This volume contains 19 articles by Jean-Georges Heintz, professor emeritus for Old Testament studies at the University of Strasbourg. The contributions deal with the origins, forms and functions of prophecy and prophetic literature in the West Semitic area and their relations to the theology of covenant and divine sovereignty. These fields are studied on the basis of Old Babylonian/Amorite texts from Mari and Syro-Palestinian literature, esp. the Hebrew Bible, in order to comprehend the evolution of institutions and traditions. A special interest is granted to the topics of ancient Near Eastern iconography and the figurative language of the Hebrew Bible. A foreword in German by Manfred Weippert introduces to the volume and provides an abstract and a critical analysis of each article.