Includes bibliographical references (pages 405-414) and indexes.

Preface to the Fortress Press edition -- A preview of coming attractions -- Abbreviations -- Introduction : through the eyes of the seer -- The beginning of the word -- Keepers of the flame : the early Israelite prophetic experience -- Courting the prophets : prophets and the early monarchy -- Prophets of holy writ : from Amos to the exile -- Exilic dreams of grandeur -- Vital visions or the dying of the light? -- Apocalypse -- then -- Jesus the seer -- Prophets, seers, and dreamers at the dawn of the Christian era -- Profile of a prophet and his movement : Jesus and his followers in the Greco-Roman world -- From the seer to the shepherd : apocalyptic at the end of the New Testament era -- From Mari to Montanus -- The progress of prophecy : conclusions.

Increasingly, scholars recognize that prophetic traditions, expressions, and experiences stand at the heart of most religions in the ancient Mediterranean world. This is no less true for the world of Judaism and Jesus. Ben Witherington III offers an extensive, cross-cultural survey of the broader expressions of prophecy in its ancient Mediterranean context, beginning with Mari, moving to biblical figures not often regarded as prophets--Balaam, Deborah, Moses, and Aaron--and to the apocalyptic seer in postexilic prophecy, showing that no single pattern describes all prophetic figures. The consequence is that different aspects of Jesus's activity touch upon prophetic predecessors: his miracles, on Elijah and Elisha; his self-understanding as the Son of Man, on Daniel and 1 Enoch; his warnings of woe and judgment, on the "writing prophets" in Judean tradition; and his messianic entry into Jerusalem, on Zechariah 9. Witherington also surveys the phenomenon of apocalyptic prophecy in early Christianity, including Paul, Revelation, the Didache, Hermas, and the Montanist movement. Jesus the Seer is a worthy complement to Witherington's other volume on Jesus, Jesus the Sage (Fortress Press, 2000).

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