Seventeen books of prophecy are in our English Bible These were written by sixteen di erent prophets, if Jeremiah wrote Lamentations as well as the book bearing his name The books are classi ed as either “major” or “minor,” the classi cation assigned primarily for their relative length The prophecies were written over a period of more than four centuries, from about 840 B.C (Obadiah) to 420 B.C (Malachi) Below are the names of the writers, listed in the order of their books appearing in the Old Testament canon Why the seventeen prophetic books were placed at the end of the Old Testament Scriptures is not known George Adam Smith says that perhaps “it was held tting that prophecy should occupy the last outposts of the Old Testament towards the New.”1 George Adam Smith, The book of the twelve, 1:3 20 Isaiah: The Glorious Throne of Jehovah the Holy One Of all the writing prophets, Isaiah is justly accounted the greatest His prophecy is one of the longest, is quoted more frequently than any other in the New Testament, and he more often than any other prophet tells of the coming Messiah Isaiah prophesied for about fty years (see Chart 80) during very critical times of both kingdoms, Israel and Judah He was greatly responsible for the sweeping reforms introduced by Hezekiah, who was one of Judah’s righteous kings Merrill Unger says this of Isaiah: “Isaiah … is the great messianic prophet and prince of OT seers For splendor of diction, brilliance of imagery, versatility and beauty of style, profundity and breadth of prophetic vision, he is without peer.”2 I THE OLD TESTAMENT PROPHETS Without question the ministry of the prophet, along with that of priest, judge, and king, was crucial in the life of the Jews in Old Testament times The word “prophet,” in its various forms, appears over six hundred sixty times in the Bible, twothirds of which are in the Old Testament One cannot spend too much time studying the prophetic books Since this is the opening chapter of the section on the prophets, attention should rst be xed on the general subject of Old Testament prophecy A THE AUDIENCE OF THE PROPHETS Most messages of the Old Testament prophetic books were addressed to the ... should occupy the last outposts of the Old Testament towards the New.”1 George Adam Smith, The book of the twelve, 1:3 20 Isaiah: The Glorious Throne of Jehovah the Holy One Of all the writing... peer.”2 I THE OLD TESTAMENT PROPHETS Without question the ministry of the prophet, along with that of priest, judge, and king, was crucial in the life of the Jews in Old Testament times The word... attention should rst be xed on the general subject of Old Testament prophecy A THE AUDIENCE OF THE PROPHETS Most messages of the Old Testament prophetic books were addressed to the