The Book of the Twelve

At long last, I have finally finished up the Book of the Twelve, otherwise known as the the Twelve Minor Prophets.  When I thought about what I wanted to say here, I realized that the adjective coming to mind to describe this collection was "bipolar."  I do not use that word lightly, nor am I a fan of one-sentence blog entries, so I turned to my father (who is a Rabbi, and one of my Rabbinic authorities) for his view.

If I understand him correctly, my father, the Rabbi, explained that each of the Twelve Minor Prophets (if you believe that each book was written by the person whose name is attached to it) was facing major political catastrophe all around.  In earlier times, the solution to such issues was to just go worship the "more powerful god."  The prophets whose works make up the Book of the Twelve were trying desperately to get Israel to stay with the Israelite God, and that is why their emotional state is not always consistent.

It is worth noting that the Book of the Twelve marks the end of the Prophets section of the Hebrew Bible! (Our Bible is divided into three sections: Torah, Prophets, Writings.)  I am very excited to begin the Writings section, which is sort of a catch-all for things that do not fit anywhere else and, as such, is most diverse.  It begins with the book of Psalms.  Even though I read a psalm every day after I pray, I plan to read through this book (again) anyway.