The Bible Book

T

wo of the most crucial,

defining moments in

Israelite history are the

“exile,” when the Israelites were

forced to leave their homes in

Canaan and live in foreign lands,

and the “return.” The exile refers to

several war-induced migrations,

especially the ones resulting from

the Assyrian conquest of Northern

Israel in 722 BCE and the Babylonian

invasion of Judah in 597 BCE.

In 538 BCE, Persia’s King Darius I

allowed the Israelites to return

home. As they rebuilt the Temple,

they reflected upon their identity as

God’s people. Questions arose

about why God would allow them

to endure such suffering, then

reprieve them, and what this

signified about their relationship

with the divine. To process these

conundrums, they wrote down,

edited, and collected much of

the Hebrew Bible, including the

poetical and wisdom literature

and the books of the prophets.

An eternal quest

The poetical and wisdom literature

addresses the question of how

one should interact with God and

the world. These writings are

particularly captivating because

they leave the reader without a

singular conclusion; instead, they

contain a chorus of responses about

who God is and how one should

live. Psalms focuses on the nature

of the divine—as creator, provider,

and rescuer—and the human

response: worship. The book

includes hundreds of poems, many

of which are praises to God or

songs of thanksgiving for divine

creation and provision. Other

poems are dark and sorrowful,

crying out to God for help in times

of trouble. Psalms provides an

array of expression, validating

the range of human emotions

experienced by the Israelites in

times of exile and return.

The mystery of why bad things

happen to good people is set out

in the Book of Job, the account

of a blameless man who loses

everything. The story creates a

murky picture of how God interacts

with a being called the adversary, or

Satan, who may share responsibility

with God for undeserved suffering.

In contrast, Proverbs and Song

of Songs focus on the practicalities

and pleasures of earthly life.

Proverbs provides commonsensical

advice on how to behave, learn,

and prosper, with wisdom exalted

as a treasure to be sought above all

INTRODUCTION

JOB

1–2:7

THE

PSALMS

SONG OF

SONGS

JEREMIAH

1:4 –9

THE

PROVERBS

ISAIAH

52:13–53:12

Five books of 150

psalms express

praise and

trust in God.

The “beloved” and her

companion (“He”) convey

their love for one another

in sensual imagery.

God chooses Jeremiah

before he is even born

to be a prophet to

the nations.

God gives Satan

permission to test

Job’s faithfulness

with a series of

misfortunes.

Collections of wise

sayings provide

advice for young

persons setting out

in the world.

Israel, in the form of the

“Suffering Servant,”

seeks comfort and

hope in God.

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else, while Song of Songs is joyful

love poetry, replete with erotic

imagery and descriptions of

physical intimacy. Ecclesiastes, on

the other hand, asks philosophical

questions about the meaning of

life. The author wonders at the

purpose of labor and education

when, ultimately, everyone dies.

Nevertheless, it ends with a thread

that gathers the poetical and

wisdom literature together:

regardless of existential realities,

one must always obey God.

Major and Minor Prophets

In the Prophetic Books, the Bible

returns to the theme of suffering,

which is viewed as retributive

punishment for Israel and Judah’s

sins. The prophets warn the people

that if they do not follow God’s

laws, enemies will destroy them,

all of which happened when Assyria

and Babylon came to power. Yet,

during the exile, the possibility of

return became real, and themes

of hope and restoration begin

to infiltrate the prophetic texts.

The Major Prophets (Isaiah,

Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel)

and Lamentations contain an

expectation that God will dwell

among the people, love them

forever, and bring them home to a

new Jerusalem in the future. Daniel

exemplifies what it means to act

faithfully as a Jew despite constant

foreign opposition.

The same themes of doom and

hope are explored in the Minor

Prophets, while also emphasizing

commitment to God. Jonah relays

the message that God accepts all

those who repent and do justice,

even if they are not Israelites. Yet

not all Gentiles are portrayed

positively. God’s threat to evil

foreign powers is prominent in

apocalyptic literature, and its

emphasis on “the Day of the Lord,”

a terrifying end of the world when

God will judge the wicked and

reward the righteous, appears

in books such as Joel, Micah,

Zephaniah, and Malachi.

The idea of the Day of the Lord

was later paired with a Messianic

expectation that the earth will one

day be ruled by God, and Israel will

once again be a united kingdom

in harmony with its neighbors and

the divine. Many scholars believe

Christians reordered the canon so

that the prophets would be placed

immediately before the New

Testament Gospels, which used

prophetic texts to support the claim

that Jesus was the Messiah. ■

WISDOM AND PROPHETS

LAMENTATIONS

1–5

EZEKIEL

37:10

JONAH

1:17–2:9

ZEPHANIAH

1–3:5

DANIEL

6:22

MICAH

3:1–12

The Prophet Ezekiel

has a vision in which

a vast army arises

from the Valley of

Dried Bones.

God sends a fish to swallow

the Prophet Jonah, who

has disobeyed His

command to preach to

the Ninevites.

The Prophet

Zephaniah calls on the

Israelites to repent and

warns of the coming

“Day of the Lord.”

The fall of Jerusalem

to the Babylonians is

mourned in five poems,

expressing anger

toward God.

God shuts the

mouths of the lions

when the Prophet

Daniel is thrown

into a lions’ den.

The Prophet Micah

fulminates against the

sinful behavior of

the citizens of Judah.

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