Philosophy:Miracles/2

Miracles

Exegetical Approaches

This topic has not yet undergone editorial review

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.

Sources:PhiloQuestions and Answers on Genesis I 31On the Creation 156-166Allegorical Interpretation II 71-78About Philo, RambamHilkhot Melakhim 12:1About R. Moshe b. Maimon

Methods used – This approach explains away apparent miracles using a number of different methods. It reads certain stories as being allegorical or as having  occurred only in dreams or in someone's mind.  In other cases, it assumes that verses need to be understood metaphorically or reread in another manner. Examples of each category follow below.

Allegorical stories – The miraculous nature of certain events is eliminated by suggesting that the story in which the event occurred is only an allegory.

• The Snake in Eden – PhiloQuestions and Answers on Genesis I 31On the Creation 156-166Allegorical Interpretation II 71-78About Philo and RalbagShofetim 6:36Bereshit Beur HaMilot 3Bereshit Beur HaMilot 18:2Bereshit Beur HaParashah 19:37Bereshit Beur HaParashah 32:23-32Bemidbar 22:21Yehoshua 4:20Yehoshua 10:12-13Melakhim I Toalot 17:15Melakhim I Toalot 18:37About R. Levi b. Gershom understand the story of the Garden of Eden to be an allegory,¹ with the snake acting only as a symbol.² As such, the serpent never talked.

Dreams – Several miracles are discounted by assuming that they occurred only in a dream and not in reality:

• Bilam's donkey – According to Rambam1 422 292 352 422 463 17About Rambam Moreh Nevukhim and RalbagShofetim 6:36Bereshit Beur HaMilot 3Bereshit Beur HaMilot 18:2Bereshit Beur HaParashah 19:37Bereshit Beur HaParashah 32:23-32Bemidbar 22:21Yehoshua 4:20Yehoshua 10:12-13Melakhim I Toalot 17:15Melakhim I Toalot 18:37About R. Levi b. Gershom, 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 – Rambam1 422 292 352 422 463 17About Rambam Moreh Nevukhim³ 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 Rambam1 422 292 352 422 463 17About Rambam Moreh Nevukhim 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.

People's perspective – In several instances an event is viewed as miraculous only due to the perceptions of the people viewing the event.

• Sun standing still – RalbagYehoshua 10:12-13Melakhim I Toalot 18:37About R. Levi b. Gershom⁵ 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 RadakMelakhim I 17:17About R. David Kimchi,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

Metaphorical language – Understanding certain verses metaphorically, as poetic flourishes rather than literal statements of fact, further reduces the number of miracles in Tanakh:

• 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 RambamCommentary on the Mishna Avot 5:6Hilkhot Melakhim 12:1About R. Moshe b. Maimon, 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

Rereading: Ambiguous syntax and definitions – At times, noting a secondary meaning of a word, or recognizing the ambiguity of a verse's syntax allows for reinterpretations that minimize miracles:

• 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.

Mutable Nature

Divine providence

Purpose of miracles

Human agency

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.

Sources:ArtapanusCited in Eusebius Ch. 27About Artapanus, R. Saadia Gaon in Ibn EzraBereshit First Commentary 3:1Bereshit Second Commentary 3:1Bemidbar 22:28About R. Avraham ibn Ezra¹³, Chivi in Ibn EzraShemot Second Commentary 14:27About R. Avraham ibn Ezra, R. Yosef Bekhor ShorBereshit 18:2About R. Yosef Bekhor Shor, RambamMoreh Nevukhim 2 35About R. Moshe b. Maimon, RadakYehoshua 5:2Shemuel I 28:24Melakhim I 17:21About R. David Kimchi, R. Yosef ibn KaspiShemot 11:10Shemot 14:20-21About R. Yosef ibn Kaspi, RalbagYehoshua 10:12-13Bereshit Beur HaMilot 18:2Bereshit Beur HaParashah 19:37Bereshit Beur HaParashah 32:23-32About R. Levi b. Gershom, AbarbanelShemot 7:14About R. Yitzchak Abarbanel, ShadalShemot 7:11Shemot 7:20Shemot 7:27Shemot 8:3Shemot 9:3Shemot 10:4Shemot 10:15Shemot 10:21Shemot 14:21-22About R. Shemuel David Luzzatto, R. David Zvi HoffmannShemot 7:18Shemot 8:2Shemot 9:5Shemot 9:8-10Shemot 10:22About R. David Zvi Hoffmann, U. CassutoShemot 7:17Shemot 7:27Shemot 9:9Shemot 10:14Shemot 14:21-22About Prof. Umberto Cassuto

Talking animals

• 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.¹⁴
• Bilam's donkey – Shadal explains the speech of the donkey similarly, suggesting that Bilam understood its brays, not that it used human speech. 

Mixing up of languages

Longevity of early humans

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. For further elaboration, see The Plagues – Natural or Supernatural?

Splitting of Yam Suf – According to R"Y ibn Kaspi, various scholars cited by Shadal, and U. Cassuto, Yam Suf split as a natural result of the wind mentioned in Shemot 14:21 and the tides. Artapanus as cited by Eusebius and Chivi as cited by Ibn Ezra take this a step further, and state that the entire miracle was just a matter of Moshe knowing the tide schedule. For further elaboration, see Yam Suf – Natural or Supernatural?

Wilderness miracles – See Life in the Wilderness and שְׂלָו – Fish or Fowl

Yericho – Radak

Splitting the Jordan – Y. Braslavy¹⁵ suggests that the Jordan split as a result of a rock fall which blocked the water flow.

Stopping of the Sun at Givon – R. Moshe ibn Chiquitilla posits that though the sun set, Hashem ensured that its light continued to reflect and provide illumination. Some modern scholars, instead, understand the verses to refer to a solar eclipse¹⁶ or how the sun's positioning blinded the enemy.¹⁷ For further elaboration, see Stopping of the Sun at Givon.

Eliyahu and Elisha Resuscitating Children – 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 scholars¹⁸ have suggested that the children were not actually dead (just unconscious) and Eliyahu and Elisha performed some form of CPR to revive them.

Angels

• 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 explanations¹⁹ to all mentions of such.

Understanding natural phenomena

Existence of Magic – According to this approach, mentions of non-divine magic in Tanakh should be understood as chicanery committed by charlatans. For example:

• 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.

Prophecy and Nature

National vs. individual miracles

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.

Sources:Mishna AvotAvot 5:6About the Mishna, Mekhilta DeRabbi YishmaelShemot 16:32About Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael Shemot, Sifre Devarim33:21About Sifre Devarim, Bereshit Rabbah5:5-6About Bereshit Rabbah, Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer52About Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, 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,  RambanBereshit 6:19Bereshit 18:19Shemot 6:2Shemot 13:16Vayikra 26:11Bemidbar 11:22Devarim 11:13About R. Moshe b. Nachman, MalbimShemot 7:25About R. Meir Leibush Weiser

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 textual considerations, certain stories may be explained in ways that avoid such physical manifestation.²⁰

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. For further elaboration, see The Plagues – Natural or Supernatural?

Bilam's Donkey – According to Ibn Ezra, Bilam's donkey actually spoke, and Hashem miraculously intervened to allow this.

Stopping of the Sun at Givon – According to Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, the stopping of the sun at Givon was one of the greatest miracles in the history of the world. For further elaboration, see Stopping of the Sun at Givon.

Manna and Quail

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.
• 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.

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.

Divine providence

Angels – According to Rambam and Ralbag, angels are incorporeal beings whose physical manifestation to man 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. [Rambam does not reinterpret other apparent miracles in the same fashion, probably because other miracles in Tanakh have practical results which can not be explained if they merely took place in a dream. Since the only purpose of angels appearing is to convey information; this can be accomplished via a prophetic vision, which he undersatnds to be a natural phenomenon.[ie natural laws do allow Hashem to influence the world through prophecy and dreams]

• 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.²¹

Magic – The Mishna in Avot lists evil spirits (מזיקין) among the objects created during twilight. This would mean that non-divine magic is considered a part of nature, planned during creation

Embellished

Many of the miracles described n Tanakh are embellished, and described as even more miraculous than they originally seem.

Sources:

¹ Rambam alludes to this possibility as well. [See Moreh Nevukhim 2:30 and Abarbanel's understanding of the passage.]

² Accoring to Philo he symbolizes pleasure and vice, while according to Ralbag he represents the "כח הדמיוני".

³ See also Ralbag, though he also raises the possibility that they took place in reality or via a prophet.

⁴ Though Rambam takes this approach almost across the board, in many cases Ralbag alternatively suggest that the so-called angels are merely prophets; see below. 

⁵ See also Rambam as understood by Efodi and R. Moshe of Narbonne.

⁶ It is possible that the same idea is not suggested by the boy revived by Elisha since in that story the verse explicitly states, "וַיָּמֹת" . Even if this was taken to refer only to lack of breath, since significant time passes between the boy's death and the arrival of Elisha, CPR would have no longer been effective regardless. See, though, Rambam Moreh Nevukhim 1:42, who suggest sthat the verb "וַיָּמֹת" might also refer to a severe sickness adn not actual death, in which case this story , too, can be explained as Elisha curing the boy rather than reviving him from the dead. [It should be noted, however, that Rambam himself does not say this.]

⁷ See also the various sources cited by  אברהם ס. אברהם, "הנשמה מלאכותית בתנ"ך?", המעין כח, ג (ירושלים תשמ"ח): 72-76.

⁸ He suggests that the language "עַד אֲשֶׁר לֹא נוֹתְרָה בּוֹ נְשָׁמָה" does not mean that the boy died. He compares it to the similar metaphoric language in Daniel 10:17, "וַאֲנִי מֵעַתָּה לֹא יַעֲמׇד בִּי כֹחַ וּנְשָׁמָה לֹא נִשְׁאֲרָה בִי", where it is clear that Daniel is not trying to say that he had literally died.

⁹ It is possible that the same idea is not suggested by the boy revived by Elisha since in that story the verse explicitly states, "וַיָּמֹת" .  Even if this was taken to refer only to lack of breath, since significant time passes between the boy's death and the arrival of Elisha, CPR would have no longer been effective regardless. See, though, Rambam Moreh Nevukhim 1:42, who suggest sthat the verb "וַיָּמֹת" might also refer to a severe sickness adn not actual death, in which case this story , too, can be explained as Elisha curing the boy rather than reviving him from the dead. [It should be noted, however, that Rambam himself does not say this.]

¹⁰ See R. Walfish, "עיון בפרשת עצירת השמש בגבעון", Megadim 38 (2003):43-52.

¹¹ She compares it to Devorah's statement, "מִן שָׁמַיִם נִלְחָמוּ הַכּוֹכָבִים מִמְּסִלּוֹתָם נִלְחֲמוּ עִם סִיסְרָא" in Shofetim 5:20. Just as this verse is not read literally to mean that the stars actually fought with Sisera, so, too, Yehoshua did not mean that the sun actually stopped in its tracks. Both are merely poetic flourishes.

¹² For similar examples, see also ShadalShemot 7:11Shemot 7:20Shemot 7:27Shemot 8:3Shemot 9:3Shemot 10:4Shemot 10:15Shemot 10:21Shemot 14:21-22Yeshayahu 40:3About R. Shemuel David Luzzatto on Yeshayahu 40:3-5 and RadakYehoshua 5:2Shemuel I 16:2Shemuel I 28:24Melakhim I 17:17Melakhim I 17:21Yeshayahu 49:11About R. David Kimchi on Yeshayahu 49:11.

¹³ The citation of R. Saadia in Ibn Ezra does not match R. Saadia's own commentary

¹⁴ According to R. Saadia in Ibn Ezra, the snake did not actually speak. Instead, an angel spoke, and pretended to speak for the snake.

¹⁵ See יוסף ברסלבי, "נס כריתת הירדן (יהושע א'-ד')", בית מקרא יג, ד (תשכ"ח): 23-38.

¹⁶ See חזי יצחק, דניאל ויינשטוב, עוזי אבנר, "'שמש בגבעון דום וירח בעמק אילון – ליקוי חמה טבעתי ב-30 באוקטובר 1207 לפנה"ס?', בית מקרא ס"א (תשע"ו): 196-238.

¹⁷ See A. Malamat, "Early Israelite Warfare and the Conquest of Canaan", Oxford Centre for Postgraduate Hebrew Studies (1978):19-21.

¹⁸ .

¹⁹ 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).

²⁰ 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. See also Wrestling With Angels and Men.

²¹ 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.