Excerpt from The Old Testament According to the Authorised Version: With a Brief Commentary by Various Authors; Prophetical Books; Isaiah to Malachi; With Maps With the Vision of Isaiah commences the grand roll of the Later Prophets, so called by the Jews because, while giving the name a far wider meaning than is usual with us, they nevertheless recognised in the latter days of the monarchy a more spiritual development of the prophetic spirit than had existed at the time when the Prophets first became a numerous and in uential order in Israel. The Earlier Prophets were the historians and annalists of the kingdom, but the title claims for the books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings, to which it is expressly given, the presence in them of a Divine authority. At first, 'nevertheless, what the people chie y saw in the Prophets was an educated class, trained in the schools founded by the wise and prescient Samuel, and exercising all that in uence which educated men must possess among a rude and illiterate people. But even in the days of David and Solomon on 'fitting occasions they stepped forward and controlled the course of events with an authority claimed by them as men who spake in the name of God. So too did these Later Prophets, but their teaching had attained to a larger significance than the fortunes of the temporal Israel. Their special o ice was to prepare the Jewish Church, and through it the whole world, for the coming of Christ. It was in the northern' kingdom that prophecy in the writings of Hosea first mounted upwards to those spiritual themes which make these Later Prophets the teachers of mankind. As God ever suits His gifts to man's needs, it was there also [that the Prophets attained to their grandest development as statesmen. The kingdom of Israel had been founded by the prophet Ahijah; it was ever the object of the most watchful prophetic care, and when in spite of all there was an open attempt to substitute the worship of Baal for that of Jehovah, Elijah and Elisha stood forth in their full greatness as the true leaders of the people and the guardians of the state. Yet this was but the lower side of their labours: though of primary importance at the time it had not the stamp upon it of eternity. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works."