The Twelve Minor Prophets make up the last twelve books of the Old Testament and consist of Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi.
The term “Minor” refers to the length of the books, not their importance. Even the longest is short when compared to the three major prophetical books of Isaiah, Ezekiel and Jeremiah. However, although the books are relatively short, they pack some of the most important messages in the Old Testament, messages detailing God’s love and mercy as well as warnings of his ultimate judgment should his people fail to repent and lead lives according to his will.
According to Richard Coggins and Jin Han (authors of Six Minor Prophets Through the Centuries), it is believed that the first six books were collected initially and the second six added later since the two groups seem to complement each other, with Hosea through Micah raising the question of iniquity and Nahum through Malachi proposing resolutions. The arrangement and order of the books is roughly chronological, with the early prophets ministering during the Assyrian period and later prophets ministering in the Babylonian and Persian periods.
In regards to their composition, each book generally includes three types of material:
- Autobiographical material written in the first person, some of which may have been written by the prophet in question himself
- Biographical material about the prophet written in the third person, which demonstrates that the collection and editing of the books could have been completed by people other than the prophets themselves
- Oracles or speeches usually delivered in poetic form that utilize a wide variety of genres including covenant lawsuits, oracles against the nations, judgment oracles, messenger speeches, songs, hymns, narratives, laments, laws, proverbs, symbolic gestures, prayers, wisdom sayings and visions (The Twelve Minor Prophets, Donald Miller’s Journal)
Inside the Minor Prophets 