Julia M. OBrien

It's time for the results of my first reader poll.  Drumroll, please.

As of  today, with 50 votes cast over 7 weeks, the winner in the "What is your favorite book among the prophets?" is Isaiah.  Close to 36% of respondents listed Isaiah as their favorite book.   

The popularity of Isaiah comes as no surprise.  Not only is Isaiah the longest prophetic book (giving people more to like), but it's also the prophetic book most quoted in the New Testament.  In fact, of all Old Testament books it's the second-most quoted in the New Testament (Psalms wins that contest).  Passages from Isaiah appear in the narratives of Jesus' birth ("behold, a virgin will conceive"), his life ("the spirit of the LORD is upon me"), and his passion ("he was despised and rejected").   A lot of folks know Isaiah even when they don't know that they know Isaiah.  

Jeremiah came in second with 24%. 

Jeremiah is a usual second-place finisher.  No real match for Isaiah's popularity, Jeremiah does offer moving personal speeches ("oh that my head were a fountain of tears") and memorable metaphors (God as potter and Jerusalem as clay).  Jeremiah also provides New Testament writers with material, such the description of a future new covenant that will be written on people's hearts. 

Ezekiel, Daniel, and the Book of the Twelve all tied for third place with 10%. 

The tie between Ezekiel and Daniel makes sense.  In my experience, a lot of folks like the stories in both--the valley of the dry bones and Daniel in the lion's den--but find the books as a whole somewhat strange.  Of course, people who read Ezekiel and Daniel as predicting the future tend to find these books immensely important, so their third-place finish in my poll tells me something about who is (and who isn't) part of my website audience yet. 

I work mostly on the Book of the Twelve, so I'm disappointed that the minor prophets didn't get a better showing.

Maybe offering people a chance to vote for individual books may have given Amos or Micah a fighting chance.  Having to share the stage with Nahum and Obadiah can hurt a guy's ratings.  

Six percent voted for "what's a prophet?," while 4% liked Lamentations (I'm rounding, in case you're attempting oversight of my accounting).

"What is a prophet?" is a question I spend a lot of time thinking and talking about.  

Before I give my answer, I'm interested in hearing what other people think.  Let me know your definition of a prophet by taking my new poll:  "What is the primary role of a prophet?"