Books of The Prophets / Chronological Timeline Chart

When you open the Bible to read the books of the Prophets, you will notice they are not listed in chronological order. I have stated time and time again that while I believe every Word in the Bible is inspired by the Holy Spirit, I do not believe the divisions of chapters nor verses are inspired. Like the division of chapters and verses, I also do not believe the placement of where all the books themselves are located was inspired.

With the exception of Job, the Old Testament books from Genesis through to 2 Chronicles are pretty much placed in their proper chronological order. These are all handed down to us from the Hebrew Bible, or the Old Testament which were originally gathered into three groups: the Torah, the Prophets, and the Writings. Besides the five books in the Torah, which have always been listed in the same order, the books have been placed in variuous order at different times by different groups of Jewish Religious scribes, depending upon their preference.

In the centuries after the Jews returned from captivity, long before the coming of Jesus, the Old Testament books were translated into Greek under the request of Ptolemy in about 250 B.C.. Ptolemy wanted a copy of the Hebrew Bible for his famous library in Alexandria. By then many Jews were dispersed and living in places outside of Palestine, and so Jewish scribes agreed to tranaslate the Hebrew texts into Greek, which had become the common language of the day. This translation was known as the Septuagint.

The Jewish translators rearranged the placement of the Old Hebrew books in the order they are pretty much at today. Although they recatagorized the thm into new divisions. These categories are the Law, History, Wisdom (or Poetry), and Prophets. Since the Septuagint was the Bible of the early church, this new order was carried over into Christian Bibles as they (slowly) began to come together.

Through the years there have been varying accepted books by different Christian faiths. Without getting into the reasons for, or the choices of books accepted, my main point of this post is to offer my understanding of the correct chronological order the books of the prophets that have been accepted in the Protestant Bible.

As a rule I have no problem where the majority of books have been placed, as far as where each category of books are concerned. However, when it comes to the order of the prophets in their category, I do have a problem. So I repeat, it is not where the category is placed, but rather the order in which the books of the prophets are arranged in their category.  I am of the belief that the prophetic books should have been listed in chronological order, because it would then make it easier for the readers to follow the various books by matching them in proper historical order of kings. This will help the reader better understand how some prophecies are related to the various kings of the Northern and Southern kingdoms through the years.

And if you say in your heart, ‘How shall we know the word which the LORD has not spoken?’— when a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the thing does not happen or come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD has not spoken;
Deuteronomy 18:21-22

Every prophet of ancient Israel spoke about the events mentioned in the Old Testament long before they actually happened. Israel was continualy confronted with the choice of blessings or curses. Blessings if they followed the LORD and curses if they forsook him. Moses, warned the people not to disobey the LORD or else:

The LORD will bring a nation against you from afar, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flies, a nation whose language you will not understand, a nation of fierce countenance, which does not respect the elderly nor show favor to the young.
Deuteronomy 28:49-50

Jesus confirmed all of the events mentioned in the Old Testament

Therefore the wisdom of God also said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and persecute,’ that the blood of all the prophets which was shed from the foundation of the world may be required of this generation, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah who perished between the altar and the temple. Yes, I say to you, it shall be required of this generation.
Luke 11:49-51
Below is a list of the Books of the prophets with dates, kings and historical events regarding Israel and her prophets.

Chronological List of Prophets in the Old Testament
The Prophets	The Dates	Bible History	Kings and Events
Prophets of Israel
Jonah	810-790 BC	2 Kings 13-14	Jehoash, Jeroboam II (Amaziah)
Joel	790-760 BC	2 Kings 11-15	Uzziah
Amos	780-760 BC	2 Kings 14-15	Jeroboam II (Uzziah)
Hosea	785-725 BC	2 Kings 15-18	Jeroboam II to Hoshea (Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz)
Isaiah	750-695 BC	2 Kings 15-20	Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah
Micah	745-725 BC	2 Kings 15	Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah
Prophets of Judah
Nahum	660-630 BC	2 Kings 15-18	Manasseh, Amon, Josiah
Zephaniah	630-620 BC	Isaiah 10	Josiah
Habakkuk	620-610 BC	2 Kings 23	Josiah, Jehoahaz
Jeremiah	628-588 BC	2 Kings 22-25	Josiah to Zedekiah. The Captivity
Prophets of the Captivity
Daniel	606-534 BC	2 Kings 23-25	The Captivity (Reign of Nebuchadnezzar to Cyrus)
Obadiah	587 BC	2 Kings 25	After Jerusalem’s Destruction (Reign of Nebuchadnezzar)
Ezekiel	596-574 BC	2 Kings 24	to the Jews Before and During the Captivity (Reign of Nebuchadnezzar)
Prophets of the Return to Jerusalem
Haggai	520-518 BC	Ezra 5-6	Rebuilding the Temple in Jerusalem (Reign of Darius I)
Zechariah	520-510 BC	Ezra 5-6	Rebuilding and Dedication of the Temple (Reign of Darius I)
Malachi	420-397 BC	Nehemiah 13	Second Reformation by Nehemiah (Reign of Artaxerxes I)