Biblical prophecy is not completely unique. It resides in a long history of ancient Near Eastern prophecy. John Walton identifies three different ancient Near Eastern texts that provide parallels to biblical prophecy: the Mari Letters, oracles from the Neo-Assyrian period, and Egyptian literature.^[1] First, the most significant are the Mari Letters. Victor Matthews and Don Benjamin explain that Mari was an ancient city in northern Syria destroyed in 1757 BC by Hammurabi.^[2] John Hilber notes that the Mari Letters suggest that early Mesopotamian prophets spoke words received from deities, which occurred in dreams or visions.^[3] Furthermore, the Mesopotamian prophets were both male and female and the institution of prophecy, at times, was deployed vocationally in private and public settings.^[4] The similarities to the Israelite prophets included eccentric behavior, access to a divine council, symbolic actions, responsiveness to music, admonishment of kings or people in power, and the use of scribes.^[5] An example of prophetic speech from the Mari Letters states, “No enemy will assail the throne of Mari, Zimri-Lim has sole title to the upper country. The ruler of Elam will be defeated!”^[6]

Alternatively, the differences between the Mesopotamian prophets and the biblical prophets are also significant, but before engaging the details of the distinctions, a comparison of prophecy and technical divination is necessary. Walton broadly defines divination as any process that attempts to obtain a message from beyond.^[7] However, Hilber is more specific by asserting that divination consists of certain practices used to receive messages “by ritual manipulation and/or observation of objects exterior to the human agent.”^[8] Although Hilber provides a nuanced definition of magic, if magic is an attempt to manipulate an impersonal force or control the supernatural world, it is difficult to observe a significant difference from the definition of divination. Without question, the manipulation of Yahweh through any means would not only be off limits, but impossible. The inability of humans to manipulate God is clearly seen in the book of Jonah with the prophet’s numerous unsuccessful attempts at controlling the actions of God. Besides divination, two additional important distinctions exist between the biblical and the Mesopotamian prophets. Not only do the biblical prophets hold to monotheism, but also, according to Matthews and Benjamin, the biblical prophets, unlike the Mesopotamian prophets, speak to the public.^[9]

The second category of ancient Near Eastern texts come from the Neo-Assyrian period. Mattijs J. de Jong points out that most of the Assyrian prophecies date from the beginning of the seventh century BC to the reign of Ashurbanipal (669-631BC).^[10] The Assyrian prophecies have several characteristics that parallel the Mesopotamian prophetic tradition while also providing a few distinctions.  First, the oracle is normally given in the first person from a deity, which most often is Ishtar of Arbela, and it is communicated in the second person to a human king.^[11] Second, the oracles almost always are concerned with an imminent future event that may be negative, such as enemy destruction, or positive, such as protection from a deity.^[12] Third, it is common for the prophet to encourage the recipient to “fear not.”^[13]

Interpreting the Prophetic Books: An Exegetical Handbook (Handbooks for Old Testament Exegesis)

The connections are palpable. The biblical prophets obtained their messages directly from Yahweh, they were more concerned with the immediate future, although the distant future was not out of the question, and it was not uncommon for them to engage the message “fear not.” Furthermore, in both the Assyrian and biblical prophets, Gary Smith explains that God/gods spoke “words of comfort, support, sovereignty, protection, and reconciliation,” and both stressed the importance of  trusting God/the gods and “called for people to praise God/the gods.”^[14] However, important distinctions also existed. Smith continues, the Assyrian prophets took direction from multiple gods rather than one, produced far more positive oracles than did the biblical prophets, and the prophecies were brief compared to the biblical accounts.^[15]

Finally, Egyptian literature also had parallels to biblical prophecy. However, the parallels were more indirect. Walton notes that the Admonitions of Ipuwer and the Vision of Neferti likely both date around the second millennium, and like the biblical accounts, they provide warning of imminent judgment.^[16] For example, in a parallel to Zechariah 9:10, the Vision of Neferti states, “He will put the nomads to the sword. He will burn Libya to the ground.”^[17] However, regardless of the similar nature of the content, Walton asserts that the institution of prophecy is absent in Egypt likely due to the divine nature associated with the pharaoh.^[18]

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[1] John H. Walton, Victor H. Matthews, and Mark W. Chavalas, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament (Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2000), 581–582.

[2] Victor H. Matthews and Don C. Benjamin, Old Testament Parallels: Laws and Stories from the Ancient Near East (New York: Paulist Press, 2016), 379.

[3] John W. Hilber, “Prophecy, Divination, and Magic in the Ancient Near East,” in Behind the Scenes of the Old Testament: Cultural, Social, and Historical Contexts, ed. Jonathan S. Greer, John W. Hilber, and John H. Walton (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2018), 371.

[4] Ibid.

[5] Ibid., 372.

[6] Matthews and Benjamin, Old Testament Parallels, 381.

[7] Walton, Matthews, and Chavalas, The IVP Bible Background Commentary, 581.

[8] Hilber, “Prophecy, Divination, and Magic in the Ancient Near East,” 368.

[9] Matthews and Benjamin, Old Testament Parallels, 380.

[10] Matthijs J. de Jong, Isaiah Among the Ancient Near Eastern Prophets: A Comparative Study of the Earliest Stages of the Isaiah Tradition and the Neo-Assyrian Prophecies (Leiden: Brill, 2007), 131.

[11] Ibid., 141.

[12] Ibid.

[13] Ibid.

[14] Gary Smith, Interpreting the Prophetic Books: An Exegetical Handbook, ed. David M. Howard, Handbooks for Old Testament Exegesis (Grand Rapids: Kregel Academic, 2014), 97.

[15] Ibid.

[16] Walton, Matthews, and Chavalas, The IVP Bible Background Commentary, 582.

[17] Matthews and Benjamin, Old Testament Parallels, 378.

[18] Walton, Matthews, and Chavalas, The IVP Bible Background Commentary, 582.

Bibliography

• Hilber, John W. “Prophecy, Divination, and Magic in the Ancient Near East.” In Behind the Scenes of the Old Testament: Cultural, Social, and Historical Contexts, edited by Jonathan S. Greer, John W. Hilber, and John H. Walton. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2018.
• Jong, Matthijs J. de. Isaiah Among the Ancient Near Eastern Prophets: A Comparative Study of the Earliest Stages of the Isaiah Tradition and the Neo-Assyrian Prophecies. Leiden: Brill, 2007.
• Matthews, Victor H., and Don C. Benjamin. Old Testament Parallels: Laws and Stories from the Ancient Near East. New York: Paulist Press, 2016.
• Smith, Gary. Interpreting the Prophetic Books: An Exegetical Handbook. Edited by David M. Howard. Handbooks for Old Testament Exegesis. Grand Rapids: Kregel Academic, 2014.
• Walton, John H., Victor H. Matthews, and Mark W. Chavalas. The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament. Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2000.