ORDER OF THE PROPHETS. This Is Appendix 77 From The Companion Bible. PAGE 1
1. That the Canonical
order of the books of the prophets is not their
Chronological order is well known.
But the dates usually to be found at the head or in the margin of our Bibles—as well as in many of the "Tables" supplied in "Aids" to students—involve the subject in hopeless confusion.
The four prophets commonly styled "Greater" (or Longer), namely, ISAIAH, JEREMIAH, EZEKIEL, and DANIEL, are all dated.
Of the other twelve, called "Minor" (or Shorter), six are dated and six are undated. (See the Structure on page 1206, in The Companion Bible)
The dated books are HOSEA, AMOS, MICAH, ZEPHANIAH, HAGGAI, and ZECHARIAH.
The undated books are JOEL, OBADIAH, JONAH, NAHUM, HABAKKUK, and MALACHI.
Of the whole sixteen, therefore, we have ten dated and six undated. (See Appendix 10.)
From the particulars given in the dated books themselves, we are enabled to lay down with precision the years and periods covered by the respective prophecies.
With regard to the undated books the case is different; and we have to rely upon the guidance of their internal evidence. But this in almost every case is so clear, that there is no great difficulty in assigning each of the prophetical books to its respective chronological position (Obadiah being perhaps the only exception).
The Chart below has been prepared accordingly.
It must be premised that the periods indicated by the thick black lines are the duration of the periods in which the Divine Message continued to "come" to and through the particular prophet named: for example, ISAIAH is shown on the Chart as 649-588 B.C., thus comprising a period of sixty-one years. This does not represent the years of the prophet's life, which in all probability extended to some 81 or 83 years. (See notes on page 930 in The Companion Bible.) 2. It is a Jewish belief that JEREMIAH and ZECHARIAH were contemporaries. This is quite possible. We are not told when, or how, or where Jeremiah died. When Jerusalem was destroyed finally by Nebuchadnezzar (477 B.C.) Jeremiah would be about 57 years old. He may easily have lived another thirty or forty, or even more, years after that event.¹
If we suppose he outlived the destruction of Jerusalem by forty years, then the year of his death would be 437 B.C., eleven years before the end of the Babylonian Captivity, in 426 B.C.
ZECHARIAH began his seven years of prophetic ministry twenty-seven years later, in 410 B.C.
But we are not told anything about him in Scripture, save that his grandfather was a prophet; neither have we any clue to his age, as we have for example in the cases of JEREMIAH and DANIEL. ZECHARIAH may very well have been at least thirty or forty years of age in 410 B.C., when he gives us his first date (1:1). Consequently, he would have been contemporary with the great Benjamite priest for from three to thirteen years!
¹ The belief of some that Hebrews 11:37 refers to Jeremiah is based on the Jewish tradition that the prophet was "stoned" to death in Egypt. But of this we have no proof.
3. It is
further necessary to state,
and important to be observed,
that the dates given in the
Chart below have been charted
down from the dating given
(or suggested by internal evidence)
in the prophetic books themselves,
So the student may understand that the
remarkable and significant groupings of
the prophets as therein depicted are in
no wise "manipulated" or
"fitted in" to suit any
preconceived ideas or theories.
They are charted down simply from
the dates and the data afforded
by the sacred records themselves,
and tell clearly their own story.
now to the Chart itself (below),
it must be further premised that
has been used,
This is highly important;
as only thus can the exact
of the length of each
prophetical ministry be presented
accurately to the eye.
The thick black lines represent
the period covered by each prophet,
either as expressly stated,
or to be inferred from internal
or historical evidence.
And here, the value of the section-paper is at once apparent: as these black lines are not merely approximate in their proportions of length one to another—as would be the case if they were set up in type; but, in each and every case, they begin and end exactly at the very year stated or indicated. Thus the eye is enabled at once to grasp the proportionate lengths of each and all of the prophetical periods; the overlapping and concurrences in each particular group; the significant "breaks" between the groups; and their historical position as shown on the background of the reigns of the kings of Judah and Israel.
The columns of figures to the left and right are the B.C. years, rising by tens from 350 to 700 B.C. Each of the larger section-squares thus shows twenty years, and each of the small ones two years.
On this plan, every date, year, and period has been charted down, and can be checked by the student with absolute exactitude.
It must also be observed that the thick black lines themselves mark the exact positions of the beginning and ending of the years shown on the figure-columns to the left and right, and indicated by the fainter horizontal lines—and NOT the figures placed directly above and below in each case. These latter merely state the years which begin and end each period, as shown accurately by the top and bottom of the black line throughout: for example, JEREMIAH is given as 518-477 B.C. The top and bottom of the thick black stroke are on the lines of these respective years in the figure-columns.
Where there is only one figure given, as in the case of HABAKKUK and ZEPHANIAH, namely, 518 B.C., it will be understood that only one date year is indicated in the Scriptures.*
* Let it be understood that the image below is NOT a scan of the original chart which professor Bullinger, produced. Do to the printing and reprinting of the original chart it has become very difficult to view the "section-paper" (or graph paper) behind the figure-columns and black lines that the professor had intended. TheRain WebPages has produced the following image, so the "student of God's Word" may glean the knowledge which the professor intended every student to have. With that being said, we invite students to compare the image below with the chart in The Companion Bible, which is a KJV Bible that may be obtained at any Bible Book Store. The information (or data) in the image below is public domain, but the image itself is under copyright.
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|THE CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER OF THE PROPHETS (cont.). PAGE 2|
|The column of figures to left and right are B.C. years from 350 to 700 rising by tens. The faint section lines between, mark each two years. The thick black lines show the period covered by each prophet, as stated expressly, or to be inferred from internal or historical evidence. The top and bottom of each line mark the exact positions of stated years, on the B.C. columns, and therefore show the relative length of each prophet's period.|
|5. It will be seen on referring to the Chart above that the sixteen prophetical books fall into four remarkable and well-defined divisions, separated by three "breaks", or periods of years, as shown below:—|
|The First Group consists of six prophets: namely:|
|JONAH, AMOS, HOSEA, ISAIAH, MICAH, NAHUM,||covering a period of||102|
|Then follows a great "gap" or "break" of · ·||· · · ·||70|
|The Second Group consists of seven prophets: namely:|
JOEL, EZEKIEL, OBADIAH
|} covering a period of||94|
|Followed by a "gap" or "break" of · ·||· · · ·||14|
|The Third Group consists of two prophets: namely:|
|HAGGAI, ZECHARIAH · · ·||covering a period of||7|
|Then follows a "gap" of · · ·||· · · ·||29|
|Which is closed by the prophet MALACHI.||____|
|The whole period covered by the sixteen prophets is therefore ·||· · · ·||316|
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|THE CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER OF THE PROPHETS (cont.). PAGE 3|
above it is seen that
is to be reckoned as
being separate and
apart from the rest;
as usually presented,
linked together with
"By the Hebrews,
Malachi is known as
'the Seal of the Prophets',
and as closing the Canon of
The other fifteen
prophets (5×3) arrange
themselves in three groups
of 6, 7, and 2;
and the period covered by these
the breaks—is 287 years
The First Group commences with
and ends with
Both are connected with Nineveh.
This group consists of six prophets,
and the period they cover is 102
years (seventeen sixes).
First and Second Groups
there is the great
According to Jewish tradition,
perished in the
(see the Note on page 930).
If this persecution took place,
years after Manasseh's
would be 584
and that year is sixty-five
years from the dated
commencement of Isaiah's
the year in which King
see Appendix 50. VII,
and compare the Chart above).
no indication that
"the Word of the Lord came"
later than the
end of the reign of
accession in 588
from that year on,
"the thirteenth year of Josiah"
there was no "coming"
of "the Word";
a long solemn silence on
the part of Jehovah for
(588−518 = 70.)
This silence was broken at length
by the Divine utterances through
and the Word then
an unbroken sequence of
(518−424 = 94)
through the seven
with the final scenes in
the history of the
had been associated
with the closing
scenes of the
which ended in 601
The Second Group
closes with the latest date
recorded by Daniel,
"the third year of Cyrus"
that is to say,
a short break of
(424−410 = 14),
The Third Group,
(410−403 = 7).
The seven years
covered by Zechariah are
succeeded by the last
closed by the affixing of
"the Seal of the Prophets",
This was exactly
from the restoration
of the Temple
worship and ritual,
the Dedication of
the Temple in 405
with the First
Passover in Nisan,
This year (374
marked the commencement
of the last great national
testing time of the
People in the land:
four hundred years
and ended with the beginning
of Christ's ministry in
On examining this
it will be seen that it
presents the prophetical
books to us as a whole;
in a manner is at variance with
the usual classification into
"Four Prophets the Greater
and Twelve Prophets the Minor or
____________________________ ¹ WORDSWORTH on Malachi, Prelim. note.
Although it is,
manifestly true that
in the sense that they are
messages of ampler dimensions,
and far wider scope than the
majority of the others,
to their chronological
positions in the Scriptures,
as shown in the Chart
appear that they are grouped
together by the Divine Spirit,
with the so-called
(or Shorter) prophets,
as being units
only in a particular
of the Word of Jehovah,
during certain clearly
defined periods of time
connected with the close
of the national history
of Israel's sons as
possessors of the land.
It is interesting to note the close association of the figures "6" and "7" with these periods.
(a) The three groups together cover a period of 203 years, during which "the Word of the Lord came" through the prophets (102 + 94 + 7 = 203); and 203 is twenty-nine sevens.
(b) The prophecies of the First Group, linked together by the number of Man "6" (Appendix 10), are seen to be closely connected with the last hundred years or so of the Northern Kingdom.
The prophecies of the Second Group, linked together by the special number of Spiritual Perfection "7" (Appendix 10), are as closely connected with the destruction and punishment of JUDAH and JERUSALEM.
(c) In the First Group, HOSEA, ISAIAH, and MICAH were contemporary for twenty-one years (three sevens); namely, from 632 to 611 B.C.
In the Second Group, JEREMIAH, DANIEL, JOEL, and EZEKIEL are contemporaries for seven years (one seven); namely, from 484 to 477 B.C.
If OBADIAH'S date is 482 B.C., then we have five prophets all contemporaries during this period. And five is the number associated with Divine Grace (Appendix 10).
After the "break" of fourteen years (two sevens) between the Second and Third Groups, we have ZECHARIAH, the last of the fifteen prophets of the three groups, continuing from 410 to 403 B.C. (one seven); HAGGAI being contemporary with him in 410.
The fifteen prophets represent the number of Grace thrice repeated (5×3). 8. MALACHI'S date is 374 B.C. As stated above, this is exactly thirty years after the Restoration, and the resumption of the Temple worship and ritual, beginning with the Passover in 404 B.C. (Ezra 6:19). The "Seal of the Prophets" was therefore affixed thirty years from that important start-point, and twenty-nine clear years from Ezra's last date: namely, 1st of Nisan 403 B.C. (Ezra 10:17), the year that witnessed the Dedication of the Wall (Nehemiah 12:27-47) and the Reformation of the People under Nehemiah (Nehemiah 13:1-31). 9. It may also be noted that the Book of JONAH—the prophet quoted by our Lord as the "Sign" of His own Resurrection—commences the grouped fifteen, while ZECHARIAH ends them with the glorious and detailed statements of the Return of the King to reign as "the Lord of all the earth".
Again: as the "break" of twenty-nine years follows after ZECHARIAH, before the "Seal", MALACHI, is affixed in 374 B.C., this points to a fact of great importance: namely, that the Old Testament is really closed by the Book of Zechariah and not Malachi, as usually understood. Malachi marks the commencement of the great final probationary period of 400 years, which ended with the coming of "My Messenger" (John the Baptist) followed by the Advent of "the Messenger of the Covenant" (Messiah Himself).
MALACHI is thus seen to be linked on to John the Baptist (compare Malachi 4:5, 6, and Matthew 11:10-15), and "seals" together the last page of the Old Testament, and the beginning of "The Book of the Generation of Jesus the Messiah."
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