Difference between revisions of "Philosophy:Miracles/2"
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<point><b>Existence of Magic</b> – According to this approach, mentions of humanly operated magic in Tanakh should be understood as chicanery committed by charlatans. For example:<br/> | <point><b>Existence of Magic</b> – According to this approach, mentions of humanly operated magic in Tanakh should be understood as chicanery committed by charlatans. For example:<br/> | ||
<ul> | <ul> | ||
− | <li> | + | <li>Ibn Ezra claims that Paroh's mages turned their staves into snakes only via an illusion. See <multilink><a href="ShadalShemot7-11" data-aht="source">Shadal</a><a href="ShadalShemot7-11" data-aht="source">Shemot 7:11</a><a href="ShadalShemot7-20" data-aht="source">Shemot 7:20</a><a href="ShadalShemot7-27" data-aht="source">Shemot 7:27</a><a href="ShadalShemot8-3" data-aht="source">Shemot 8:3</a><a href="ShadalShemot9-3" data-aht="source">Shemot 9:3</a><a href="ShadalShemot10-4" data-aht="source">Shemot 10:4</a><a href="ShadalShemot10-15" data-aht="source">Shemot 10:15</a><a href="ShadalShemot10-21" data-aht="source">Shemot 10:21</a><a href="ShadalShemot14-21-22" data-aht="source">Shemot 14:21-22</a><a href="ShadalYeshayahu40-3" data-aht="source">Yeshayahu 40:3</a><a href="R. Shemuel David Luzzatto (Shadal)" data-aht="parshan">About R. Shemuel David Luzzatto</a></multilink> as well.</li> |
− | + | <li><multilink><a href="RadakShemuelI28-24" data-aht="source">Radak</a><a href="RadakShemuelI28-24" data-aht="source">Shemuel I 28:24</a><a href="R. David Kimchi (Radak)" data-aht="parshan">About R. David Kimchi</a></multilink> cites R. Shemuel b. Chofni who states that the witch of Ein Dor only pretended to be Shemuel, and gives a natural explanation for how she was able to give an accurate "prophecy".</li> | |
</ul></point> | </ul></point> | ||
<point><b>Prophecy and Nature</b></point> | <point><b>Prophecy and Nature</b></point> |
Version as of 03:00, 4 December 2018
Miracles
Exegetical Approaches
Minimized Miracles
There is an attempt to minimize the miracles mentioned 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 many 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,7 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.8 Eliyahu, thus, did not miraculously bring him back from the dead but rather resuscitated him.9
- Sun standing still – R. Walfish10 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.11 For elaboration, 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.12
- Lot's wife – According to Ralbag the referent of the word "וַתְּהִי" in the phrase "וַתְּהִי נְצִיב מֶלַח" is not Lot's wife but the land. The verse shares how she witnessed the land of Sedom become a mound of salt. For elaboration, see Lot's Wife and Her Fate.
- "מלאכים" – Ralbag points out that the word "מלאך" merely means a messenger and thus need not refer to celestial beings who supernaturally appear in physical form to man, but might instead refer to human prophets.13
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 that the snake did not actually speak.15
- Bilam's donkey – Shadal explains the speech of the donkey similarly, suggesting that Bilam understood its brays, not that it used human speech.
- 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. The blood spoiled the waters of the Nile, leading the frogs to invade the country; their deaths, then, invited insects in the form of "כנים" and so forth.16
- Shadal, R. D"Z Hoffmann, and Cassuto further point out that many of the plagues are known natural phenomenon that occasionally strike Egypt,17 stating that the miracle was simply in the timing and severity of the plagues. For further elaboration, see The Plagues – Natural or Supernatural?
- Manna – As early as Josephus, there have been attempts to identify the manna that fell in the Wilderness with similar natural phenomena known in contemporary times. See, for example, the opinion of Chivi brought (and rejected by) Ibn Ezra, and R. D"Z Hoffmann's exploration of the points of contact and contrast between the "manna" collected by Beduins from the Tamarisk tree and Biblical manna.19
- Selav – See Ramban, Hoil Moshe and R. D"Z Hoffmann who claim that Hashem employed nature in bringing the "שְׂלָו", with the latter referencing modern accounts of quail migrations.20 Some modern scholars21 further attempt to explain the deaths of those who gorged on the quail in Bemibar as perhaps being (at least partially) a natural consequence of their actions rather than a miraculous Divine punishment.22 For discussion, see שְׂלָו – Fish or Fowl.
- Clothing – Ibn Ezra and Shadal suggest that the clothing of the nation did not wear out, not due to a miracle, but because they had left with several sets.23 For further discussion of the degree to which the nation led a miraculous existence throughout the sojourn in the Wilderness, see Life in the Wilderness.
Supernatural Miracles
Stories of miracles should be understood literally as historical accounts of what happened.
Face Value
Miracles in Tanakh are understood to have occurred as described.
- Ramban views miracles as proof that nature is not unchanging, and therefore that the belief in the eternity of the world is false.
- All miracles were preordained during creation, and the laws of nature contain specific exceptions for each and every miracle. According to Rambam, nature is immutable, and therefore all miracles must have been set in nature from the day of creation.
- 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.29
Embellished
Many of the miracles described n Tanakh are embellished, and described as even more miraculous than they originally seem.