Thursday, April 18, 2024

John H. Walton vs. Claim Prophecy Ceased After Malachi

  

It is common in both Jewish and Christian circles to propose that prophecy came to an end with Malachi. Rabbinic texts repeatedly adopt this perspective, and Christians are inclined to speak of the four hundred years of (prophetic) silence between Malachi and Jesus. In modern scholarship, it was long thought that prophecy faded away and was replaced by apocalyptic visions. More recently, scholarly opinion has been recognizing the continuing social role of prophecy even though no collections of oracles have been preserved from the late Persian or Hellenistic periods.

 

Even though the apocalyptic genre rose to greater prominence during this period, the institution of prophecy did not disappear. As Hindy Najam puts it, prophecy “suffers a rupture,” but it did not end. (Losing the Temple and Recovering the Future: An Analysis of 4 Ezra [New York: Cambridge University Press, 2014], 4) Evidence that some Jews considered prophecy to be continuing is found in the prophetic role attributed to the Teacher of Righteousness in the Dead Sea Scrolls. (Pesher Habakkuk 7:4-5) Even though the social role of the prophet may have shifted in Second Temple Judaism, just as it did between preclassical and classical prophecy, and even though we have no collections of oracles from prophets of this period, we cannot conclude that prophecy had ceased or had been replaced by apocalyptic.

 

Nothing in the New Testament suggests that there had been a centuries-long break in prophecy activity; in fact, just the opposite is true (Mt 11:13; Heb 1:1-2). John the Baptist speaks as a prophet, as do Simeon and Anna (Lk 2:25-28). Zechariah’s song (Lk 1:67-79) and Mary’s Magnificat (Lk 1:46-55) both reflect a prophetic type of message. (Recall how Mary’s song is reminiscent of Hannah’s song in 1 Sam 2, also generally considered prophetic in nature) Traditionally, the end of prophecy was associated with the supposed closing of the canon. Nevertheless, the evidence of the Dead Sea Scrolls and recent scholarly analysis have demonstrated that though various pieces of literature were being treated as authoritative Scripture, some books were still taking shape, and the canon remained unfixed throughout most of the Second Temple period. (Najman, “Inheritance of Prophecy,” 38-40) The anticipation of one like the prophet Elijah referred to in the closing verses of Malachi did not suggest that there would be an absence of prophetic voices until that time. (John H. Walton, The Lost World of the Prophets: Old Testament Prophecy and Apocalyptic Literature in Ancient Context [Downers Grove, Ill.: IVP Academic, 2024], 59-61)

 

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