Introduction to Bible
Author and Title The first verse of the book identifies it as the work of Amos, one of “the shepherds of Tekoa.” Nothing else is known about Amos apart from what he says about himself in 7:14–15. There Amos insists that he is not a prophet by profession,
Introduction to Bible
Title and Author “Joel, the son of Pethuel,” whose name means “Yahweh is God,” gives the book its title. Little is known of Joel except what is learned from the book itself. His references to Judah (3:1, 6, 8, 18, 19, 20) and Jerusalem (2:32; 3:1, 6,
Introduction to Bible
Author and Title The opening verse, “The word of the Lord that came to Hosea, the son of Beeri,” identifies Hosea with other OT prophets and follows the same general pattern of naming the book after its author (cf. Joel 1:1;Jonah 1:1; Mic. 1:1; Zeph. 1:
Introduction to Bible
Author and Title The book of Daniel, named after and written by Daniel in the sixth century b.c., records the events of his life and the visions that he saw from the time of his exile in 605 (1:1) until the third year of King Cyrus (536; 10:
Introduction to Bible
Author and Title Ezekiel is both the name of the sixth-century b.c. prophet and the title of the book that records his preaching. Ezekiel’s name (Hb. Yekhezqe’l) means “God strengthens” or “May God strengthen,” appropriate for a prophet called to proclaim a message of uncompromising judgment and
Introduction to Bible
Author and Title In the Hebrew Bible, Lamentations is called Ekah (“How”), after the first word in the book. This word occurs in 1:1, 2:1, and 4:1 to emphasize how much Jerusalem has suffered. The book does not identify its author, which should keep interpreters from unnecessarily
Introduction to Bible
Author and Title Determining the authorship of the book of Jeremiah is complicated by several factors: the variety of types of literature found in the book, the differences between the Hebrew and Greek versions of the book, and the difficult lives Jeremiah and his scribe Baruch lived. However, these complications
Introduction to Bible
Author and Title The opening words of the book explain that this is “the vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz” (1:1). Unlike Jeremiah, who discloses aspects of his inner personal life (e.g., Jer. 20:7–12), Isaiah says little about himself. Isaiah 6 records his call to
Introduction to Bible
Author and Date The questions of who wrote the Song of Solomon, when it was written, how to read it properly, and what it means as part of Scripture are intertwined, and have occasioned many disagreements. Jews and Christians have traditionally taken 1:1 (“The Song of Songs, which is
Introduction to Bible
Author, Title, and Date The traditional English title comes from the book’s heading in the Latin Vulgate translation (Liber Ecclesiastes) and is an anglicized version of the Greek and Latin renderings of the speaker’s designation in Ecclesiastes 1:1 (Gk. ekklēsiastēs; Hb. Qoheleth). The Hebrew word is related
Introduction to Bible
Author and Date Proverbs itself mentions Solomon (reigned c. 971–931 b.c.) as author or collector of its contents (1:1; 10:1), including the proverbs copied by Hezekiah’s men (25:1). There are also two batches of sayings from a group called “the wise” (22:17–24:
Introduction to Bible
Title The book of Psalms, or Psalter, has supplied to believers some of their best-loved Bible passages. It is a collection of 150 poems that express a wide variety of emotions, including: love and adoration toward God, sorrow over sin, dependence on God in desperate circumstances, the battle of fear