Religious Studies | Prophecy in Ancient Israel
A315 | 28568 | E. Mroczek
In this course, we examine the phenomenon of prophecy in ancient Israel. How was the
idea of divine inspiration and revelation expressed in the prophetic texts of the Hebrew
Bible and related texts, including the major prophetic figures such as Isaiah, Jeremiah, and
Ezekiel? How did this phenomenon emerge in the context of Ancient Near Eastern culture
and society, and how did its expression and interpretation change over the course of
ancient Jewish history? How was prophetic inspiration and divine revelation expressed
through the figures of prophets, wise men, and apocalyptic visionaries, in both biblical and
non-biblical texts from Jewish antiquity?
While we will focus on reading and understanding the ancient texts, we will also place
Israelite prophecy in a comparative context, asking whether claims to divine inspiration
and communication in other cultures (including non-Western and contemporary religious
communities) can give us insight into this phenomenon.