This timeline puts the Old Testament prophets in chronological order. In addition to the minor prophets, the major prophets are included in this list to give a better overall sense of when God spoke to the people.
It is worth noting that while some prophets overlapped in time, they did not overlap in territory. In other words, God only had one designated man speaking for Him at one place. In the instances where the prophets overlap, they are speaking for God in different locations.
The dates given here are approximately when the prophet served, not necessarily when the book was written as obviously each book wouldn’t be completed until the message was complete. Since all dates are BC, the years will decrease in number the further down the timeline.
Jonah – 820-804 BC – spoke to the Assyrians
Amos – 810-785 BC – spoke to the northern kingdom
Joel – 800 BC – spoke to the southern kingdom
Hosea – 785-725 BC – spoke to the northern kingdom
Micah – 749-722 BC – spoke to the northern kingdom
Isaiah – 740-681 BC – spoke to the southern kingdom
722 BC – Northern Kingdom of Israel destroyed by the Assyrians
Nahum – 661-612 BC – spoke to the Assyrians
Zephaniah – 630 BC – spoke to the southern kingdom
Habakkuk – 610-599 BC – spoke to the southern kingdom
Jeremiah – 625-582 BC – spoke to the southern kingdom
605, 597, 586 BC – Jerusalem is attacked in three waves and ultimately destroyed by the Babylonians
Daniel – 605-534 BC – spoke to captives in Babylon
Ezekiel – 592-570 BC – spoke to captives in Israel
Obadiah – 585 BC – spoke to the Edomites
539 BC – Babylon is conquered by Cyrus, Jews allowed to return to Jerusalem
Haggai – 520 BC – spoke to the returned exiles of Babylon
Zechariah 518 BC – spoke to the returned exiles of Babylon
Malachi – 430-400 BC – spoke to the returned exiles of Babylon
