Israel in the Latter Prophets

This volume explores how the prophetic books of the Hebrew Bible conceptualize “Israel” from the eighth century B.C.E. to the Hellenistic era. Moving beyond the question of the emergence of a pan-Israelite identity, the contributions trace the transformations of concepts of Israel and reveal both their unity and diversity.

The volume – which traces back to a conference held in Tübingen in September 2024 – examines the various concepts of Israel in the prophetical writings of the Hebrew Bible. The individual articles focus on different aspects of this topic within the books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the Minor Prophets, thereby covering a broad range of the literary history of the Hebrew Bible from the eighth century B.C.E. down to the Hellenistic period. This chronological breadth reveals the shifts in the use of the term “Israel” across time and literary contexts. The genre of written prophecy makes these texts especially apt for comparative studies of concepts contained in them and for showing the specifics of individual prophetic writings. Accordingly, the present volume moves beyond the question of when and where the concept of pan-Israel emerged, and it does not limit itself to the study of the use of the term “Israel.” The result is a picture of both the remarkable unity of biblical prophetic literature in its focus on the fate of the people of Israel and the diversity and multifunctionality of the concepts of Israel through which that concern finds expression.

I. Israel in Prophecy
Jan Rückl und Zdeňka Špiclová: The Fate of Israel as a Major Theme of Hebrew Prophetic Literature: An Evolutionary Perspective
II. Israel in Isaiah
Konrad Schmid: "His Anger Has Not Turned Away": The Extension of the Judgment on Israel from Amos to Isaiah - Hugh G. M. Williamson: The Collocation of Jacob and Israel in Isaiah - Martin Leuenberger: The Personified Lady Zion as a New Concept of Israel in Isaiah 40-62
III. Israel in Jeremiah
Ruth Ebach: The Remembered, Present, and Future Israel: Reflections on Samaria in the Book of Jeremiah - Reinhard Müller: Israel and Jacob, Rachel and Ephraim in the "Book of Consolation" (Jer 30:1-31:27): The Northern Kingdom or YHWH's People? - Friederike Neumann: The "God of Israel" in the Book of Jeremiah
IV. Israel in Ezekiel
Markus Saur: More Than New Heart and New Spirit: Unclean Land and Cleansed People in Ezekiel 36 - Tova Ganzel: Exploring Ezekiel's Lexical Diversity: Synonyms, Context, and Literary Unity
V. Israel in the Minor Prophets
Jakob Wöhrle: The "Two Houses of Israel" in the Book of the Twelve - Joachim J. Krause: "Joseph" for "Israel": Political Entities and Collective Identities in Amos - Kristin Tröndle: Zion Clothed as Samaria: The Rhetorical Function of "Samaria" and the "House of Israel" in Amos 6:1-7 - Ehud Ben Zvi: Within and Beyond the Prophetic Corpus: The Implied Concept of "Israel" in the Metaprophetic Book of Jonah - Ideology, Society, and the Core Textual Repertoire of the Literati of Its Time - James D. Nogalski: Conceptualizations of Israel in Micah: Surveying Epithets, Perspectives, and Concepts - Anselm C. Hagedorn: Trying to Perform on a Global Stage: Constructing "Israelite" Identity in the Book of Zephaniah - Alicia Hein: Jacob and the YHWH-Fearers: A Rhetorical Redefinition of "Israel" in the Composition of the Book of Malachi

• Edited by Jan Rückl
• Edited by Kristin Tröndle
• Edited by Jakob Wöhrle