prophecy in the Ancient Near East

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In extreme or exaggerated behaviors, it is often possible to "see" certain characteristics which are actually ordinary one wouldn't otherwise "see." That would seem especially relevant when it comes to prophecy and how peoples view the divine. Robert Winzeler, an anthropologist, observes specifically about religion in his book, Anthropology And Religion: "Finally, religion tends to be very important in terms of a person's overall notion of what sort of person he or she is and how she or he is viewed by others." (23) Professor Emeritus of anthropology, Robert Winzeler-whose specialty is insular Asia-in his book, Anthropology and Religion: What We Know, Think, and Question, briefly discusses beliefs in "primitive" or traditional societies about the spiritual dimension and prophecy. Witchcraft is an aspect of human consciousness prevalent in almost all of early human societies. In his book, Winzeler mentions the case of a woman who got ill and eventually blames it on witchcraft. That, of course happened on a huge scale in Europe when the Black Death occurred.

This BA Thesis concerns research that shows the possibility of prophecy reception and divine revelation being placed within the human inner faculties, and paralleled with mental functions. It's purpose was to discuss the physiological nature of prophetic reception, proposing that prophetic reception capability is a natural component of each human, not simply of chosen individuals and depends upon the chosen inner disposition of individuals, not on the monergistic action of God, or a divinity.
It examines evidence from the concept of prophecy in the Hebrew Bible, the concept of the Spirit speaking in the book of Acts, exegetical testing of the inner reception theory in OT and NT contexts, modern (20-21st century) occurrences of prophetic-like activity, and neuroscientific findings that could offer insight into the physiology of the prophetic reception phenomenon. While the size of the paper does not permit for verification of all the facets proposed, it offers convincing evidence which demands further study in this area, demystifying prophecy and opening the door for scientific understanding of the phenomenon and potential marriage between scientific study and ancient literature.

Ahab’s 400 court prophets all assure him that he will defeat Aram, but the prophet Micaiah tells him that these prophets are being enticed by a lying spirit, sent by YHWH himself, for the purpose of destroying Ahab. If Ahab had been willing to face his own position vis-a-vis God honestly, he would have known who was telling the truth.

This paper includes notes on the prophets of Yahuah as described in the book of Chronicles. It is then part of the field of cult prophets. It addresses the issue of the Chronicler classifying Levite Musicians as prophets and the implications of this defining element.

This paper examines three features common to the biblical narrative of Deborah and Cretan myths. In the biblical story two heroines, Deborah and Jael, bear names of fauna, bee and ibex (mountain goat), respectively. Deborah/bee's prophetic gift enables her to determine the auspicious moment for a victorious battle. Jael/female ibex, gives milk in a special vessel to Sisera, who, fleeing for his life, ironically takes refuge in the tent of Jael, who kills him. In ancient Greece, "Melissa", which means "bee", is a common epithet for prophetesses, especially those who provide oracles to military commanders, as did the prophetess of Delphi. In Cretan versions, Melissa has a sister named Amaltheia, which means "mountain goat". When a prominent fugitive, the deity Zeus, takes refuge in her cave, she likewise gives him milk in a special vessel. In both tales the word for the special vessel expresses plenty.

This is the AAM (author's accepted manuscript). It differs from the published version in small ways, for example where the latter has been adjusted to house punctuation and abbreviation rules.
CONTENT: In Apion 1.41, after stressing that the Jewish holy books are rightly trusted because only prophets wrote them, Josephus remarks that Judaeans do not trust later writings in the same way. The reason he gives is usually translated as ‘the failure of the exact succession of the prophets’. Whereas older scholarship played down this reason, to insist on the complete absence of prophecy in post-biblical Judaism, the prevailing view today holds that Josephus meant only to qualify later prophecy, not to exclude it. This essay broaches the more basic question of what an ἀκριβὴς διαδοχή means. Arguing that an exact diachronic succession of prophets makes little sense, it offers two proposals that better suit Josephus’ argument. It further contends that Josephus is talking about the ancient Judaean past, the subject of this work, not about the work of later historians including himself. He distinguishes sharply between prophecy and historical inquiry.

Since the 1990s there has been an emphasis on the study of ancient Israelite prophecy in its ancient Near East context. Prophecy in the Ancient Near East is the first book-length study that compares prophecy in the ancient Near East by focusing on texts from Mari, the Neo-Assyrian State Archives, and the Hebrew Bible. The author analyzes prophecy in each culture independently before comparisons are made. This method demonstrates how prophecy is a part of the wider system of divination, but also shows where scholarship has unduly imported concepts found in one corpus to the other two. This method, for example, calls into question the supposed link between music and prophecy from the Hebrew Bible to the ancient Near East. This work provides an up-to-date analysis of ancient Near Eastern, including Israelite and Judean, prophecy to scholars and students alike.

In the Greek historiographical tradition, Herodotus and Saint Luke stand out in
a few ways from historians of their times. One way is their inclusion of women
in their histories, both quantitatively and qualitatively. Another way is their substantial
inclusion of the divine sphere as a part of their descriptions of human history.
This essay then explores the link between these two interests: women and the
divine. For the limits of this contribution, the comparison will be on the narrative
significance of women in relation to divine communication. Additionally, the encounter of the Pythian tradition and the Christian prophetic tradition will be examined.

In der christlichen Tradition wurde das Bild der Prophetie jahrhunder-telang durch die alttestamentlichen Schriften geprägt. Wurde die Prophe-tie als ein exklusives Proprium der israelitischen Traditionen angesehen, so geschah dies allerdings nicht nur aufgrund theologischer Interessen, sondern in nicht geringerem Maße aus einem prosaischen Grund: die mit der alttestamentlichen Prophetie vergleichbaren Texte wurden erst in der Neuzeit entdeckt. Dabei erwecken die größte Aufmerksamkeit 28 Briefe aus der Stadt Mari am Eufrat (18. Jh. v.u.Z.), weniger schon die prophe-tischen Dokumente aus der neuassyrischen Bibliothek in Ninive (7. Jh. v.u.Z.). Doch die beachtlichste Parallele wurde in Tell Deir 'Ala (vermut-lich das biblische Penuël; vgl. Gen 32,31) im östlichen Jordantal nicht weit vom Zusammenfluß von Jabbok und Jordan am 17. März 1960 gegen Ende der niederländischen Expedition unter Leitung von Henk J. Franken gefunden: 1 Ein Textbefund, der einen Seher mit Namen Bileam bar Beor erwähnt, welcher schon aus einer alttestamentlichen Erzählung Numeri 22-24 bekannt ist, wo er als die einzige nichtisraelitische prophetische Gestalt auftaucht, die im Alten Testament einen eigenen Name trägt und zugleich in einem sehr günstigen Licht dargestellt wird. Die Texte aus Tell Deir 'Alla tragen so nicht nur zur umfangreichen Diskussion, 2 sondern auch zum Erhellen der alttestamentlichen Traditionen bei und stellen ein kostbares Steinchen in dem sehr lückenhaften Mosaik der Vorgeschichte und Geschichte der hebräischen Prophetie dar.

This paper examines the speaking of the Holy Spirit in the book of acts in light of a wider prophetic tradition present in the Hebrew Bible. The research suggests that the phrase "the Holy Spirit said" found in Acts refers to the interpretative technique used by individuals who's inner disposition is correctly disposed to perceive and mentally interpret surrounding stimuli into messages which correspond to the revelation of God. This research would suggest that prophetic reception as depicted in the book of Acts rests on the choice and disposition of a person and not on the monergistic activity of God.
In this context, textual sources for Acts concepts are examined, the literary goal of Acts is properly discussed, and the place and purpose of "Pneuma" in Acts is analysed, in order to more exactly determine what is meant when the author describes the Holy Spirit as "speaking".

In Ag. Ap. 1.41, after stressing that the Jewish holy books are rightly trusted because only prophets wrote them, Josephus remarks that Judaeans do not trust later writings in the same way. The reason he gives is usually translated as “the failure of the exact succession of the prophets.” Whereas older scholarship played down this reason to insist on the absence of prophecy in post-biblical Judaism, the prevailing view today holds that Josephus meant only to qualify later prophecy, not to exclude it. This essay broaches the more basic question of what an ἀκριβὴς διαδοχή means. Arguing that an exact diachronic succession of prophets makes little sense, it offers two proposals that better suit Josephus’ argument. It further contends that Josephus is talking about the ancient Judaean past, the subject of this work, not about the work of later historians including himself. He distinguishes sharply between prophecy and historical inquiry.