A Little Bible Handbook
Online Version

The Prophets

The second major collection of holy literature revered by the ancient Jews was known as “The Prophets.” From primitive times the people of Israel looked to the prophets for guidance in all their affairs. Often these people took leadership in matters of State, as did Samuel, who led the country into becoming a Monarchy - (see 1 Samuel 8).

Generally the prophets did not attempt to predict the Future, though some did have tremendous foresight. Rather they spoke of current events, functioning as “Truth-sayers,” either for private individuals or for the nation. Only after their words became Scripture did it emerge that some of their sayings could have more than one meaning, including not only the message directed to the prophet’s own time, but apparent hints of other, later events.

Prophets often had powerful experiences of the presence of God, sometimes even visions and trance-like experiences. Many had students, or “disciples,” who wrote down their best sayings, some of which eventually became a major part of the Old Testament.

The Former Prophets and the Latter Prophets

The prophetic movement grew, and the work of the greatest individuals began to be preserved, not as part of a general history, but directly, as specific books which bear their names: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Amos, Hosea, and many more. These became known as the “Latter Prophets.”

Readings from the Former Prophets

Joshua 2:1-7	Rahab, the prostitute, saves the Israeli spies.
Joshua 6:15-21	The walls of Jericho come a-tumbling down (also an example of a “Holy War” in which God decrees that every person and every animal must be killed.
Joshua 10:12-14	The sun stands still for a day.
Joshua 24:15	“As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
Judges 3:15-25	Ehud murders King Eglon the Fat, of Moab.
Judges 7:15-22	Gideon leads a tiny army of men, with lights in jars, to a military victory (the lights in jars became the central symbol of the Gideon Bible Society, seen on the cover of the Bibles which that group places in hospital and hotel rooms).
Judges 11:30-40	Human sacrifice in Israel: Jephthah’s daughter.
Judges 16:4-21	Samson and Delilah (part of the larger story of Samson).
1 Samuel 1	The birth of the prophet, Samuel.
1 Samuel 2:1-10	A song of praise by Samuel’s mother (compare it to the song of praise by Jesus’ mother in Luke 1:46-55).
1 Samuel 3	The call of Samuel.
1 Samuel 8	The beginnings of Israeli monarchy.
1 Samuel 15	Saul does not complete a “Holy War,” and Samuel takes the monarchy away from him, executing King Agag right in Saul’s throne room.
1 Samuel 16:1-13	Samuel anoints David to be King of Israel in place of King Saul.
1 Samuel 17	David and Goliath.
1 Samuel 20:30-42	The friendship of David and Jonathan, thought by some scholars to be the oldest connected narrative in the Old Testament.
1 Samuel 24	David refuses to kill Saul.
1 Samuel 28	Saul consults the ghost of Samuel with the help of a “medium.”
2 Samuel 6:9-20	David dances before the Ark of the Covenant, and offends his wife, Michal.
2 Samuel 11	David commits adultery with Bathsheba, and has her husband killed when she becomes pregnant.
2 Samuel 12	Nathan prophesies to David about Bathsheba’s child.
2 Samuel 15:1-10	David’s son, Absolom, leads a civil war against David.
2 Samuel 18:9-17, 31-33	Death of Absalom, and David’s famous reaction.
2 Samuel 24	The prophet Gad guides David in the census crisis.
1 Kings 1:1-2:25	Intrigues surrounding the death of David and the accession of King Solomon.
1 Kings 2: 26-35	The murder of David’s trusted Chief of the Armed Forces (note how it is immediately followed by King Solomon’s famous prayer for Wisdom).
1 Kings 3:3-15	King Solomon prays for God’s gift of Wisdom.
1 Kings 3:16-28	Solomon’s court case, where he offers to chop a baby in half and give one half to each plaintiff.
1 Kings 6	Solomon builds the first Temple in Jerusalem.
1 Kings 10	The visit of the Queen of Sheba.
1 Kings 12	General Jeroboam leads the secession of the northern part of the large country King David had created (Israel now becomes two countries, often at war with one another: the north, called “Israel,” and the south, called “Judah.”)
1 Kings 16:24	King Omri of northern Israel founds the city of Samaria, to be his capital. Technically, “Samaritans” are citizens of Samaria, though the name became applied to residents of all of northern Israel (see 2 Kings 17:29).
1 Kings 16:29-34	King Ahab and Queen Jezebel are introduced here. Considered by the biblical writers to be the epitome of evil, their story continues right through to the end of 2 Kings 9.
1 Kings 18	In a contest with prophets of the god, Bašal, the prophet Elijah calls down heavenšs fire upon a wet altar.
1 Kings 19	Elijah has a vision of God in a mountain cave (“Earthquake, wind, and fire,” and the “Still, small, voice.”)
1 Kings 21	An illustration of Ahab’s and Jezebel’s style of leadership.
1 Kings 22:1-40	The prophet Micaiah challenges his colleague’s vision, and goes to jail.
1 Kings 22: 32-37	King Ahab is killed in an ill-advised battle with Syria (Aram).
1 Kings 22:43	Jehoshaphat, King of Judah - considered a good king. His story (1 Kings 22) is the last part of the Ahab saga.
2 Kings 2	Elijah goes to heaven in a chariot of fire.
2 Kings 5	Naaman, the Syrian armed forces’ chief of staff, is cured of his leprosy in Israel.
2 Kings 9	General Jehu, instigated by Elisha, kills the kings of Israel and Judah in a bloody coup, then kills Queen Jezebel and all the families of the murdered kings.
2 Kings 17	The conquest of Samaria, capital of [northern] Israel, by the armies of Assyria.
2 Kings 22	King Josiah finds the Book of the Law in the Temple, and institutes religious reform of Israel.
2 Kings 24 & 25	The conquest of Jerusalem by the armies of Babylon, the torture of King Zedekiah, and the destruction of the Temple.
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