7:1 ff; 37:1 ff).
The Call of Isaiah
- Isaiah tells us that he received his call in the year king Uzziah/Azariah died (about 742 BCE).
- His call was a response to a voice he heard in a vision in the temple. Whether this marked the initial
call of Isaiah is debated.
- Basing on the fact that this account comes only in chapter 6, some scholars have suggested that,
this vision came later after Isaiah had already been called to prophecy (Hayes 1973:179).
- The autobiographical statement by the prophet in Isaiah 6:1-3 is properly a report of his
commissioning to deliver a particular message of judgement to the people of God.
- The account of the call of Isaiah opens with Isaiah`s vision of God in his Temple.
- Immediately the prophet recognizes that he is a human observer of Yahweh`s heavenly council. He
properly fears for his life, since the realm of the holy can be dangerous to the sinful world.
- After a purification ritual, Isaiah hears God`s request that someone be found to represent the
heavenly ones on earth by announcing their decision.
- The prophet himself volunteers to be the messenger.
- However, the message he hears is harsh.

77 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

- Moreover, it is coupled with a command to dull the people’s senses so that they are not able,
through the hearing of it, to change their actions and be healed or redeemed.
- In his prophetic role as intercessor for God’s chosen people, Isaiah pleads with God “Lord, How
long?” Like in Amos 7:2 and 5, the answer offers no reassurance: Every house will be empty, and
the land will be, like the vineyard in chapters 5:1 – 7 utterly desolate.
- Only the final line offers the slightest hope – a “holy seed” will survive in the stump of the tree that
has been cut down and burned.
- This possibility hints at a concept, developed less ambiguously later in the book of a surviving
remnant of Judah through which God would restore the nation of Israel.
- This commissioning report implies the same fate for Judah as for Israel.
- The woe oracles against Judean leaders and the judgment oracles against the Northern Kingdom
surrounding the testimony underscore this assumption.
- The fragile optimism at the end appears as an after thought without in anyway ameliorating the
coming disaster.
- Only in time, well after a full contemplation of the torturous events of national devastation for both
nations, can one detect a faint glimmer of hope in the stump that is left, a glimmer that will
someday adumbrate a great light to those who walk in the darkness of exile (Isaiah 9:2).
The First Prophetic Ministry of Isaiah
- This early ministry must have been carried out before the outbreak of the Syro-Ephraimite crisis
(734-722) that led to what I consider to be Isaiah’s second ministry as we shall discuss below.
- Most of the messages Isaiah gave during his first ministry are in chapters 1-5 and deal mainly with
social issues.
- Be that as it may, in his first ministry Isaiah addressed the socio-economic factors in Judah that put
the poor at the mercy of the rich.
- Isaiah’s message shows that many people were rich in silver and gold, had horses and chariots (2:7),
wore fine garments and jewelry (3:18-23), and had houses and other properties (5:8).
- But just as it was in Israel of Amos’ time, they oppressed the widows, the orphans and the poor
(1:17; 3:14-15). Whereas the poor went hungry, the rich indulged themselves to excess food and
wine (5:22).
- There was also no justice as corrupt judges took up bribes (5:23).

78 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

- Many thought that the riches they were enjoying were signs of God’s favour to Judah and so religion
was thriving.
- Isaiah, however, described this as empty religion (1:11, 13; 5:7).
The Second Prophetic Ministry of Isaiah
- In his second and third prophetic ministries Isaiah focused on the political crises of his days. In this
second ministry Isaiah addressed the Syro-Ephraimite (Israelite) crisis.
- Chapters 7 and 8 contain his message during this crisis. The Syro-Ephraimite crisis should be
understood in the context of Assyria expansion as I explained to you above.
- About 734 B.C.E., Rezin, king of Damascus and Pekah, king of Israel attempted to rally all kingdoms
of Syro-Palestine into an anti- Assyrian coalition.
- The two kings decided to force Judah into the coalition. Ahaz was terror-stricken and according to 2
Kings 16:3, he even burned his son as an offering in the Valley of Hinnom.
- This did not help as the anti-Assyrian coalition continued advancing towards Judah. In such a
situation, he had three alternatives: to join the anti-Assyrian coalition, to appeal for help from
Assyria or to remain neutral.
- It was probably with such thoughts in mind that he went to inspect the city’s water supply in
anticipation of a siege. It is at this point that Isaiah, accompanied by his son, Shear-jashub,
approached him.
- Isaiah’s message to the terror-stricken king was very simple.
- He chose the third alternative: neutrality. Ahaz was to remain neutral trusting God in everything.
- Describing Rezin and Pekah as “two smouldering stumps of firebrand,” Isaiah predicted that the two
kings were going to be defeated by Assyria. As B. W. Anderson (1993:330) puts it, Isaiah, “viewed
the crisis in a wider and deeper perspective than that of mere diplomacy and fortifications.
- For beyond the political schemes of nations was the sovereign activity of God, whose purpose
shapes the course of events.”
- The presence of the child, Shear-jashub was a sign that a remnant would remain. But despite his
words and the presence of the sign child, Ahaz could not believe Isaiah’s simple message of faith.
- To help Ahaz believe, Isaiah asked him to ask God for a sign (7:10-17).
- Responding in a pious fashion, Ahaz responded that one was not supposed to test God (Hayes
1973:182).

79 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

- But despite this refusal, Isaiah went on to tell Ahaz that God was going to give the house of David a
sign. You probably are aware of the purpose of signs.
- One form of signs you always come across with are road signs.
- They give you direction. In the same way, among the Israelites a sign “was meant to make visible, to
confirm dramatically the truth and power of Yahweh’s word spoken by a prophet” (Anderson
1993:331).
- But you should remember that Isaiah was addressing an immediate crisis, the Syro-Ephraimite crisis.
Also the term used for the young woman, almah, referred to any woman of marriageable age not
necessarily a virgin. The Hebrew word for a virgin, a woman without sexual experience is rather
bethulah.
- In this light, it is likely that Isaiah was referring to a woman in the royal family who was already
pregnant.
- As a result, it has often been assumed that the woman Isaiah was referring to was Ahaz’s wife and
that the Immanuel figure was Hezekiah, Ahaz’s son and successor.
- The child was a sign in that before he was able to choose between wrong and good, the Syro-
Ephraimite coalition would have been defeated by Assyria.
- After giving the above sign to Ahaz and the Davidic family, Isaiah went on to give another sign to the
citizens of Jerusalem (8:1-4). He gave this sign in two ways.
- First, he wrote on a large tablet, “Mahershala-hash-baz” meaning destruction quickens.
- This was witnessed by two people.
- This message was then displayed, probably with the prophet’s explanation, in the public. Second,
when his wife gave birth to his second son, he named him, Maher-shalal-hash-baz.
- Like his brother Shear-jashub, Maher-shalal-hash-baz was also a sign child in that before he was
able to mumble the first words for father and mother, the SyroEphraimite coalition would have
been plundered by Assyria. But Isaiah’s words and signs, all fell on deaf ears. Instead of putting his
trust and confidence in Yahweh as Isaiah had told him, Ahaz chose to align with Assyria.
- The following biblical texts tell us what followed this decision. Read them and write in your note
book, the events that followed Ahaz’s choice of Assyrian protection: 2 Kings 16, 15:29/Isa. 9:1, 2
Chronicles 28:16-27.
- Ahaz’s action was to Isaiah the final sign of his lack of faith.

80 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

- He described this as a rejection of the soft waters of Shiloah in choice of the mighty waters of the
Euphrates (8:5-8).
- Shiloah was a small canal which carried water from the Spring of Gihon to a pool in Jerusalem.
- For Isaiah its soft flow was a symbol of confidence in Yahweh as opposed to the mightiness of
Assyria (Anderson 1993:335) which Isaiah compared to the mightiness of the waters of the Ephrates
River.
- Although he was away from the public, Isaiah’s prophecy came to pass when in 732 B.C.E. and 722
B.C.E Syria and Israel respectively were destroyed by Assyria.
- Isaiah only emerged in the public again to address the second political crisis of his ministry. This
marked the beginning of his third prophetic ministry.
The Third Prophetic Ministry of Isaiah
- Like the second ministry, Isaiah’s third prophetic ministry was also prompted by political
developments in Judah.
- It is only in light of these political developments that his message during this ministry can be
understood.
- With the death of Ahaz and Hezekiah’s accession to power in 715 B.C.E., Isaiah probably thought the
new king would listen to him. It is also possible (although Isaiah does not mention it) that Isaiah
came back to public ministry following Hezekiah’s religious reforms (2 Kings 18:4).
- These religious reforms, in a world where religion and politics could not be easily separated, had
political overtones.
- B.W. Anderson (1993: 341-342) puts it thus, “Hezekiah’s purification of worship, including no doubt
the removal of Assyrian cult objects from the Temple, was a stimulus to Judean nationalism, for he
was virtually declaring independence from the Assyrian domination and throwing his weight behind
the revolutionary spirit of the day.”
- He also secured Jerusalem’s perennial water problems by constructing, through boring the rock, the
tunnel of Siloam from the Spring of Gihon to the pool of Siloam in Jerusalem (2 Kings 20:20).
- Between 713 and 711 B.C.E. Hezekiah made a clear revolt against Assyria by joining a coalition of
Ashdod, Edom and Moab in an effort to overthrow Assyria (Isa. 14:28-32).
- Some of the coalition members even suggested bringing Egypt into the anti-Assyrian coalition. It is
at this point that Isaiah approached

81 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

- Hezekiah with a prophetic advice. He advised him against seeking Egyptian help and against an open
revolt to Assyria (Isa. 20).
- In support of his word, Isaiah performed an astounding symbolic act.
- Despite Israel’s association of nudity with shame and guilty, Isaiah went about naked and bare foot
for a period of three years (20:2-4).
- This was a sign that Egypt would be taken captive by Assyria. Just as in the first political crisis,
Isaiah’s message to Hezekiah was a call to trust God and not to trust Egypt (30:1-2, 31:3).
- Possibly because of Isaiah’s counsel, Hezekiah ceased to participate in the revolt.
- But another temptation for Hezekiah to revolt against Assyria came again in 705 when the Assyrian
king, Sargon, died. His death was followed by revolutions throughout the Assyrian empire.
- Hezekiah was tempted to join the revolutions. He even received embassies from the Babylonian king
Merodach-baladan (2 Kings 10:12/Isa. 39:1-8) who was leading the revolutions.
- Hezekiah even fought a Philistine king who did not want to join the revolution (2 Kings 18:8). Again
Isaiah had to approach him with a prophetic counsel.
- His message during this time is found in Isa. 28-33.
- Again he advised Hezekiah to stay out of the revolution. As J. H. Hayes (1973:186) puts it, Isaiah
called for a “policy of pacifism and political nonalignment.”
- Hezekiah was to trust in God not in human establishments (Isa. 30:15).
- Isaiah’s message was influenced by his understanding of the sovereignty of God. For him, God was in
control of all the affairs of the world even using Assyria as his rod of anger (10:5-6).
- He denounced trust in human alliances (28:18, 31:1-3) and declared doom over Judah’s lack of trust
in the Holy One of Israel.
- Trust in Yahweh therefore marked the centre of Isaiah’s message throughout his ministry. But even
Hezekiah did not give heed to the prophet’s word.
- True to Isaiah’s word that trust in Egypt was worthless, in 701 B.C.E., the Assyrian king, Sennacherib,
defeated Egypt and all the anti-Assyrian Palestinian states.
- Judah was attacked and a number of its fortified cities were destroyed (Isa. 10:28-31, 2 Kings 18:13).
Jerusalem was cut from all outside help and in the words of Sennacherib, it was shut up like a bird in
a cage (Hayes 1973:188).
- During the siege Isaiah confronted Hezekiah telling him not to capitulate.

82 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

- Although he believed Assyria was a rod of Yahweh’s anger, he felt it had now overstepped its limits
and God would not allow her to defeat Judah (Isa. 31:8-9). Isaiah’s message here was strongly
influenced by his understanding of the city of Jerusalem/Zion and the house of David in the divine
plan.
- The Davidic theology has its roots in the prophecy of Nathan (2 Sam. 7:1ff).
- In the book of Isaiah, the prophet talks of the coming Davidic ruler (9:2-7; 11:1-9).
- Since Jerusalem was also the city of David, this future coming of the king meant Jerusalem was not
going to be destroyed.
- Thus for Isaiah, although Judah was going to be destroyed, a remnant would remain and upon it,
Yahweh was going to build a new Jerusalem.

JUDAISM AND CONTEMPORARY ISSUES

MARRIAGE INSTITUTION
bjectives :

1) Examine the nature of marriage in Judaism

2) Explore marriage rites in Judaism
Marriage in Judaism
 The Torah provides very little guidance with regard to the procedures of a marriage.
 The method of finding a spouse, the form of the wedding ceremony, and the nature of the
marital relationship are all explained in the Talmud.
 Marriage can be defined as the joining of two parts together
 it can be defined as the union of a man and a woman creating a new entity on Gen 2:23-24

Acquiring a Spouse

 Mishnah Kiddushin 1,1 specifies that a woman is acquired (i.e., to be a wife) in three ways:
through money, a contract, and sexual intercourse.
 Ordinarily, all three of these conditions are satisfied, although only one is necessary to effect a
binding marriage.

83 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

 Acquisition by money is normally satisfied by the wedding ring.

 It is important to note that although money is one way of "acquiring" a wife, the woman is not
being bought and sold like a piece of property or a slave.
 This is obvious from the fact that the amount of money involved is nominal (according to the
Mishnah, a perutah, a copper coin of the lowest denomination, was sufficient).
 In addition, if the woman were being purchased like a piece of property, it would be possible for
the husband to resell her, and clearly it is not.
 Rather, the wife's acceptance of the money is a symbolic way of demonstrating her acceptance
of the husband, just like acceptance of the contract or the sexual intercourse.

The process of marriage /Betrothal and marriage

 The process of marriage occurs in two distinct stages: kiddushin (commonly translated as betrothal)
and nisuin (full-fledged marriage).
 Kiddushin occurs when the woman accepts the money, contract, or sexual relations offered by the
prospective husband. T
 he word "kiddushin" comes from the root Qof-Dalet-Shin, meaning sanctified. It reflects the sanctity
of the marital relation.
 However, the root word also connotes something that is set aside for a specific (sacred) purpose,
and the ritual of kiddushin sets aside the woman to be the wife of a particular man and no other.
 Kiddushin is far more binding than an engagement as the term is understood in modern customs of
the West.
 Once the kiddushin is completed, the woman is legally the wife of the man.
 The relationship created by kiddushin can only be dissolved by death or divorce.
 However, the spouses do not live together at that time, and the mutual obligations created by the
marital relationship do not take effect until the nisuin is complete.
 The nisuin (from a word meaning elevation) completes the process of marriage. The husband brings
the wife into his home and they begin their married life together.
 In the past, the kiddushin and nisuin would routinely occur as much as a year apart. During that
time, the husband would prepare a home for the new family.

84 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

 There was always a risk that during this long period of separation, the woman would discover that
she wanted to marry another man, or the man would disappear, leaving the woman in the awkward
state of being married but without a husband.
 Today, the two ceremonies are normally performed together.
 Because marriage under Jewish law is essentially a private contractual agreement between a man
and a woman, it does not require the presence of a rabbi or any other religious official.
 It is common, however, for rabbis to officiate, partly in imitation of the Christian practice and partly
because the presence of a religious or civil official is required under Western civil law.

Matrimony

 Marital harmony, known as "shalom bayis," is valued in Jewish tradition.

 The Talmud states that a man should love his wife as much as he loves himself, and honour her
more than he honours himself
 indeed, one who honours his wife was said, by the classical rabbis, to be rewarded with wealth.
 Similarly, a husband was expected to discuss with his wife any worldly matters that might arise in his
life.
 The Talmud forbids a husband from being overbearing to his household, and domestic abuse

The Marital Relationship

 Marriage is vitally important in Judaism.

 Refraining from marriage is not considered holy, as it is in some other religions.
 On the contrary, it is considered unnatural.
 The Talmud says that an unmarried man is constantly thinking of sin.
 The Talmud tells of a rabbi who was introduced to a young unmarried rabbi.
 The older rabbi told the younger one not to come into his presence again until he was married.
 Marriage is not solely, or even primarily, for the purpose of procreation. Traditional sources
recognize that companionship, love, and intimacy are the primary purposes of marriage, noting that
woman was created in Genesis 2,18 because "it is not good for man to be alone", rather than
because she was necessary for procreation.

85 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

 According to the Torah and the Talmud, a man is permitted to marry more than one wife, but a
woman cannot be married to more than one man at a time.
 It continued to be permitted for Sephardic Jews in Islamic lands for many years.
 A husband is responsible for providing his wife with food, clothing, and sexual relations (Exodus
21,10), as well as anything else specified in the ketubah.
 Marital sexual relations are the woman's right, not the man's.
 A man cannot force his wife to engage in sexual relations with him, nor is he permitted to abuse his
wife in any way (a practice routinely permitted in Christian countries until quite recently).
 A married woman retains ownership of any property she brought to the marriage, but the husband
has the right to manage the property and to enjoy profits from the property.

Celebrating a Jewish Wedding

 The husband signs a ‘ketubah’ (marriage contract) promising to cherish and care for his wife.
 The ketubah is also called the marriage contract.
 The marriage contract (ketubah) is drawn up and witnessed by two Jews neither of whom may be
related to the bride or groom.
 The ketubah spells out the husband's obligations to the wife during marriage, conditions of
inheritance upon his death, and obligations regarding the support of children of the marriage. –
 The ketubah also provides for the wife's support in the event of divorce.
 There are standard conditions; however, additional conditions can be included by mutual
agreement.
 The majority maintained that a ketubah discouraged divorce, by serving as a constant reminder of
the husband's substantial financial obligations if he divorced his wife.
 At the wedding canopy (chuppah), many have the custom that the bride circles the groom seven
times.
Wedding celebrations
 It is customary for the bride and groom not to see each other for a week preceding the wedding.
 The day before the wedding, both the bride and the groom fast.
 Before the ceremony, the bride is veiled, in remembrance of the fact that Rebecca veiled her face
when she was first brought to Isaac to be his wife.

86 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

 Subsequently, the groom gives his bride a ring, a glass is broken, and then the dancing and
celebrations begin.
 The ceremony itself lasts 20-30 minutes, and consists of the kiddushin and the nisuin. - For the
kiddushin, the bride approaches and circles the groom.
 Two blessings are recited over wine: one the standard blessing over wine and the other regarding
the commandments related to marriage.
 The man then places the ring on woman's finger and says "Be sanctified to me with this ring in
accordance with the law of Moses and Israel."
 After the kiddushin is complete, the ketubah is read aloud.

Prohibited Marriages and Illegitimate Children

 The minimum age for marriage under Jewish law is 13 for boys, 12 for girls; however, the kiddushin
can take place before that, and often did in medieval times.
 The Talmud recommends that parents marry off their children when they reach puberty, but many
Jewish communities delay marriage till the age 18, or somewhere between 16 and 24, putting
needless physical and mental strain on Jewish youth and often causing them to sin.
 The Torah sets forth a list of prohibited relations.
 Such marriages are never valid.
 Gay or same sex and interracial marriages are prohibited Lev18:22 and Deut 7:3-4
 A man cannot marry certain close blood relatives, the ex-wives of certain close blood relatives, a
woman who has not been validly divorced from her previous husband, the daughter or
granddaughter of his ex-wife, or the sister of his ex-wife during the ex-wife's life time.
 The offspring of such marriages are mamzerim (bastards, illegitimate), and subject to a variety of
restrictions; however it is important to note that only the offspring of these incestuous or forbidden
marriages are mamzerim.
 Children born out of wedlock are not mamzerim in Jewish law and bear no stigma, unless the
marriage would have been prohibited for the reasons above.
 Children of a married man and a woman who is not his wife are not mamzerim (because the
marriage between the parents would not have been prohibited), although children of a married
woman and a man who is not her husband are mamzerim (because she could not have married him)

87 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

Jewish Attitude Toward Divorce

 Judaism recognized the concept of "no-fault" divorce thousands of years ago. Judaism has always
accepted divorce as a fact of life, albeit an unfortunate one.
 Judaism generally maintains that it is better for a couple to divorce than to remain together in a
state of constant bitterness and strife.
 Under Jewish law, a man can divorce a woman for any reason or no reason.
 The Talmud specifically says that a man can divorce a woman because she spoiled his dinner or
simply because he finds another woman more attractive, and the woman's consent to the divorce is
not required.
 In fact, Jewish law requires divorce in some circumstances: when the wife commits a sexual
transgression, a man must divorce her, even if he is inclined to forgive her.
 This does not mean that Judaism takes divorce lightly.
 Many aspects of Jewish law discourage divorce. The procedural details involved in arranging a
divorce are complex and exacting.
 Except in certain cases of misconduct by the wife, a man who divorces his wife is required to pay
her substantial sums of money, as specified in the ketubah (marriage contract).
 In addition, Jewish law prohibits a man from remarrying his ex-wife after she has married another
man. Kohanim cannot marry divorcees at all.

The Process of Obtaining a Divorce

 According to the Torah, divorce is accomplished simply by writing a bill of divorce, handing it to
the wife, and sending her away.
 To prevent husbands from divorcing their wives recklessly or without proper consideration, the
rabbis created complex rules regarding the process of writing the document, delivery, and
acceptance.
 A competent rabbinical authority should be consulted for any divorce.
 The document in question is referred to in the Talmud as a sefer k'ritut (scroll of cutting off), but
it is more commonly known today as a get.

88 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

 The get is not phrased in negative terms.

 The traditional text does not emphasize the breakdown of the relationship, nor does it specify
the reason for the divorce; rather, it states that the woman is now free to marry another man.
 It is not necessary for a husband to personally hand the get to the wife. If it is not possible or
desirable for the couple to meet, a messenger may be appointed to deliver the get.
 It is important to note that a civil divorce is not sufficient to dissolve a Jewish marriage.
 As far as Jewish law is concerned, a couple remains married until the woman receives the get.
 This has been a significant problem: many liberal Jews have a religiously valid marriage, yet do
not obtain a religiously valid divorce.
 If the woman remarries after such a procedure, her second marriage is considered an
adulterous one, and her children are considered mamzerim (illegitimate children that are almost
completely barred from normal marriage; see Deuteronomy 23,3 and note that "bastard" is not
properly the word here, as it matters not if the child's parents are legally married or not).

Inequality of the Sexes

 The position of husband and wife with regard to divorce is not an equal one.
 According to the Torah, only the husband can initiate a divorce, and the wife cannot prevent
him from divorcing her.
 Later "rabbinical" authorities in Europe tried to take steps to ease the harshness of these rules
by prohibiting a man from divorcing a woman without her consent, but the Torah remains as it
was.
 A rabbinical court can, however, compel a husband to divorce his wife under certain
circumstances: when he is physically repulsive because of some medical condition or other
characteristic, or when he violates or neglects his marital obligations (food, clothing, and sexual
intercourse).
 A grave problem arises, however, if a man disappears or deserts his wife, or is presumed dead
but there is insufficient proof of death.
 Divorce can only be initiated by the man; thus, if the husband cannot be found, he cannot be
compelled to divorce the wife and she cannot marry another man.
 A woman in this situation is referred to as an "agunah" (literally, anchored).

89 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

 The rabbis have agonized over this problem, balancing the need to allow the woman to remarry
with the risk of an adulterous marriage (mentioned at the end of the previous section) if the
husband reappeared.
 To prevent this problem to some extent, it is customary in many places for a man to give his wife
a conditional get whenever he goes off to war, so that if he never comes home and his body is
not found, his wife does not become agunah.

DEATH AND RELATED BELIEFS

Objectives :

1) Explain how death is perceived in Judaism

2) Compare perceptions of death in Judaism with perceptions of death in other religions

CONCEPT OF DEATH

 In Judaism, death is not a tragedy, even when it occurs early in life or through unfortunate
circumstances. Death is a natural process.
 Death has a meaning and it’s all part of God's plan.
 In Judaism they share a firm belief in an afterlife, a world to come, where those who have lived a
worthy life will be rewarded.
 Judaism views this life as a corridor that leads to another existence.
 The belief in an afterlife – where a person is judged and where the soul continues to flourish – is a
cornerstone of Jewish thought.
 Mourning practices in Judaism are extensive, but they are not an expression of fear or distaste for
death. Jewish practices relating to death and mourning have two purposes: to show respect for the
dead and to comfort the living who will miss the deceased (respect & honour the mourner).

Death and Burial Practices

Burial requirements for Jews are quite specific:

90 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

1) As soon as possible following death and through to burial, the body should be guarded by
somebody of the same gender who is Jewish;
2) With rare exceptions (such as the Sabbath, certain religious holidays or awaiting arrival of
dignitaries), burial must be accomplished by sundown of the following day. Burial must take
place as soon as possible following death. To delay burial is permissible only for the honor of the
deceased, such as awaiting the arrival of close relatives from distant points or if the Sabbath or a
holy day intervenes.
3) The body must be properly washed and dressed in prescribed burial attire by Jewish community
members who are certified in those procedures, and other Jews cannot touch the body;
4) A plain wooden coffin held together with wooden pegs (i.e. no nails/screws) must be used;
5) Burial must be in Jewish owned ground (e.g. a Jewish cemetery);
6) The burial service has its own specific liturgy and procedures that must be conducted by
somebody who is Jewish and qualified to perform them, preferably a rabbi; and
7) Personal behaviour in the room of the deceased should be consonant with the highest degree
of respect.
8) Generally, the best way to handle the death of somebody who is actually Jewish is to
immediately contact a Jewish chaplain or local synagogue.
9) Cremation is forbidden.
10) Caring for the dead, preparing them for burial, watching over them, and participating in the
burial are all important religious tasks.
11) Tearing a garment is the religiously proper way to express grief for the dead.

Pre-Burial & Burial Rituals in Judaism

1) Rending of the Garments ("Keriah"). First-degree relatives (i.e., the children, siblings, spouse and
parents of the deceased) are obligated to express their pain and sorrow by tearing their clothes over
their hearts. This is usually done at the beginning of the funeral service.
2) Body Cleansing (‘Taharah’). This is a ritual cleansing process in which the body is cleaned and
groomed, and water is ritually poured over it. The cleansing is an acknowledgement of the life which
once resided in the body. The body of the deceased is ritually purified in preparation for this next

91 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

phase of its existence. After the purification, the deceased is dressed in special white clothes (called
tachrichim), signifying purity and holiness.
3) The Eulogy ("Hesped") involves: a) speaking of the good that the deceased was and did, so we
should feel the extent of our loss) "let the living take to heart" (Ecclesiastes 7:2)--the lessons we
should learn from the deceased and emulate in our lives. These words may be spoken by the
officiating rabbi and/or anyone who knew the person.
4) Escorting the Deceased ("Lavayah") - Traditionally the coffin or bier was carried on the shoulders all
the way to the cemetery. The family and community would follow in a procession to accord honor
and comfort to the deceased. The Hebrew word levayah also indicates "joining" and "bonding."
Both the living and the deceased remain bonded living souls despite death. By participating in the
levayah Jewish people provide comfort to the soul as it undergoes the very difficult transition from
one life to another.
5) The Chevra Kadisha (Holy Society). Every Jewish community has a Chevra Kadishah i.e., "Holy
Society" of dedicated men and women who are committed to ensuring that every Jew who passes
on is accorded a proper Jewish burial. The preparation and interment (burial) of the body should be
entrusted to the local Chevra Kadishah. They will conduct the Taharah (cleansing of the body), dress
the deceased in the tachrichim, and otherwise ensure that the burial is conducted in accordance
with Jewish tradition.
Jewish Burial ("Kevurah"). A Jew should be buried only among fellow Jews, in a Jewish cemetery.
Jewish tradition regards it as a matter of great importance that only fellow Jews should handle the
body of a deceased Jew, carry or wheel the coffin, place the coffin in the earth and fill in the grave.
Thebody is returned to the earth that is its source. This is the Jewish final act of caring, and it is
considered a great mitzvah to physically participate in the burial. Ideally, the whole grave should be
filled in, by hand, by fellow Jews. Where this is not possible, at least the coffin should be completely
covered with earth.

Jewish Phases of Mourning or Mourning Rites

There are five stages to the mourning process:
1) Aninut, pre-burial mourning.
2) Shivah, a seven-day period following the burial; within the Shivah, the first three days are
characterized by a more intense degree of mourning.

92 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

4) Shloshim, the 30-day mourning period.

5) The First Year (observed only by the children of the deceased).

Who Mourns:
 The laws of mourning described below mainly applies to the first seven close relatives of the
deceased: son or daughter, brother or sister, father or mother, and spouse (husband or wife).
 The other relatives and friends form the more outer circle of mourning, offer support and comfort to
the primary mourners.
 Jewish mourning practices can be broken into several periods of decreasing intensity.
 These mourning periods allow the full expression of grief, while discouraging excesses of grief and
allowing the mourner to gradually return to a normal life.
1. Initial Expression (Keriyah)
 When a close relative (parent, sibling, spouse or child) first hears of the death of a relative, it is
traditional to express the initial grief by tearing one's clothing.
 The tear is made over the heart if the deceased is a parent, or over the right side of the chest for
other relatives. This tearing of the clothing is referred to as keriyah (i.e. "tearing").
 The mourner recites the blessing describing God as "the true Judge," an acceptance of God's taking
of the life of a relative.
2. Aninut (Intense grief and mourning):
 The first, most intense period of mourning is the period between the death and the burial.
 This period, called aninut, is characterized by a distressing paralyzing grief.
 During this period, the closest relatives are mainly concerned with the funeral and burial
arrangements such that they are absolved (excused) by Torah law from the observance of all mitzvot
requiring action (praying, sacrifices etc.).
 During this time, the mourners are exempt from all positive commandments ("thou shalts"),
because the preparations take first priority.
 This period usually lasts a day or two; Judaism requires prompt burial.
 At this point it is not allowed to comfort the mourner during the time that his deceased is not yet
buried. It is because the grief is too intense for any effort at consolation.

93 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

 It is a time to simply be with the mourner and offer practical assistance, rather than words of
consolation. It is a time of silence, not words.
 During this aninut period, the family should be left alone and allowed the full expression of grief.
Condolence calls or visits should not be made during this time.
3. The Shivah (comfort and consolation)

 The next period of mourning is known as shivah (seven, because it lasts seven days). Shivah is
observed by parents, children, spouses and siblings of the deceased, preferably all together in the
deceased's home. Shiva begins on the day of burial and continues until the morning of the seventh
day after burial.
 The distinguishing feature of the Shivah is that the mourners take an almost complete break from
the routines and involvements of everyday life to focus exclusively on the memory of the departed
and the manner in which they will honor him or her in their lives, and receive consolation from their
extended family, friends, and the community.
 The basic practices of the Shivah are as follows: a. Condolence Meal (se’udat havra’ah): When the
mourners arrive home from the cemetery following the burial, they are given a special meal of
condolence traditionally, ring shaped bread and hard-boiled eggs, whose round shape is symbolic of
the cycle of life.
 After the burial, a close relative, near neighbour or friend prepares the first meal for the mourners,
the meal of condolence.
 The meal is for the family only, not for visitors. After this time, condolence calls are permitted.

HEALTH AND WELL BEING IN JUDAISM

Objectives
1) Explore the concept of well- being and health in Judaism
Introduction
 Traditional Jewish thought suggests that we must keep our bodies well for the sake of spiritual
pursuits and in order to fulfill mitzvot, commandments.
 Various practices outlined in the Torah, Maimonides and Talmud that have health advantages.
Jewish dietary laws are not laid down as health laws, but religious laws, even though many of them
have a role in illness prevention.

94 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

 The one commentator who provided more advice on these matters than any other was Maimonides,
also known as The Rambam (1135-1204). T
 the Rambam's fourth chapter is devoted almost entirely to health issues. The Torah enjoins us to
care for our health, then the Rambam elaborates on what he considers a healthy lifestyle. 
 Maimonides said 800 years ago in the Mishna Torah that one should only eat until one's stomach is
three quarters full.
 Eating to excess, and high cholesterol foods are unhealthy regardless of whether they are kosher or
not. Rambam's recommendations;
1) Having a healthy and whole body is integral to Divine service.
 It is impossible to understand or know anything (about the Creator) when one is sick, one must
stay far from things which destroy the body and familiarise himself to things which preserve one's
health.
 One should eat only when he is hungry and drink only when he's thirsty.
 He also should not delay urination or defecation i.e. 'he should not delay his holes') even one
minute. Rather, whenever one needs to urinate or defecate, he should go immediately.
2) One should not eat until his stomach is full but should rather eat around a quarter less than his
fill.
 One should not drink water during his meal, but only a little mixed with wine.
 And when his food begins to be digested in his innards (intestines) he should drink that which he
needs. And one should not drink excessively even when his food is digested.
 One should not eat until he checks himself well that he doesn't need the bathroom.
 One should not eat until he has first walked before his meal until his body begins to warm.
Alternatively, he should do work or tire himself in some other way.
 The rule of the matter is that one should exert (or 'afflict') his body and tire himself the entire
morning until his body begins to warm.
 He should then relax a little until he recovers and then eat. If he bathes in warm water after his
exertion, that is good. He should then wait a little and eat.
3) Whenever a person eats he should sit in his place or lean on his left [side].
 The Talmud considered it essential that people lean on their left side rather than their right in
order to ensure their food would go down the correct passageway.

95 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

 A person should not walk, ride, exert himself, shake/agitate his body, or stroll until his food is
consumed. Anyone who strolls or exerts himself after his meal [risks] bringing upon himself
serious illness.
4) A day and night together lasts 24 hours.
 It is sufficient that a person sleeps one third of that time, which is eight hours. It should be at
the end of the night so that there will be from the beginning of his sleep till sunrise eight hours.
 One will then be found to rise from his bed before sunrise.
5) A person should not sleep on his front ('face') or his back ('the back of his neck'), but rather on
his side, at the start of the night on his left side and at the end on his right. He should not sleep
right after eating, but should wait three or four hours. One should not sleep during the day.
6) Foods which loosen the bowels, such as grapes, figs, berries, pears, melons, the insides of
gourds and the insides of cucumbers, one should eat at the start of his meal. He should not mix
them with his food, but should wait a bit till they leave his upper stomach and then eat his food.
And foods which tighten the bowels e.g. apples, one should eat right after his meal. He should
not consume them in too large quantities.
7) If a person wants to eat chicken and meat together, he should eat the chicken first. Likewise
regarding eggs and chicken, he should eat the eggs first. Meat of small animals (sheep and goat)
and large animals (cattle): he should eat the small animals first. One should always begin with
the lighter food and finish with the heavier.
8) In the summer a person should eat cold foods, should not spice his food too heavily (lit., 'should
not increase [his intake of] spices'), and should consume vinegar. During the rainy season a
person should eat hot foods, increase his [intake of] spices, and eat a little mustard.
Causes of illness in Judaism
 Sickness was a result of evil spirits attacks. Psalm 91 mentions ‘plague’ and ‘pestilence’ attacking
victims, Leviticus 16 describes Azalel as a desert demon to whom the high priest annually sends the
sins of Israel on the Feast of Yom Kippur.
 or that God sent sickness as a punishment Ps 39:10-11.
 A person must refrain from actions that cause illness and instead work on leading a healthy life.
 Thus, excessive drinking, smoking, the abuse of drugs, or the eating of harmful foods are forbidden.
A Jew must aggressively pursue medical treatment when ill.

96 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

 Drinking Contaminated Water - In public health, it was forbidden to drink water which flowed
through a filthy place.
 Consuming wrong kinds of food - Jefferson posits that among Jews there are three categories of
food namely, kosher, that is, permitted food; trefah, that is, forbidden foods and kashrut, that is,
foods not eaten at all. It is the responsibility of a Jewish housewife to safeguard the religious purity
of the home and to make sure that the food eaten is Kosher (clean according to Jewish dietary laws).
 Contaminated food - Jews were also directed to prepare foods that were fresh and clean, and not
to live in a town where there were no vegetable gardens.
 Unhygienic practices - Cleanliness, bathing, proper nutrition and isolation of infected patients was
advised.  The Talmudists recognized that unhygienic conditions, dampness and insufficient
sunshine were major factors contributing to illness.
 Eating of unripened fruit was also declared a health hazard.  The Rambam even dealt with the
matter of constipation and holding back bowel movement, a practice which he considered
unhealthy.
Kashrut: Jewish Dietary Laws

 Kashrut is the body of Jewish law dealing with what foods we can and cannot eat and how those
foods must be prepared and eaten.
 "Kashrut" comes from the Hebrew root Kaf-ShinResh, meaning fit, proper or correct. It is the same
root as the more commonly known word "kosher," which describes food that meets these
standards.
 The word "kosher" can also be used, and often is used, to describe ritual objects that are made in
accordance with Jewish law and are fit for ritual use.
General Rules
 Although the details of kashrut are extensive, the laws all derive from a few fairly simple,
straightforward rules
1) Certain animals may not be eaten at all. This restriction includes the flesh, organs, eggs and milk of
the forbidden animals.
2) Of the animals that may be eaten, the birds and mammals must be killed in accordance with
Jewish law.
3) All blood must be drained from the meat or broiled out of it before it is eaten.

97 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

4) Certain parts of permitted animals may not be eaten.

5) Meat (the flesh of birds and mammals) cannot be eaten with dairy. Fish, eggs, fruits, vegetables
and grains can be eaten with either meat or dairy. (According to some views, fish may not be eaten
with meat).
6) Utensils that have come into contact with meat may not be used with dairy, and vice versa.
Utensils that have come into contact with non-kosher food may not be used with kosher food. This
applies only where the contact occurred while the food was hot.
7) Grape products made by non-Jews may not be eaten.
What Foods Are Kosher?
 All fresh vegetables and fruits are kosher.
 Only meats derived from split-hoofed and cud-chewing animals qualify. In effect, this excludes
beasts of prey, swine, insects, rodents, and reptiles.
 Among fish and seafood, only those with fins and scales are kosher. This eliminates shellfish –
lobsters, shrimp, oysters, clams, mussels, scallops, etc.
 Birds designated by the Torah as kosher are chicken, turkey, and ducks.
 Birds of prey, such as eagles, vultures, falcons, hawks, and owls, are forbidden.
 Insects are forbidden. It is traditional to examine fresh fruits and vegetables for insects before
serving
Healing
 For wounds and external sores, they had many useful remedies which including the famed balm
of Gilead that Jeremiah mentions in his oracles Jeh 8:22.
 For most of the illnesses, one might get help from a doctor, but the primary source of healing
would be God. Doctors were accepted in Judaism but the ultimate power over life, sickness, and
death lies in the hands of Yahweh.
 The Psalms are filled with reference to the suffering of the individual who seeks God’s healing Ps
32, 38, 88, 99 and the prayer of Hezekiah in Isaiah 38.
 They resorted to prayer, begging God for mercy and healing e.g. Abraham Gen 20, Moses prayed
for Miriam Nu 12, Elisha and Naaman 2Kings 5. Old age was seen as a time of failing strength
with loss of eyesight, inability to eat, and growing weaknesses.
SICKNESS AND HEALING

98 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

- Judaism believes that matters of illness and healing are interconnected to the body, mind and the
spirit.
- Types of diseases common in the Jewish Community, fevers of several kinds, dysentery, leprosy,
intestinal worms, plague, nervous diseases such as paralysis and epilepsy, insanity, ophthalmia, and
skin diseases are among the commonest and will be described under their several names. Scabs and
boils
- Sickness as result of physical injury e.g. 1 kings 1;2
- Sore disease attacking the knees and legs Dt 28;35.  Headaches or sunstroke disease such as the
one which affected the widows’ son in the days of Elisha 2 Kings 4:19
- Bites and stings of poisonous reptiles Numbers 21;6  Disease of the intestines or bowels 2
Ch_21:18, 2Ch_21:19,
- Sickness as a curse for disobeying the law of God given to Moses, Dt 28:58ff
- Plague of leprosy was sent from God according to the Levitical Code of priesthood Lev 14:33ff
- Diseases sent from god as judgements Ps 107:17, Isa 3;17 David’s child 2Sa_12:15, upon Gehazi
2Ki_5:27, Upon Jeroboam 2Ch_13:20, Upon Jehoram 2Ch_21:12-19, Upon Uzziah, 2Ch_26:17-20 
Threatened as judgments, Lev_26:16; Deu_7:15; Deu_28:22; Deu_28:27-28; Deu_28
STATUS OF WOMEN IN JUDAISM
 The role of women in Judaism is determined by the Hebrew Bible, the Oral Law (the corpus of
rabbinic literature), by custom, and by non-religious cultural factors.
 Although the Hebrew Bible and rabbinic literature mention various female role models, religious
law treats women differently in various circumstances.
 The Old Testament presents both negative and positive images of women.
Negative Presentation of Women
- J. R. Wegner asserts that in the study of Jewish writings, “we discover a system in which woman's
cultural image, social function and legal status combine to perpetuate patriarchal norms that had
already governed Jewish and surrounding cultures for many centuries”.
- The Old Testament Jewish writings portray a negative attitude towards woman.
- Relatively few women are mentioned in the Bible by name and role, suggesting that they were
rarely in the forefront of public life.
1. Women as Temptresses (Gen 3)

99 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

- The story of the fall of humankind in Genesis 3 records that Eve, the wife of Adam and the first
woman on earth, is the temptress and originator of evil in the world.
- Eve is viewed as the one who brings sin into the world, but Adam, who is equally guilty of disobeying
the command which he receives directly from God, is never blamed for the fall of humankind and
subsequent evils in the world. Eve is the source of all evils, the originator of sin in the world.
- This negative understanding of the woman, particularly Eve, is presented in the words of some
prominent male scholars.
- The presentation of Eve as temptress reflects the anti-female bias of Israelite men, including the Old
Testament writers.
2. Women as harlots
- a negative sexist language portrays women as ‘harlots’ or ‘concubines’ Proverbs 1-9.
- R.L Huni states that, the Hebrew terms for harlotry (zenuth) and harlot (zonah) only refer to
females. There is no male term for harlot in Hebrew.T
- his shows the negative male attitude towards female sexuality. “Harlotry” cannot be played by
women alone without men, but men are never described as harlots.
- Women alone cannot commit adultery without men. Hosea a man of God married Gomer a harlot
but he is presented in a positive sense unlike Gomer (Hosea 1-3).
3. Solomon is portrayed having 700 wives and 300 concubines but was never blamed. Rather it’s the
wives who are portrayed in a negative sense and given the blame for turning away the heart of Solomon
from the true God.
4. The Uncleanliness of Motherhood and Menstrual taboo
- the disqualification of female persons from sacred activities at cultic centres stamps women as a
separate and cultically inferior entity.
- women’s regular menstrual periods are regarded as `unclean’ rather than a blessing.
- Their `unclean period’ lasts for seven days and everything they touch becomes unclean; women
remain ‘unclean’ until they are purified (Lev 12:2, Lev 12:5, Lev.15:19ff).
5. Bareness as a curse -

- Even when a woman is unfortunate to become barren, she is considered as cursed by God.

100 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

- Sarah one of the great matriarch was barren such that she was scorned by her maidservant Gen
11:30, Isaac had to intercede for Rebekah for the Lord to remove the curse of barrenness Gen
25:21. Gen. 29:31 - 30:24 among the wives of Jacob, Rachel the sister to Leah was also barren.
- See the story of Hannah and Peninnah 1 Samuel 12.
6. The case laws in the Pentateuch also treats barrenness as a curse from God Ex 23:26 and Dt 7:14. The
barren man is not held in low esteem in the Jewish society
Positive attitudes towards women in Judaism
- One scholar notes that, the role of women in traditional Judaism has been grossly misrepresented
and misunderstood.
- The position of women is not nearly as lowly as many modern people think.
- However, despite low status of a woman as a sexual chattel, a Jewish woman has far higher status in
all other aspects of Mishnaic private law.
- Thus, a wife participates in a reciprocal arrangement of matrimonial entitlements and obligations,
performing specified household chores and producing a requisite amount of cloth in return for
maintenance at a prescribed standard that befits her social class.
- The catalogue of spouses' conjugal rights and duties treats intercourse as primarily the wife's right
and the husband's duty.
- Property transfer - Another interesting rule preserves the wife's title to property she brings to the
marriage and even her power of sale (though this requires her husband's consent, because of his
legal right to the earnings of her property).
- Likewise, a husband cannot sell his wife's property without her consent.
- A wife can appoint agents to transact her business and can act as her husband's agent to sell his
goods. - She even possesses a right of action against the husband, for she can petition the court to
compel a divorce for specified infringements of her rights.
- True, the husband alone can execute the divorce; but the court will endorse draconian measures to
secure his compliance.
- Women depended on men economically - men had specific obligations they were required to
perform for their wives. These included the provision of clothing, food, and sexual relations to their
wives. –
- Outstanding roles of women in the bible - the Old Testament presents quite a number of stories of
women who stand as role models for the rest of women in society.

101 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

- The Matriarchs such as Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah, Miriam the prophetess, Deborah the
Judge, Huldah the prophetess, Abigail, who married David, Rahab, and Esther.
- In the Biblical account, these women did not meet with opposition for their positions and public
presence.
- According to traditional Judaism, women are endowed with a greater degree of intellect and
reasoning ability (intuition, understanding, intelligence) than men.
- The rabbis inferred this from the fact that woman was "built" (Gen. 2:22) rather than "formed"
(Gen. 2:7).
- It has been said that the matriarchs (Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah) were superior to the
patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac and Jacob) in prophesy.
- Women did not participate in the idolatry regarding the Golden Calf during the Exodus period.
JUDAISM AND THE LAND QUESTION
LAND TENURE IN JUDAISM/JUDAISM AND THE LAND QUESTION
Objectives :
1) Assess the land tenure system in Judaism
2) Evaluate the significance of the land in Judaism

- The land of Israel is central to Judaism.

- Land tenure in Judaism refer to the laws governing ownership and occupation of land.
- The idea of Jewish land tenure backdates to the Abrahamic covenant.
- God’s covenant with Abraham includes a promise that Abraham’s descendants will inherit the area
from the river of Egypt to the Euphrates.
- Nonetheless, Israel’s tenancy in the Land is conditional. the story of Abraham begins when God tells
him to leave his homeland, promising Abraham and his descendants a new home in the land of
Canaan. (Gen. 12).
- This is the land now known as Israel, named after Abraham's grandson, whose descendants are the
Jewish people.
- The land is often referred to as the Promised Land because of God's repeated promise (Gen. 12:7,
13:15, 15:18, 17:8) to give the land to the descendants of Abraham.
- The land is described repeatedly in the Torah as a good land and "a land flowing with milk and
honey" (e.g., Ex. 3:8)

102 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

- M.J.L Staff purports that, The Land is a gift to the Israelites with the provision that they live up to
certain moral and religious standards (Leviticus 18:26).
- Exile is threatened if these conditions are not met (Leviticus 26:32). Summary of the land tenure
system in Judaism
- Ultimately, the land belonged to Yahweh (Leviticus 25:23) but was owned and managed by different
families within various tribes. God’s ownership of the land comes to the forefront in the assignment
of the sacred dues (taxes) and in the land-rest regulations (laws).
- Every Israelite is required to bring to Yahweh the first-fruits of the harvest and the tithe of all his
produce or income. Voluntary offerings also are required.
- Of special interest are the land-rest laws, which are unique to Israel.
- Every seventh year and every fiftieth year the Israelites are to allow their land to lie fallow; and the
poor, the strangers, and the animals are to be allowed to eat whatever voluntary cops appear. The
seventh year is the Sabbath year and the fiftieth the year of jubilee.
- Land, once possessed, was regarded as the family heritage, and to be passed from one generation to
the next.
- The land could be sold, but not ‘permanently’.
- The seller could always redeem or buy back the land he sold Lev 25:23-24.
- All land not redeemed went back to the original owner at the Jubilee.
- Land is to be returned to the person, or his rightful heirs or family, that originally possessed the land.
Lev. 25:10, 13-17, 28, 31, 33-34.
- Thus the land was not really sold but rather only leased for a time-the longest term would be fifty
years.
- The price of the land sold or lease of land would be according to the number of years left until the
Jubilee.
- No taxes appear to have been levied against land. Such taxes could possibly dispossess a man of his
land or inheritance.
- The law of God emphasizes restitution for trespasses or damages done to one's land or crops (Exod.
22:5).
Land ownership among the Jewish people
- Though the Israelites will reside in the Land, God retains ownership. This is highlighted in the many
agricultural laws commanded to the Israelites in the Torah e.g.

103 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

- 1. The requirement to leave the corner of one’s field for the poor (pe’ah), abstain from eating the
fruits of a new tree, and;
- 2. let the land lie fallow every seventh year (shemitta)–among other similar laws–all stress God’s
right to divvy out produce as God sees fit.
- 3. Additionally, all sales and transfers of land were revoked in the Jubilee year, a rule that
emphasized that only God has the power to distribute the Land permanently.
Transference of ownership
- As expressed theoretically in the Jewish law of the Old Testament, the only transference of
property in ancient Israel should be through inheritance.
- Every Israelite family was allocated a plot of land at the original apportionment, as epressed in the
time of Moses and Joshua (Nm. 26:52–54, 33:54; Jos. 13–22).
- It was believed that this ancestral piece of land should remain, if not in the family's possession,
then at least in the possession of the clan.
- Thus there really should be no sale of land.
- Theological justification for this point of view is given in Leviticus : "But the land must not be sold
beyond reclaim, for the land is Mine; you are but strangers resident with Me" (Lv. 25:23).
- RSV Quotation. This view regards God as owner of all property and the Israelites as only temporary
tenants who may not buy or sell land.
- The duty of redemption and the institution of the Jubilee year (for both, see below) tend to
corroborate this point of view, as does the complete absence in the Bible of laws concerning the
renting of property.
Sale of land
- The violation of the Hebrew law on land tenure was evident in monarchical times (as can be
gathered from Naboth's response to Ahab in 1 Kings 21:3).
- It is argued that the very emergence of the monarchy and the growth of the cities led to societal
changes as far as land ownership was concerned.
- Because of debt, many small farmers were forced to sell their farms to a new landed aristocracy.
- The situation became so serious that by the time of the eighth century the old Israelite society based
on the small farmer had been destroyed.
- This was the situation that attracted the opposition of the prophets who denounced the various
forms of injustice, oppression and land-grabbing practices of the new aristocracy.

104 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

- Add RSV Text, For example, Isaiah complains, "Ah, those who add house to house and join field to
field, till there is room for none but you to dwell in the land!" (Is. 5:8).
- Similarly, Micah condemns those who "covet fields, and seize them; houses and they take them
away. They defraud men of their homes, and people of their land" (Mi. 2:2).
Contracts of sale of land
- The Bible records a number of property transactions, including Jacob's purchase of land at Shechem
(Gn. 33:18–20),
- David's purchase of the threshing floor from Araunah (2 Sm. 24:24), Omri's purchase of the hill of
Samaria, site of his future capital, from Shemer (1 Kgs. 16:24), and Boaz's purchase of a field from
Naomi (Ru. 4:9).
- Two transactions are recorded in detail: when Abraham purchases the Cave of Machpelah (Gn.
23:3–20) and when Jeremiah, fulfilling his duty as near kinsman, redeems (purchases) the land in
Anathoth from his impoverished cousin Hanamel (Jer. 32:6–15).
Redemption of Hereditary Land and the Jubilee Year
- In accordance with the principle, expressed above, of the inalienability of land, a person's patrimony
should ideally never be sold.
- However, should a man, due to economic straits, have to sell his land, then the law provides relief
for its retrieval in two ways.
- First, the debtors nearest family member is given the option of first refusal to the property
(redemption).
- Second, in the absence of a family redeemer, the property ultimately reverts back to the debtor in
the Jubilee year.
Redemption of land
- Among the Israelites, the redemption of property from poverty stricken or poor family members
was regarded as both a moral obligation and as form of social responsibility. (Lv. 25:25–34).
- Two examples in the Bible of family members redeeming property (already mentioned) are
Jeremiah redeeming his cousin's field at Anathoth (Jer. 32:6–9) and Boaz redeeming the field
belonging to Naomi (Ru. 4:1–10).
- Note that in these cases the land is not restored to the poor kinsman but becomes the property of
the redeemers.

105 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

- However, under the laws of the Jubilee, the land is restored back to the original owner. In both
cases, the clan is protected from the alienation (loss) of the i.e. total loss of the land property

The law of Jubilee

- The law of the Jubilee year is set out in Leviticus 25. It contains three regulations concerning
property;
- 1. Anybody who is forced to sell ancestral lands may reclaim them every fiftieth year, pointing to the
principle that land cannot be permanently sold (Lv. 25:10, 25:13, 25:28).
- 2. Because land cannot be permanently sold, what can be sold is the equivalent value of expected
crop yields (Lv. 25:15–16).
- As a result every sale of land becomes a kind of lease for a number of years before the next Jubilee.
3. Town houses, other than those belonging to Levites, are not subject to the Jubilee law. If they are
not redeemed within one year of purchase, then the seller can never reclaim them (Lv. 25:29–30
Rights of Inheritance
- The norm in ancient Israel was that a man's land property was inherited by his sons, the firstborn
receiving a double share (Dt. 21:15–17).
- In the event that a man had no sons, the line of inheritance was transferred through a scale of
family members: from daughters to brothers to uncles and, ultimately, to the nearest kinsman of
the deceased (Nm. 27:8–11).
Rights of daughters to land ownership
- According to Numbers 27:1–11, daughters originally were not eligible to inherit any part of the
family estate. Only after the case of the daughters of Zelophehad was provision made for daughters
to inherit on a limited basis:
- They could inherit providing the deceased had no sons (Nm. 27:8) and they married within the clan,
so that the patrimony would not be transferred to another tribe (Nm. 36:6–9).
Rights of widows
- As already indicated, the line of inheritance in Numbers makes no provision for the widow, not even
for the right of her husband's property.
- This omission is usually explained by the fact that it was passed on to the eldest son, who receives a
large share of the estate, to provide for his mother and the unmarried female members of the
family.

106 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

- It is also pointed out that widows, although not specifically mentioned in the line of inheritance,
were provided with some degree of protection in the laws concerning the levirate.
- The laws of the levirate state that should a man die without leaving a son, the brother of the
deceased must marry the widow.
- The first child of this marriage is to be considered the heir of the deceased (Dt. 25:6).
- By this device, the estate of the deceased would be preserved, because his inheritance would pass
to the child.
- However, there are indications that these laws were not widely observed (e.g., in the story of Judah
and Tamar; see Gn. 38), and the penalties for non-observance were insignificant (Dt. 25:7–10, Ru.
4:7–8).
ENVIRONMENT CONSERVATION
Objective:
1) Evaluate Jewish attitudes to the natural environment
2) Assess how the Jewish attitudes influence environmental conservation
Jewish Attitude
- the theocentric worldview holds that, the whole world belongs to God Ps 24:1.
- The Torah teaches that God created the world for the benefit of mankind, and yet this right is also a
responsibility.
- Judaism emphasizes our need to preserve our natural resources and generate new ones for future
generations. - God’s creation is good Gen 1:31.
- Creation exists to serve God Ps 148. Nature reflects God’s wisdom Ps 104:24
- from the creation story man was given authority to manage the environment Gen 1:26-28.
- land in Judaism is holy and is viewed as a collateral in the covenant given to the people of Israel by
God.
- humans are God’s stewards, trustees and guardians of the environment Gen 2:15.

Methods of Preserving or Conserving the Environment

1. Natural resources
- Several biblical commandments refer to the preservation of natural resources.
- These include the laws of the sabbatical year, according to which the land must rest every seven
years. during the Sabbatical year, when no crops are planted, the food that grows from last year’s

107 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

fallen seeds is to be left not only to the usual code names for the powerless widow, the stranger,
and the orphan” – but to “wild animals” as well (Exodus 23:5–12).
- the concept of the sabbatical year in which sowing, harvesting and the gathering of grapes and
other crops is forbidden. (Leviticus 25) Thus every seven years the land has a year of rest.
- This law may have an ecological dimension. “In the days before crop rotation or the availability of
chemical nutrients for the soil, the practice of letting the land lie fallow enabled it to regain its
fertility”.
- The same prohibitions apply to the jubilee year, which marks the end of seven sabbatical cycles.
- Harvesting laws; Other commandments are also founded on the view that the basic resource of
human sustenance -- land -- is God-given and belongs to Him.
2. Nuisance and Pollution -
- Several texts deal with the prevention of nuisance and pollution.
- Following the exodus from Egypt there had to be "an area...outside the camp, where you may
relieve yourself. With your gear you shall have a spike, and when you have squatted you shall dig a
hole with it and cover up your excrement Deuteronomy 23:13-14.
- Policing – there are punishments associated with pollution.
- Disposal of sacrificial by products; After the priest had dealt with certain offerings in the Tabernacle,
he was to change his vestments and carry the ashes beyond the camp Lev 6:4.
3.Fruit Trees
- the Bible teaches respect of non-human nature.
- The law of bal tashkhit, which prohibits the destruction of fruit trees during a siege to a city, is a
cornerstone of Jewish resource policies.
- The Deuteronomist law governing warfare discourages the destruction of the environment through
the cutting down of trees Deuteronomy 20:19-20.
- However, not all destruction is wanton from the Jewish perspective. When elements of nature
become objects of idolatry, as happens in pagan cults, the Israelites are told to demolish them 5. 6.
Deuteronomy 12:2-3.
4.Animal welfare
- prohibitions not to kill or eat certain kinds of animals.

108 | P a g e
 KINGDOM KNOWLEDGE COLLEGE (COMPILED BY G.T. PEDZISAI)

- the Jewish law discourages the cruel treatment of animals. Deuteronomy forbids the farmer to
plough with an ox and a donkey yoked together because, according to one interpretation, this would
impose greater hardship on the weaker animal (Deuteronomy 22:10).
- purity of animal species and breeds
- Another commandment, which expresses both Jewish resource policies and constancy of species,
forbids the mating of two different types of animals: "You shall not let your cattle mate with a
different kind” Lev 19:19.
- Likewise, a farmer is not permitted to muzzle an ox during the threshing period to prevent his
eating grain. (Deuteronomy 25:4) Nor can an ox or a sheep be slaughtered on the same day as its
offspring. (Leviticus 22: 28) (See also Deuteronomy 22: 6-7).
- animal rest- the law of the Sabbath - For instance, when the Israelites rest on the Sabbath, they
must rest their animals as well. animals which provide labour are to be accorded enough rest the
same as humans Ex 20:10, 23;12, Dt 5:12.
5.Fencing
- creating game parks and resort centres. - animal care and rescue
- If you see your enemy’s donkey fallen under a heavy load, you must help raise it up
- not just the donkey of your friend, but of someone you really do not like Ex 23:5. - the law also
encourages the preservation of the bird species Dt 22:6-7.
- Grazing laws - no grazing in areas where such grazing may cause environmental damage.
- Afforestation - at the festival of the New Year, trees must be planted were they are needed.
- the green best - the Torah recommends that every Jewish city must have a green belt surrounding it.
- the law of environmental justice attempts to redress the power and economic imbalances in human
society and Creation.
- Examples are the Sabbatical year (Exodus 23:11, Leviticus 25:2-5, Deuteronomy 15:1-4) and the
Jubilee (Leviticus 25:8-24)
- There is a whole program in the Torah for creating a balanced distribution of resources across
society (Exodus 22:24-26, Leviticus 25:36-37, Deuteronomy 23:20-1, 24:6,10-13,17

109 | P a g e