This volume is an inquiry into the complex relationship of the prophetic texts and Israelite history. Taken as a whole, the book provides a "round-table" discussion that examines the thesis that the study of prophetic literature (i.e., Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the Twelve) and the history of Israel are best undertaken in interaction with one another. This topic appropriately honors John Hayes's long-standing scholarly contributions in prophetic interpretation and historical research, as well as his interest in the possibilities of the intersection of these two areas. The volume also promises to contribute to the body of knowledge about prophets and Israel's past in general by affording twenty-four historians and prophetic scholars the opportunity to explore their areas of interest in fresh ways while in dialogue with a central thesis. All twenty-four contributors have engaged John's ideas about prophets and/or history as students, colleagues, or in their research and publications. Thus, the question of what impact the fields of prophetic research and Israelite history can and should have on one another unites the articles. The book's individual parts, however, are contributions of historians and prophetic scholars who enter the discussion from their own perspectives and examine the possibilities and problems of the intersection of these two topics. The articles from historians will focus on questions about the usefulness of prophetic texts for reconstructing Israel's history, and will also branch out and address topics such as the social location of the prophets and the benefits of other ancient texts, as well as archaeology, to understanding the prophets. Scholars coming from the prophetic "side" will offer different perspectives on prophetic identity, experience, and rhetoric, and their possible correlations with historical contexts. These articles will engage broad issues such as how history may form the "context of prophets' thought" (to quote contributor J. Gordon McConville), and will explore specific texts and issues drawn from Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea, Amos, Zechariah, along with Daniel and Deuteronomy.

Front Matter Brad E. Kelle and Megan Bishop Moore, Editorial Preface Part One: The Prophets: History as Worldview and Context J. Gordon McConville, "'How Shall Jacob Stand? He is So Small': The Prophetic Word and the Re-creation of Israel"; Ehud Ben Zvi, "De-historization and Historization in Prophetic Books"; Sara Mandell, "Insiders, Outsiders, and the World of the Prophets"; Carol A. Newsom, "The Book of Daniel and Apocalyptic Historiography"; Brad E. Kelle, "The Prophet as Rhetorical Orator? Earlier Analogies and New Metaphors for Ancient Israelite Prophets"; Yehoshua Gitay, "Biblical Rhetoric: Reconsidered," Abstract TBA Part Two: The Prophets: Texts, Contexts, and HistoryJ. J. M. Roberts, "Isaiah's Oracles on Egypt and Cush in Their Historical Setting"; Philip Davies, "The Politics of the Servant"; Marvin Sweeney, "The Royal Oracle In Ezekiel 37:15-28: Ezekiel's Reflection On Josiah's Reform"; Julie Galambush, "The Not-so-secret Identity of Gog"; Alice W. Hunt; Stuart A. Irvine, "Relating Prophetic Texts and History: Examples from Hosea"; Peggy Day; Susan Haddox, "May His Soldiers Become Women: The Play of Gender in Hosea and its Political Implications"; Gene Tucker, "Amos in Historical Context"; Marc Zvi Brettler, "Redaction, History, and Redaction-History of Amos in Recent Scholarship"; Bob Becking, "Zechariah 4 and Early Post-Exilic History"; Part Three: The Prophets: Historical Method and ReceptionJ. Maxwell Miller; Megan Bishop Moore, "The Prophets - Israel's Earliest Historians?"; Jeffrey K. Kuan, "Problems and Issues in Interpreting the Neo-Assyrian Eponym Chronicles and Their Implications for the Study of Prophetic Literature."; Brent A. Strawn, "Herodotus' History 2.141 and the Deliverance of Jerusalem: On Parallels, Sources, and Histories of Ancient Israel"; Oded Borowski, "The Biblical mzrq - What Is It?"; David Petersen, "The Ambiguous Role of Moses as Prophet"; Martin J. Buss, "The Place of Hebrew Prophets in Macrohistory" A Select Bibliography of John H. Hayes (Kelle and Moore) End Matter