Biblical Parallels Index – Devarim 18
Overview
This index is meant to help the reader explore Biblical parallels, be they two accounts of the same event or law, stories with similar motifs and themes, or units of text which are linguistically similar and perhaps alluding one to the other. The page includes links to tools that aid in comparison, primary sources that touch upon the parallels, and summaries of and links to articles which analyze them in depth.False Prophecy
There are a number of halakhic and narrative sections of the Torah that deal with the issue of false prophecy and how one is to know when a prophet is telling the truth or not. Some of these units appear to contradict each other. For example, Devarim 18 suggests that if a prophet's predictions do not materialize, he must be a fraud. Yet, other passages, like Yirmeyahu 18 and Yechezkel 3, suggest that people have the ability to overturn both positive and negative decrees with acts of repentance, implying that even a true prophet's prophecies might not be fulfilled. Yirmeyahu 28 introduces another option, that it is only through positive predictions that a false prophet can be detected.
Tools
- Use Makbilot BaMIkra to find links to the many passages in Tanakh which speak of false prophecy.
- Use the Tanakh Lab to compare the test outlined in Devarim 18 with the words of Yirmeyahu in Chapter 28 there.
Articles
- See <a href="Distinguishing Between True and False Prophets">Distinguishing Between True and False Prophets</a> for analysis of commentators’ views on how a prophet may be determined to be true or false. R. Yosef Bekhor Shor learns from Yirmeyahu 18 that a person's deeds can affect a prophecy's materialization, and consequently asserts that the test must be related instead to the performance of miracles or the fulfillment of neutral predictions. Rambam and his school, instead, concentrate on Yirmeyahu 28, and this leads them to distinguish between positive and negative prophecies. Only the latter can be overturned, allowing positive prophecies to be a fair arbiter of a prophet's veracity. Finally, a third approach learns from Devarim's inclusive language that the test can be via any type of prophecy. To make sense of the other verses as well, R. Crescas limits the test to overt demonstrations of prophetic status.
- See Yirmeyahu's Confrontation With Chananyah for analysis of commentators’ views on how it was possible to determine that Yirmeyahu was a true prophet and Chananyah was false.