Why Only in the Jewish Bible Did the Prophets Address the People?

It is well known that whereas ancient Near Eastern prophets (such as in Mari) addressed the king, biblical prophets addressed not only the king, but primarily the people at large. It is further known that while ANE prophets addressed the king about cultic and military issues (and extremely rarely about the king`s obligation to rule justly), biblical prophets predominantly rebuked the people on moral concerns and paganism (and only rarely on cultic issues per se). Additionally, biblical prophets called for the people to "return" to God, prophesied redemption after destruction and exile, and spoke against foreign nations.

Why exactly were biblical prophets unique in addressing the people as a whole, and even groups (such as the wealthy)? What is there about the Tanakh that explains why this phenomenon occurred only in the literature of ancient Israel and not elsewhere in the ANE?

This paper will show that the answer lies in the allied concepts of divinely-given covenant and divine law - both of which only existed in the Tanakh. Indeed, the paper will adduce - through a number of exemplary passages in the Torah and Prophets - that the prophets knew the Torah`s Sinai Covenant and legal material, and that both of these lay at the basis of the prophetic message.