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Was Balaam also among the Prophets? How Balaam Sheds Light on the Latter Prophets

2017; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 31; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/09018328.2017.1301636

1502-7244

K. L. Noll,

Historical and Linguistic Studies

In spite of abundant evidence to the contrary, many researchers presume that the Bible’s prophetic literature was preserved and transmitted because the scribes believed these prophets had received divine revelation, so that the scribes treated the literature as religiously useful, perhaps even religiously authoritative in some manner. This article defends an alternative hypothesis: the ancient scribes did not treat Hebrew anthologies of prophecy as divinely revealed or as possessing either religious utility or authority. Rather, this literature was disseminated among scribes because scribes have an interest in literature. The best way to understand the Latter Prophets is to examine a tale about a prophet in the book of Numbers: Balaam son of Beor. This is the only prophet mentioned in the Tanakh who is also mentioned in an ancient inscription. Although Balaam is not a significant figure among the Latter Prophets (he is mentioned only once in these scrolls), the abundant data about Balaam provide an invaluable opportunity to trace the ways in which ancient scribes adopted, adapted, and transformed their source materials about prophets and prophecy.