A deep, thorough dive into the unique position and calling of the prophets of Israel, that of communicating God's pathos (concern for man's situation), warnings and love to the people, priests and kings. Heschel distinguishes the prophets from mystics, seers, oracles and diviners within and outside of Israel. Ultimately, God is "not the object of man's quest, but He Who is in search of man" (p. 266, The Prophets, II). It all starts with God's concern and care for people. The prophets of Israel were caught between. The prophet was not just delivering a telegram from above. The totality of his being was invested in conveying His message, out of deepest sympathy for God and consuming concern for the people.

This is a brilliant exploration of the prophets of the Old Testament, the nature of their experience and what it is they had to say. However, the latter section of the book hangs out in an area that now feels a bit dated, making arguments about psychology and the nature of the consciousness of the prophet That feels like theorizing rather than an explanation from someone who has experienced it.

A preeminent text that furthers the discussion of biblical theory and helps elucidate the lives and meaning of the prophets in the Hebrew Bible.

This first part is solely for the first essay: “What Manner of Man is the Prophet?”

I am rarely amazed by writing anymore, let alone a style that somehow blends prose and poetry so well in an “academic,” hermeneutic form. Heschel is an extraordinary writer, even if I take just the first essay as an example.

There are many forms of writing in the ancient world that people try to understand, copy, study, but the figure of the “prophet” is particularly strange. Even if we took the ancient Jewish prophet, excluding others, the figure is quite strange; we recognize the silhouette of the type, form, figure, but not the source.

Usually? Prophecy (in a Christian, or, perhaps, Greco-Roman sense) is about predicting the future. The “crazy” voice of Cassandra or the tragic figures of Greek plays try to warn, but usually about a destiny locked in stone. In the Christian reading, the Old Testament always anticipates something that is past, present, and future, a mystical secret. Nevertheless, the focus is the telos.

Heschel provides a dramatic glimpse into something wholly different; the prophet is a cup overflowing with feelings of awe, exhaustion, exasperation after communion with the divine. What drives them is the overwhelming, but perhaps too beautiful encounter with the ineffable. Their sense of injustice, their screams, their treason are all justified less in their reason and more in their attempts to express, through poetry, how painful it is to see a people turn away from the source of all their joy, satisfaction, realization, and growth. Like plants turning away from the sun, the prophet yells to turn back, likely knowing their work is in vain, so that people seek the only solution possible in “The One,” as Plato would say. The people turn away from the oasis, leave food behind, and seek riches in ashes rather than the source of all gold.

The prophet is cursed to feel, overwhelmingly, and to not have enough words to express a beauty that feels like a betrayal next to the state of man.

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A shorter review for the essay/chapter “Comparisons and Contrasts”

Heschel provides a pretty good (though it seems he works with a lot of secondary sources and not enough context for each) argument for why the Old Testament God is quite unique compared to the aloofness of the gods in other traditions or even their arbitrary violence. Not entirely convincing though when you consider some passages in the OT like about Eden, Job, and other moments of rebellion and some of the seemingly “arbitrary” injustices perpetrated by God. Likewise, if one takes recent scholarship into consideration, God may have been Yahweh, a god of war and storms, which would make this essay a bit complicated. These texts of the OT were composed in different places and contexts, so the premise of one unified narrative is definitely interesting but maybe specious.

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The central essay, “The Theology of Pathos,” is probably my least favorite so far. In it, Heschel seeks to present a unique perspective of God as a relationship, a presence, a “transitive” one and not a series of attributes. He uses the word “care” to describe God more than once which makes me feel the influence of Heidegger here. That, in itself, is interesting. However, his constant, nagging attack on Platonism and Christian philosophy is a bit specious and one-sided. He seems to argue that God is more than we suspect, not a static series of characteristics and attributes but a present God, and yet denies any categories (nothingness, reason, etc.) only to subsume them all under the concept of pathos. It seems a bit contrived at times, since much of what Heschel says aligns with Hegel, Spinoza, Plato, etc. but maybe the emphasis is different. I still sustain his argument is excellent in presenting and restoring a *unique* understanding of God in ancient times, but the arguments against Christian conceptions of God (which cannot be divorced from Jesus and the implications in that philosophy) makes the argument lopsided and disingenuous, at times.

This is a phenomenal book. Other theologians should take note: Heschel has proven that it is possible to express profound ideas in understandable, even eloquent language. Obscurity is not a measure of the greatness of a book. In addition, Heschel writes unapologetically, but intelligently, from a faith perspective, and avoids the modern error of trying to understand religious faith from a non-faith stance. The big contribution he makes is his understanding of God's pathos, or, more popularly put, God's caring. Heschel contrasts God's pathos with the view of other theologies that God's perfection precludes emotion.

The Prophets by Jewish scholar Abraham Herschel was published in 1962. His daughter, Suzannah Herschel, provides a thoughtful Introduction to her father’s work: “To be a prophet, he writes, is to be in fellowship with the feelings of God, to experience communion with the divine consciousness. The prophet hears God’s voice and looks at the world from God’s perspective.”

In Volume One, Herschel gives an overview of shared characteristics of the major Jewish prophets, followed by detailed chapters for each one: Amos, Hosea, Isaiah, Micah, Jeremiah, Habukkuk, and Second Isaiah. I liked learning about the Jewish perspective of these men.

In Volume Two, Herschel embarks on a lengthy analysis of God’s divine pathos: “the unity of the eternal and the temporal, of meaning and mystery, of the metaphysical and the historical. It is the real basis of the relation between God and man, of the correlation of Creator and creation, of the dialogue between the Holy One of Israel and His people.” He also compares and contrasts the Jewish prophets with similar figures from other cultures and religions.

Absolutely awesome. He had me in tears in the Introduction. That's pretty good. It is a study of the prophets from the standpoint of divine pathos. A tremendous reflection upon the emotional concern of God for man. There are some dangers I suppose if you took this too far, but if you or anyone needs a cure for a view of God - a dispassionate stoic - this is it. This one goes right up toward the top of my list!

Great insight into the Prophets and their mission. Each was unique and expressed the words of our Creator differently

some pretty meat and potatoes scriptural / historical commentary on the prophets, followed by a bit more of a philosophical section. probably could've done without the first half of the book but it is called "The Prophets" so that comes with the territory i suppose. Still nice to read the hits.
For what it's worth, I think Rosenzweig handles prophetic "truths" in a much more interesting way in Star of Redemption, re: prophetic revelation as a creative act etc. (highly recommend Star of Redemption if you can get around the Heideggarian style of it). also Rosenzweig handles the prophets of different faiths more fairly than Heschel here who simply declares them to be "superficial".

Still interesting as a guidebook for how to be a prophet, and you've gotta think Heschel wasn't totally blind to his own ego. With his civil rights marching and anti-Vietnam war rabble-rousing, the good rabbi, in the deepest darkest part of his mind, probably recognized his own prophetic traits.

Heschel is VERY thorough in his definition and defense of the manner of the biblical prophet. I really enjoyed most of this book as it was an eye opening perspective on the Prophets and their relationship with God and vice versa. There were certainly some snooze worthy chapters… But already have some more Heschel in my want to reads.

wonderful show stopping 10/10 much appreciated insight and guidance

This book was (mostly) excellent. I appreciated how Heschel forces his readers to grapple with the human part of the Prophets, particularly their call and the privilege/burden of representing God to the people and the people to God. He has many profound and provocative one-liners - for example, he uses the words seduction and rape to describe the (ongoing) call of the prophets. Though graphic and jarring, his point is made well and helps readers understand the prophets better. In general, his writing is clear and well-organized. I skimmed some sections of the book that dealt more with philosophy and surveying his contemporary scholarship, but his summary of some of the prophets, his unpacking of the office, and his comments on ecstasy were all well-done. This is a book I will return to if I ever get a chance to teach or preach on the prophets.