Twelve Minor Prophets in the context of "Prophetic books"

The Nevi'im (/nəviˈiːm, nəˈviːɪm/; Biblical Hebrew: נְבִיאִים, romanized: Nəviʾim, lit. 'spokespersons, prophets') is the second major division of the Hebrew Bible (the Tanakh), lying between the Torah (lit. 'instruction') and Ketuvim (lit. 'writings'). The Nevi'im are divided into two groups. The Former Prophets (Hebrew: נביאים ראשונים Nəviʾim Rishonim) consists of the narrative books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings; while the Latter Prophets (נביאים אחרונים Nəviʾim Aḥaronim) include the books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the Twelve Minor Prophets.

The Book of Malachi (Hebrew: מַלְאָכִי, romanized: Malʾāḵī) is the last book of the Nevi'im in the Tanakh and canonically the final book of the Twelve Minor Prophets. In most Christian traditions, the prophetic books form the last section of the Old Testament, making Malachi the last book before the New Testament. The book is divided into three chapters in the Hebrew Bible and Septuagint, and four in the Latin Vulgate. The fourth chapter in the Vulgate consists of the remainder of the third chapter, starting at verse 3:19.

The author of Malachi may or may not have been identified by the title itself. While often understood as a proper name, its Hebrew meaning is simply "my messenger" (the Septuagint translates it as "his messenger"). It was not a proper name at the time of its writing. Jewish tradition states that the book was written by the Scribe Ezra.

The Book of Zechariah is a Jewish text attributed to Zechariah, a Hebrew prophet of the late 6th century BC. In the Hebrew Bible, the text is included as part of the Twelve Minor Prophets, itself a part of the second division of that work. In the Christian Old Testament, the Book of Zechariah is considered to be a separate book and consists of fourteen chapters.

Zechariah was a person in the Hebrew Bible traditionally considered the author of the Book of Zechariah, the eleventh of the Twelve Minor Prophets.

The Book of Zechariah depicts the eponymous character as the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo. The Book of Ezra instead names Zechariah as the son of Iddo, Targum Lamentations 2:20 names this Zechariah as a son of Iddo, as does the book of Matthew 23:35. This is not the same person as Iddo the Seer, who lived during the reigns of Solomon, Rehoboam, and Abijah, and is most likely the Iddo mentioned in Ezra 8:17. Zechariah's prophetical career probably began in the second regnal year of Darius the Great, king of the Achaemenid Empire (520 BCE). Zechariah's greatest concern appears to have been with the building of the Second Temple. He features in chapters 1–8 of the book of Zechariah but he does not appear in the remaining chapters of the book (chapters 9–14).

The major prophets is a grouping of books in the Christian Old Testament that does not occur in the Hebrew Bible. All of these books are traditionally regarded as authored by the prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel. The term major prophets refers to the length of the books and not the achievement or importance of the prophets. In comparison to the books of the Twelve Minor Prophets, whose books are short and grouped together into one single book in the Hebrew Bible, the books of the major prophets are much longer.

The Book of Amos is the third of the Twelve Minor Prophets in the Christian Old Testament and Jewish Tanakh and the second in the Greek Septuagint. The Book of Amos has nine chapters. According to the Bible, Amos was an older contemporary of Hosea and Isaiah, and was active c. 750 BC during the reign of Jeroboam II (788–747 BC) of Samaria (Northern Israel), while Uzziah was King of Judah. Amos is said to have lived in the kingdom of Judah but preached in the northern Kingdom of Israel where themes of social justice, God's omnipotence, and divine judgment became staples of prophecy. In recent years, scholars have grown more skeptical of The Book of Amos’ presentation of Amos’ biography and background. It is known for its distinct “sinister tone and violent portrayal of God.”