Book of the Twelve

Some scholars call the last twelve books of the Old Testament either the Book of the Twelve or the Minor Prophets. These books consist of Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi.

It is called the Book of the Twelve by some scholars because when these oracles were recorded onto scrolls, they were sometimes all grouped together because some are very short. It would be harder to keep track of a scroll that is only two columns, as opposed to a scroll that would have over 100 chapters as we call them today. Some scholars call these books the Minor Prophets. This comes from the division of the Latter Prophets into the Major and Minor Prophets. The Major prophets are Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. These are all longer oracles, hence why they are called major. Thus, the shorter books are called minor, in comparison with the three longer books. When someone hears the name Minor Prophets, it may give them the idea that these prophets are not as important compared to the Major Prophets, so this is why some scholars call it the Book of the Twelve.

I prefer to call the end of the Old Testament the Book of the Twelve, because it reminds me that they are all shorter oracles, but it does not give me the impression that they are less important, like calling them minor does for me. By calling it the Book of the Twelve, it also reminds me that these were all once written on a single scroll, and it helps me think of the original context of the verses, and that in fact they were not originally divided into chapter and verse. To me, it gives these writings more authority because they are seen as twelve individual prophets, who all had something to say about God and the Israelites.