Prophetic Literature: An Introduction

Rating:
Summary: A good introduction
Review: Petersen gives a really good basic introduction to the Prophets and a great help in understanding the nature of prophetic literature. He also gives a basic overview of the major issues in each of the prophetic books (Isaiah thru Malachi). A very good reference.

Rating:
Summary: An emphasis upon genre in the prophets
Review: Petersen has written an interesting guide to the prophetic literature of the Hebrew Bible. The emphasis of this work, as the title clearly indicates, is on literature rather than the prophets themselves. A general overview of each prophetic book is provided but the author's major focus is upon literary units. With an emphasis on literature comes a de-emphasis on the author. Petersen's stress is upon genre, especially prose versus poetry. Literary analysis is used to determine suggestions about setting (e.g. laments), authorship, and message.

The author mentions key findings from critical schools in his discussion of each biblical book. The weight is given to form criticism followed by redaction criticism, tradition history and social-science criticism, all methodologies that result in the segmentation of the text. Though quite conversant with rhetorical features of the text the author places much less emphasis upon methods that often promote a greater textual unity like rhetorical criticism or canon criticism. For Petersen the focus of each book (Zion in Isaiah, lament in Jeremiah; glory in Ezekiel and the Day of the Lord as an emphasis in The Book of the Twelve) helps with the analysis of smaller units in a text that developed over time.

I recommend this book for any serious student of the prophets. It provides insight into current scholarly concerns about the growth of the Old Testament literature. The strength of the book is its focus on various genres in the prophets while much less will be gleaned about the prophets themselves. Petersen is very conversant with current scholarly trends and provides helpful summaries along the way.