Part 38
for painting the face or body with ownership, tribal, trophy, or ceremonial marks for worship, war, mourning, etc. This paint might be temporary
For the printed edd of the Heb and Gr originals, and the various VSS, see arts, on Textual Criticism and allied topics in this encyclopaedia, with their literature. The art. on "Typography" in Jew Enc is of unusual excellence, and the general literature of printing given in Enc Brit, at the end of the first part of the art. on "Typography,"
or pricked in by the tattoo process. Tattooing
itself is rather a writing than a printing process, but may be either, according as the color is laid on by drawing or by the "pintadera." The "pintadera"
or "stamp used to impress patterns upon the skin"
ia best known from the Mexican and South American examples, but in recent years it has been found in
is full and good. Compare also Book in this encyclopaedia and its literature, esp. Hortzschansky, supplementing the bibliography of Enc
deposits all over the Mediterranean region (North
Italy, Austria, Hungary, Mycenae, Crete, Egypt) and in Borneo at least. Many of these specimens
Brit. E. C. Richardson
are from the Neolithic or Copper age. Both in South America and in Neohthic Liguria, some of
PRISCA, pris'ka, PRISCILLA, pri-sil'a. See Aquila.
these stamps were cylindrical and "were used like
Prison, Prisoner Procurator THE INTERNATIONAL STANDARD BIBLE ENCYCLOPAEDIA 2456
pretation, viz. that a building known as the "house
PRISON, priz'n, PRISONER, priz"n-er, priz'- ner (there are various Heb words which are rendered "prison" in AV, among them:
of Jonathan the scribe" had been taken oyer by the authorities and converted into a jail. We read
1 Hebrew
in the following verse that the house had a "dungeon" (fit. "house of the pit") and "cabins" or "cells."
j^j ^^,0, sohar, "round house," "forWords i_ tress" [8 t in Gen], [2] i<p3, kde'
The data are not sufficient to enable us to give any detailed description of the treatment of prisoners. This treatment varied accord-
"restraint," "confinement" [12 t: in historic books, Isa, Jer, with "house"], [3] nn^'D , mailardh, "guard," "sentry" [13 t in Jer and Neh], [4] nDSn)3, mah'phekheth, "distorting," i.e. stocks or
6. The ing to the character of the offence Treatment which led to incarceration. Samson
of Prisoners during the period of his imprisonment
pillory [4 t], [5] I'lDS, 'esur, "bond," "fetters" [Eccl 4 14; Jer 37 15]; "ward" in AV is usuaUy the
was compelled to do hard labor (Jgs 16 21). Grinding was the occupation of women, and marked the depth of Samson's humiUation. Dangerous persons were subjected to various kinds
, mishmar)
rendering for "l)311>T2
The earliest occurrence of the word "prison" in AV is found in the narrative of Joseph's life in Egypt (J). The term used, viz.
of physical mutilation, e.g. Samson was deprived of
his sight. This was a common practice in Assyria
(2 K 25 7). The thumbs and great toes of Adonibezek were cut off to render him incapable of further resistance (Jgs 1 6). Various forms of torture were in vogue. Hanani the seer was put into the pUlory by Asa (for "in a prison house" we should render "in the stocks"; see RVm). In Jer 29 26 for "prison," we should render "stocks" (so RV) or "pillory," and for "stocks," "collar" (as in RVm). AV renders a different Heb word by "stocks" in Job (13 27; 33
2. In Early sohar, means perhaps "round house" Times or "tower." It seems probable that among the Hebrews there were no special buildings erected as "jails" in the premonarchical period, and perhaps not before the post-exilic period, when the adoption of the civic institutions and customs of surrounding nations prevailed. In Egypt and Assyria, on the contrary, there were probably public buildings corresponding to our modern jails. Among the Hebrews, rooms in connection with the royal palace or the residence of prominent court officials would be used for the purpose.
11). There was a special prison diet (1 K 22 27), as well as a prison garb (2 K 25 29).
There are other Heb words rendered "prison" (sometiraes incorrectly ) in AV. InPs 142 7, the word which is trd "prison" means a "place of execution,"
According to one narrative (J) in Gen the prison in which Joseph was confined had a "keeper," while
7. Other ^^^ is derived from a root which denotes.
according to another narrative (E)
XT^iK^flTTT for instance, tlie isolation of the leper (Lev Meorew ^3 g. ^j jg^ 34 22; 42 7). in Isa 53 8 Words "oppression" not "prison" is the correct tr, whileinlsa 61 1 the Heb denotes " opening of the eyes," rather than "opening of the prison." Prisoners are promised "light after darkness, gleam after gloom."
3. Joseph the offending members of the royal in Egypt household, viz. the royal butler and the royal baker, were placed "in ward" with the "captain of the guard" in charge, i.e. in some part of the royal palace. This is still more probable if, instead of "captain of the guard," we should translate "chief of the cooks," i.e. superintendent of the royal kitchen.
In the NT "prison" generally occurs for the Gr word ^u'KaKTi, phulake, which corresponds to the Heb word TOTl))? , mishmar, referred
It was often necessary to restrict the liberty of individuals who for various causes were a menace
8. In the to above (Mt 5 25; Mk 6 17; Lk 3 20; NT Acts 5 19; 1 Pet 3 19). In Rev 18
to those in authority, without inflict-
2, AV renders this word by two different words, viz. "hold" and "cage"; RV employs
4. Causes ing any corporal punishment, e.g. of ImJoseph's brethren were kept "in ward" prisonment three days (Gen 42 19); Shimei was forbidden to pass beyond the boundary of Jerus (1 K 2 36) ; the person who was caught gathering sticks on the Sabbath was put "in ward" pending his trial (Nu 15 34). In the monarchical period, prophets who criticized the throne were put in prison, e.g. Micaiah by Ahab (1 K 22 27), Hanani by Asa (2 Ch 16 10). Hoshea, after his abortive effort to institute an alliance with So or Seve, king of Egypt, w^as shut up in prison by Shalmaneser
"hold" in each case (RVm "prison"). In one passage "ward" is the rendering in AV (Acts 12 10). In connection with the imprisonment of John the term used is Sea-fiuir^^piov, desmoterion, "place of bonds" or "fetters" (Mt 11 2); the same word is used in the case of Peter and John (Acts 5 21.23), and of Paul and Silas (Acts 16 26). But the more common term is also found in these narratives. In Acts 12 17 "prison" renders a Gr word which means "dwelhng." In Acts 5 18 AV, "prison" is the rendering for another Gr word, viz. Tripriais, Uresis, "watching" or "ward" (RV "ward"). In Acts 4 3, AV employs "hold" as the rendering for the same word. This would corre.spond to the modern "police station" or "lockup." See also Punishments. T. Lewis
(2 K 17 4); cf also 2 K 25 27 (Jehoiachin in Babylon); Jer 52 II (Zedekiah in Babylon). The Book of Jer throws considerable light on the prison system of Jerus in the later monarchical
period. The prophet was put "in
5. Under the stocks that were in the upper gate the of Benjamin, which was in the house Monarchy of Jeh" (20 2). Mere imprisonment was not adequate punishment for the prophet's announcement of Judah's doom; it was necessary to have recourse to the pillory. During the siege of Jerus Jeremiah was confined in the "court of the guard, which was in the king of Judah's house" (32 2, etc). The "court of the guard" was evidently the quarters of the sentry who guarded the royal palace. According to the narrative of ch 37, the prophet was arrested on a charge of treachery and i)ut in prison "in the house of Jonathan the scribe" (37 15). This verse does not necessarily mean that a private house was used as a prison. The words are capable of another inter-
PRISON GARMENTS. See preceding article.
PRISON, SPIRITS IN: The phrase occurs in the much-disputed passage, 1 Pet 3 18-20, where the apostle, exhorting Christians to endurance under suffering for well-doing, says: "Because Christ also suffered for sins once, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God; being ptit to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit; in which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison, that aforetime were disobedient, when the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls, were saved through
2457 THE INTERNATIONAL STANDARD BIBLE ENCYCLOPAEDIA Prison, Prisoner Procurator
victor in the Gr games, consisting of a garland of bay, olive, or pine; so called because it was given by the (ipa^eis, brabeus, the adjudicator who assigned the prize at the games (Vulg bravium, from which may be derived the Eng. "brave" = originally gaily dressed, handsome). Used lit. in 1 Cor 9 24, and figuratively of the heavenly reward for Christian character in Phil 3 14. (2) apivayixbs, harpagmds, in ERV of Phil 2 6, "counted it not a prize to be on an equality with God." The termination -IJ.OS, -mos, would lead us to ex-pect the active sense: "an act of grasping," "plundering" (AV "robbery"), which would imply that Christ did not deem it an act of usurpation to claim equality with God, for such equality was His inherent right. But the context demands a reference "not to the right which He claimed, but to the dignity which He renounced" (Lightfoot); hence the majority of modern expositors take the word in a passive sense
water." It is plain that in this context "the spirits in prison" (toTs iv rfivXaKy TTvei/iaa-iv, tois en phulake pneumasin) denote the generation who were disobedient in the days of Noah, while the words "spirits" and "in prison" refer to their present disembodied condition in a place of judgment in the unseen world (cf 2 Pet 2 4-9). The crucial point in the passage lies in what is said of Christ's preaching to these spirits in prison. The interpretation which strikes one most naturally is that Christ, put to death in the flesh, and made alive again in the spirit, went in this spiritual (disembodied) state, and preached to these spirits, who once had been disobedient, but are viewed as now possibly receptive of His message. This is the idea of the passage taken by the majority of modern exegetes, and it finds support in what is said in
1 Pet 4 6, "For unto this end was the gospel preached even to the dead, that they might be judged indeed according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit." On this basis
{ = S.pTra.yfm, hdrpagma): "a thing to be seized, prized, retained at all costs as a booty" (ERV "a prize," ARV "a thing to be grasped"), implying that Christ did not regard equality with God as a thing to be clutched greedily, but waived His rights (see Lightfoot on Phil 2 6). The vb. "to prize" occurs only in Zee 11 13. See Grasp; Humiliation of Christ; Kenosis. D. Miall Edwards
is now often reared a mass of doctrine or conjecture respecting "second probation," "restoration," etc—in part going back to patristic times—for which the passage, even so taken, affords a very narrow foundation (see on this view, Plumptre, The Spirits in Prison; Dorner, System of Christian Doctrine, IV, 130-32; E. White, Life in Christ, ch xxii). It must be admitted, however, that, on closer examination, the above plausible explanation is compassed with many difficulties. A preaching of Christ in Hades is referred to in no other passage of Scripture, while Peter appears to be speaking to his readers of something with which they are famil-
PROBATION, pro-ba'shun, SECOND, sek'und. See EsCHATOLOGY OF THE N'T.
PROCHORUS, prok'6-rus (IIpoxopos, Prdchoros)
One of "the seven" chosen by the Christian community in Jerus to superintend the dispensing of charity to the widows and other poor (Acts 6 5). The name is Gr, and he may have been a Hellenist. According to tradition he became bishop of Nicomedia and died a martyr at Antioch.
iar; it seems strange that these antediluvians should be singled out as the sole objects of this preaching in the spiritual world; the word "made alive" does not exegetically refer to a disembodied
state, but to the resurrection of Christ in the body,
PROCONSUL, pro-kon'sul (avfliiraTos, anthupatos [Acts 13 7; 18 12]; AV deputy). See Province.
etc. Another line of interpretation is therefore preferred by many, who take the words "in which
also he went," to refer, not to a disembodied mani-
PROCURATOR, prok'fl-ra-ter (tirtTpoiros, epitropos) : This word signified in a general sense a steward or bailiff of a private estate, or a financial agent with power of attorney, and the development of the special usage of the word to denote an impe-
festation, but to the historical preaching to the antediluvian generation through Noah while they yet lived. In favor of this view is the fact that the apostle in 1 11 regards the earlier prophetic preaching as a testifying of "the Spirit of Christ,"_ that God's long-suffering with Noah's generation is described in Gen 6 5, which Peter has doubtless in
rial functionary or official is characteristic of the origin of many departments of administration under the Roman Empire which sprang from the emperor's household. At the time of Augustus, when the domestic quality of these offices had not been entirely lost, the procurators were mostly imperial freedmen. But after the systematic organization of the administration in the 2d cent., the title of procurator was reserved for functionaries of the equestrian class. In fact, the term is so intimately connected with the sphere of official activity of the Rom knights that the e.xpressions "procuratorial career" and "equestrian career" are used sj'nonymously (cf Hirschfeld, Die kaiserlichen VerivaUungsheamlen his auf Dioclelian, 410-6.5).
his mind, as a striving of God's Spirit, and that in 2 Pet 2 5 there is another allusion to these events, and Noah is described as "a preacher of righteous-
ne.ss." The passage, 1 Pet 4 6, may have the more
general meaning that Christians who have died are
at no disadvantage in the judgment as compared with those who shall be alive at the Parousia (cf
1 Thess 4 1.5-18). (For an exposition of this view, with a full account of the interpretations and litera-
ture on the subject, cf Salmond's Christian Doc-
trine of Immortality, 4th ed, 364-87.) See also ESCHATOLOGY OF THE NT. JaMES OrR
During the last century of the Republic, the class of knights (equit.es) embraced in general all citizens of wealth who were not magistrates or members of the senate. The Roscian Law (67 BC) established 400,000 sesterces (about S18,000 or £3,600) as the minimum census rating for membership in this class. The gold ring, tunic with narrow purple border, and privilege of sitting in the first 14 rows at the theater were the tokens of knighthood. Augustus added to these the public horse which was conferred henceforth by the emperor and recalled the original military significance of the order. From the time of Augustus the first three decuriae of jurors (judices), each containing 1,000 persons, were filled with knights.
PRIVY, priv'i, PRIVILY, priv'i-li: These words
are obsolete in modern Eng. and are replaced by
"secret," "secretly," rather than by the cognates
"private," "privately." RV usually has not
altered AV's use of the word, but in Ps 11 2 has
substituted "in darkness" and in Jgs 9 31 uses
"craftily," m "in Tormah" (see Tormah). In Ezk
21 14, AV "entereth into their privy chambers," "privy" is a gloss, omitted in RV. "To be privy
to a thing" (1 K 2 44; Acts 5 2) is simply "to know" it; in Wisd 8 4, RV has changed the phrase
into "be initiated into."
PRIZE, priz: Two Gr words are so rendered in EV: (1) ^papeiov, brabeion, the award to the
Procurator Prophecy THE INTERNATIONAL STANDARD BIBLE ENCYCLOPAEDIA 2458
Coponius (6 AD to c 10 AD) M. Ambibulus (c 10-13) Annius Rufus (c 13-15) Valerius Gratus (c 15-26) Pontius Pilatus (26-35) MarceUus (probably 35-38) Maryllus (38^4) C. Cuspius Fadus (44r-46) Tiberius Alexander (46-48) Ventidius Cumanus (48-52) M. Antonius Felix (52-60 or 61) Note.—Marquardt gives his name as Claudius Felix, supposing that he was a freedman of Claudius and therefore took his nomen (Suetonius Claud, xxviii; Victor, epitome iv, 8); but there is stronger evidence in support of the belief that Felix was a freedman of Antonia, Claudius' mother, like his brother Pallas (Tacitus Ann. xii.54: Jos, Ant, XVIIl, vi, 4; XX, vii. 1. 2; XX, viii, 9; BJ, II, xii, 8), and accordingly had received the praenomen and nomen Of Antonia's father (Jos, Ant, XVIII, vl, 6). Fortius Festus (61) Albinus (62-64) Gessius Florus (65-66)
Under the Republic the influence of the equestrian class was chiefly exerted in the financial transactions of the companies which farmed the variable revenues. The importance of the publicani was greatly reduced under the Empire, but the emperors recompensed the knights for this loss of opportunity by intrusting them with a great variety of administrative functions. Military service as prefect or tribune was the preliminary step in the offi-
cial equestrian career. The highest positions held by members of the equestrian class were cafled prefectures, and included the prefecture of the guard, of Egj'pt, of the grain-supply, of the watchmen in Rome, and of the fleet. But between these extremes the title procurator was applied generally to the functionaries whose positions were of imperial origin.
The administration of the fiscus or imperial treasury at Rome and of the finances in the imperial provinces, as well as the collection of fiscal revenues in the senatorial provinces, was in the hands of procurators. They occupied many positions which, on account of their intimate relationship with the person of the monarch, could be safely intrusted only to those whose limited prestige precluded inordinate ambition (Friedlaender, Sittengeschichte Roms, 7th ed, Part I, 132-4.3). Finally, several provinces, where the conditions were unfavorable to the introduction of the ordinary administrative system and Rom public law, were governed as imperial domains by officials of the equestrian class as the emperor's representatives. In Egypt the title prefect (praefectus) was emploj^ed permanently as the appellation of the viceroy, and while the same term may have been used originally to denote the governors of this class generally, when their military outweighed their civil functions, yet the designation procurator became at an early date the term of common usage to designate them (Hirschfeld, 382).
See, further. Governor. George H. Allen
PROFANE, pr5-fan' (vb. bbn, halal, ad], bbn
hdlal, bn , hoi; PePiiXdu, bebeloo, P£Pt)X.os, hebelos): From profanus, "before [i.e. outside] the temple," therefore unholy, polluted, secular, is of frequent occurrence (vb. and adj.) in both the OT and the NT. It occurs as the tr of hoi in AV only in Ezk (22 26, RV "common"; 42 20; 44 23; 48 15, RV "for common use"); as the tr of halal in Lev 21 7.14, RVm "polluted"; and Ezk 2i 25, where, for AV "thou profane wicked prince of Israel," RV has "thou, O deadly wounded wicked one, the prince of Israel." "To profane" {halal) is seen in Lev 18 21; 19 8; Neh 13 17.18;' Ps 89 39; Isa 43 28; Ezk 22 8.26, etc. "Profaneness" in Jer 23 15 {hanuppah) is in ARV "ungodliness." In the NT "profane" occurs in the sense of unholy, godless, regardless of God and Divine things (1 Tim 1 9; 4 7; 6 20; 2 Tim 2 16; He 12 16), and "to profane," or violate, in Mt 12 5; Acts 24 6. The vb. is frequent in Apoc in 1 Mace (1 43.45.63; 2 34, etc; also in 2 Mace 8 2; 10 5; cf 2 Esd 15 8; Jth 4 3.12; 1 Mace 1 48; 2 Mace 4 13). In numerous cases RV substitutes "profane" for other words and phrases in AV, as for "to prostitute" (Lev 19 29), "an hypocrite" (Isa 9 17), "pollute" (Nu 18 32; Ezk 7 21), etc. W. L. Walker
Mauretania, Rhaetia, Noricum, Thrace, Cappadocia, Judaea and some smaller districts were all,
for a time at least, governed by procurators (Tacitus Hist, i.ll; Dio Cassius lvii.l7).
The question concerning the original title of the Rom governors of Judaea has arisen because the NT employs the word hegemon (Mt 27 2.11.14.15. 21.27; 28 14; Lk 3 1; 20 20; Acts 23 24; 24 1; 26 30), which corresponds with the I^at term
praescs, which might be considered synonymous with either procurator or praefectus (Hirschfeld,
PROFESS, prS-fcs', PROFESSION, prc-fesh'un (T55 , imghadh; 6y,oKo-^ia, homologeo, onoXo-yCa, homologia): "Profess" moans lit. "to own before," hence to make open or public announcement; it occurs only once in the OT as the tr of naghadh, "to put before," often "to tell," "to show," "to declare"
3S4). There is no inscriptional evidence to estab-
lish the nomenclature of the rulers of Pal before the time of Vespasian, and Hirschfeld is of the opinion that a certain passage in Tacitus {Arm. XV.44) where Pilate is called procurator is not sufficient proof in view of this writer's carelessness in
(Dt 26 3); in the NT it is the tr of homologeo, "to speak or say together in common," "to assent," "to confess publicly" (Mt 7 23, "Then will I profess unto them, I never knew you"; 1 Tim 6 12, RV "didst confess the good confession"; Tit 1 16, "They profess that they know God"); of epaggellomai, "to announce one's self," "to make profession" (1 Tim 2 10; 6 21); of phdsho, "to say," "to assert" (Rom 1 22). "Profession" is the tr of homologia (2 Cor 9 13; 1 Tim 6 12; He 3 1, AV "the High Priest of our profession" [of our professed faith]; ^ 4 14; 10 23; in each instance RV has "confession"). "Profess" occurs in AV of Ecclus 3 25, but the verse is omitted by RV; m "Most authorities omit verse 25."
details of this sort. Josephus {Ant, XX, i, 2), however, employs epitropos {procurator) for the time of Claudius, and it is convenient to follow common usage and assume that this title was current from the first.
It was evidently the intention of Augustus that membership in the equestrian class should be a necessary qualification for the procurators who were appointed to govern provinces. But Claudius appointed a freedman, Antonius Felix, brother of the famous minister of finance, Pallas, as procurator of Judaea (Suetonius Claud, xxviii; Tacitus Hist.
V.9). This remained, however, an isolated instance
in the annals of Pal (Hirschfeld, 380), and it is probable, moreover, that Felix was raised to equestrian rank before the governorship was conferred upon him.
W. L. Walker PROG NO STICATORS, prog-nos'ti-ka-terz, MONTHLY. See Astrology, 6.
The following list of the procurators of Judaea is based on IVIarquardt {Romische iStaatsverwallung,
PROLOGUE, pro'log, prol'og (irp6\o-yos, prdlogos, "foreword," "preface," "introduction"): The word occurs in the preface to Ecclus (Sir), and is com-
I, 409, 412) and Schilrer {Geschicitle des judischen Volkes\ I, 485-585)
2459 THE INTERNATIONAL STANDARD BIBLE ENCYCLOPAEDIA Procurator Prophecy
monly applied to Jn 1 1-18. See Ecclesiasticus; John, Gospel of.
(Bar 2 34; 2 Mace 2 18; Wisd 12 21; cf 2 Esd 3 15; 5 29). W. L. Walker
PROLONG, prg-long' (tllS, 'arakh, ^f^, mashakh): "Prolong," "prolonged" are the tr" of 'arakh, "to stretch," "to make long" (Dt 4 26, and frequently, "prolong days"; 4 40, etc; Job 6 11 AV; Prov 28 16; Eccl 7 15; 8 13; Isa 53 10); of mashakh, "to draw out" (Isa 13 22; Ezk 12 25.28 AV); of yai^aph, "to add," "to increase" (Ps 61 6; Prov 10 27); of natah, "to stretch out," "to incline to" (Job 15 29, "neither shall he prolong the perfection thereof upon the earth," ARV "neither shall their possessions be extended on the earth," m "their produce bend to the earth"; ERV reverses text and margin); of 'aVkkah (Aram.) (Dnl 7 12, "Yet their lives were prolonged," AVm "A prolonging in life was given them"). "Prolong" occurs in Ecclus 29 5, "prolong the time" (parelkiio) ; 38 14, "prolong life," RV "maintenance of life" (embwsis) ; 30 22, "prolongeth his days," RV "length of days" (makroemereusin)
PROPER, prop'er: For AV "proper" (child), in He 11 23, RV substitutes "goodly"; in 1 Ch 29 3; 1 Cor 7 7, RV "own" is employed, and for the too emphatic "their proper tongue" in Acts 1 19 "their language" is written. But none of the AV forms are really obsolete.
PROPER NAMES. See Names, Proper.
PROPERTY, prop'er-ti. See Agrarian Laws; Jubilee;Poor;Poktion; Primogeniture; Wealth.
PROPHECY, prof'e-si, prof'e-si, PROPHETS, prof'ets:
I. The Idea of Biblical Prophecy
1. The Seer and ypeakor of God 2. Prophetical Inspiration 3. Relation to Dreani.s 4. Freedom of Inspiration 5. Supernatural Visions of the Future 6. The Fuiniment
37 31, RV "shall prolong" {proslilhemi) W. L. Walker PROMISE, prom'is (most frequently in the OT "ll'l , dabhar, "speaking," "speech," and "15'^,
II. Historical Development of the Prophetic Office
1. Abraham 2. Moses 3. Period of the Judges 4. Schools of Prophets 5. Period of the Kings 6. Literary Prophets, Amos, Hosea 7. Poetical Form of Prophecy 8. Prophets of Judah, Isaiah, and Others Down to Jeremiah 9. During the Exile, Ezekiel, Deutero-Isaiah, Daniel 10. After the Exile, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi 11. Cessation of Prophecy 12. Prophecy in the NT
dab/iar, "to speak," also 1'?'?, 'amar, "to say," once
in Ps 77 8, 'omer, "speech"; in the NT «ira7-y€X.Ca, epaggelia, and the vbs.,€ira-yY€XXo|iai, epaggellomai, and compounds) ; Promise holds an important place in the Scriptures and in the development of the religion that culminated in Christ. The Bible is indeed
full of "precious and exceeding great promises"
(2 Pet 1 4), although the word "promise" is not always used in connection with them. Of the more outstanding promises of the OT may be mentioned:
III. Historical Development of Prophecy
1. Contents of Prophecy 2. Conception of tlie Messiah 3. ]3efore the Exile (through Judgment to Deliverance) 4. Analogous Ideas among Heathen Peoples 5. During the Exile (Ezekiel, Deutero-Isaiah) 6. After tlie Exile (Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi) 7. Contemporaneous Character of Prophecy 8. Partial Character of Prophecy 9. Perspective Character of Prophecy IV. Analogous Phenomena among the Gentiles
(1) the proto-evangelium (Gen 3 15); (2) the prom-
ise to Noah no more to curse the ground, etc (Gen 8 21.22; 9 1-17); (3) most influential, the promise to Abraham to make of him a great nation
in whom all families of the earth should be blessed,- to give to him and his seed the land of Canaan
(Gen 12 2.7, etc), often referred to in the OT (Ex 12 25; Dt 1 8.11; 6 3; 9 28, etc); (4) the promise to David to continue his house on the throne (2 S 7 12.13.28; 1 K 2 24, etc); (5) the promise of restoration of Israel, of the Messiah, of the new and everlasting kingdom, of the new covenant and outpouring of the Spirit (Isa 2 2-5; 4 2; 55 5; 66 13; Jer 31 31-34; 32 37-42; 33 14; Ezk 36 22-31; 37 llf; 39 25 f, etc). In the NT these promises are founded on, and regarded as having their true fulfilment in, Christ and those who are His (2 Cor 1 20; Eph 3 6). The promise of the Spirit is spoken of by Jesus as "the promise of my Father" (Lk 24 49; Acts 1 4), and this was regarded as fulfilled at
1. Necromancy and Technical Witchcraft 2. The Mantic Art
3. Contents of Heathen Oracles Literature
/. The Idea of Biblical Prophecy.—According to the uniform teaching of the Bible the prophet is a speaker of or for God. His words are
1. The Seer not the production of his own spirit, and Speakbut come from a higher source. For er of God he is at the same time, also, a seer, who sees things that do not lie in the domain of natural sight, or who hears things which human ears do not ordinarily receive; cf 1 S 9 9, where nabhl', "speaker," and rb'eh, "seer," are used as synonymous terms. Jer 23 16 and Ezk 13 2 f are particularly instructive in this regard. In these passages a sharp distinction is made between those persons who only claim to be prophets but who prophesy "out of their own heart," and the true prophets who declare the word which the Lord has spoken to them. In the latter case the contents of the prophecy have not originated in their own reflection or calculation; and just as little is this prophecy the product of their own feelings, fears or hopes, but, as something extraneous to man and independent of him, it has with a Divine certainty entered the soul of the prophet. The prophet has seen that which he prophesies, although he need not have seen it in the form of a real vision. He can
Pentecost. The promise of a Saviour of the seed of David is regarded as fulfilled in Christ (Acts 13 23.
32, 26 6; Rom 1 2; 4 13; 9 4). Paul argues that
the promise to Abraham that he should be "heir of
the world," made to him before circumcision, is not
confined to Israel, but is open to all who are children
of Abraham by faith (Rom 4 13-16; ct Gal 3 16.
19.29). In like manner the writer to the Hebrews
goes back to the original promises, giving them a
spiritual and eternal significance (4 1; 6 17; 11 9,
etc). The NT promises include manifold bless-
ings and hopes, among them "life," "eternal life"
(1 Tim 4 8; 6 19; 2 Tim 1 1; Jas 1 12), the "kingdom" (Jas 2 6), Christ's "coming" (2 Pet 3 9,
etc), "new heavens and a new earth" (2 Pet 3 13),
etc. For "promise" and "promised" in AV, RV has
al.so "see" words with his inner eyes (Isa 2 1, and
frequently other terms, as "word" (Ps 105 42), "spake," "spoken" (Dt 10 9; Josh 9 21; 22 4; 23 5.15, etc), "consented" (Lk 22 6), etc. Refer-
often). It is only another expression for this when
it is frequently said that God has spoken to the prophet. In this case too it is not necessary that
ences to the promises occur repeatedly in the Apoo
Prophecy THE INTERNATIONAL STANDARD BIBLE ENCYCLOPAEDIA 2460
there must have been a voice which he could hear phonetically through his natural ear. The main thing is that he must have been able sharply to distinguish the contents of this voice from his own heart, i.e. from his personal consciousness. Only in this way is he capable of speaking to the people in the name of God and able to publish his word as that of Jeh. In this case he is the speaker of Jeh (nabhi'), or the mouth of the Lord (cf Ezk 7 1 with 4 16). Under these conditions he then regards it as absolute compulsion to speak, just as a person must be filled with fear when he hears a lion roar nearby (Am 3 8). The words burn in his soul until he utters them (Jer 20 7.9). The Divine power, which comes over a human being and compels him to see or to hear things which otherwise would be hidden from 2. Prohim, is called by various terms expressphetical Inive of inspiration. It is said that the spiration Spirit of God has come over someone
on the visionary dream than on the prophetic vision
in a waking condition.
Because this Spirit of God acts with full freedom, He can select His organs at will from among every
station, age or sex. The Spirit is not
4. Freedom confined to any priestly class or organi-
of Inzation. It indeed was the case at spiration times that a prophet gathered dis-
ciples around himself, who could themselves in turn also be seized by his spirit, although the transmission of this spirit was a diffi-
cult matter (2 K 2 10). Yet genuine prophecies continued to be at all times a free gift of the sovereign God. Amos (7 14 f) appeals expressly to
this tact, that he did not himself choose the prophet's
calling nor was the pupil of a prophetic school, but that he had been directly called by Jeh from his daily occupation as a shepherd and workman. In the same way we indeed find prophets who belonged to the priestly order (Jeremiah, Ezekiel and others), but equally great is the number of those who certainly did not so belong. Further, age made no
(Nu 24 2); or has fallen upon him (Ezk 11 5) ; or that the hand of Jeh has come over him and laid hold of him (2 K 3 15; Ezk 1 3; 3 14.22, and often); or that the Holy Spirit has been put on him as a garment, i.e. has been incorporated in him (1 Ch 12 18; 2 Ch 24 20); or that the Spirit of revelation has permanently descended upon him (Nu 11 25 f; 2 K 2 15; Isa 11 2; 61 1); or that God has given this Spirit of His (Nu 11 29; Isa 42 1); or pours Him out upon man (Joel 2 2Sf [Heb 3 If]). But this inspiration is not such that it suppresses the human consciousness of the recipient, so that he would receive the word of God in the state of sleep or trance. But rather the recipient is in possession of his full consciousness, and is able afterward to give a clear account of what happened. Nor is the individuality of the prophet eliminated by this Divine inspiration; unconsciously this individuality cooperates in the formal shaping of that which has been seen and heard. In accordance with the natural peculiarity of the prophet and with the contents of the message, the psychological condition of the recipient may be that of intense excitement or of calmness. As a rule the inspiration that takes possession of the prophets is evidenced also by an exalted and poetical language, which assumes a certain rhythmical character, but is not bound to a narrow and mechanical meter. It is, however, also possible that prophetical utterances find their expression in plain prose. The individual peculiarity of the prophet
difference in the call to the prophetic office. Even in his earliest youth Samuel was called to be a prophet (1 S 3 1 ff), and it did not avail Jeremiah anything when he excused himself because of his youth (Jer 1 6). Then, too, a woman could be seized by this Spirit. From time to time prophet-
esses appeared, although the female sex is by no means so prominent here as it is in the sorcery of the heathen. See Prophetess. As an exceptional case the Spirit of God could lay hold even of a person who inwardly was entirely estranged from Him and could make an utterance through him (cf Saul,
1 S 10 11; 19 24; Balaam, Nu 23 f; Caiaphas, Jn 11 51). As a rule, however, God has selected such prophetic organs for a longer service. These persons are called and dedicated for this purpose by Him through a special act (cf Moses Ex 3 1 ff;
1 K 19 16.19ff; Isa 6; Jer 1; Ezk 1). This moment was decisive for their whole lives and constituted their authorization as far as they themselves and others were concerned. Yet for each prophetic appearance these men receive a special enlightenment. The prophet does not at all times speak in an inspired state; cf Nathan (2 S 7 3 ff), who afterward was compelled to take back a word which he had spoken on his own authority. Characteristic data on the mental state of the prophets in the reception and in the declaration of the Divine word are found in Jer 15 16 f; 20 7ff. Originally Jeremiah felt it as a joy that Jeh spoke to him
is a prime factor also in the form in which the revelation comes to him. In the one prophet we find a preponderance of visions; another prophet has no visions. But the visions of the future which he sees are given in the forms and the color which have been furnished by his own consciousness. All the more the form in which the prophet gives expression to his word of God is determined by his personal talents and gifts as also by his experiences.
(cf Ezk 3 3), but then he lost all pleasure in life and would have preferred not to have uttered this word, but he could not do as he desired.
The attempt has often been made to explain prophecy as a natural product of purely human factors. Rationalistic theologians re-
5. Supergarded the prophets as enthusiastic natural teachers of religion and morals, as Visions of warm patriots and politicians, to whom the Future they ascribed nothing but a certain ability of guessing the future. But this was no explanation of the facts in the case. The prophets were themselves conscious of this, that they were not the intellectual authors of their higher knowledge. This consciousness is justified by the fact that they were in a condition to make known things which lay beyond their natural horizon and which were contrary to all probability. Those cases are particularly instructive in this respect which beyond a doubt were recorded by the prophets themselves. Ezekiel could indeed, on the basis of moral and religious reflections, reach the conviction that Zedekiah of Jerus would not escape his punishment for his political treachery and for his disobedience to the word of Jeh; but he could
In a certain respect the dream can be cited as an analogous phenomenon, in which also the ideas that
are slumbering in the soul uninvited
3. The put in their appearance without being Dream controlled by consciousness and reason. On the other hand, prophecy differs specifically from dreams, first, because the genuine prophetical utterance is received when the prophet
is clearly conscious, and, secondly, because such an utterance brings with it a much greater degi-ee of certainty and a greater guaranty of its higher origin than is done even by a dream that seems to be prophetical. In Jer 23 25 ff it is declared that these two are entirely dissimilar, and the relation between the two is compared to straw and wheat. The Moslem Arabs also put a much lower estimate
2461 THE INTERNATIONAL STANDARD BIBLE ENCYCLOPAEDIA Prophecy
more rarely find X372 , mille' , but regularly in the NT TrXTjpoOcr^ai, plerousthai, "being fulfilled") by the course of events. It would remain an empty word
never from this source have reached the certainty that this Icing, as the prophet describes the case in 12 8 ff, was to be talcen captive while trying to escape from the besieged city and was then to be blinded and taken to Babylon. Just as little could he in Babylon know the exact day when the siege of Jerus began (24 2) . If this prophet had learned of these things in a natural way and had afterward clothed them in the form of prophecy, he would have been guilty of a deception, something unthinkable in the case of so conscientious a preacher of morality. But such cases are frequently met with. Jeremiah predicts to Hananiah that he would die during the year (28 16), but it is not only such matters of detail that presuppose an extraordinary vision of the prophet. The whole way also in which Jeremiah predicts the destruction of Jerus as inevitable, in direct contrast to the hopes of the Jerusalemites and to the desires of his own heart, shows that he was speaking under Divine compulsion, which was more powerful than his own reflections and sympathies. On any other presupposition his conduct would have been reprehensible cowardice. The case of Isaiah is exactly the same. When he gives to Ahaz the word of God as a guaranty that the Syrians and the Ephraimites would not capture Jerus (7 4ff), and when he promises Hezekiah that the Assyrians would not shoot an arrow into the city, but would return without having accomplished their purpose (37 22..33), these things were so much in contradiction to all the prob-
if it did not attain to its full content through its realization. In fact, in the word spoken by the prophet itself there dwells a Divine power, so that at the moment when he speaks the event takes place, even if it is not yet visible to man. This realization is also not infrequently represented symbolically by the prophet in confirmation of his prediction. Thus in a certain sense it is the prophet himself who through his word builds up and pulls down, plants and roots out (Jer 1 10; 25 1.5 ff). But the fulfilment can be judged by the contemporaries in the sense of Dt 18 22 only when this fulfilment refers to the near future and when special emphasis is laid on external events. In these cases the prediction of certain events assumes the significance of a "sign" (cf Jer 28 16; Isa 8 1 ff; 37 30, and elsewhere). In other cases it is only
later generations who can judge of the correctness of a prediction or of a threat. In this way in Zee 1 6 the fulfilment of a threat is declared, and in the NT often the fulfilment of a promise is after a long time pointed out. But it is not the case that a genuine prophecy must be fulfilled like an edict of
fate. Siich prophecy is not an inevitable decree of
fate, but is a word of the living God to mankind, and therefore conditioned ethically, and God can,
if repentance has followed, withdraw a threat (Jer 18 2ff; case of Jonah), or the punishment can be mitigated (1 K 21 29). A prediction, too, Jeh can recall if the people prove unworthy (Jer 18 9 f). A favorable or an unfavorable prediction can also be postponed, as far as its realization is concerned, to later times, if it belongs to the ultimate counsels
abilities of the course events would take that he would have been a frivolous adventurer had he not received his information from higher sources. Doubtless it was just these predictions which established and upheld the influence of the prophets. Thus in the case of Amos it was his prediction of a great earthquake, which did occur two years later
of God, as e.g. the final judgment and deliverance on the last day. This counsel also may be realized
successively. In this case the prophet already col-
(1 1); in the case of Elijah, the prediction of the long dearth (1 K 17 1); in the case of Elisha, the undertakings of the enemies (2 K 6 12), and in other cases. It is indeed true that the contents of the prophetic discourses are not at all confined to the future. Everything that God has to announce
lects into one picture what is realized gradually in a longer historical development. The prophet in general spoke to his hearers in such a way as could be understood by them and could be impressed on them. It is therefore not correct to demand a fulfilment pedantically exact in the form of the historical garb of the prophecy. The main thing is that the Divine thought contained in the prophecy be en-
to mankind, revelations concerning His will, admonitions, warnings. He is able to announce through the mouth of the prophet. But His determinations with reference to the future as a rule are connected with prophetical utterances of the latter kind. The prophets are watchmen, guardians of the people, who are to warn the nation, because they see the dangers and the judgments approaching, which must put in their appearance if the Divine will is
tirely and completely realized. But not unfrequently the finger of God can be seen in the entirely
literal fulfilment of certain prophecies. This is
esp. the case in the NT in the appearance of the Son
of Man, in whom all the rays of OT prophecy have found their common center.
//. Historical Development of the Prophetic
disregarded. The prophets interpret also for the
Office.—It is a characteristic peculiarity of the
people that which is happening and that which
religion of the OT that its very ele-
has occurred, e.g. the defeats which they have
1. Abraham mentary beginnings are of a propheti-
suffered at the hands of their enemies, or the grasshopper plague (Joel), or a famine. They lay bare
cal nature. The fathers, above
^ all Abraham, but also Isaac and Jacob, are the recipi-
the inner reason for external occurrences and explain
ents of visions and of Divine revelations. Esp. is
such events in their connection with the provi-
this true of Aliraham, who appeared to the for-
dential government of God. This gives to prophecy
eigners, to whom he was neither kith or kin, to be indeed a prophet {nabhl') (Gen 20 7; cf Ps 105
a powerful inner unity, notwithstanding the great
differences of times and surrounding circumstances.
1.5), although in his case the command to preach
It is prophecy which the Heb people must thank for
the word was yet absent. Above all, the creative founder of the Israelitish national religion, Moses,
their higher conception of history. This people know of a Highest Author of all things and of a
is a prophet in the eminent sense of
positive end, which all things that transpire must
2. Moses the word. His influence among the people is owing neither to his official
serve. God's plan has for its purpose to bring
about the complete supremacy of His will among
position, nor to any military prowess, but solely and alone to the one circumstance, that since his
the children of men.
In genuine prophecy, according to Bib. concep-
call at the burning bush God has spoken to him.
tions, the fulfilment constitutes an integral part. This is set up by Dt 18 21 f as a
This intercourse between God and Moses was ever
of a particularly intimate character. While other men of God received certain individual messages
6. The Fulproof of the genuineness of a prophetic
filment utterance. The prophetic word "falls
only from time to time and through the mediation
to the ground" (1 S 3 19) if it is not
of dreams and visions, Jeh spoke directly and "face
"raised up" (OT^. heldm, "fulfil," for which we
Prophecy THE INTERNATIONAL STANDARD BIBLE ENCYCLOPAEDIA 2462
kind. These places were rather the centers of a
to face" with Moses (Nu 12 6 ff; Dt 34 10; cf Ex 33 11). Moses was the permanent organ through whom Jeh brought about the Egyp plagues and through whom He explained what these meant
religious life, where communion with God was sought by prayer and meditation, and where the
recollection of the great deeds of God in the past seemed to prepare for the reception of new reve-
to His people, as also through whom He led and ruled them. The voice of Moses too had to explain
lations. From such centers of theocratic ideas and
ideals without a doubt there came forth also corresponding influences that affected the people. Perhaps not only was sacred music cultivated at these
to them the Divine signs in the desert and communicate to them the commandments of God. The
legislation of Moses shows that he was not only
places but also sacred traditions, which were handed down orally and in writing. Certain it is that at
filled with the Spirit of God occasionally, but that he abode with God for longer periods of time and produced something that is a well-ordered whole. A production such as the Law is the result of a continuous association with God. Since that time revelation through prophecy was probably never entirely wanting in Israel (Dt 18
these colonies the religion of Jeh prevailed.
During the period of the kings prophetically in-
spired men frequently appeared, who demanded even of the kings that they should
5. Period of submit to their Divinely inspired
the Kings word. Saul, who refused such sub-
15). But this fountain did not always
mission, perished as the result of this
3. Period flow with the same fulness or clearness.
conflict. David owed much to the support of the prophets Samuel, Nathan, Gad (1 S 16 1 ff; 2 S
of the During the period of the Judges the Judges Spirit of God urged the heroes who served Jeh rather to deeds than to words. Yet Deborah enjoyed a high rank as a prophetess, and for a long time pronounced de-
7; 2 Ch 29 25, and elsewhere). But David also bowed in submission when these prophets rebuked
liim because of his transgression of the Divine commands (2 S 12,24). His son Solomon was educated by the prophet Nathan. But the destruction of his kingdom was predicted by the prophet Abijah, the
cisions of justice in the name of the Lord before she, through her prophetical utterances, aroused the people to rise up against their oppressors. What is said in 1 S 3 1 concerning the times of Eli can be applied to this whole period, namely that the word and vision of the prophet had become rare in the land. All the more epoch-making was the activity of Samuel, who while yet a boy received Divine revelations (1 S3 1 ff). He was by the whole people regarded as a "seer" whose prophecies were always fulfilled (3 19 f). The passage 9 6 ff shows that the people expected of such a man of God that he should also as a clairvoyant come to the assistance of the people in the troubles of life. Such a professional clairvoyant, indeed, Samuel was not, as he was devoted entirely to the service of his God and of his people and obeyed the Divine Sph-it, even
Shilonite (1 K 11 29 ff). Since Jeh, as the supreme Sovereign, has the right to enthrone or to dethrone kings, this is often done through the mouths of the prophets (cf 1 K 14 7ff; 16 1 ff). After the division of the kingdom we find Shemaiah forbidding Rehoboam to begin a war with his brethren of Israel (1 K 12 21; cf 2 Ch 11 2ff;
cf another mission of the same prophet, 2 Ch 12 5 ff). On the other hand in the Northern Kingdom the prophetic word is soon turned against the untheocratic rule of Jeroboam (1 K 13, 14). It is
in this very same Northern Kingdom that the prophets unfolded their full activity and generally
in opposition to the secular rulers, although there was no lack of accommodating "prophets," who were willmg to sanction everything that the king wanted. The opposition of the true prophets to these false representatives of prophecy is illustrated
in those cases when he was compelled to act contrary to his personal inclinations, as was the case when the kingdom was established in Israel (8 6 ff).
Since the days of Samuel we hear of schools of prophets, or "sons of prophets." These associations probably originated in this way,
in the story of Micaiah, the son of Imlah (1 K 22). But a still higher type of prophecy above the ordinary is found in Elijah, whose historic mission it was to fight to the finish the battle between the follow-
4. Schools that an experienced prophet attracted
of Prophets to himself bands of youths, who sought to receive a measure of his spirit. These disciples of the prophets, together with their
ers of Jeh and the worship of the Tyrian Baal. He was entirely a man of action ; every one of his words
is a deed on a grand scale (cf concerning Elijah and Elisha the art. Religion op Israel). His successor Elisha inherited from him not only his mantle, but also a double measure of his spiritual gifts. He exhibits the prophetic office more from its loving side. He is accustomed to visit the schools of prophets found scattered throughout the land, calls the faithful together around himself on the Sabbaths and the new moons (2 K 4 23), and in this way establishes centers of a more spiritual culture than was common elsewhere among the people. We read that first-fruits were brought to him as to the priests (2 K 4 42). But while the activity of Elijah was entirely in antagonism to the ruling house in the kingdom, this feature is not entirely lacking in the work of Elisha also. He has even been charged with wicked conspiracies against the dynasty of Omri and the king of Syria (2 K 8, 9). His conduct in connection with these events can be excused only on the ground that he was really acting in the name of a higher Master. But in general it was possible for Elisha, after the radical change in pub-
families, lived in colonics around the master. Pos-
sibly Samuel was the first who founded such a school of prophets. For in or near the city of Ramah we
first find nayolh, or colonies of such disciples (1 S 19 18 f; 20 1). Among these pupils is found to a much greater extent than among the teachers a certain ecstatic feature. They arouse their feelings through music and induce a frantic condition which also affects others in the same way, in which state they "prophesy" and, throwing off their garments, fall to the ground. In later times too we find traces of such ecstatic phenomena. Thus e.g. in Zee 13 6; 1 K 20 37.38, the "wounds" on the breast or on the forehead recall the self-mutilation of the priests of Baal (1 K 18 28). The deeds, suggestive of what the dervishes of our own day do, probably were phenomena quite similar to the action of the prophets of the surrounding tribes. But that prophecy in Israel was not, as is now not infrequent-
ly claimed, merely a less crude form of the heathen prophetic institution, is proved by such men as Moses and Samuel, who even in their times represent something much higher. Also in the colonies of prophets there was assuredly not to be found merely an enthusiasm without the Spirit of God. Proof for this is Samuel, the spiritual father of this colony, as Elijah was for the later colonies of this
lic sentiment that had followed upon the work of Elijah, in later time to assume a more friendly attitude toward the government and the people. He often assisted the kings in their arduous contests with the Syrians (cf 6 8ff; 13 14 ff). His deeds
2463 THE INTERNATIONAL STANDARD BIBLE ENCYCLOPAEDIA Prophecy
Nor did he despise external evidences of his prophetic office (cf 7 11; 38 22.8). His contemporary Micah is in full agreement with him, although he was not called to deal with the great of the land, with kings, or statesmen, as was the mission of Isaiah. Nahum, Zephaniah and Habakkuk belong rather to the period of transition from the Assyr to the Chaldaean periods. In the days of Josiah the prophetess Huldah had great influence in Jerus
are generally of a benevolent character. In connection with these he exhibits to a remarkable degree the gift of prophetic foresight (2 K 4 16; 5 26; 6 8ff; 7 Iff; 8 10.12; 9 6 ff; 13 19). Jonah, too, the son of Amittai, had at that time a favorable message for the Northern Kingdom (2 K 14 25). However, the flourishing condition of the kingdom under Jeroboam II had an unfavorable influence on its spiritual development. 6. Amos, Soon Amos and Hosea were compelled Hosea and to announce to this kingdom its imthe Literary pending destruction through a great Prophets world-power. These two prophets have
(2 K 22 14). Much more important under this same king was the prophet Jeremiah, who was called by God for a great mission. This prophet during the siege and destruction of Jerus and after that time spoke as an unyielding yet deeply feeling exponent of God, and was compelled again and again to dash to the ground the false hopes of the patriots, whenever these arose. Not so firm was his contemporary and fellow-sufferer Uriah (Jer 26 20). In the time of the exile itself we find the period of the activity of Ezekiel. It was significant that this prophet became the recipient of Di-
left us books. To put prophetic utterances into wi'itten form had already been introduced before this. At any rate, many scholars are of the conviction that the prophecies of Obadiah and Joel belong to an earlier period, although others place them in the post-exilic period. In any case, the expectation of a day of settlement by Jeh with His people was already in the days of Amos common and current (5 18 ff ) . As the writing of individual prophecies (Isa 8 1 f ; 30 8; Hab 2 2 f ) had for
9. In the vine revelations while on Bab terriExile tory. His work was, in accordance with the condition of affairs, more that of a pastor and literary man. He seems also to have been a bodily sufferer. His s.bnormal conditions became symbolical signs of that which he had to proclaim. Deutero-Isaiah, too (Isa 40 ff), spoke during the Bab period, namely at its close, and prepared for the return. The peculiar prophecies of Daniel are also accorded to a prophet living during the exile, who occupied a distinguished position at the court of the heathen rulers, and whose apocalj'ptic utterances are of a kind different from the discourses of the other prophets, as they deal more with the political condition of the world and the drama of history, in so far as this tends toward the establishment of the supremacy of Jeh. These prophecies were collected in later times and did not receive their final and present form until the Gr period at the beginning of the 2d cent. BC.
its purpose the preserving of these words in permanent authentic form and later to convince the reader of their wonderful fulfilment, thus too the •WTiting down of larger collections of prophecies had for its purpose to intensify the power of the prophetic word and to secure this as a permanent possession of the people (Jer 30 2; 36 Iff).
^ Pupils of the prophets assisted them in this writing and in preserving their books (cf Jer 36 4; Isa 8 16). It is to this custom that we owe our laiowledge of the very words of the utterances of many of the
prophets of a later period. In addi-
7. Poetical tion to the larger books of Isa, Jer, Fonn of Ezk, we have a number of smaller Prophecy prophetical books, which have been united into the Book of the Twelve Prophets. These utterances as a rule exhibited an elevated form of language and are more or less poetical. However, in modern times some scholars are inclined to go too far in claiming that these addresses are given in a carefully systematized metrical form. Hebrew meter as such is a freer form of expression than is Arabic or Sanskrit meter, and this is all the more the case with the discourses of the prophets, which were not intended for musi-
After the return from Babylon the Jews were exhorted by Haggai and Zechariah to rebuild their
temple (about 520 BC) . At that time 10. After there were still to be found prophets the Exile who took a hostile attitude to the men of God. Thus Nehemiah (Neh 6 6-14) was opposed by hostile prophets as also by a prophetess, Noadiah. In contrast with these, Malachi is at all times in accord with the canonical prophets, as he was an ardent advocate for the temple cultus of Jeh, not in the sense of a spiritless and senseless external worship, but as against the current indifference to Jeh. His style and his language, too, evidence a late age. The lyrical form has given way to the didactic. This is also probably the time when the present Book of Jonah was written, a didactic work treating of an older tradition.
cal rendering, and which are expressed in a rhythmically constructed rhetoric, which appears now in one and then in another form of melody, and often changes into prose.
In the kingdom of Judah the status of the prophets was somewhat more favorable than it was
in Ephraim. They were indeed forced
8. Prophets in Jerus also to contend against the
in Judah injustice on the part of the ruling
classes and against immorality of all
kinds. But in this kingdom there were at any rate from time to time found kings who walked more in the footsteps of David. Thus Asa followed the
Malachi is regarded by the Jews as the last really canonical prophet. While doubtless there was not a total lack of prophetically endowed 11. Cessaseers and speakers of God also in the tion of closing centuries of the pre-Christian Prophecy era, nevertheless the general conviction prevailed that the Sphit of God was no longer present, e.g. in the times of the Maccabees (cf 1 Mace 4 46; 9 27; 14 41). It is true that certain modern critics ascribe some large sections of the Book of Isa, as well as of other prophets, even to a period as late as the Gr. But this is refuted by the fact mentioned in Ecclus (beginning of the 2d cent. BC) that in the writer's time the prophetical Canon appeared already as a closed collection. Dnl is not found in this collection, but the Book of the Twelve Minor Prophets is. It was
directions of the prophet Azariah (2 Ch 15 Iff).
It is true that the prophet Hanani censured this
king, but it was done for a different reason. Jehoshaphat also regularly consulted the prophets. Among those who had dealings with him Elisha is
also mentioned (2 K 3 14), as also some other prophets (cf 2 Ch 19 2; 20 14-37). The greatest among the prophets during the period of the Assyr
invasions was Isaiah, who performed the duties of
his office for more than 40 years, and under the
kings Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, and possibly too under Manasseh, through his word exercised a powerful influence upon the king and the nation. Although a preacher of judgments, he at critical
times appeared also as a prophet of consolation.
Prophecy THE INTERNATIONAL STANDARD BIBLE ENCYCLOPAEDIA 2464
Messiah belong to this class, but all that treat of the coming of the kingdom of God.
during this period that apocalyptic literature began to flourish, many specimens of which are found among the Apoc and the Pseudepigrapha. These books consist of eschatological speculations, not the product of original inspiration, but emanating from the study of the prophetic word. The very name Pseudepigrapha shows that the author issued his work, not under his own name, but under the pseudonjin of some man of God from older times, such as Enoch, Ezra, Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Baruch, and others. This fact alone proves the secondary character of this class of literature. See Apocalyptic Literature.
The beginnings of the religion of Israel, as also the chief epoch in its development, emanated from
prophetical revelations. The prophet
2. The Idea Moses elevated the tribal religion into
of the a national religion, and at the same Messiah time taught the people to regard the
religion of the fathers more ethically,
spiritually and vitally. Samuel crowned the earthly form of the concrete theocracy by introducing an "Anointed of Jeh" in whom the covenant relation between Jeh and Israel was concentrated personally. The Anointed of the Lord entered into a much more intimate relationship to Jeh as His Son or Servant than it was possible for the whole people of Israel to do, although as a people they were also called the servant or the son of God (cf Ps 2 7 f ; 110). The Pss of David are a proof of this, that this high destiny of the kingdom was recognized. David himself became a prophet in those hymns in which he describes his own unique relation to Jeh. But the actual kings of history as a rule corresponded too imperfectly to this idea. For this reason the word "prophetic" already in David's time directs to the future, when this relationship shall be more perfectly realized (2 S 7 12 ff; cf David's own words, 2 S 23 4 ff). See Messiah. Solomon completed the external equipment of the theocracy by the erection of the temple. But
Malachi finds a successor in John the Baptist, whose coming the former had predicted. John is the greatest of the prophets, because 12. Prophhe could directly point to Him who ecy in completed the old covenant and fulthe NT filled its promises. All that we know in addition concerning the times of Jesus shows that the prophetical gift was yet thought of as possibly dwelling in many, but that prophecy was no longer the chief spiritual guide of the people (cf e.g. Jos, Ant, XIII, xi, 2; XV, x, 5, among the Essenes, or in the case of Hyrcanus, op.
cit., XIII, X, 7). Jos himself claims to have had prophetic gifts at times (cf BJ, III, viii, 9). He is thinking in this connection chiefly of the prediction of some details. Such "prophets" and "prophetesses" are reported also in the NT. In Jesus Christ Himself the prophetic office reached its highest stage of development, as He stood in a more intimate relation than any other being to His Heavenly Father and spoke His word entirely and at all times. In the Christian congregation the office of prophecy
it was just his reign that constituted
3. Before the turning-point, from which time on the Exile the prophets begin to emphasize the judgment to come, i.e. the dissolution of the external existence of the kingdom of Jeh. Yet prophecy at all times does this in such a manner, that a kernel of the Divine establishment on Zion remains intact. The Divine establishment of the sanctuary and the kingdom cannot be destroyed;
is again found, differing from the proclamation of the gospel by the apostles, evangelists, and teachers. In the NT the terms T!-po<p^TT)s, prophttes, irpoipTj-
reia, propheteia, Trpo<priTe6ui, propheleuo, signify speaking under the extraordinary influence of the Holy Ghost. Thus in Acts 11 27 f (prophecy
all that is necessary is that they be restored in greater purity and dignity. This can be seen also in Amos, who predicts that the fallen tabernacle of David shall be raised up again (Am 9 11 ff), which shall then be followed by a condition of undisturbed blessing. The same is found in Hosea, who sees how all Israel is again united under "David" the king of the last times, when between God and the people, between heaven and earth, an unbroken covenant of love shall be made (Hos 2 If.lSff); and also in Isaiah, who predicts that during the time of the conquest and subjection of the country by the Gentiles a Son of David shall be born in a miraculous manner and attain supremacy (Isa 7 14; 9 2 ff ; 11 Iff), and who speaks constantly of that Divine establishment on Zion (cf the quiet waters of Shiloah, 8 6), the foundation stone that has been laid by Jeh (28 16, etc). Mioah, his contemporary, does the same, and in an entirely similar manner predicts that the radical judgment of destruction which shall come over the temple and the royal palace shall be followed by the wondrous King of Peace from Bethlehem (5 Iff). Possibly even at a somewhat earlier date Zee 9 9 described this future ruler in similar terms. In general it is not probable that Isaiah and Micah were the first to speak so personally of this King. They seem to presuppose that their contemporaries were acquainted with this idea.
of a famine by Agabus); 21 10 f (prediction of the sufferings of Paul) ; 13 1 f (exhortation to mission work) : 21 9 ff (prophetical gift of the daughters of
Phflip). Paul himself also had this gift (Acts 16 6ff; 18 9; 22 17ff; 27 23f). In the public serv-
ices of the church, prophecy occupied a prominent position (see esp. 1 Cor 14). A prophetical book
in a special sense is the Apocalypse of St. John. The gift of prophecy was claimed by many also in later times. But this gift ceased more and more, as the Christian church more and more developed on the historical basis of revelation as completed in Christ. Esp. in spiritually aroused eras in the history of the church, prophecy again puts in its appearance. It has never ceased altogether, but on account of its frequent misuse the gift has become discredited. Jesus Himself warned against false prophets, and during the apostolic times it was often found necessary to urge the importance of trying
spirits (1 Jn 4 1; 1 Cor 12 10; 14 29).
///. Historical Development of Prophecy.—The contents of prophecy are by no means merely pre-
dictions concerning the future. That
1. Contents which is given by the Spirit to the of Prophecy prophet can refer to the past and to the present as well as to the future. However, that which is revealed to the prophet finds its inner unity in this, that it all aims to establish the supremacy of Jeh. Prophecy views
In recent times scholars have pointed to the fact that in the old Orient, among the Egyptians, the
Babylonians and elsewhere, the ex4. Analopectation of a miraculously born King gous Ideas of the future, who was to bring to His among own people and to all nations salvation Heathen and peace, was entertained at an early Peoples period. Yet so much is certain, that Isaiah and Micah did not base their hopes on the vague dreams of the gentile world, but
also the detailed events in their relation to the Divine plan, and this latter has for its purpose the absolute establishment of the supremacy of Jeh in
Israel and eventually on the entire earth. We are accustomed to call those utterances that predict
this final purpose the Messianic prophecies. How-
ever, not only those that speak of the person of the
2465 THE INTERNATIONAL STANDARD BIBLE ENCYCLOPAEDIA Prophecy
upon the prophetic cst;iblishment of a Divine sanctuary and kingdom of Zion. The personal figure of this Son of David is not so much in the foreground in the other prophets down to the period of the exile. These prophets mention only casually the Good Shepherd, as e.g. Jer 23 Iff; 33 12 ff; Ezk 34 23 f. But after that time this Messianic expectation became a permanent element in the hopes of Israel.
in purity and in greatness to such a degree as did David's Son in Isa and Mic surpass His great ancestor. He brings to a completion the kingdom of God through teaching, suffering and death, and attains to the glory of ruler.ship. In this way He unites the offices of prophet, priest and king.
After the exile prophecy continues its work. The Messianic expectations, too, are developed further