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Rabbinic tradition in tractate Bava Batra says that teachers will become more important than prophets. This is also found in Sirach, which says that teaching will be “poured out like prophecy,” showing how this tradition was already established.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Sirach 24:32
Ben Sira, Ecclesiasticus
Deuterocanon
30 I came out as a canal stream from a river, and as an irrigation ditch into a garden. 31 I said, “I will water my garden, and will drench my garden bed.” Behold, my stream became a river, and my river became a sea. 32 I will yet bring instruction to light as the morning, and will make these things clear from far away. 33 I will continue to pour out teaching like prophecy, and leave it to all generations. 34 See that I have not labored for myself only, but for all those who diligently seek wisdom.
Bava Batra 12a
Babylonian Talmud
Rabbinic
§ In connection with Rabbi Yosei’s statement that Sumakhos’s words are nothing but words of prophecy, the Gemara reports that Rabbi Avdimi from Haifa says: From the day that the Temple was destroyed prophecy was taken from the prophets and given to the Sages. The Gemara expresses astonishment: Is that to say that a Sage is not fit to be a prophet? Rabbi Avdimi seems to say that these are two distinct categories of people. The Gemara explains: This is what Rabbi Avdimi is saying: Even though prophecy was taken from the prophets, it was not taken from the Sages. Ameimar said: And a Sage is greater than a prophet, as it is stated: “And a prophet has a heart of wisdom” (Psalms 90:12), i.e., he is wise. When comparisons are drawn, who is compared to whom? You must say that the lesser is compared to the greater. Here too, prophecy is compared to wisdom, thus indicating that wisdom is greater than prophecy.
Date: 450–550 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... the replacing of the Masoretic text 'prophet' by 'scribe' in a number of references (e.g. Isaiah 3:2; Zechariah 7:3) is seen as being 'in line with the Talmudic principle that "a sage is superior to a prophet', yet already in Ben Sira teaching is being put on a par with prophecy (Sirach 24:32-33), so that an exclusive association of the equation 'prophet' = 'scribe' with the 'Talmudic era' seems unwarranted ..."
Gordon, R. P.
Studies in the Targum to the Twelve Prophets, from Nahum to Malachi
(p. 138) Brill, 1994
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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