World Religions › The Axial Age › Second Temple Judaism
Hebrew prophets: Amos, Isaiah, Jeremiah
c. 760–450 BC· Founder, prophet or teacher· Judaism, Christianity & Islam
Mostly agreed by scholarsMost historians agree; some details uncertain.
Spokesmen who, the Bible teaches, delivered God's messages to Israel and Judah, demanding justice and loyalty to one God.
See it on the World Religions map →What it is
Amos, a shepherd preaching around 760 BC, denounced the rich for crushing the poor: 'let justice roll down like waters.' Isaiah of Jerusalem advised kings during the Assyrian threat around 700 BC. Jeremiah warned of Babylon's coming and lived through the 586 BC destruction. They condemned worship of other gods and ritual without justice. A later, unnamed prophet in exile, called 'Second Isaiah', declared there is no god but Israel's God.
Why it matters
They turned Israel's religion toward ethics and exclusive monotheism. Their call for social justice echoes through Jesus, Muhammad and modern figures like Martin Luther King Jr.
Life, legacy and sources
Their books in the Hebrew Bible, edited by followers; the Great Isaiah Scroll among the Dead Sea Scrolls (c. 125 BC); Assyrian and Babylonian records confirming the crises they addressed.
Questions and debates
How much of each book is the prophet's own words versus later editing is debated; the Book of Isaiah is widely thought to combine two or three authors.
Connections (3)
▸Hebrew prophets: Amos, Isaiah, Jeremiah hailed as God's anointed Cyrus the Great of PersiaHistorical record
The connection
An anonymous prophet whose words were added to the book of Isaiah, called Second Isaiah, hailed Cyrus as God's instrument for freeing Israel: 'Thus says the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus' (Isaiah 45:1). He also called him God's shepherd. A foreign king was presented as serving Israel's God without knowing it.
When and where
Among the exiles in Babylon, around 545–539 BC, as Cyrus's armies advanced. Scholars attribute Isaiah chapters 40–55 to this prophet.
Historical evidence
Isaiah 44:28–45:1 names Cyrus outright. Critical scholars date it to the exile because it names a king who lived nearly two centuries after Isaiah of Jerusalem.
Questions and debates
Traditional Jewish and Christian readers hold that the 8th-century Isaiah foretold Cyrus by name; most critical scholars attribute the passage to a later prophet in exile.
▸Hebrew prophets: Amos, Isaiah, Jeremiah championed Monotheism: belief in one GodMostly agreed by scholars
The connection
The prophets demanded that Israel worship its God alone, attacking Baal, Asherah and idols. Over about two centuries their message sharpened from loyalty to one God among many to the claim that no other god exists. Second Isaiah, writing in exile around 540 BC, states it outright: 'besides me there is no god.'
When and where
Israel and Judah, c. 760–586 BC (Amos, Hosea, Isaiah, Jeremiah), then Babylon around 540 BC (Second Isaiah).
How do we know?
Their own books, edited by later followers; the progression from Hosea's demand for loyalty to Isaiah 44–45's denial of other gods is visible in the texts.
Questions and debates
Whether the prophets were a minority later made the nation's voice, and how much later editors sharpened their monotheism, are debated.
▸Jesus of Nazareth drew on Hebrew prophets: Amos, Isaiah, JeremiahMostly agreed by scholars
The connection
Jesus spoke in the tradition of Israel's prophets, who demanded justice for the poor and called people back to God. The Gospels show him reading Isaiah's 'good news to the poor' in a synagogue, quoting Jeremiah when he drove traders from the Temple and, like the prophets, warning of judgment. Christians read prophetic passages as foretelling him as Messiah.
When and where
Galilee and Jerusalem, c. AD 28–33; the prophets' books, written c. 760–450 BC, were read aloud in synagogues of his day.
How do we know?
The Gospels' quotations; many scholars accept the Temple protest and his warnings as historical, fitting the prophetic style of the time.
Questions and debates
Whether Jesus saw himself as a prophet, the Messiah or more is debated; Jews and Christians read the prophecies applied to him very differently.