Journal: Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society
Volume: JETS 64:1 (Mar 2021)
Article: Making Theological Sense Of The Prophetic Books Of The Old Testament Canon
Author: Gregory Goswell

JETS 64:1 (March 2021) p. 77

Making Theological Sense Of The Prophetic Books Of The Old Testament Canon

Gregory Goswell*

^* Gregory Goswell is Academic Dean and Lecturer in Biblical Studies at Christ College, Sydney, 1 Clarence St., Burwood, NSW 2134, Australia.

Abstract: The ancient readers who supplied the Old Testament prophetic books with titles and placed the books in sequence had in mind the needs of future readers. These paratextual elements provide an interpretive frame around the biblical text and suggest ways of making theological sense of the text. The titles of the prophetic books link them to particular historic figures (e.g., Isaiah, Amos) and thereby help to protect the individual identity and discrete witness of the different books. On the other hand, the collating of the books in the prophetic corpora in the Hebrew and Greek canons (e.g., Latter Prophets of the Hebrew canon), the pairing of books (e.g., Isaiah and the Twelve in Baba Bathra 14b) and the juxtapositioning of books (e.g., Jeremiah and Lamentations in Greek Bibles) suggest the merit of reading the prophetic books in concert with neighboring books in these canons when assessing the theological import of these books.

Key words: canon, prophets, book titles, book order, Book of the Twelve

The proper aim of the Christian reader is to interpret the prophetic books in such a way that they contribute to the development and enrichment of Christian theology.1 The Classical Prophets were seen as a theological high point in Julius Wellhausen’s rewriting of OT history, evidence being the exalted view of God in Isaiah and the ethical seriousness of prophets like Amos. Scholars such as Bernhard Duhm thought in terms of the evolutionary development of OT religion and believed they could isolate a kernel of material that reflected the religious genius of the original prophet by removing later accretions, but we are now more appreciative of the final form of biblical books. Although Gerhard von Rad was highly attuned to the theological character of the OT, his treatment of prophecy was a hangover from the older approach, for he saw prophecy as an innovative phenomenon. Critical approaches to the Bible have often been theologically deaf (a critique made by Brevard Childs),2 but only toward the end of his record of publication did

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biblical book order become an issue that Childs explored.3 As a sincere admirer of Childs, Christopher Seitz takes seriously the theological dimension of the historical process that led to th...