Old Testament
The Major Prophets
The longer prophetic books · Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel
These books are long, sustained works of prophetic imagination confronting the collapse of Judah and the shock of exile.
They hold judgment and consolation together and reach forward toward messianic hope and cosmic renewal.
Period
Ministries span from the 8th c. BCE (Isaiah of Jerusalem) through the exile (Jeremiah, Ezekiel) into the Persian period. Daniel's visions are set in the 6th c. BCE; its final form is disputed.
Themes
- The holiness of God and the failure of the nation
- Exile as loss and as purification
- The suffering servant and the messianic hope
- New covenant, new heart, new spirit
- Apocalyptic vision and the reign to come
Traditional Authorship
Talmudic tradition (Bava Batra 15a) says Hezekiah and his court wrote Isaiah, and that Jeremiah wrote his own book plus Kings and Lamentations; Ezekiel and the Twelve were 'written' — that is, edited and canonised — by the Men of the Great Assembly, and Daniel by the same circle. Christian tradition treats each book as substantially the work of its named prophet.
Modern Scholarly Proposals
Critical scholarship divides Isaiah into 'First Isaiah' (Isaiah of Jerusalem, chs. 1–39, 8th c. BCE), 'Second Isaiah' (chs. 40–55, an exilic prophet, 6th c. BCE) and 'Third Isaiah' (chs. 56–66, early Persian period). Jeremiah is seen as an oracles-and-narrative collection edited by Baruch and later Deuteronomistic hands. Ezekiel is largely credited to the prophet but redacted by his disciples. Daniel is dated to the Maccabean crisis (c. 165 BCE) on the basis of its Aramaic, apocalyptic form, and detailed accuracy about the Hellenistic period.
The Books
5 booksClick any title to open it in the reader at chapter 1.
- Isaiah66 ch
Isaiah of Jerusalem c. 740–700 BCE, with Assyria rising. Chs. 40–66 often dated to exile and return, 6th–5th c.
Yeshayahu, fifth of the Prophets, known for visions of universal peace. He rebukes Israel for abandoning God and for corruption, calls for change, and warns the nations. The last third comforts: return to Jerusalem and redemption.
- Jeremiah52 ch
c. 626–586 BCE and the years after Jerusalem’s fall, as Babylon rose.
Yirmiyahu, sixth of the Prophets. He denounces idolatry and moral collapse in Judah, warns of the First Temple’s destruction, and is rejected, imprisoned, threatened, and tortured. Symbolic acts mark the book (no marriage; the broken jar in the Valley of Hinnom; the field bought at Anathoth). With the gloom come consolation and a new covenant written on the heart — hope in God’s faithfulness to the people.
- Lamentations5 ch
Soon after Jerusalem’s fall in 586 BCE. Talmud attributes it to Jeremiah.
Eikhah, a megillah read on Tisha B’Av. Five poems lament the First Temple’s ruin and Judah’s exile, and wrestle with why it happened. Mourning is not hurried; at the center: “his mercies are new every morning.”
- Ezekiel48 ch
c. 593–571 BCE among the exiles in Babylon, during the First Temple’s destruction.
Yechezkel, seventh of the Prophets. He acts out oracles — bound with cord, hair shaved — and speaks of life without a Temple and of each person’s responsibility. Glory departs and returns; dry bones live; the book ends with a future Temple in detail.
- Daniel12 ch
Set from late First Temple into early Second Temple, in Babylon; court tales in Aramaic. Final form often placed c. 165 BCE.
Writings, not Prophets, in the Hebrew Bible. Daniel, a Jewish advisor to Babylonian kings, interprets dreams and survives the lions’ den. The second half is visions of empires falling and the end of days.