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| <point><b>Burial, eulogy and prophecy</b> – The fact that the older prophet mourns the death of the Man of God, buries him, and helps spread his prophecy, is further proof that he was a true prophet, sincerely upset at what he had caused and desirous that the Man of God's word be heard.</point> | | <point><b>Burial, eulogy and prophecy</b> – The fact that the older prophet mourns the death of the Man of God, buries him, and helps spread his prophecy, is further proof that he was a true prophet, sincerely upset at what he had caused and desirous that the Man of God's word be heard.</point> |
| <point><b>Message of the story</b></point> | | <point><b>Message of the story</b></point> |
− | </opinion>
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− | </category>
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− | <category name="Selfishness">
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− | Personal Gain
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− | <p>The prophet from Beit El was looking after his personal interests, and doing what he thought would be best for his prophetic business. The variations of this approach differ both in their evaluation of the Man of God and regarding the immediate motives of the Prophet from Beit El:</p>
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− | <opinion>Defame the Man of God
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− | <p>The Prophet from Beit El viewed the Man of God as competition, leading him to try and de-legitimize him in the eyes of the king.</p>
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− | <mekorot><multilink><a href="JosephusAntiquitiesoftheJews88-5" data-aht="source">Josephus</a><a href="JosephusAntiquitiesoftheJews88-5" data-aht="source">8 8:5</a><a href="JosephusAntiquitiesoftheJews89-1" data-aht="source">8 9:1</a><a href="Josephus Antiquities of the Jews" data-aht="parshan">About Josephus Antiquities of the Jews</a></multilink></mekorot>
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− | <point><b>Yerovam's Invitation</b> – After the withering of his hand, the king believed the words of the Man of God to be Divine and true.  Thus, when his enfeebled hand was restored, he invited him home to express his gratitude.</point>
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− | <point><b>The prohibitions against eating and drinking</b> – Josephus does not address the question but would likely suggest that eating and drinking was prohibited lest the actions appear to sanction the idolatrous practices of the city.</point>
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− | <point><b>הנביא מבית אל – True or false prophet?</b> The Prophet from Beit El was a false prophet who had been trying to curry favor with the king.</point>
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− | <point><b>The invitation from the prophet from Beit El</b> – After hearing of the miracles performed by the Man of God and how he both paralyzed and cured the king's hand, the older prophet feared for his job, concerned lest the new prophet (the Man of God) gain a better standing with the king than himself. As such, he hoped to trick the אִישׁ הָאֱלֹהִים into sinning and transgressing his own words to prove to the king that he was not trustworthy.</point>
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− | <point><b>How was the Man of God duped?</b> Josephus presents the Man of God as being gullible, and not intending to transgress his prophecy. In his innocence, he truly believed that the Prophet from Beit El had received an alternative prophecy which overturned the original one.</point>
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− | <point><b>Prophecy foretelling the Man of God's punishment</b> – According to Josephus, the "נָּבִיא אֲשֶׁר הֱשִׁיבוֹ" who receives the prophecy is the Man of God himself.<fn>The phrase, הַנָּבִיא אֲשֶׁר הֱשִׁיבוֹ, means the prophet who had been returned.</fn>  After all, a false prophet would not deserve to receive the word of Hashem.</point>
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− | <point><b>Shared burial</b> – Josephus presents the older prophet as being joyful in the Man of God's downfall<fn>After all, this was exactly what he had planned.</fn> and continuing to act in his own best interest after his death. He claims that the false prophet is motivated to save and bury the corpse of the אִישׁ הָאֱלֹהִים only so that he can save his own bones later.</point>
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− | <point><b>"אַחַר הַדָּבָר הַזֶּה לֹא שָׁב יָרׇבְעָם מִדַּרְכּוֹ הָרָעָה"</b> – Josephus places the blame for Yerovam's continued disobedience totally on the Prophet from Beit El. He suggests that despite the king's original belief in the Divinity of the Man of God, he was swayed to change his mind when the Prophet from Beit El tried to prove him a fraud.  The prophet explained away all of the Man of God's wonders, suggesting that they were coincidences rather than miracles.<fn>He suggested that his hand had become enfeebled due to overexercising it during the dedication of the altar. On resting, it returned to normal. Similalry the altar, being new, had broken under the weight of the many sacrifices.</fn> Moreover, he told the king of the Man of God's death, implying that it was proof that he had no prophetic standing.  All of this, though, is not mentioned in the text and, though possible, is only conjecture as to what might have happened.</point>
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− | <point><b>Purpose of story</b> – According to this approach the purpose of the story might be to explain why Yerovam did not repent of his ways.</point>
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− | </opinion>
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− | <opinion>Co-opt the Man of God
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− | <p>The Prophet from Beit El saw in the Man of God a potential partner who might join him in his false prophesying.</p>
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− | <mekorot>modern scholars<fn>See Pamela Tamarkin Reis, "Vindicating God: Another Look at 1 Kings XIII", in Vetus Testamentum 44 (1994): 376-386. </fn></mekorot>
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− | <point><b>Yerovam's Invitation</b> – Yerovam's invitation and offer of a present was an attempt to commission the Man of God from Yehuda to work for him and thereby give a Southern seal of approval to his idolatrous practices.</point>
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− | <point><b>Prohibitions of eating and drinking</b> – Since eating and drinking by a king indicated being supported by him, the prophet was commanded upfront not to eat in Beit El, lest he be viewed as a puppet of the king rather than a true prophet.<fn>See the opinion of N. Samet above.</fn></point>
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− | <point><b>"אִם תִּתֶּן לִי אֶת חֲצִי בֵיתֶךָ לֹא אָבֹא עִמָּךְ"</b> – P. Reis suggests that the Man of God's apparent refusal of the king's offer is actually not a refusal at all, but a setting of the price for which he would be willing to defect to Beit El and defy God. Though his opening offer (half the kingdom) is couched in the negative (לֹא אָבֹא עִמָּךְ), such feigned reluctance is simply the standard manner in which business deals were negotiated in Biblical times.<fn>Reis points to the negotiations between Efron and Avraham as another example of similar "no-means-yes" bargaining. Efron begins by offering the plot as a gift, though both sides are fully aware that eventually money will pass hands. Other examples of feigned reluctance in business deals include the interaction between Aravna and David in <a href="ShemuelII24-21-25" data-aht="source">Shemuel II 24</a>, and Bilaam's responses to Balak in <a href="Bemidbar22-16-22" data-aht="source">Bemidbar 22</a>. Reis suggests that the latter is very similar to our story as Bilaam states, "אִם יִתֶּן לִי בָלָק מְלֹא בֵיתוֹ כֶּסֶף וְזָהָב לֹא אוּכַל לַעֲבֹר אֶת פִּי י"י" even though he, apparently, had every intention of doing so.</fn></point>
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− | <point><b>נביא שסרח</b> – According to this approach, it is possible that an originally true prophet can veer off the correct path and sin.  Such a position begs the question of why God would choose such a messenger, especially in a case such as this, where the prophet is willing to sin so soon after being commissioned by Hashem. Moreover, if prophets can turn so easily, how is anyone to know when to trust a prophet?</point>
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− | <point><b>הנביא מבית אל – True or false prophet?</b> The Prophet from Beit El was a false prophet, though not necessarily in the employ of Yerovam. [As such, he might not have felt compelled to attend the dedication of the altar, even if he had no issue with it.].</point>
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− | <point><b>The invitation from the prophet from Beit El</b> – The false prophet thought that having the אִישׁ הָאֱלֹהִים as a professional partner would be good for his business.  The Man of God's public demonstration of his powers had been quite impressive and was likely to attract customers.  Thus, when he learned that the Man of God was willing to be "bought",<fn>Reis assumes that the false prophet correctly read between the lines of the interaction between the king and Man of God, recognizing his refusal to "eat and drink" as really being a counter-offer and willingness to defect to Beit El.</fn> he invited him home, hoping to cajole him into joining his prophetic business in Beit El.</point>
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− | <point><b>How was the Man of God duped?</b> According to Reis, the Man of God had been tempted to stay in Beit El and turn his back on God all along.<fn>Given the high taxes and uncertain political situation in Jerusalem, moving to Beit El might have seemed like a promising alternative.</fn> Thus, when the older prophet told him "אֲנִי נָבִיא כָּמוֹךָ" hinting that they are two of the same breed (prophets with their eyes on material advantage rather than on God's will) he did not need much convincing.  According to this reading, however, it is not clear why the false prophet felt the need to pretend that he had received a Divine prophecy overturning the previous one; after all, his working assumption was that both prophets were willing to dismiss God's word regardless.</point>
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− | <point><b>Harsh punishment</b> – According to Reis, the Man of God's punishment is not overly harsh as he had not accidentally transgressed Hashem's word, but knowingly defied God.  Moreover, he had being willing to join Beit El in its apostasy.<fn>She points out that Hashem only explicitly refers to his "eating and drinking in Beit El" because man is always punished more for his actions than his thoughts. Though the Man of God might have been motivated by avarice, and might have thought to promote idolatry, he had not yet actively done so.</fn></point>
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− | <point><b>Change of heart</b> – Reis suggests that after the Divine declaration that the Man of God was to be punished for his transgression, the old Prophet from Beit El had a change of heart.  His contrition is demonstrated by his saddling of a donkey for the Man of God,  braving the lion to recovering the corpse, bringing the body to burial, and eulogizing of the prophet.  Most telling, though, is his endorsing of the Man of God's original prophecy against Beit El, as he declares, "כִּי הָיֹה יִהְיֶה הַדָּבָר אֲשֶׁר קָרָא בִּדְבַר י"י עַל הַמִּזְבֵּחַ אֲשֶׁר בְּבֵית אֵל וְעַל כׇּל בָּתֵּי הַבָּמוֹת אֲשֶׁר בְּעָרֵי שֹׁמְרוֹן".</point>
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− | <point><b>חוטא נשכר</b> – Reis suggests that it is the repentance of the old prophet which merits his bones to be saved, and even goes as far as to suggest that it is only in his merit that the Man of God's bones are saved as well. This, however, directly contradicts the text which states, "וַיְמַלְּטוּ עַצְמוֹתָיו אֵת עַצְמוֹת הַנָּבִיא אֲשֶׁר בָּא מִשֹּׁמְרוֹן".  Reis responds that the verse might represent the perspective of Yoshiyahu who only knew that the Man of God had been the one to prophecy his destruction of Beit El's altar and the burning of the priests' bones, but was unaware of his inner intentions and the other prophet's actions.</point>
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| </opinion> | | </opinion> |
| </category> | | </category> |