"For the Lord thy God bringeth thee into a good land,
A land of brooks of water,
Of fountains and depths,
Springing forth in valleys and hills;
A land of wheat and barley,
And vines and fig trees and pomegranates;
A land of oil olives and honey," etc. (Rev. Ver.)
5. Philosophy, or "wisdom-literature," is also found in the Old Testament. The book of Prov´erbs is a collection of the "sayings of the sages" among the Is´ra-el-ites; while Ec-cle-si-as´tes is a series of connected essays on human life.
6. Prophecy is a distinct form of literature in the Bible. The word "prophecy" in the Scriptures means not "foretelling," or "prediction," but "forthtelling," speaking under a divine power, whether of past, present, or future. It is not to be forgotten that the books of Josh´u-a, Judg´es, Sam´u-el, and Kings were called by the Jews "the former prophets," and were all regarded as prophetic, although they contained history. The prophets used freely either the prose form or verse form in their messages. Their writings may be classified under:
1.) Prophetic Discourse, the message of the Lord concerning nations, often called "the burden," the counterpart of the modern sermon, as in Isa. 1. 1-31; Ezek. 34.
2.) Lyric prophecy, in the form of song, as in Zeph-a-ni´ah, Isa. 9. 8 to 10. 4, and many other instances.
3.) Symbolic prophecy, or the use of emblems, as Jer-e-mi´ah's girdle (Jer. 13), the potter's wheel (Jer. 18), or E-ze´ki-el's tile (Ezek. 4).
4.) The prophecy of Vision, of which instances are: I-sa´iah's call (Isa. 6); Jer-e-mi´ah's vision (Jer. 1. 11-16); E-ze´ki-el's vision of the cherubim (Ezek. 1); "the valley of dry bones" (Ezek. 37); and Zech-a-ri´ah's vision of the candlestick (Zech. 4).
5.) The prophecy of Parable, as "the vineyard" (Isa. 5), also in Ezek. 15; "the eagle" (Ezek. 17). There are many parables in the Old Testament, but the master in this form of teaching was the Prophet of Gal´i-lee in the gospels.
6.) The prophecy of Dialogue, either between the prophet and Je-ho´vah or more frequently between the prophet and the people, as in the book of Mal´a-chi.
7.) Dramatic prophecy, in which Je-ho´vah himself is represented as speaking, generally introduced by the words "Thus saith Je-ho´vah."