Introduction to the Book of the Twelve

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Introduction to the Book of the Twelve

• APTS-BIB509

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1. Name

• "In our editions of the Hebrew Bible, the book of
  Ezekiel is followed by the book of the Twelve
  Prophets (tw/n dw,deka profhtw/n, Sir. 49.10
  called rf"" ynEv. by the Rabbins . . . who have
  been called from time immemorial the smaller
  prophets (qetannim, minores) on account of the
  smaller bulk of such of their prophecies as have
  come down to us in a written from, when
  contrasted with the writings of Isaiah, Jeremiah,
  and Ezekiel." Keil Delitzsch

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4. Name

• "In his "Praise of the Fathers" Jesus ben Sira,
  after naming Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Job,
  mentions in 19.10, the Twelve Prophets (rf ynv
  yaybnh), and expresses the wish that their bones
  may revive again out of their place (grave).
  There is clearly presupposed here the gathering
  together of the small books Hosea to Malachi into
  one book, just as in the Jewish canon these books
  are actually counted as one book." Eissfeldt

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4. Name

• "The term "minor prophet" has been applied (the
  first recorded instance being Augustine City of
  God, 18.29) to the series of shorter books from
  Hosea to Malachi, of which the book of Zechariah
  once again comprises more than one writing."
  Sellin Fohrer

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2. Manuscripts

• (1) Hebrew and Greek manuscript evidence for the
  Minor Prophets exits dating from the second
  century BCE to the end of the first century CE.
• (2) This evidence includes seven Hebrew
  manuscripts from Qumran, Cave 4, all of which
  predate the turn of the era.
• (3) The manuscript evidence allows us to trace
  variations in the Hebrew and Greek texts of the
  Minor Prophets as well as the order of the
  material in the collection and the division into
  sense units.
• (4) The order of the compositions or books, with
  one exception, conforms to the order later found
  in the Masoretes tradition. The one exception,
  4QXIIa (ca. 150 BCE) may preserve the unusual
  order Malachi-Jonah.

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2. Manuscripts

• (5) The manuscript evidence seems to indicate
  that (a) The system of division of material used
  in the Masoretic tradition is closely paralleled
  as early as the first half of the first century
  BCE (R). (b) The Hebrew manuscripts from Qumran
  show variation from the system used in the
  Masoretic tradition. Although the evidence is
  fragmentary, in general, fewer divisions are
  indicated. (c) Mur 88 from the second half of the
  first century CE conforms closely to the
  Masoretic system. This may indicate
  standardization of the consonantal text and its
  'shape.'" Fuller, Russell, "The Form and
  Formation of the Book of the Twelve The Evidence
  from the Judean Desert," 95-96

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3. The Ordering of the Twelve

• "An orthodox understanding of canonization holds
  that the content of the biblical canon are a
  matter of divine inspiration but that the
  specific order of the contents may have been left
  in large measure to human agency. From the human
  point of view, five factors - authorship, date
  of composition, size, style, and subject matter
  (including both vocabulary and themes) - are
  factors that may have influenced canonical order
  in the Old Testament." Stuart

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3. The Ordering of the Twelve

• "In MT the chronological criterion has clearly
  been determinative firstly those books which
  actually or supposedly belonged to the period of
  the supremacy of the Assyrian power, the second
  half of the eighth century - Hosea, Joel, Amos,
  Obadiah, Jonah and Micah - of which Joel, Obadiah
  and, so far as the composition of the book is
  concerned, Jonah are not really of that period
  secondly, those which belong to the time of the
  downfall of Assyrian world-power, the last third
  of the seventh century - Nahum, Habakkuk and
  Zephaniah finally those which may be traced to
  the beginning of the Persian period, the end of
  the sixth and the first half of the fifth century
  - Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi." Eissfeldt

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3. The Ordering of the Twelve

• In the Talmud, the arrangement of the books
  within this collection is explicitly said to be
  chronological, in that Hos 1.2 is understood to
  mean that God spoke first to Hosea. The sequence
  is orientated on the dates at the beginning of
  the books of Hosea, Amos, Micah, Zephaniah,
  Haggai and Zechariah, and in the case of Jonah on
  the mention of him in 2 Kgs 14.25. The order of
  the other books show how they were understood at
  the time when the Book of the Twelve Prophets was
  formed. This gives a chronological grouping the
  first six prophets are assigned to the eighth
  century, the next three to the seventh century
  and the last three to the post-exilic period.
  Rendtorff

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3. The Ordering of the Twelve

• "The plan adopted in arranging the earliest of
  the minor prophets seems rather to have been the
  following Hosea was placed at the head of the
  collection, as being the most comprehensive, just
  as, in the collection of Pauline epistles, that
  to the Romans is put first on account of its
  wider scope. Then followed the prophecies which
  had no date given in the heading and these were
  arranged, that a prophet of the kingdom of Israel
  was always paired with one of the kingdom of
  Judah, viz. Joel with Hosea, Obadiah with Amos,
  Jonah with Micah, and Nahum the Galilean with
  Habakkuk the Levite. Other considerations also
  operated in individual cases. Thus Joel was
  paired with Hosea, on account

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3. The Ordering of the Twelve

• of its greater scope Obadiah with Amos, as
  being the smaller, or rather smallest book and
  Joel was placed before Amos, because the latter
  commences his book with a quotation from Joel
  3.16.... Another circumstance may also have led
  to the pairing of Obadiah with Amos, viz. that
  Obadiah's prophecy might be regarded as an
  expansion of Amos 9.12.... Obadiah was followed
  by Jonah before Micah, not only because Jonah had
  lived in he reign of Jeroboam II, the
  contemporary of Amaziah and Uzziah, whereas Micah
  did not appear till the reign of Jotham, but
  possibly also because Obadiah begins with the
  words, "We have heard tidings from Judah, and a
  messenger is sent among the nations" and

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4.3 The Ordering of the Twelve

• Jonah was such a messenger. In the case of the
  prophets of the second and third periods, the
  chronological order was well known to the
  collectors, and consequently this alone
  determined the arrangement. it is true that, in
  the headings to Nahum and Habakkuk, the date of
  composition is not mentioned but it was evident
  from the nature of their prophecies, that Nahum,
  who predicted the destruction of Nineveh, the
  capital of the Assyrian empire, must have lived,
  or at any rate have labored, before Habakkuk, who
  prophesied concerning the Chaldean invasion...."
  Keil Delitzsch, ibid., 3-4

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3. The Ordering of the Twelve
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3. The Ordering of the Twelve

• "The alternative LXX ordering for the first six
  suggests strongly that they circulated
  independently as a collection prior to being
  grouped with the rest of the Twelve." Stuart,
  ibid., xliv
• Length of book. "It appears that this order has
  been determined for the first five - Hosea, Amos,
  Micah, Joel and Obadiah - by their length, while
  the place of Jonah at the end of this group of
  six, in spite of its exceeding the book of
  Obadiah in length, is probably designed to take
  account of the view that this book does not, like
  the others, provide the words of God and of the
  prophet, but only a narrative concerning a
  prophet." Eissfeldt, ibid., 383

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4. Redactional Theology of the Twelve

• A. First Edition
• 1. Hosea, Amos, Micah, Nahum, Zephaniah and
  Obadiah.
• 2. "The cultural setting for such a production
  would have been the preaching and liturgical
  prayers as developed in the assemblies of the
  Jews in exile. The mood in such gatherings varied
  from resigned acceptance and regret in the early
  years to hope and determination, even optimism,
  as time went by." Collins, The Mantle of Elijah
  The Redaction Criticism of the Prophetical Books,
  62
• 3. Dated between 587-538 BCE

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4. Redactional Theology of the Twelve

• B. Second Edition
• 1. Haggai, Zechariah (1-8) Zephaniah expansion
  (3.9-20), Jonah and possibly Joel
• 2. "It was especially aimed at maintaining
  enthusiasm for the great undertaking, which was
  apparently in danger of being bogged down in
  frustration and apathy. The setting for these
  developments was presumably that of the prayers
  and reflections associated with religious
  gatherings, but by this time these were located
  firmly around the temple construction in
  Jerusalem." Collins, 63
• 3. Dated Between 520-515 BCE

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4. Redactional Theology of the Twelve

• C. Third Edition
• 1. Joel (if not already included), Habakkuk
  (which had its own redactional history), Malachi
  and some "eschatological additions to other
  sections especially Zephaniah.
• 2. "Reading between the lines of the various
  biblical texts relevant to this period
  (especially Malachi), we get the impression that
  enthusiasm for the religious aspects of the
  restored national life had become the faith of a
  minority who increasingly thought of themselves
  as a beleaguered band of the righteous in the
  midst of a nation of unfaithful sinners. Hope in

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4. Redactional Theology of the Twelve

• the future became combined with pessimism about
  the present and produced a king of
  "eschatological" thinking, which affected The
  Twelve.... The result was further revision of the
  book that was more agonizingly introspective in
  its questions, more wildly optimistic in it
  visions of the future and more bitterly resentful
  of the enemy within and without." Collins, 64
• 3. Dated middle of the fifth century BCE

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4. Redactional Theology of the Twelve

• D. Final Edition
• Zechariah 9-14 and the appendices to Malachi
  (Mal. 4.4-6).

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5. Theology of the Redacted Twelve

• "The principal themes of the whole book are those
  of covenant-election, fidelity and infidelity,
  fertility and infertility, turning and returning,
  the justice of God and the mercy of God, the
  kingship of God, the place of his dwelling
  (Temple / Mt. Zion), the nations as enemies, the
  nations as allies. For the post-exilic audience
  the message of The Twelve was primarily
  theological. At the same time the book also
  embodies a strongly political and ideological
  element in its vision of the future the ideal
  Israel is to be the restored Judah, a
  religious-political state in which all citizens
  will recognize the authority of the Lord, live
  according to his Law and give priority to the
  right and acceptable

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5. Theology of the Redacted Twelve

• worship of the Lord in his temple in the holy
  city free from all defilement. The book is
  ambiguous in its international views, especially
  as to whether or not the nations will ever attain
  sufficient freedom from defilement to permit them
  to participate in this religious-political
  system, but any role envisioned for the nations
  in The Twelve is definitely subordinate."
• Terence Collins. The Scroll of the Twelve,
  The Mantel of Elijah The Redaction Criticism of
  the Prophetical Books, Sheffield Academic Press,
  1993, 65

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5. Theology of the Redacted Twelve

• It appears that the books are ordered as they
  are so that the main points of the prophetic
  message will be highlighted. In fact, the Twelve
  are structured in a way that demonstrates that
  the sin of Israel and the nations, the punishment
  of the sin, and the restoration of both from that
  sin. These three emphases represent the heart of
  the content of the prophetic genre. The Twelves
  external structure therefore reflects its
  literary type.
• Paul R. House. The Unity of The Twelve, 68

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6. Principles of Organization Hosea

• A. Hos 1-3
• 1. Chapters 1-3 were fashioned into a unit,
  possibly at an early stage in the transmission of
  the poetry, and were positioned as an opening to
  the Hosea collection. In this way they function
  as an introduction to Hosea and provided a
  guideline for its interpretation. However, the
  placing of Hosea at the beginning of a larger
  book gave these chapters a new role. They now
  function as an introduction to The Twelve, which
  presents a great panoramic survey of Old
  Testament prophecy up to its official finishing
  line shortly before the time of Ezra. Collins,
  66

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6. Principles of Organization Hosea

• 2. "The story in Hos 1-3 is one of election,
  infidelity and rejection but also of restoration
  after punishment. As such it is a summary of the
  message of The Twelve, not just the Hosean part
  of it." Collins, 66
• 3. Collins argues that the Hosea marriage story
  was intended to symbolize the northern kingdom,
  but via 1.7 and 1.10-11 it included both Judah
  and Israel. The paralleling of marital
  relationships and religious covenant
  relationships envelopes the Twelve The
  interesting thing is that we find an echo of this
  same imagery at the end of the book in Mal
  2.13-16, which calls for faithfulness to the
  covenant between you and the wife of your
  youth. Collins, 66

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6. Principles of Organization Hosea

• B. Hos 4-14
• 1. Hos 9.10-14.8 are about turning and returning,
  a theme that was first developed in Hos 2.15-3.5.
  Sinful Israel called to repentance and offered
  forgiveness and healing by a loving and merciful
  God (Hos 11.8-9 2.14-15). Collins,67
• 2. Promise of restoration with rich vegetation
  14.5 after destruction of vegetation in 2.9-13.
• 3. Hos 14.1-3 uses liturgical language

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6. Principles of Organization Joel

• B. Joel
• 1. Joel continues the promise of blessing in
  vegetation terms. Locust, etc. destroy it (Joel
  1.8, 13 2.15-16) and this is lamented
  liturgically in 2.17. This destruction of
  vegetation of the reversal of the end of Hosea
  and a return to Hos 2 4.1-3. Note the words
  grain, the wine and the oil (Joel 1.10, Hos
  2.22).
• 2. Animals are dismayed in both Hos 4.3 and Joel
  1.18.

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6. Principles of Organization Joel

• 3. The juxtaposition produces some interesting
  effects, not the least of which is the way the
  older, pre-exilic material of Hosea is redirected
  towards a post-exilic setting through its
  association with the later material of Joel. In
  this new setting considerable emphasis is placed
  on the Jerusalem temple as the location for
  liturgical repentance and penance, so that the
  poetry of Hosea is effectively absorbed into the
  cultic activity of the restored temple.
  Collins, 68

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6. Principles of Organization Joel

• 4. Liturgical thrust of Joel the prayers, Joel
  2.17 the answer, Joel 2.18-19ff. (note Hos
  2.21-23).
• 4.1 Happy ending of Joel is like Hosea barren
  becomes fruitful, Joel 3.18, but the Temple is
  the source of the blessing!! (1.13-16 2.15-17
  2.23 2.32 3.16-21)
• 4.2 The temple is the place where the Lord
  dwells, the center of his reassuring presence
  among his people, the holy mountain from which
  life-giving waters flow. Collins, 68

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6. Principles of Organization Joel

• 4.3 The connection of Joel 3.16 with Amos 1.2 is
  based on the Zion / Jerusalem roaring of the
  LORD. Also Joel 3.18a and Amos 9.13c the
  mountains shall drip sweet honey.

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6. Principles of Organization Amos

• A. Connections with Joel
• 1. . . . the dire threats against Israel which
  dominate Amos are softened when read in the light
  of the more optimistic ending of Joel. This,
  however, is a feature which is peculiar to the
  version of The Twelve as found in the Hebrew
  Bible. The idea that it is the result of
  deliberate choice on somebodys part is supported
  by the fact that Greek version does not follow
  the same order but instead places Joel after
  Micah. Collins, 68

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6. Principles of Organization Amos

• 2. The theme of Israel and the other nations is a
  connection to Joel 3.1-3. However note The
  significant difference between the two passages
  lies in the fact that, for Amos, the judgment on
  the nations is a prelude to the condemnation of
  Judah and Israel, 2.4ff, whereas in Joel 3 the
  condemnation of the nations is to be a prelude to
  the restoration of the fortunes of Judah and
  Israel. The condemnation of Israel in Amos has
  once again been pre-empted by the more hopeful
  vision of Joel, so that in literary terms the
  force of the blow is softened. Everything is seen
  from a post-exilic viewpoint, and the broader
  context of The Twelve envisages the state of
  affairs after the punishments predicted in Amos
  have been inflicted on Israel and Judah.
  Collins, 69

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6. Principles of Organization Amos

• B. Covenant Election The theme of Israel among
  the nations is inevitably linked with the idea of
  covenant election. In Amos this idea is given a
  dark interpretation as something that will count
  to Israels disadvantage when it is judged
  alongside the rest (Amos 3.1 3.9-10 6.2 9.7).
  However, the rejection of Israel which is the
  main burden in Amos is counteracted by the
  forgiveness and restoration which precedes it in
  Joel and even before that in Hosea (esp. Hos
  11.1-4). Collins, 69
• C. Amos happy ending, 9.8, 9-10, 11-12, 13-15.

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6. Principles of Organization Obadiah

• A. Connection with Amos Obadiah focuses on Edom
  which is already mentioned in Amos 1.11-12, and
  especially in the closing 9.12 (note Joel 3.19).
  Edoms guilt is put in the context of strangers
  and foreigners (Oba 11, 15).
• B. Day of Lord The theme of the day of the Lord
  begins, as far as The Twelve is concerned, in
  Joel 2.1-2, and it is continued in Amos 5.18
  where it is used to convey the idea of a day of
  judgment for Israel. The threat against Israel in
  Amos is counteracted in Obadiah 15ff. which
  anticipates

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6. Principles of Organization Obadiah

• Gods judgment of the nations and the exaltation
  of Jerusalem to a position of domination not only
  over Edom but also over Philistia, Samaria,
  Gilead, Phoenicia and the Negeb. The conclusion
  of Obadiah thus parallels that of Joel. In
  particular, we can point to the way in which the
  hope of Jerusalem expressed in Oba 21, saviors
  shall go up to Mount Zion to rule Mount Esau and
  the kingdom shall be the Lords matches that of
  Joel 3.20-21.... Collins, 70

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6. Principles of Organization Jonah

• A. Connections
• 1. Jonah continues to develop the theme of
  Israel and the nations Collins, 70-71 Amos 9.7
  and Jon 4.11 argues for the other nations being
  recipients of Gods care and mercy.
• 2. Its contribution comes both from the ideas it
  embodies and from its position after Obadiah to
  which it acts as a counterfoil in its attitude to
  the nations. Collins, 72

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6. Principles of Organization Jonah

• B. The Jonah story emphasizes the themes of
  repentance and forgiveness. It is intended to
  illustrate, among other things, the theological
  view that the Lord is a gracious God and
  merciful, slow to anger and abounding in
  steadfast love who repents of evil (Jon 4.2 cf.
  Exod 34.6 Num 14.18), and that consequently the
  exile could not be attributed to any
  unjustifiable impatience on Gods part. Thus the
  Jonah story makes an important contribution to
  the theodicy which is a major element in The
  Twelve. Collins, 71

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6. Principles of Organization Jonah

• C. The prayer in Jon 2 influences the message of
  The Twelve. Also that the power of God is not
  limited geographically. This universalism is a
  major element in the overall message of The
  Twelve. Collins,71
• 1. Fasting and prayer in Jon 3.5 gt Joel 1.13-14
  2.15-16 even animals (Jon 3.7-8 Joel 1.20).
• 2. Turn from evil Jon 3.10 Hos 11.8-9 Jon 4.11.

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6. Principles of Organization Micah

• A. In Micah the pendulum swings back to a
  preoccupation with the sins of Israel, but now
  the condemnations are specifically directed
  against Jerusalem and the sins of its
  inhabitants, especially the corrupt and
  oppressive rulers. Thus Micah marks a sharpening
  of the focus in the progression of The Twelve
  towards the explicit concern with Jerusalem and
  its temple which is one of the main features of
  the book. Collins, 72

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6. Principles of Organization Micah

• 1. Mic 3.12 a prediction of the destruction of
  the Temple
• 2. Mic 4.1-4 (Isa 2.2-4) a prediction of its
  restoration.
• 3. Mic 1.2 . . . from his holy Temple.

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6. Principles of Organization Micah

• B. Divine Theophany Mic 1.3ff. first in Amos
  4.13 5.8-9 9.5. Micahs move from threatening
  presence to consolation in Mic 7.14-20 with the
  nations seeing and being ashamed (Mic 7.15-16).
• C. Mic 7.18-20 ends positively like Jon 4.11 with
  echoes of Gods compassion.

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6. Principles of Organization Nahum

• A. Connection . . . Nahum . . . returns to the
  menacing aspect of the expected theophany and a
  stress on the Lords jealousy, anger and
  vengeance (Nah 1.2-5). Collins, 73
• B. Theophany
• 1. Becomes apocalyptic in terms of dealing with
  the destruction of evil itself and therefore
  brings a happy future for Judah and its temple.
  (Nah 1.15)
• 2. The triumphalism of Nahum, i.e., the
  destruction of the wicked and the triumph of good
  over evil is brought into question in Habakkuk.

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6. Principles of Organization Nahum

• C. Nahum deals primarily with the theme of
  Israel and the nations epitomized in Nineveh,
  which is pictured in a way very different from
  the presentation of the repentant and pardoned
  Nineveh seen in Jonah.... The name Nineveh has
  been turned into a symbol of all that is opposed
  to God, the Lords enemies who in their arrogance
  have raised themselves up against the Lord and
  his chosen ones. This is made explicit in the
  opening lines, The Lord takes vengeance on his
  adversaries and keeps wrath for his enemies (Nah
  1.2). Thus Nahum (along with Obadiah, Jonah,
  Zephaniah 1.17-2.15, Joel 2.30-3.21, Amos
  1.3-2.3) functions in the same way as the Oracles
  on the Foreign Nations in Isaiah and the other
  prophetical books. Collins, 73

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6. Principles of Organization Habakkuk

• A. Connections
• 1. Hab 1.2-4, 12-13 contrasts with the
  triumphalism of Nahum.
• 2. It is the thematic relationships as much as
  any historical considerations that have
  determined the positioning of Habakkuk in between
  Nahum and Zephaniah. At this point theodicy comes
  to the fore as a major concern in The Twelve, and
  in the question How long? a common chord is
  struck with some of the psalms of complaint (for
  example, Ps 13.1-2), and with the problem of
  Gods silence in Job. Collins, 74

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6. Principles of Organization Habakkuk

• B. Theodicy
• 1. The question of the delay in the fulfillment
  of predictions is a central theological problem
  for biblical prophecy.... The answer which
  Habakkuk supplies to the question of the delay in
  fulfillment is that the righteous must persevere
  in patience, sure in the faith that the vision of
  the triumph of good over evil will be realized in
  Gods own time... (Hab 2.3). Collins, 74-75
  i.e., faith in God is the answer.

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6. Principles of Organization Habakkuk

• 2. N.B. the use of the Theophany in Hab 3.3-16
  Nah 1.3ff.
• 3. The new element lies in the insistence that
  faith can and should be maintained even in the
  face of a complete lack of any fulfillment of the
  material prosperity (the grain, the wine, the
  oil) traditionally associated with the promises
  about future salvation. Collins, 75 N.B. Hab
  3.17.
• 4. In the arrangement of The Twelve the patience
  advocated in Habakkuk is given its reward in the
  eschatological judgment scenes of the following
  Zephaniah collection. Collins, 76

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6. Principles of Organization Zephaniah

• A. Connection
• 1. Zephaniah tales the judgment of Judahs sins
  and gives it a universalistic spin. Therefore
  judgment is a cosmic judgment like Gen 6.5-8
  (Zeph 1.4-13).
• 2. Zeph 2-3, an Oracles against the Foreign
  Nations will surprisingly include Jerusalem as
  the oppressing city (see Mic 4.11-12 Joel
  3.11-14).
• B. Happy ending Zeph 3.9-13 looks forward to
  signs of a new life and the song of rejoicing
  (Zeph 3.14-20) tops it off.

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6. Principles of Organization Zephaniah

• C. Temple They Zeph 3.9-20 give the fullest
  expression to a theme that has been regularly
  present throughout preceding sections, namely,
  the central role of the temple in the vision of
  the future. The importance of Jerusalem lies in
  the fact that it is the location of the temple,
  the house in which the Lord has chosen to dwell
  (see also Joel 1.9 1.14 2.27 3.16-17 3.21
  Amos 1.2 Oba 21 Mic 4.2 4.7 Hab 2.20 Zeph
  3.5). The glorious future predicted for Mount
  Zion as the center of life for all nations is
  only possible because it can be said of
  Jerusalem, The Lord, your God, is in your midst
  (Zeph 3.17). The central importance of the temple
  is

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6. Principles of Organization Zephaniah

• thus further established as a keynote in the
  composition of The Twelve, and the ground is
  prepared for the three closing sections (Haggai,
  Zechariah, Malachi), which are primarily
  concerned with the rebuilding of the temple and
  the proper conduct of those chosen to act as its
  custodians. Collins, 77

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6. Principles of Organization Haggai

• Temple
• 1. The main thrust of the Haggai collection lies
  in the assertion that the key to the future of
  Jerusalem is to be found in it status as the
  location of the Temple.... In a nutshell no
  temple, no people, no future. Thus the starting
  points for Haggai are the twin facts that the
  material blessings of the grain, the wine and the
  oil are lacking (Hag 1.11) and that the temple
  has not yet been restored. Collins, 77

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6. Principles of Organization Haggai

• 2. When the temple is rebuilt then... (Hag
  2.6-7). Only after the Temples rebuilding will
  the issue of the establishment of a Zerubbabel as
  messiah come into play (Hag 2.20-23).

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6. Principles of Organization Zechariah

• A. Temple
• 1. Rebuilding Zech 1.16 2.11 4.9
• 2. The point of view adopted in Zechariah
  maintains that the exile will not be truly over
  until the temple has been rebuilt. Collins, 80
• 3. Zech 8 gives the same message in sermon style.

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6. Principles of Organization Zechariah

• B. Starting to Summarize and Conclude The Twelve
• 1. Zech 1.2-6 history of prophecy.... The
  composite picture presents the prophets as
  servants of God (Amos 3.7), sent by him (Hos
  12.10 Amos 2.11) with a mission to prophesy
  (Amos 5.15), to rebuke (Hos 6.5 Jon 1.2 Mic
  3.8), to predict disaster (Jon 3.4), and to guide
  and preserve the people (Hos 12.13). Like Moses
  they are filled with the power of Gods spirit
  (Mic 3.8), but must face mockery and hatred (Hos
  9.7-8) and peoples attempts to silence them
  (Amos 2.12 7.13 Mic 2.6). When they are well

55
6. Principles of Organization Zechariah

• received and obeyed as Gods messengers (Hag
  1.12) the result will be prosperity and all kinds
  of blessings in a new world in which all will be
  filled with the power to prophesy (Joel 2.28).
  This composite picture has much in common with
  the Deuteronomist understanding of prophets and
  their role in the history of Israel. Collins,
  78

56
6. Principles of Organization Zechariah

• 1. Zech 1.7-17 gives a cosmic view of Gods
  governance of the world. Zech 6 has the four
  chariots patrolling the earth.... Zech 7 then
  turns to a historical survey.... (former
  prophets Zech 7.7-12).
• C. Zech 9-14 This new ending gives both Zech and
  The Twelve a more futuristic outlook than they
  would otherwise possess.

57
6. Principles of Organization Malachi

• A. The Malachi collection also comes as an
  appendix to Zech 1-8. It was probably attached to
  Zech 8 long before 9-14 were composed, and it
  became separated when that section was
  inserted.... Throughout Malachi there is a strong
  sense of Israels election as Gods people, bound
  to his service in a covenant relationship. The
  tone is set by Mal 1.2, I have loved you, and
  it is continued in 2.5ff. 3.1 and elsewhere in
  language very reminiscent of Deuteronomy....
  Collins, 81

58
6. Principles of Organization Malachi

• B. The main point of Malachi is an idea that has
  been developed throughout The Twelve, namely,
  that Jerusalem is a holy city, destined to be the
  world center of a universal worship of the Lord
  by all the nations. According to Malachi, the
  fulfillment of this ideal is still impeded by the
  unworthy behavior of the priests in the temple,
  the very place where Gods name should be honored
  most. Collins, 81

59
6. Principles of Organization Malachi

• C. ...Malachi also brings us back to the themes
  and languages which were dominant at the very
  start of The Twelve. This is evident in the use
  of the father-son relationship as an image of the
  relationship between God and Israel (Mal 1.6-7
  and Hos 11.1-1), and in the fact that both appeal
  to the need for covenant faithfulness in
  marriage, though in slightly different ways (Mal
  2.13-16 and Hos 2.14-19). Collins, 81

60
6. Principles of Organization Malachi

• D. Mal 4.2-3 The effect of giving the book such
  an ending was that the whole weight of the
  assembled twelve prophets were harnessed and
  redirected towards sustaining the faith and
  religious fervor of the God-fearing minority in
  Judah during the decades before the arrival of
  Nehemiah and Ezra. Indeed the book of The Twelve
  can be said to have played its part in preparing
  the ground for the success of Ezras reforms in
  so far as it provided a source of inspiration to
  those who spoke with one another and put their
  names to the religious pact which seems to be
  referred to in Mal 3.16. Collins, 83

61
6. Principles of Organization Malachi

• E. The End One of the implicit purposes behind
  the production of The Twelve was to use the
  prophets in support of the call to stricter
  observance of the Law. This is made explicitly in
  the closing verses of Malachi, which probably
  date from the time of Ezra, Remember the law of
  my servant Moses, the statutes and ordinances
  that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel
  (Mal 4.4). Collins, 84