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The Prophets (Perennial Classics) Paperback – October 16, 2001
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"This book has monumental stature. It is fresh and vivid. . . aflame with prophetic vision." —James Muilenburg
From the author of Man is Not Alone and God in Search of Man, comes Abraham Heschel's 1962 masterpiece of Biblical scholarship, The Prophets.
Abraham J. Heschel's The Prophets, originally published in 1962, provides a unique opportunity for readers of the Old Testament, both Christian and Jewish, to gain fresh and deep knowledge of Israel’s prophetic movement. The book includes detailed examinations of the stories of the prophets Amos, Hosea, Isahiah, Micah, Jeremiah, as well as explorations of the theology and philosophy of pathos, the theory of ecstasy in modern religious scholarship, an excavation of the relationship between prophecy and psychosis, and a comparative view of prophets throughout the world. Heschel's project is excavate and examine the consciousness of the prophets: not just the content of their prophecies, but the type of faith-based experience they personified.
Heschel's exegetical skill and profound understanding of the prophets opens the door to new insight into the philosophy of religion - a wonderful text for anyone interested in the dialectic of the divine-human encounter.
- Print length704 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherHarper Perennial Modern Classics
- Publication dateOctober 16, 2001
- Dimensions8.06 x 5.3 x 1.22 inches
- ISBN-100060936991
- ISBN-13978-0060936990
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“This book has monumental stature. It is fresh and vivid…aflame with prophetic vision.” — James Muilenburg, scholar on the Revised Standard Version of the Bible
“A brilliant study of the Hebrew prophets, one of the most penetrating works…[of] our time.” — Will Herberg, Jewish theologian
"[The author] has here given us the fruits of his mature reflection and study. Moreover, since he writes with a lucid, engaging style, the result is a book that is not only important but is certain to be read widely, and with pleasure." — John Bright, American biblical scholar
From the Back Cover
Abraham Heschel is a seminal name in religious studies and the author of Man Is Not Alone and God in Search of Man. When The Prophets was first published in 1962, it was immediately recognized as a masterpiece of biblical scholarship.
The Prophets provides a unique opportunity for readers of the Old Testament, both Christian and Jewish, to gain fresh and deep knowledge of Israel's prophetic movement. The author's profound understanding of the prophets also opens the door to new insight into the philosophy of religion.
About the Author
Abraham J. Heschel (1907-1972), born in Poland, moved to the United States in 1940. A professor at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York, Heschel became an active and well-known participant in the Civil Rights movement and the protests against the Vietnam War.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
The Prophets
By Heschel, Abraham JoshuaPerennial
Copyright © 2004 Abraham J. HeschelAll right reserved.
ISBN: 0060936991
Chapter One
What Manner of Man Is the Prophet?
Sensitivity to Evil
What manner of man is the prophet? A student of philosophy who turns from the discourses of the great metaphysicians to the orations of the prophets may feel as if he were going from the realm of the sublime to an area of trivialities. Instead of dealing with the timeless issues of being and becoming, of matter and form, of definitions and demonstrations, he is thrown into orations about widows and orphans, about the corruption of judges and affairs of the market place. Instead of showing us a way through the elegant mansions of the mind, the prophets take us to the slums. The world is a proud place, full of beauty, but the prophets are scandalized, and rave as if the whole world were a slum. They make much ado about paltry things, lavishing excessive language upon trifling subjects. What if somewhere in ancient Palestine poor people have not been treated properly by the rich? So what if some old women found pleasure and edification in worshiping "the Queen of Heaven"? Why such immoderate excitement? Why such intense indignation?
The things that horrified the prophets are even now daily occurrences all over the world. There is no society to which Amos' words would not apply.
Hear this, you who trample upon the needy,
And bring the poor of the land to an end,
Saying: When will the new moon be over
That we may sell grain?
And the Sabbath,
That we may offer wheat for sale,
That we may make the ephah small and the shekel great,
And deal deceitfully with false balances,
That we may buy the poor for silver,
And the needy for a pair of sandals,
And sell the refuse of the wheat?
Amos 8:4-6
Indeed, the sort of crimes and even the amount of delinquency that fill the prophets of Israel with dismay do not go beyond that which we regard as normal, as typical ingredients of social dynamics. To us a single act of injustice -- cheating in business, exploitation of the poor -- is slight; to the prophets, a disaster. To us injustice is injurious to the welfare of the people; to the prophets it is a deathblow to existence: to us, an episode; to them, a catastrophe, a threat to the world.
Their breathless impatience with injustice may strike us as hysteria. We ourselves witness continually acts of injustice, manifestations of hypocrisy, falsehood, outrage, misery, but we rarely grow indignant or overly excited. To the prophets even a minor injustice assumes cosmic proportions.
The Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob:
Surely I will never forget any of their deeds.
Shall not the land tremble on this account,
And every one mourn who dwells in it,
And all of it rise like the Nile,
Be tossed about and sink again, like the Nile of Egypt?
Amos 8:7-8
Be appalled, O heavens, at this,
Be shocked, be utterly desolate, says the Lord.
For My people have committed two evils:
They have forsaken Me,
The fountain of living waters,
And hewed out cisterns for themselves,
Broken cisterns,
That can hold no water.
Jeremiah 2:12-13
They speak and act as if the sky were about to collapse because Israel has become unfaithful to God.
Is not the vastness of their indignation and the vastness of God's anger in disproportion to its cause? How should one explain such moral and religious excitability, such extreme impetuosity?
It seems incongruous and absurd that because of some minor acts of injustice inflicted on the insignificant, powerless poor, the glorious city of Jerusalem should be destroyed and the whole nation go to exile. Did not the prophet magnify the guilt?
The prophet's words are outbursts of violent emotions. His rebuke is harsh and relentless. But if such deep sensitivity to evil is to be called hysterical, what name should be given to the abysmal indifference to evil which the prophet bewails?
They drink wine in bowls,
And anoint themselves with the finest oils,
But they are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph!
Amos 6:6
The niggardliness of our moral comprehensions, the incapacity to sense the depth of misery caused by our own failures, is a fact which no subterfuge can elude. Our eyes are witness to the callousness and cruelty of man, but our heart tries to obliterate the memories, to calm the nerves, and to silence our conscience.
The prophet is a man who feels fiercely. God has thrust a burden upon his soul, and he is bowed and stunned at man's fierce greed. Frightful is the agony of man; no human voice can convey its full terror. Prophecy is the voice that God has lent to the silent agony, a voice to the plundered poor, to the profaned riches of the world. It is a form of living, a crossing point of God and man. God is raging in the prophet's words.
The Importance of Trivialities
"Human affairs are hardly worth considering in earnest, and yet we must be in earnest about them -- a sad necessity constrains us," says Plato in a mood of melancholy. He apologizes later for his "low opinion of mankind" which, he explains, emerged from comparing men with the gods. "Let us grant, if you wish, that the human race is not to be despised, but is worthy of some considerations."
"The gods attend to great matters; they neglect small ones," Cicero maintains. According to Aristotle, the gods are not concerned at all with the dispensation of good and bad fortune or external things. To the prophet, however, no subject is as worthy of consideration as the plight of man. Indeed, God Himself is described as reflecting over the plight of man rather than as contemplating eternal ideas. His mind is preoccupied with man, with the concrete actualities of history rather than with the timeless issues of thought. In the prophet's message...
Continues...Excerpted from The Prophetsby Heschel, Abraham Joshua Copyright © 2004 by Abraham J. Heschel. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Product details
- Publisher : Harper Perennial Modern Classics (October 16, 2001)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 704 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0060936991
- ISBN-13 : 978-0060936990
- Item Weight : 2.31 pounds
- Dimensions : 8.06 x 5.3 x 1.22 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #23,672 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author
Abraham Joshua Heschel (1907-72), one of the foremost Jewish savants of our time, was internationally known as scholar, author, activist, and theologian.
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The book is divided into two parts. The first half is composed of chapters which are general commentaries on the individual books of the pre-exilic prophets (Dr. Herschel also covers the second half is Isaiah which he dates as post-exilic). The second half contains chapters of topical discussions probing the prophetic mindset and culminating in a defense of the Hebrew prophetic revelation as an unprecedented and incomparable ancient phenomenon.
Highly recommended for the in-depth Bible reader
One is also able to see, through Heschel's eyes, the tremendous love of God for these same people and even though they bring their troubles on themselves, God is always compassionate, forgiving, and eternally loving.
Abraham Heschel's writings are not only profound and moving but also written in a flowing prose style that attracts the modern reader.
I heartily recommend this book to fans of Heschel as well as to those who might see the Old Testament as a book of judgment and condemnation. Heschel will cure you of that.
He also looks at the difficult job that a prophet has: speaking to people who do not want to hear, and then pronouncing punishment which his friends and countrymen will need to endure. Through this analysis one looks at the problem of evil and how a loving God could punish people and allow tragedy. The book helps us to realize that it is not loving for God to be silent, as we often are, in the face of unending and widespread injustice. Injustice is just as important as our traditional sins. Herschel has passed away but the book has been reprinted and is something that any serious reader of the Bible should look at.
Top reviews from other countries
Pour les prophètes, l'essence de la religion ce n'est pas un rituel ou un autre, mais c'est l'indignation contre l'injustice, l'engagement contre la corruption et les abus de pouvoirs, la lutte contre l'indifférence.
L'engagement d'Heschel dans le mouvement des droits civiques de Martin Luther King en tant qu'acte religieux illustre parfaitement cette tradition prophétique.
Je trouve aberrant que ce livre ne soit pas encore traduit en Francais... Triste signe des temps ou les grenouilles de bénitiers de toutes religion s'aiment de haïr ensemble!