Hope under Judgement: The Prophets of the Eighth Century BCE

Abstract

At first sight, there seems to be a conflict between modern perceptions of the eighth-century prophets as those who announced judgement and later perceptions of them (for instance, in the New Testament) as those who announced salvation. This article seeks to develop and influential discussion of this problem by R. E. Clements. In particular, it is argued that the expressions of hope in Isaiah, Amos and Hosea have not been added in an arbitrary fashion, but rather draw out the implications of taking the word of judgement seriously. The redactional and literary links between these passages and the bulk of the books in which they stand provide an important clue for both historical and theological interpretation.