BASC50027 - The Major Prophets of the Hebrew Bible

Course Description

Beginning with the phenomena of prophecy, this course will study its historical development in the Ancient Near East and its literary development in the Bible. The prophetic role in ancient Israel was galvanized by the crises of the Assyrian conquest of the Northern Kingdom in the 8th century BCE and the Babylonian conquest of Judah and Jerusalem a little more than a century later. In these critical days of the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah, the Hebrew prophets engage in surprising political reasoning and express astounding imaginary literature. These prophets call for social justice, lament apocalyptic devastation, and predict theocratic utopia through messianic and nationalist leadership, all of which develop into significant themes in Western Civilization. In this three quarter sequence, we will read "The Book of Isaiah" in the Autumn Quarter, "Jeremiah" in the Winter, and "Ezekiel" in the Spring.