Nevi'im: The Prophets

Lesson 109 · נְבִיאִים

The prophets are the original political dissidents. They speak truth to kings, denounce hypocrisy, predict catastrophe, and console the broken. Yeshayahu envisions universal peace ("nation shall not lift sword against nation"). Yirmiyahu watches the First Temple burn. Yechezkel sees dry bones come back to life. Yonah runs from his mission. Their words echo in modern Hebrew political speech.

Cultural note, Yeshayahu\'s "וְכִתְּתוּ חַרְבוֹתָם לְאִתִּים", "they shall beat their swords into plowshares", is engraved on the wall of the UN building in New York. Yechezkel\'s vision of dry bones is read in synagogue on Pesach (it became a metaphor for Holocaust survival). "Voice crying in the wilderness" is from Yeshayahu 40.

The Major Prophets

The Twelve "Minor" Prophets (Trei Asar)

Prophetic Vocabulary

Themes & Imagery

Yeshayahu\'s Vision of Peace: Isaiah 2:2-4

The vision of all nations streaming to Jerusalem in the end of days. The closing line, "swords into plowshares", is engraved on the UN wall.

Yechezkel\'s Dry Bones: Ezekiel 37:1-6

The most cinematic prophecy in the Tanakh. A valley of dead, dry bones. Yechezkel speaks; the bones reassemble, get sinews, flesh, skin. Then breath enters them and they live. After the Holocaust, the parallel was unmistakable.

Yonah\'s Storm: Jonah 1:1-5 (excerpt)

Yonah is told to prophesy to Nineveh and runs the opposite direction. Read in full on Yom Kippur afternoon. The story of repentance, even for an enemy nation.