The Hebrew Prophets and Their Social World: An Introduction Paperback – Illustrated, October 1, 2012

This is an attempt to cover all the prophets of the Old Testament. While some later chapters feel a bit truncated the earlier and middle works are great. The author, if I remember correctly, covers the prophetic writings in chronological order, not biblical order. What I found absolutely amazing were his grasp of the history of each prophet and how he connected different writings into a history. His theological and historical insights into various passages of the books amazed me. Highly recommended.

This introduction is very thorough...and a great jumping-off point for deeper study of a particular prophet. After discussing Near Eastern geography the book moves to talking about various types 'prophecy'. The book then proceeds chronologically, covering most biblical prophets, their contexts, and their messages.Matthews assumes the Documentary Hypothesis and shows how the prophets fit in with the development of Hebrew religion. Important terms which reoccur appear in boldface and there is a glossary of these terms. A great companion to Mark Smith's 'Memoirs of God'.

This book would better be called an introduction to the Hebrew prophets. It admirably fulfills that role. Reading the title, I thought the book would situate the prophets in their social location. It is weak at that. When a prophet's social location is described, it's as if it's an interesting, though largely irrelevant, fact. On a second level, Matthews is aware of the Deuteronomistic Historian's role in the formation of the text; however, he rarely considers what, if any, effect that role had on the text and its description of the prophets social location. This really is an excellent introduction; I'm not sure it lives up to truth in titling.

I bought this book for class. I am surprised how fast it came. Also, it came in perfect condition (I bought it used) but it looks great!

I has heard of this book and was very pleased to find it on amazon.com. Arrived quickly. This is a great source of information.

This is an extremely helpful book that provides great context for teaching bible studies and just palin infomation. Well written and easy to read and digest

I had to read this for school

Easy reading, helpful background, good for those who are interested in learning about the background of those whom God uses and the methods of communication, cultures, etc.

having had to do a brief analysis of the prophets for the windows of Guido Nincheri the book was extremely useful to write an introduction to the social and economic conditions of Israel at the time of the prophets. It is necessary for today's readers to see the role of god in the socio-historical prophetic literature of the Old Testament.