Philosophy:Miracles/2

Miracles

Exegetical Approaches

This topic has not yet undergone editorial review

Miracles Do Not Happen

Any story which mentions a violation of the laws of nature did not happen in reality.

Stories of Miracles Should Be Understood Allegorically

Miracles that contravene the laws of nature did not happen in reality, and stories that speak of them must be understood as allegorical fables, not to be viewed historically.

Sources:RambamHilkhot Melakhim 12:1About R. Moshe b. Maimon

The Snake in the Garden of Eden – Philo understands the whole story of the Garden of Eden to be an allegory, where the snake symbolizes pleasure and vice.

The End of Days – According to Rambam, the prophecies regarding changes in nature in the end of days (such as Yeshayahu 11:6) should be understood allegorically, as referring to world peace, and not actual changes in the behavior of animals.

Mutable Nature – According to Rambam, nature is immutable, and therefore Hashem does not perform miracles (since this would violate nature's immutability), and will not perform world-changing miracles even in the end of days.

Stories of Miracles Only Happened In Dreams

Miracles that contravene the laws of nature did not happen in reality, and stories that speak of them must be understood as dreams or prophecies seen by the characters in the story.

Sources:RambamMoreh Nevukhim 2 42About R. Moshe b. Maimon

Stories of Angels – According to Rambam, all stories which mention angels appearing or speaking did not happen in real life, but rather were prophetic dreams. This explanation is unique to angel appearances, since they generally only convey information (which can still happen in a dream), while other miracles have more practical results, which cannot only be a dream.

Avraham's Guests – According to Rambam, Avraham's did not receive any guests in reality, but rather the whole story happened in a prophetic vision. Ibn Kaspi and Abarbanel elaborate on this, explaining the angels' appearance to Lot in the following chapter as either a continuation of Avraham's vision, or a separate dream of Lot. For further detail, see the Divine Prophecy approach of Avraham's Guests – Angels or Men?

Yaakov's Encounters With Angels – According to Rambam, Yaakov's various encounters with angels all happened in a dream.¹

Bilam's Donkey – The Rambam understands this story to be a dream of Bilam, which did not actually happen. The Rambam does not explain why this appearance was different then the two previous appearances (both apparently also in a dream) where Hashem spoke directly to Bilam, without any metaphorical imagery.

Purpose of Miracles – According to this approach, since miracles did not happen in reality, their only purpose is to convey prophetic messages to the recipient of the dream.

Mutable Nature – According to Rambam, nature is immutable, and therefore Hashem does not perform miracles (since this would violate nature's immutability).

What is Natural? According to Rambam, angels cannot exist in reality, and their physical existence would be a violation of the laws of nature. However, these laws do allow Hashem to influence the world through prophecy and dreams.

Miracles Happen But Do Not Contradict Nature

Stories which mentions wondrous, seemingly unnatural events, happened in reality, but never violated the laws of nature. Elements of these stories which appear to violate these laws must be reinterpreted to match the laws of nature.

Sources:R. Saadia Gaon in Ibn EzraBereshit First Commentary 3:1Bereshit Second Commentary 3:1Bemidbar 22:28About R. Avraham ibn Ezra², Radak

The Snake in the Garden of Eden – According to R. Saadia in Ibn Ezra, the snake did not actually speak. Instead, an angel spoke, and pretended to speak for the snake. Alternatively, an anonymous explanation brought by Ibn Ezra suggests that Chava understood the snake's hissing to mean what the Torah says in his name, but the snake did not actually speak.

Avraham's Guests – R"Y Bekhor Shor and Ralbag understand Avraham's guests to be human prophets, and not divine angels. Thus, they avoid the necessity of a physical manifestation of angels. For more detail, see the Humans approach of Avraham's Guests – Angels or Men?

Yaakov's Encounters With Angels – Ralbag states that Yaakov fought with an angel only in a dream, but that the dream caused Yaakov's thigh to be sore when he awoke in the morning. Alternatively, one can explain that Yaakov fought with a human assassin sent by Esav. For further elaboration, see Wrestling With Angels and Men.

The Plagues in Egypt – R"Y ibn Kaspi and Abarbanel explain the plagues from the plague of frogs forward to have been caused by a simple chain of effects spawned by the plague of blood. Shadal, R. D"Z Hoffmann, and Cassuto all give natural explanations to various plagues, stating that the miracle was simply in the timing and severity of the plagues.

Splitting of Yam Suf

Bilam's Donkey – According to R. Saadia in Ibn Ezra, the donkey did not actually speak. Instead, an angel spoke, and pretended to speak for the donkey. Alternatively, one can suggest that Bilam understood the donkey's braying to mean what the Torah says in her name, but the donkey did not actually speak.

Splitting the Jordan

Stopping of the Sun at Givon

Eliyahu and Elisha Resuscitating Children

Stories of Angels – R. Saadia, as cited by Ibn Ezra, views angels as a perfectly natural phenomenon, which does not require further explanation to make it match the laws of nature (and can, in fact, be used to rationally explain other stories). In contrast, Ralbag views angels as unnatural, and finds alternative explanations³ to all mentions of such.

Nature of Prophecy

Existence of Magic

Mutable Nature

Divine Providence

Purpose of Miracles

Miracles Happen and Violate the Laws of Nature

Stories of miracles should be understood literally as historical accounts of what happened.

Miracles are Momentary Divine Interventions

When a miracle is needed, Hashem directly intervenes in nature, momentarily violating or suspending the laws of nature.

Sources:R. Saadia GaonCommentary Bereshit 3:1About R. Saadia Gaon, Ibn EzraBereshit First Commentary 3:1Bereshit Second Commentary 3:1Bemidbar 22:28About R. Avraham ibn Ezra, RadakYehoshua 5:2Shemuel I 28:24Melakhim I 17:21About R. David Kimchi, RambanBereshit 6:19Bereshit 18:19Shemot 6:2Shemot 13:16Vayikra 26:11Bemidbar 11:22Devarim 11:13About R. Moshe b. Nachman

The Snake in the Garden of Eden – R. Saadia Gaon gives an extensive explanation of how Hashem took a regular snake, and miraculously changed it's nature to be humanoid, with human intelligence, understanding of morality, and the ability to speak.

Stories of Angels – According to this approach, there is nothing wrong with physical manifestation of angels. However, due to other hermeneutical considerations, certain stories may be explained in ways that avoid such physical manifestation.⁴

The Plagues in Egypt – Malbim explicitly states that the plagues were supernatural, and that various details in the story prevent one from understanding the plagues to have been caused by a natural chain of cause and effect.

Divine Providence – Ramban has an extremely expansive understanding of divine intervention, viewing everything that happens in the world as caused by divine providence.

Purpose of Miracles – Ramban differentiates between two classes of miracles. The large and famous miracles, such as the exodus from Egypt, are intended as proofs of Hashem's existence, that He created the world, and His continuous providence. Meanwhile, the hidden miracles, such as rain, sickness, childbirth, and even peace or war, are intended as reward and punishment.

Mutable Nature – Ramban views miracles as proof that nature is not unchanging, and therefore that the belief in the eternity of the world is false.

What is Natural? Ramban understands all of nature to be directly caused by Hashem, and therefore he classes even mundane events such as birth, rain, or war as miraculous.

Miracles are Preprogrammed Divine Interventions

All miracles were preordained during creation, and the laws of nature contain specific exceptions for each and every miracle.

Sources:Mishna AvotAvot 5:6About the Mishna, Bereshit Rabbah5:5-6About Bereshit Rabbah, RambamCommentary on the Mishna Avot 5:6Moreh Nevukhim 2 29About R. Moshe b. Maimon

The Snake in the Garden of Eden – The Mishna in Avot does not mention the snake as one of the miracles preprogrammed during twilight of the sixth day of creation.⁵ However, the Rambam views this list as non-exclusive, stating that all other miracles were preprogrammed during other parts of the process of creation.

The Plagues in Egypt – Among the artifacts created on the twilight of the sixth day was Moshe's staff, which would imply that the plagues (and all the other miracles caused by Moshe's staff) were all prepared during creation.

Splitting of Yam Suf – Bereshit Rabbah states that the splitting of Yam Suf was prearranged on the second day of creation. Rambam expands this predetermination to also include the various splittings of the Jordan.

Manna and Quail – The manna is mentioned in the list in Mishna in Avot. The quail, however, are not mentioned, presumably because the quail were viewed as a natural phenomenon augmented or directed by Hashem, and not supernatural themselves.

Bilam's Donkey – Bilam's donkey's ability to speak is one of the cases of preprogrammed miracles mentioned in the Mishna in Avot.

Stopping of the Sun at Givon – Bereshit Rabbah lists the sun and moon stopping for Yehoshua among the miracles commanded during creation.

Mutable Nature – According to Rambam, nature is immutable, and therefore all miracles must have been set in nature from the day of creation.

¹ Ramban questions how wrestling in a dream will cause injury in real life. Rambam may explain like his son, R. Avraham b. HaRambam, who states that violent dreams causing injury and soreness in the morning is a known phenomenon. See Wrestling With Angels and Men for more details.

² The citation of R. Saadia in Ibn Ezra does not match R. Saadia's own commentary

³ In some cases, like Avraham's guests, he understands the angels to be human prophets. In other cases, such as the angel which wrestled with Yaakov, he relegates the appearance to a dream or prophetic vision (cf. the Dreams approach above).

⁴ See, for example, Radak's explanation of Avraham's guests (see details in Avraham's Guests – Angels or Men?), where he states that the angels did not appear to Avraham physically, but in a dream, while in the following chapter physical angels manifest in Sodom, and interact with Lot and the residents of Sodom.

⁵ This omission is may be related to the opinion (Bavli Sanhedrin 38b) that Adam sinned on the same day he was created, which would imply that the snake spoke even before the twilight of the sixth day.