Descripture Pictures--Its Great Theme--Caution in Respect to the Spiritual Interpretation
of it
CHAPTER XXII.
The Greater Prophets. 1. General Remarks on the Prophetical Writings--2. Different
Offices of the Prophets under the Theocracy--Their Office as Reprovers--3. As
Expounders of the Mosaic Law in its Spirituality--4. And of its End, which was Salvation
through the Future Redeemer--They wrote in the Decline of the Theocracy--Their
Promises fulfilled only in Christ--I. _Isaiah_--5. He is the First in Order, but not the
Earliest of the Prophets--His Private History almost wholly Unknown--Jewish Tradition
Concerning him--Period of his Prophetic Activity--6. Two Great Divisions of his
Prophecies--Plans for Classifying the Contents of the First Part--Analysis of these
Contents--General Character of the Second Part, and View of its Contents--7. Objections
to the Genuineness of the Last Part of Isaiah and Certain Other Parts--General Principle
on which these Objections are to be met--Previous Preparation for the Revelations
contained in this Part--True Significance of the Promises which it contains--Form of
these Promises--Mention of Cyrus by Name--Objection from the Character of the Style
considered--8. Direct Arguments for the Genuineness of this Part--External Testimony;
Internal Evidences--9. Genuineness of the Disputed Passages of the First Part--II.
_Jeremiah_--10. Contrast between Isaiah and Jeremiah in Personal Character and
Circumstances--Our Full Knowledge of his Outward Personal History and Inward
Conflicts--11. His Priestly Descent--His Native Place--Period of his Prophetic
Activity--Degeneracy of the Age--Persecutions to which his Fidelity subjected him--He is
more occupied than Isaiah with the Present--His Mission is emphatically to unfold the
Connection between National Profligacy and National Ruin; yet he sometimes describes
the Glory of the Latter Days--12. The Chronological Order not always followed in his
Prophecies--General Divisions of them--First Division; Second Division;
Appendix--Attempts to disprove the Genuineness of Certain Parts of Jeremiah--_The
Book of Lamentations_--13. Its Hebrew Name--Its Authorship and the Time of its
Composition--14. Structure of its Poetry--III. _Ezekiel_--15. His Priestly Descent and
Residence--Notices of his Personal History--Period of his Prophetic Activity--16.
Peculiarities of his Style--17. His Allegoric and Symbolic Representations--General
Remarks on the Nature of Allegories and Symbols--18. The Two Divisions of the
Book--Contents of the First Part; of the Second Part--Prophecies against Foreign
Nations--Promises relating to the Glory of the Latter Days--Ezekiel's Vision of a New
Jerusalem with its Temple--Meaning of this Vision and Principles according to which it
is to be interpreted--IV. _Daniel_--19. Its Place in the Hebrew Canon--Notices of
Daniel's Personal History--20. Arrangement and Contents of the Book--First Series of
Prophecies; Second Series--Intimate Connection between the Book of Daniel and the
Apocalypse--21. Assaults made upon the Book of Daniel in Respect to its Genuineness
and Credibility--Grounds on which it is received as a Part of the Sacred Canon--Its Unity;
Uniform Tradition of the Jews and its Reliability; Testimony of Josephus; of the Saviour;
Language and Style; Intimate Acquaintance with the Historical Relations and Manners
and Customs of the Age--22. Insufficiency of the Various Objections urged against the
Book--Chronological and Historical Difficulties; Difficulties connected with the
Identification of Belshazzar and Darius the Mede; Silence of Jesus the Son of Sirach
respecting Daniel; Alleged Linguistic Difficulties; Commendations bestowed upon
Daniel--The Real Objection to the Book on the Part of its Opponents lies in the
Supernatural Character of the Events which it records--Remarks on this Objection
CHAPTER XXIII.
THE TWELVE MINOR PROPHETS--1. Jewish Arrangement of these Books--Their
Order in the Masoretic Text and in the Alexandrine Version--2. General Remarks on their
Character I. _Hosea_--3. Period of his Prophecying and its Character--4. Peculiarly of his
Style--Contents of the Book II. _Joel_--5. Place and Date of his Prophecies--6. Character
and Contents of his Book--III. _Amos_--7. Date of his Prophecies--Notices of his
Person--He was a Jew, not trained in any Prophetical School, and sent to prophesy
against Israel--Character and Contents of his Writings--IV. _Obadiah_--8. Date and
Contents of his Prophecy--V. _Jonah_--9. His Age--10. Remarks on the History of the
Book--11. Authorship and Historic Truth of the Book--VI. _Micah_--12. His Residence
and the Time of his Prophetic Activity--His Prophecies directed against both Israel and
Judah--13. Divisions of the Book with the Contents of Each--Passages Common to Micah
and Isaiah--General Agreement between the Two Prophets--VII. _Nahum_--14. His
Prophecy directed against Nineveh--Its Probable Date--15. Contents of the Book--VIII.
_Habakkuk_--16. Date of the Book and its Contents--Remarks on the Ode contained in
the Third Chapter--IX. _Zephaniah_--17. Date and Contents of his Book--X.
_Haggai_--18. Date and Scope of the Book--19. Its Different Messages--XI.
_Zechariah_--20. His Priestly Descent--Date of his Prophecies--21. The Three Divisions
of the Book--First Division; Second Division; Third Division--22. Remarks on the
Character of Zechariah's Prophecies--XII. _Malachi_--23. Name of this Prophet--Date of
his Prophecies, and Condition of the Jewish People--24 Contents of the Book
APPENDIX TO
PART II.
THE APOCRYPHAL BOOKS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT--1. The Term Apocrypha
and its Origin--2. Remarks on the Date of the Apocryphal Books--Their Reception by the
Alexandrine Jews--3. History of these Books in
Continue reading on your phone by scaning this QR Code
Tip: The current page has been bookmarked automatically. If you wish to continue reading later, just open the
Dertz Homepage, and click on the 'continue reading' link at the bottom of the page.