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How Did They Read the Prophets?: Early Jewish and Christian Interpretations
Learn how ancient readers interpreted the Bible’s prophetic literature—and why their views have enduring value
How Did They Read the Prophets? explores the world of ancient exegesis, focusing on how early Jewish and Christian readers understood the Hebrew Bible’s prophetic literature. In this illuminating study, Old Testament scholar Michael B. Shepherd takes modern readers on a guided tour through the earliest readings of key passages from Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the Book of the Twelve. He also surveys shifts in ancient conceptions of prophecy—shifts that reflect the dynamic and complex relationship between speaking, writing, and interpreting.
Shepherd’s well-researched study is distinctive in several respects. One is its focus on ancient readings of prophetic literature in particular, rather than biblical literature in general. Another distinguishing feature is its attention both to inner-biblical interpretation and to early post-biblical exegesis. Finally, the book stands out for its insights into the enduring value of ancient interpretation in the modern period. Rigorous yet accessible, How Did They Read the Prophets? is a remarkable resource for students and general readers interested in biblical studies and the history of interpretation.
How Did They Read the Prophets? explores the world of ancient exegesis, focusing on how early Jewish and Christian readers understood the Hebrew Bible’s prophetic literature. In this illuminating study, Old Testament scholar Michael B. Shepherd takes modern readers on a guided tour through the earliest readings of key passages from Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the Book of the Twelve. He also surveys shifts in ancient conceptions of prophecy—shifts that reflect the dynamic and complex relationship between speaking, writing, and interpreting.
Shepherd’s well-researched study is distinctive in several respects. One is its focus on ancient readings of prophetic literature in particular, rather than biblical literature in general. Another distinguishing feature is its attention both to inner-biblical interpretation and to early post-biblical exegesis. Finally, the book stands out for its insights into the enduring value of ancient interpretation in the modern period. Rigorous yet accessible, How Did They Read the Prophets? is a remarkable resource for students and general readers interested in biblical studies and the history of interpretation.
190 pages, Paperback
Published July 31, 2025
26 people want to read
About the author
Michael B. Shepherd
12 books10 followersMichael B. Shepherd is the John and Allie Fogleman Assistant Professor of Old Testament and Hebrew at Louisiana College in Pineville, Louisiana as well as professor of Old Testament and Hebrew at the Caskey School of Divinity.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 22, 2025
As Shepherd states in his introduction, this book is influenced by James Kugel’s work, The Bible As It Was. Shepherd follows Kugel’s methodological assumptions that (1) the Bible is a cryptic document, (2) Scripture is one unified book of instruction that is fundamentally relevant for each generation of readers, (3) Scripture is perfect and perfectly harmonious, and (4) all of Scripture is divinely sanctioned.
Shepherd provides a selected portion of texts from Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the Book of the Twelve and draws from a variety of Targums, Dead Sea Scrolls, the LXX and Old Greek, Latin Vulgate, apocryphal texts, midrashim, pesherim, and NT texts. Primarily, though, Shepherd appeals to the OG versions of texts, intertextual connections within the HB, and NT texts to draw out exegetical insights from the selected texts.
At just 130 pages of content, this book is dense. The terms and concepts referenced will not be understood by those unfamiliar with the multiplicity of textual witnesses and those without a working knowledge of the biblical languages. There are transliterations for most of the Hebrew of Greek words, but they won’t help much apart from knowing the root consonants behind the transliterations.
My favorite section of the book was his final chapter, “Prophets as Exegetes.” Shepherd shows how, “The prophet is essentially redefined within biblical literature itself as someone who exegetes biblical texts and then produces biblical texts on the basis of that exegesis” (114). There is a shift from the old prophet as “preacher” to the new prophet as “scribe/exegete.” The goal of the reader, then, is not to seek to establish the Sitz im Leben of the prophets, but to understand the text/book setting of the prophets within the biblical books themselves. Baruch, Zechariah, and Ezra are given as prime examples of scribal prophets. From here, Shepherd makes textual connections to the Pauline epistles and Paul’s instructions for the “man of God” to preach and teach the biblical texts as an exegete. Pastors are meant to be the “new prophets” who are responsible for the teaching ministry of the church. All of Scripture is inherently prophetic, and the task of the pastor/new prophet is primarily to edify the church through properly exegeting and teaching the texts of Scripture.
Shepherd closes this short work by stating, “The biblical texts are not merely transcripts of messages delivered orally to audiences in the past. Rather, they are compositions in their own right whose very existence depends on intertextual and exegetical relationships with other biblical books. No longer is the task to reconstruct the lives of the prophets. Rather, it is to trace the compositional strategies of the prophetic books themselves. The best ancient interpreters of these texts are still to this day some of the best guides to this” (130).
I will keep this book close to my desk and draw from the insights within as often as I read the Prophets.
Shepherd provides a selected portion of texts from Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the Book of the Twelve and draws from a variety of Targums, Dead Sea Scrolls, the LXX and Old Greek, Latin Vulgate, apocryphal texts, midrashim, pesherim, and NT texts. Primarily, though, Shepherd appeals to the OG versions of texts, intertextual connections within the HB, and NT texts to draw out exegetical insights from the selected texts.
At just 130 pages of content, this book is dense. The terms and concepts referenced will not be understood by those unfamiliar with the multiplicity of textual witnesses and those without a working knowledge of the biblical languages. There are transliterations for most of the Hebrew of Greek words, but they won’t help much apart from knowing the root consonants behind the transliterations.
My favorite section of the book was his final chapter, “Prophets as Exegetes.” Shepherd shows how, “The prophet is essentially redefined within biblical literature itself as someone who exegetes biblical texts and then produces biblical texts on the basis of that exegesis” (114). There is a shift from the old prophet as “preacher” to the new prophet as “scribe/exegete.” The goal of the reader, then, is not to seek to establish the Sitz im Leben of the prophets, but to understand the text/book setting of the prophets within the biblical books themselves. Baruch, Zechariah, and Ezra are given as prime examples of scribal prophets. From here, Shepherd makes textual connections to the Pauline epistles and Paul’s instructions for the “man of God” to preach and teach the biblical texts as an exegete. Pastors are meant to be the “new prophets” who are responsible for the teaching ministry of the church. All of Scripture is inherently prophetic, and the task of the pastor/new prophet is primarily to edify the church through properly exegeting and teaching the texts of Scripture.
Shepherd closes this short work by stating, “The biblical texts are not merely transcripts of messages delivered orally to audiences in the past. Rather, they are compositions in their own right whose very existence depends on intertextual and exegetical relationships with other biblical books. No longer is the task to reconstruct the lives of the prophets. Rather, it is to trace the compositional strategies of the prophetic books themselves. The best ancient interpreters of these texts are still to this day some of the best guides to this” (130).
I will keep this book close to my desk and draw from the insights within as often as I read the Prophets.
July 23, 2025
For Jews, Christians, and Muslims, the Prophets of what Christians call the Old Testament speak loudly, or at least they should. Preachers, like me, turn to them regularly, especially to books such as Isaiah, Amos, and Micah. They call our attention to the ways God sees things, while pointing out pathways that lead to justice and mercy. From them we learn how to walk with God. The prophets draw upon Torah, interpreting it so that the hearers and readers might know the ways of God. This reminds us that Scripture often interprets Scripture. We know this to be true of the New Testament, which draws regularly from earlier texts. It is a reminder that Jesus drew upon Torah, but especially the prophets, for inspiration and authoritative teaching, which he interpreted for his context.
Michael B. Shepherd asks the question that is posed by the title of the book under review. "How Did They Read the Prophets?" The subtitle clarifies to an extent who "they" are. Shepherd, who is professor of biblical studies at Cedarville University, focuses his attention on early Jewish and Christian interpretations. Most of the interpreters he draws upon come from within the biblical canon. While he draws on Jewish targums and midrash, when it comes to early Christian interpretations, he largely limits himself to the New Testament writers. Thus, one will not find Origen or Jerome mentioned.
Shepherd notes that he draws upon the method used by James Kugel in his Grawemeyer Award-winning book The Bible as It Was, which focused on Moses as prophet as found in the Pentateuch (Torah). In this book, Shepherd focuses on the Latter Prophets -- Isaiah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, and the Twelve (Minor Prophets). He shares with his readers that his purpose here is to let the "ancient interpreters collectively to give a guided tour of the textual details of the composition in its given form and sequence." In other words, one will not find a general introduction to these books. That is something one will find elsewhere.
Shepherd, for his purposes, focuses on the way in which other biblical writers and Jewish writers engaged with the text. The note here about textual elements is important since Shepherd brings into the conversation the various forms that the text takes, from Massoretic Text that much of our modern translations rely upon, as well as the Old Greek and Septuagint translations. He shares information that many of us may not know, and that is, the Old Greek relies on Hebrew Texts that predate the Massoretic Text. So we see how interpretations emerge over time.
While Shepherd's book is accessible, with chapters focusing on Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and then the Twelve, with a final chapter on "The Prophets as Exegetes," if one is looking for an introduction to these books, Shepherd is correct that one should look elsewhere. On the other hand, though Shepherd appears to take a more conservative view of the books (I'm not sure whether he considers Isaiah to be one book or two), he does help us better understand how biblical texts interpret and build upon each other. Of course, the New Testament writers engaged not only with biblical texts but earlier interpretations that lay outside what we know to be canonical. We also know that the New Testament writers depended on the Greek translations, whether Old Greek or the Septuagint, which offer their own interpretations.
For less conservative readers, who view inspiration differently than perhaps Shepherd does, that difference to be taken into consideration. However, his assumptions regarding inspiration and perfection, while present, do not overwhelm his interpretations. In other words, if one understands where the author is coming from, then one can find insight into the texts that are helpful to better interpret and understand where interpretations come from.
Michael B. Shepherd asks the question that is posed by the title of the book under review. "How Did They Read the Prophets?" The subtitle clarifies to an extent who "they" are. Shepherd, who is professor of biblical studies at Cedarville University, focuses his attention on early Jewish and Christian interpretations. Most of the interpreters he draws upon come from within the biblical canon. While he draws on Jewish targums and midrash, when it comes to early Christian interpretations, he largely limits himself to the New Testament writers. Thus, one will not find Origen or Jerome mentioned.
Shepherd notes that he draws upon the method used by James Kugel in his Grawemeyer Award-winning book The Bible as It Was, which focused on Moses as prophet as found in the Pentateuch (Torah). In this book, Shepherd focuses on the Latter Prophets -- Isaiah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, and the Twelve (Minor Prophets). He shares with his readers that his purpose here is to let the "ancient interpreters collectively to give a guided tour of the textual details of the composition in its given form and sequence." In other words, one will not find a general introduction to these books. That is something one will find elsewhere.
Shepherd, for his purposes, focuses on the way in which other biblical writers and Jewish writers engaged with the text. The note here about textual elements is important since Shepherd brings into the conversation the various forms that the text takes, from Massoretic Text that much of our modern translations rely upon, as well as the Old Greek and Septuagint translations. He shares information that many of us may not know, and that is, the Old Greek relies on Hebrew Texts that predate the Massoretic Text. So we see how interpretations emerge over time.
While Shepherd's book is accessible, with chapters focusing on Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and then the Twelve, with a final chapter on "The Prophets as Exegetes," if one is looking for an introduction to these books, Shepherd is correct that one should look elsewhere. On the other hand, though Shepherd appears to take a more conservative view of the books (I'm not sure whether he considers Isaiah to be one book or two), he does help us better understand how biblical texts interpret and build upon each other. Of course, the New Testament writers engaged not only with biblical texts but earlier interpretations that lay outside what we know to be canonical. We also know that the New Testament writers depended on the Greek translations, whether Old Greek or the Septuagint, which offer their own interpretations.
For less conservative readers, who view inspiration differently than perhaps Shepherd does, that difference to be taken into consideration. However, his assumptions regarding inspiration and perfection, while present, do not overwhelm his interpretations. In other words, if one understands where the author is coming from, then one can find insight into the texts that are helpful to better interpret and understand where interpretations come from.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews