{"id":72343,"date":"2020-03-25T16:42:31","date_gmt":"2020-03-25T14:42:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=72343"},"modified":"2020-03-25T16:42:31","modified_gmt":"2020-03-25T14:42:31","slug":"from-prophet-to-scribe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/from-prophet-to-scribe\/","title":{"rendered":"From Prophet To Scribe\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"entry-content\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[],"acf":{"old_id":"72343","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":64758,"related_cahpter":"445","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"Baruch signifies the transition from the People of the Word to the People of the Book\r\n","content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We previously (in Jeremiah chapters<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.929.org.il\/lang\/en\/page\/426\/post\/70932\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">26<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.929.org.il\/lang\/en\/page\/432\/post\/71362\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">32<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">) discussed the relationship between written and oral societies. Now we will examine how this relationship manifests in other books of the Bible.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Chapter 45 of Jeremiah begins with a verse contrasting the oral prophecy of Jeremiah and Baruch ben Neriah&#8217;s written recordings:\u00a0 &#8220;The word that Jeremiah the prophet spoke unto Baruch ben Neriah when he wrote these words in a book at the mouth of Jeremiah\u2026&#8221; The Midrash noticed this contrast when it interprets the topic of this chapter as Baruch&#8217;s request for prophecy being rejected.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In other words, the Midrash explains this chapter of Jeremiah as a watershed between the era of the oral word and the era of the written word.\u00a0 Indeed, while previously we saw that during the First Temple time period writing was used only on special occasions, after the destruction of the First Temple the use of writing became much more prominent.\u00a0 Here are some examples:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">First Temple Period<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: In Isaiah&#8217;s first vision, Isaiah hears God&#8217;s voice speaking to the angels (Isaiah 6) \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Post-First Temple Period<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: In Ezekiel&#8217;s first vision, Ezekiel reads a scroll of prophecies. (Ezekiel 2)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">First Temple Period<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: The people listen to the words of Jeremiah as he proclaims them in the gates of the city. (Jeremiah 7)<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Post- First Temple Period<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Daniel ponders over the meaning of the prophecies written down on different scrolls. (Daniel 9)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">First Temple Period<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: The words of Jonah cause the people to repent. (Jonah 3)<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Post- First Temple Period<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Ezra reads the Torah scroll and causes the people to repent. (Nehemiah chapter 8)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">First Temple Period<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: The holiday of a wine harvest is publicized orally to the people. (Judges 21)<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Post- First Temple Period<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: The holiday of Esther is publicized through letters sent to the people. (Esther 8 and 9)<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We see when the Jewish People lived outside their homeland, the written word gained much more importance. To remain a united people in the Exile, receiving information by word of mouth was no longer sufficient. For communication and inspiration, the written word now became the main focus of the Jewish People.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">By rejecting Baruch Ben Neriah&#8217;s request for prophecy, God was actually saying that future generations won&#8217;t need prophets who speak their prophecies in the gates of the cities.\u00a0 Instead, the nation will need scholars who will invest their time learning the traditions, the ones recorded in writing. These scholars will then be able to convey these traditions, along with the way they interpret them, to the nation.\u00a0 Hence, Jeremiah chapter 45 plants the seeds that will eventually transform the nation of Israel from &#8220;The People of the Word&#8221; to &#8220;The People of the Book&#8221;.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Image by Ben Schachter, courtesy of the artist.<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":71363,"id":71363,"title":"Jer36-spoken written","filename":"Jer36-spoken-written.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Jer36-spoken-written.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/literate-yet-oral\/jer36-spoken-written\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"jer36-spoken-written","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":71362,"date":"2020-03-08 12:12:07","modified":"2022-10-23 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