ficient to read Mich. iii, 5, 11; Osee iv, 5, and other similar passages to see that ambition and material interests often dictated their answers. No doubt these criticisms should not be applied indiscriminately to all the members of the prophetic body, but they show the two main defects of Lower Prophetism among the Hebrews.

Other accusations are sometimes made against them. Some authors go so far as to contest the Israelitish origin of the Nebi'im, and claim that they never aided the interests of Yahwehism, at least in the age of Samuel,14

This leads us to a final question: Was the order of the Nebi'im of Israelitish origin, and was it in harmony with or in opposition to Yahwehism?

The latter part of the question is easy of response. In the ninth century the Nebi'im constituted an important factor in the progress of Yahwehism. This indeed is generally admitted. In proof of it may be adduced both the friendly relations in which they were held by Elias and Eliseus, the great champions of Yahwehism in the Northern Kingdom, and also the implacable hatred with which they were persecuted by the wicked Jezabel. Nor is there room for doubt that in the time of Samuel they were already promoting in their own way the worship of Yahweh; it was near the sanctuary, near the hill of God that the youthful Saul met them prophesying.

Some critics of great authority have contended that the institution of the Nebi'im had its origin in the religion of the Chanaanites. We readily acknowledge that the Chanaanites had prophets whose practices were entirely similar to those of the enthusiastic Nebi'im of Samuel's day. As early as the eleventh century, in the judgment of competent Egyptologists, the Golenischeff papyrus describes for us the intervention of a prophet in the Canaanitish town of Byblos."

"E. Koenig (Der Aeltere Prophetismus, p. 7) quotes among the defenders of this opinion A. Kuenen (De Propheten...II, 227 seqq.), J. Wellhausen (Einleitung in das Alte Testament of Bleek, p. 212). W. H. Harper is of the same opinion (Amos and Osee, p. lv), and Kraetschmar has made himself an ardent champion of the same (Prophet und Seher...p. 10-12). We cannot stop to consider all the arguments brought forward in favor of the thesis, but it is worth while to notice the argument which Kraetschmar finds in I Sam. x, 12. When Saul begins to prophesy, answer is made to those who are astonished thereat: "And who is their father?" This answer does not signify that the institution of the Nebiim is little esteemed because of Gent.le or Chanaanitish origin, but rather that the prophetical spirit may take possession of persons who have never have been admitted to the prophetical associations.

"A. Ermann. Eine Reise nach Phænizien im XI Jahrhundert vor Christus, in the Zeitschrift fuer Egyptische Sprache...xxxviii (1900) p. 1-14.

The worship of Baal and Astarte had its prophets, as is shown by the well known incident in I Kings xviii; II Kings iii, 13. This similarity, however, is not a proof of the Chanaanitish origin of the Lower Prophetism among the Hebrews. The radical antipathy towards the Chanaanites, which is manifested in the most ancient Jewish documents, especially in regard to matters of religion, would in itself afford a solid argument against any such affiliation. And why should not the Nabi' have been of Israelitish orig n? Under the inspirat on of strong religious feeling certain Israelites would naturally be moved to consecrate themselves especially to Yahweh, to sing his praises, promote his worship, and contend against the influence of neighboring religions. This same religious feeling would give rise in many instances to those phenomena of extasy which seem strange to us now, but which were not rare in oriental religions; it is not necessary to view them as being of supernatural origin.

Despite the abuses which may have crept into Lower Prophetism in the course of time, the signal services rendered to Yahwehism by the Nebi'im in troublous times should not be forgotten. On the other hand it would be a mistake to view the excitable Nebi'im of the age of Samuel and Saul as the predecessors of the great canonical prophets who were the mouthpieces of Yahweh and the instruments of revelation. Between the glory which shall eve surround such men as Osee, Isaias and Jeremias and the half-contemptuous pity which is felt for the whirling dervish, there is room for the well merited esteem which religious men will not fail to pay to those who served the true God and spread His worship, even though they made use of methods of which a later age does not approve.

II.

Higher Prophetism: Prophets by Special Calling.

The ancient source of the first book of Samuel, which has furnished us with such interesting details concerning the Nebi'im (ix-x, 14), also makes us acquainted with a personality of still higher importance-Samuel "the Seer." This name "Seer" is of ancient It is never found applied, however, to the members of the 10Samuel is called a Seer (87) in I Sam. ix, 11; ix, 19; I paral. ix, 22; xxvi, 28; xxix, 29. He is called man of God (58) in the passage I Sam. ix, 6-10. He

usage.

is called Nabi only once (I Sam. ii, 20), and we have already remarked that this late passage does not represent the ancient terminology. A remarkable example of the latter is contained in I Kings xiii.

prophet societies. It is given to Hanani, a prophet of the t'mes of Asa, who was king of Juda at the end of the tenth and during the first quarter of the ninth century. Similarly we find that the use of the analogous term in, which has the same meaning as 7, is restricted to individuals who have played a noteworthy part in Jewish history: Gad (I Chron. xxi, 9; II Sam. xxiv, 11), Iddo (II Chron. ix, 29; xii, 15), Jehu (II Chron. xix, 2), Asaph (II Chron. xix, 30), Amos (Amos vii, 12).

A third name which presents the same features is that of "Man of God". We find it in the Bible applied to Samuel (I Sam. ix, 6-10), Semeias (I Kings xii, 22; II Chron. xi, 2), Elias (I Kings xvii, 18, 24; II Kings i, 9-13), Eliseus (a score of times in II Kings iv-vii), Hanan (Jer. xxxv, 4), and several anonymous prophets.

These three terms are of ancient usage. In the final years of the Kingdom of Juda they had gone out of use as names to designate a special prophet, being displaced by the term "Nabi." But while in use, as we have seen, they were never employed with reference to the members of prophet bands. From this we may conclude that men like Samuel, Nathan, Gad, Iddo, Semeias, Elias, Eliseus, and later the ancient canonical prophets, to speak only of the "Men of God," whose names are known to us, are not to be put in the same class with the Nebi'im of the days of Samuel and Saul. And it would be to misinterpret the teaching of the texts to describe the prophetism of the days of Samuel and Saul as "undisciplined and ecstatic."" Baentsch, who thus characterizes the ancient prophetism, can justify his view only by rejecting as of no historical value the accounts cited above which speak of "Men of God," including the very ancient passage I Sam. ix-x, 15. He will find few to follow him in this.

It would be impossible within the limits of this article to undertake a presentation of these great figures, or the part they played in

"B. Baentsch in an article entitled "Pathologische Zuege in Irsaels propheten. thum" (Zeitschrift fuer wissenschaftliche Theologie, 1907, p. 52-81) characterizes the first period of Hebrew Prophetism in the following terms:...die Periode des noch undisciplinirten wilden ekstatischen Prophetenthums in den Zeiten Samuels und Sauls. It may be interesting to know in what manner he conceives of the Prophetism of later centuries. In the time of Elias and of Eliseus it is political Prophetism: die Periode des politischen Prophetenthums in den Zeiten des Elias und Elisa. Finally starting with the eighth century Prophetism becomes moral and religious:...die Periode des religioesethischen Prophetenthums, namentlich seit der Mitte des achten vorchristlichen Jahrhunderts. In three, words therefore are summed up the characteristics of Hebrew Prophetism: it was at first "ecstatic," then "political," and finally "moral and religious."

history. We shall merely enumerate in a note, according to chronological order, the "Men of God," of whom record has come down to us.18 An examination of this list will be enough to prove that before the first canonical prophets Israel possessed remarkable men who exercised upon their contemporaries and upon the religious development of their people an influence which it would be hard to exaggerate. However, the office and functions of these "Seers" or "Men of God" have been very diversely estimated by critics.

The judgment which one reaches regarding the early representatives of the Higher Prophetism in Israel depends in large measure on the views one holds concerning the stage of development of institutions and beliefs during their times. We think it proper to declare (though it is out of the question to go into the proofs for our assertion here) that we hold to monotheism among the Israelites far before the eighth century, dating in fact from the period of the founders of the

18 We are not interested in maintaining the trustworthiness of all the details concerning the Prophets which have been consigned in the historical books of the Old Testament, nor is it necessary. The following is a list of the earlier Prophets together with an indication of the passages referring to them.

A prophet anterior to Samuel: I Sam. ii, 27-34.

Samuel: I Sam. especially chapters i-xii.

Nathan: II Sam. vii, 1-17; I Par. xvii[ 1-15; II Sam. xii, 1-15; I Kings i,

11-40.

Gad: 1 Sam. xxii, 5; II Sam. xxiv, 11-25; I Par. xxi, 9-30.

Ahias of Silo: I Kings xi, 29-39; xiv, 18.

Semeias: I Kings xii, 22-24; II Par. xi, 2-4; xii, 5-6.

Addo: II Par. ix, 19; xii, 15, 22.

An anonymous prophet: I Kings xiii.

Azarias son of Oded: II Par. xv, 1-8.

Hanani: II Par. xvi, 7-10.

Jehu son of Hanan: I Kings xvi, 1-7.
Jahaziel: II Par. xx, 14-17.

II Kings xiii 19.

Eliezer, son of Dodan: II Par. xx, 37.
Elias: I Kings xvii-II Kings ii,.
Eliseus: 1 Kings xix,;
Anonymous Prophets:
Micheas, son of Jemla:

xix, 13-14, 22, 28, 35-40.
I Kings xxii; II Par. xviii.

An anonymous prophet: II Par. xxv, 6-9.
Jonas, son of Amathi: II Kings xiv, 25.

We are thus brought down to Amos and Osee, the earliest of the canonical prophets who lived about the middle of the eighth century, and who put some of their prophecies down in writing. But the history of these prophets and their successors is beyond the scope of the present article. We have omitted from the above list the name of David because he does not appear in the role of a prophet in the earlier writings.

nation. We might add, without fear of contradiction, that the view which presents the prophets of the eighth century as the beginners of the monotheistic movement is daily losing defenders.

The most ancient accounts of these prophets by special calling give us considerable information as to the way in which they conceived and carried out their mission. Still further light on the same point can be obtained by examining the names applied to the prophet."

The ancient prophet as we have seen, was called "Seer" or "Man of God." Later on this was changed to Nabi', a name originally applied to men of somewhat different rank and office. 20 But the usual title in the olden times seems to have been 87: Seer (I Sam. ix, 9). Now we must not conclude from this name that the ancient prophet was merely a foreteller of future events." With reference. to this term Seer, Laur" quotes a remark of Knobel which is pertinent to the matter: "In the term there is no more the idea of to see the future than to see visions. The former interpretation is philologically impossible, since to see is not the same as to see the future; the latter is out of agreement with history, since the most ancient prophets, to whom the name is most frequently (if not indeed exclusively) applied, are least noted for visions." Moreover, so far at least as Samuel is concerned, nobody will believe that his prophetic mission consisted in finding lost objects. He was a "man of God;" he knew the divine wishes and proclaimed them to men; if Yahweh gave him foreknowledge of the downfall of the priestly family of Heli, He revealed to him likewise the sins which were its cause. It is moreover this moral and religious preaching which was the main work of the great figures who rank with Samuel: Nathan, whose parable after David's sin is so justly celebrated; Elias, who protested so strongly against the injustice of Achab towards Naboth. The earlier canonical prophets also are pre-eminently the champions of morality and of Yahwehism,

19We have already noted that E. Laur has devoted an entire dissertation to this aspect of the problem. The reader may consult it for further details and a more complete study of the question.

20 We omit discussing here other appellations rarely given to the prophets, the antiquity of which it would be difficult to maintain. Such are "angel of Yahweh," "servant of Yahweh," "watcher," "guardian," "pastor," "man of the spirit," etc. Jer. vi. 27.

21 Kraetschmar (l. c., p. 19) insists too much, it seems to us, on this aspect of the question. It is not by a long exposition of the incident narrated in I Sam. ix, viz., where Saul comes to the Seer Samuel seeking his father's asses, that the true nature of early Hebrew Prophetism can be adequately made known.

22 L. c., p. 68.