Bibliography
| Title: Did the Spirit Withdraw from Israel? An Evaluation of the Earliest Jewish Data [Ps 74:9; Prayer of Azariah 15; 1 Macc 4:46, 9:27, 14:41; Josephus, Contra Apion 1.37-41; 2 Apoc Bar 85:3; Tosefta Sota 13:2-4] Secondary Title: NTS Volume: 43 Pages: 35-57 Type: Journal Article Year: 1997 Abstract: "The study challenges the scholarly consensus that the Holy Spirit as the source of prophecy was believed by Jews during the tannaitic period to have withdrawn from Israel, to return only in the eschatological future, by reexamining early Jewish texts that putatively support it. It first treats non-rabbinic texts (Ps 74:9; Pr. Azar. 15; 1 Macc 4:46; 9:27; 14:41; Josephus, Contra Apionem 1:37-41; 2 Baruch 85:3) to show that the so-called dogma of the withdrawn Spirit is built upon uncertain and ambiguous ancient texts that do not even refer to the ceasing of prophecy. Then it presents a fresh analysis of t. Sota 13:2-4 to demonstrate that this passage supports the dogma that the Holy Spirit withdrew only when it is wrenched from its literary context and interpreted with disregard for the principle enunciated clearly in 10:1. Interpreted within its literary context, t. Sota 13:2-4 is an affirmation that with the presence once again of the righteous in the 1st century A.D. (e.g. Hillel and Samuel the Small), the Holy Spirit could reappear following its temporary withdrawal after the death of the latter prophets". - C.R.M. Keywords: Theology of Ancient Judaism and early Christianity |