These books bring together a literary genre, prophecy, and there are many because for a long time the people of Israel knew the will of God through the prophets.
The first thing to clarify is, who is a prophet? If we ask on the street, surely today they will tell us that they are the ones who speak of the future. We have to give a slightly more accurate answer, the prophets are the ones who speak in the name of the divinity, the ones who used to say the oracles. The prophets are not something proper to the religion of the Jews, the Egyptians also had them, although they were not so important. However, in the Judaic religion they have a very relevant entity because for many centuries they are the ones who tell the Word of God to the people. Prophetism in Israel ends up bearing vital fruit for those who live that Judaic religion.
What is said in the Old Testament about the prophets? The name is not always clear, sometimes they are called seers, sent from God. When does prophethood begin in Israel? During the time of the Judges, which we saw last week, is when the time of the prophets begins in Israel. The judges begin to ask God to send them a King and little by little the prophecy is taking shape. One of the prophets, Samuel, will be the one who grants a king to Israel, and the prophets point out to the people what God’s will is at each moment.
In the Old Testament we find the history of some of the prophets: Elijah, Elisha, Nathan, etc… but there is a time when the prophets who write their own books such as Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel or the 12 minor prophets begin to emerge.
The prophecy acquires gender rank within the Bible with a block of books where these stories are collected. These books have very few narrative parts or autobiographical material, they are texts that are written neither in chronological order nor in systematic order. Normally the prophets are characters who write what they have seen but have a group of disciples who correct and help them. It is a prophecy that is being written over time.
The first prophet to write his first book is Amos, in the 8th century BC. Hosea, Isaiah, Micah, etc… will come later, prophets who write the will of God and narrate to the people what God is asking of them at all times.
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