Journal of Seven Heavens

Journal of Seven Heavens

Prophets' Sins as Interpreted in the Medieval Rabbinic Literature

Document Type : Original Article

Author
Fateme Tofighi
Researcher of Abrahamic Religions
Abstract
The sins which the Bible attributes to the prophets have intrigued many readers. On the one hand, for Muslims, these sins have been enough evidence for the invalidity of the Bible; the Jewish exegetes, on the other hand, have attempted to reinterpret those passages. In this research, some major instances of the reinterpretation of the sins of the biblical characters in medieval rabbinic literature shall be discussed. The rabbis used different methods like: transformation of the literal reading of the passage, attention to the ambiguity of the words, emphasis upon the pre-knowledge of the prophets, reliance upon other verses which testify to the justification of the character, reference to a presumed pre-Mosiac law, and elaboration on the biblical story with aggadic-midrashic narratives or anecdotes. The latter way is very predominant in Jewish exegesis and leads to a fundamental change in understanding the biblical narratives. Thus, with the help of later interpretations, the biblical picture of the prophets became closer to the readers’ conception of what a prophet should look like.
Keywords
Infallibility
sins of the prophets
the Bible
rabbinic literature
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  • Receive Date 01 September 2018