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Rh placing its historical materials under the ethical and prophetic standpoint of Deuteronomy, and in interweaving and enclosing them with Deuteronomic reflections.

Remark. The name prophetae priores has, in our opinion, arisen from the presupposition, that the authors of our books were prophets. Anger however holds a different opinion. He says that works receive this designation which have prophetic sayings, whether they are communicated in historical connections (prophetae priores), or are gathered together in special prophetic writings (prophetae posteriores). But we may urge against this theory, that, if it were true, then (1) also Chronicles and Daniel must stand among the former prophets, and since they do not, that it would be necessary to assume, that the division of the prophets was already closed, when these writings were added; (2) that the composition of those historical books by the prophets, not to speak of their work in the final redaction, is confirmed through their manner of writing history, which is sharply distinguished from the annalistic and priestly style of the Chronicler. (3) We urge further, that the prophets really occupied themselves with historical composition. Isaiah for example was according to 2 Chr. XXVI, 22 the author of a complete history of the reign of Uzziah.

The historical activity of the prophets was as such a literary one. It even began with Samuel Nathan and Gad. Citations by the Chronicler, like 2 Chr. IX, 29; XII, 15; XIII, 22 show that the prophets combined their prophecies with their representations of the history of the times. From this literature of prophetic history, of which we have an example in the book of Joshua, the literature of the properly prophetic books first gradually received an independent form. But this was never brought to an entire separation of the historical from the prophetic portions, as appears, for example, in the historical intermediate portions of the books of Isaiah and Jeremiah, and in the historical bisection of the book of Joel II, 18. 19 a.

Remark. The transition of the literature of the prophetic historical writing into that of the prophetic collection is imperceptible. The period of the world-empires was decidedly favorable to the origin of the latter. At that time when Israel was violently drawn upon the theatre of the great world-historical conflicts the horizon of prophecy was wider, and its themes more comprehensive; the oral prophetic preaching therefore subsequently became fixed in writings, even without such a specially direct divine command as Is. XXX. 8, as a memorial of divine intimations for all peoples and times.