Q&A: Questions about Prophets and Non-Jewish Traditions
Questions about Prophets and Non-Jewish Traditions
Question
Hello and blessings,
According to the view of Maimonides and those who follow him, that the words of prophets are influenced by the prophet’s own style, his knowledge of the Hebrew language, and so on, how can one explain the Talmudic sages’ close readings of the wording of prophecy (homiletic interpretations, inferences, interpretation through one method or another)? Seemingly, the whole idea underlying interpretations based on the wording of the text is the holiness of the text, and when the formulation is flawed or influenced by “foreign” factors—what holiness does it have?
Answer
I am not familiar with Maimonides’ view on this. The Talmud itself says that no two prophets prophesy in the same style. That is, the style of prophecy is unique to each prophet. But that does not mean that this style is just ordinary human language. It is still possible that this style is part of the prophecy that this prophet receives, and therefore there is room to analyze it closely.
A different formulation: every prophet sees the prophecy from his own point of view, but he expresses that perspective in a precise way that was implanted in him from above.
And one more note. Most homiletic interpretations and close inferences do not depend on stylistic subtleties. For example, there are sometimes general-and-particular interpretations made on formulations found in books by medieval authorities (Rishonim) and later authorities (Acharonim). I brought several examples of this in the second book of the Talmudic Logic series.