Introduction
Six books (Joshua, Judges, 1st & 2nd Samuel, 1st & 2nd Kings) form what is called the Former Prophets in the Hebrew Bible and what is called “the books of history” by many Christians. The word ‘history’, however, is somewhat limiting since these books contain more than just history. I will use the name “former prophets” to avoid that misunderstanding and to remind us that these books were seen as ‘prophetic’ in the later life of Israel.
Joshua, Judges, 1st & 2nd Samuel, and 1st & 2nd Kings tell the story of the people of Israel from their entry into the promised land to their expulsion from it many centuries later (721 BCE for the Northern Kingdom and 587 BCE for the Southern Kingdom).
These books presuppose that obedience to the Lord brings blessing, while disobedience brings disaster. This is a perspective shared with the book of Deuteronomy. Noting this and other shared elements, many scholars refer to the Former Prophets and Deuteronomy jointly as the Deuteronomic History.
We will not look at these books in depth. In stead, I will provide a broad overview of their contents and focus on a few passages as examples of the kinds of stories found in this body of literature. I will also address a number of historical questions raised by the texts.
The Former Prophets and the Nature of Israelite Prophecy
In the Jewish canon (the Tanak) these books are treated as prophecy. What does it indicate about the nature of Israelite prophecy that narrative books like these can be considered prophecy?
A prophet, in Israel’s religious tradition, was not so much a predictor of the future as a reader of the present. That is to say, a prophet was one who could look at society critically and imagine an alternative present, a more just society, and proclaim that alternative reality in the name of God.
The authors of the books we are now considering were prophets in this sense. They looked at their own history and judged that a particular lesson was needed to insure God’s blessing. They tell the story of the history of Israel as a form of sermon to that society, and their central message is clear: If you are faithful to the covenant, God will bless the nation, but if you are unfaithful, God’s blessing will be lost. It will not go well with you in the land. This is the perspective of the speeches of Moses in Deuteronomy.
- Overview of Joshua and Judges
- The Conquest of Canaan / Inheriting the Promised Land
- Overview of the Books of Samuel
- The Emergence of the Hebrew State (Centralized Government)
- The Reign of David and Solomon
- Overview of the Books of Kings
- The Divided Kingdom
- Summary and Conclusions: The Deuteronomist’s Perspective