ABSTRACT
The books of prophecy in the Hebrew Bible contain many oracles about nations foreign to Israel. In the three major works there are complete sections devoted to this theme, namely Isaiah 13-23, Jeremiah 46-51 and Ezekiel 25-32. These will be referred to as ON-IJE in this study, with the exception of Ezek. 25 which is quite different in form. These blocks were more or less self-contained material which is shown by the fact that whereas the collection appears as Jer. 46-51 in the Hebrew Bible in the Greek version (LXX) they follow 25.15-19. In so far as an original setting can be claimed it is probably in the right place in the Greek where it follows an oracle describing how certain nations are to drink the cup of God’s wrath; but the order in which the oracles appear in the Greek suggests an updating to fit the political interests at the time of the translator. The move of the collection to begin in 46 may have been due to the liturgical shaping of the prophetic books which came at an even later date. Oracles about Israel are followed by oracles about the nations implying the cleansing of the whole earth before the restitution of order and the reign of God in justice and righteousness begins.
