Difference between revisions of "Philosophy:Miracles/2"
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<point><b>Yericho</b> – Radak</point> | <point><b>Yericho</b> – Radak</point> | ||
<point><b>Splitting the Jordan</b> – Y. Braslavy<fn>See יוסף ברסלבי, "נס כריתת הירדן (יהושע א'-ד')", בית מקרא יג, ד (תשכ"ח): 23-38.</fn> suggests that the Jordan split as a result of a rock fall which blocked the water flow.</point> | <point><b>Splitting the Jordan</b> – Y. Braslavy<fn>See יוסף ברסלבי, "נס כריתת הירדן (יהושע א'-ד')", בית מקרא יג, ד (תשכ"ח): 23-38.</fn> suggests that the Jordan split as a result of a rock fall which blocked the water flow.</point> | ||
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<point><b>Stopping of the Sun at Givon</b> – A number of explanations were given to explain this miracles naturally. For further elaboration, see <a href="Stopping of the Sun at Givon" data-aht="page">Stopping of the Sun at Givon</a>.<br/> | <point><b>Stopping of the Sun at Givon</b> – A number of explanations were given to explain this miracles naturally. For further elaboration, see <a href="Stopping of the Sun at Givon" data-aht="page">Stopping of the Sun at Givon</a>.<br/> | ||
<ul> | <ul> | ||
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<li>Various modern scholars give other natural explanations for the miracle, such as the sun's position blinding the enemy,<fn>See A. Malamat, "Early Israelite Warfare and the Conquest of Canaan", Oxford Centre for Postgraduate Hebrew Studies (1978):19-21.</fn> or a solar eclipse.<fn>See חזי יצחק, דניאל ויינשטוב, עוזי אבנר, "'<a href="http://www.adssc.org/sites/default/files/%D7%A9%D7%9E%D7%A9%20%D7%91%D7%92%D7%91%D7%A2%D7%95%D7%9F%2016.pdf">שמש בגבעון דום וירח בעמק אילון – ליקוי חמה טבעתי ב-30 באוקטובר 1207 לפנה"ס?</a>', בית מקרא ס"א (תשע"ו): 196-238.</fn></li> | <li>Various modern scholars give other natural explanations for the miracle, such as the sun's position blinding the enemy,<fn>See A. Malamat, "Early Israelite Warfare and the Conquest of Canaan", Oxford Centre for Postgraduate Hebrew Studies (1978):19-21.</fn> or a solar eclipse.<fn>See חזי יצחק, דניאל ויינשטוב, עוזי אבנר, "'<a href="http://www.adssc.org/sites/default/files/%D7%A9%D7%9E%D7%A9%20%D7%91%D7%92%D7%91%D7%A2%D7%95%D7%9F%2016.pdf">שמש בגבעון דום וירח בעמק אילון – ליקוי חמה טבעתי ב-30 באוקטובר 1207 לפנה"ס?</a>', בית מקרא ס"א (תשע"ו): 196-238.</fn></li> | ||
</ul></point> | </ul></point> | ||
+ | <point><b>Eliyahu and Elisha Resuscitating Children</b> – Radak explains that when Eliyahu revived the child, he used natural methods. While Radak himself understood that the children were dead and that the revival was therefore contrary to the laws of nature, certain scholars<fn>See the various sources cited by אברהם ס. אברהם,<a href="http://www.daat.ac.il/daat/kitveyet/hamaayan/Hamaayan_112.pdf#page=73"> "הנשמה מלאכותית בתנ"ך?"</a>, המעין כח, ג (ירושלים תשמ"ח): 72-76.</fn> have suggested that the children were not actually dead (just unconscious) and Eliyahu and Elisha performed some form of CPR to revive them.</point> | ||
<point><b>Angels</b><ul> | <point><b>Angels</b><ul> | ||
<li>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 <a href="Avraham's Guests – Angels or Men" data-aht="page">Avraham's Guests – Angels or Men?</a> </li> | <li>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 <a href="Avraham's Guests – Angels or Men" data-aht="page">Avraham's Guests – Angels or Men?</a> </li> |
Version as of 14:54, 3 December 2018
Miracles
Exegetical Approaches
Minimized Miracles
There is an attempt to minimize miracles in Tanakh, either by suggesting that certain seemingly supernatural phenomenon did not occur at all, or by suggesting that the events did not contravene the laws of nature.
Reduce Number of Miracles
Certain verses in Tanakh which appear to describe a violation of the laws of nature are reinterpreted and understood not to have happened in reality.
- Bilam's donkey – According to Rambam and Ralbag, Bilam's entire encounter with the donkey and angel only took place in a prophetic dream, so here, too, no animal spoke.
- Gidon's signs – Rambam3 asserts that the signs performed for Gidon with the wet and dry fleece took place only in a dream.
- Physical manifestations of angels – According to Rambam and Ralbag, angels are incorporeal beings whose physical manifestation to man, a material being, would be a violation of the laws of nature. As such, they reinterpret all stories which mention angels appearing or speaking as being prophetic dreams.4 See, for instance, Rambam's understanding of the three "angels" which visit Avraham in Avraham's Guests – Angels or Men and Ralbag's explanation of the story of Yaakov's wrestling with the "angel" in Wrestling With Angels and Men.
- Sun standing still – Ralbag5 maintains that due to the speed of the nation's victory over their enemies, there was a perception that time stood still and that the day had been lengthened, though in reality it had not.6
- Reviving the "dead" - According to one opinion in Radak, the boy that Eliyahu revived had never died, but was only unconscious. He was so sick, and his pulse and breathing were so faint (or non-existent) that his mother thought him dead.7 Eliyahu, thus, did not miraculously bring him back from the dead but rather resuscitated him.8
- Sun standing still – R. Walfish9 suggests that the description of the sun's standing still is simply a metaphoric way of expressing how the forces of nature aided Israel in battle.10 For elaboration on this positions, see Stopping of the Sun at Givon.]
- Miracles in the End of Days – According to Rambam, the prophecies regarding changes in nature in the end of days, such as Yeshayahu 11:6-7, should be understood metaphorically as referring to world peace, and not actual changes in the behavior of animals.11
- Lot's wife – According to Ralbag the phrase "וַתְּהִי נְצִיב מֶלַח" refers not to Lot's wife but to the land which she witnessed become a mound of salt. For elaboration, see Lot's Wife and Her Fate.
Remove Supernatural Nature
Stories which mentions wondrous, seemingly unnatural events, happened in reality, but never violated the laws of nature. Divine intervention is noticeable only in the timing or extent of the phenomena.
- Snake in Eden – 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.13
- Bilm's donkey - Shadal explains the speech of the donkey similarly, suggesting that Bilam understood its brays, not that it used human speech.
- According to certain explanations of Rambam, the magnitude of the victory caused the day to seem to be longer than usual in the Israelite perception, despite no celestial changes having occurred.
- Similarly, according to Ralbag, the day did not change, but rather the victory was so fast that it is described metaphorically as the sun standing still.
- Various modern scholars give other natural explanations for the miracle, such as the sun's position blinding the enemy,15 or a solar eclipse.16
- 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?
- 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.
- 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 explanations18 to all mentions of such.
- Radak cites R. Shemuel b. Chofni who states that the witch of Ein Dor pretended to be Shemuel, and gives a natural explanation for how she was able to give an accurate "prophecy".
- Shadal gives a natural explanation for Paroh's mages turning their staves into snakes.
Supernatural Miracles
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.
- Ramban views miracles as proof that nature is not unchanging, and therefore that the belief in the eternity of the world is falsse.
- All miracles were preordained during creation, and the laws of nature contain specific exceptions for each and every miracle.
- 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?
- According to Rambam, Yaakov's various encounters with angels all happened in a dream.20
Miracles are Preprogrammed Divine Interventions
All miracles were preordained during creation, and the laws of nature contain specific exceptions for each and every miracle.