J. M. Powis Smith (1866–1932)

Sometimes the path you take really is more important than the destination.

This book, written in the 1920s and revised in the 1940s, at times has the air of a work in progress. The 1940s edition all but throws up its hands at the problems of Ezekiel, and has some trouble with other books such as Third Isaiah and Joel. These are problems of literary criticism. Similarly, we have discovered much about the history of the ancient Near East since it was written, and this has led to some loose ends.

And yet, for all that it is dated, and limited, and full of holes, it strikes me as a very solid book. The idea is simple: Take the various prophetic writings (primarily the writing prophets; relatively little attention is paid to figures such as Samuel and Elijah and Elisha) in the order they wrote, and put their work in historical context. Not just the Biblical context, but also the context of Israelite and Assyrian and Egyptian and Babylonian and Persian and Macedonian history.

The relative brevity of this book means that this cannot be done fully. The immense wealth of detail in the Book of Daniel and the Maccabean period is passed over quite quickly, for instance. But there is always something to connect the writing with the facts of its time.

It should be noted that this is not at all a literalist reading. For instance, Smith and Irwin consider Isaiah to have been written by four major sources (responsible for most of chapters 1-39, 40-55, 56-66, and 24-27), plus additions. Zechariah has two authors. Micah wrote only three chapters of his book. And so forth. If you believe in inerrancy and providential preservation, this book will probably drive you nuts. But if you want to see the prophets in their full and majestic glory -- or, indeed, if you are a non-Christian who wants to see what all the fuss is about and are willing to learn some ancient history -- this is a fine place to start. There is a lot more to learn. But, even after three-quarters of a century, much of what is written here stands up.… (más)