Oracles

The oracles of the writing prophets can be divided into four general categories.

(1) Indictment oracles notified the people of what they had done wrong.
(2) Judgment oracles described God’s intended response to their offenses.
(3) Instruction oracles (which are relatively scarce until the postexilic period) told the people what they needed to do and how they needed to act and think.
(4) Aftermath oracles informed the people about God’s plans after the judgment has come. All but the last occur also in ancient Near Eastern prophecies, but in the ancient Near East these prophecies were never collected, “published” and canonized as they were in Israel.