On Psa 74:9:
The recognition that this psalm is probably to be dated
some time during the exile, after the destruction of Jerusalem in 587 BCE, may
be considered enough evidence to discount its use as postexilic evident for the
view that prophecy ceased; the psalm may not look to the distant past. In its historical
context, whether exilic or Maccabean, the psalm reflects a situation in which
the prophets who predicted salvation are silenced by events and those who, like
Jeremiah and Ezekiel, predicted correctly, continue to experience opprobrium. In
this historical context, prophets have not ceased to exist but have fallen into
disrepute (cf. Lam 2:14).
Regardless of date, the literary form of the psalm undermines
its value as evidence that prophecy ceased. It is a community lament, which
exaggerates the horrors of the community’s situation in order to solicit God’s
help. One could argue analogously from the equally exaggerated lament in Lam
2:6, “the LORD has abolished in Zion festival and sabbath,” that the Sabbath
ceased with the destruction of Jerusalem; such an inference would of course be
incorrect. Neither the historical context nor the literary form of Ps 74, then,
permits its use as evidence that a belief in the end of prophecy emerged during
the postexilic and rabbinic periods. (John R. Levison, In Search of the Spirit,
2 vols. [Eugene, Oreg.: Cascade Books, 2024], 2:3-4)
On the Prayer of Azariah 15:
In our day we have no ruler, or prophet, or leader,
no burnt offering, or sacrifice, or oblation, or incense,
no place to make an offering before you and to find mercy.
Although probably written much later than the situation
it purports to describe, this text is part of a lament that depicts the anarchy
that followed upon the destruction of Jerusalem in 587 BCE. As in Ps 74, a
community lament, we have to do here with “[a complaint about the lack of
prophets]” and “[not a dogmatic idea of a prophetic era].” (Leivestad, “Dogma,”
292) At any rate, the elements of the immediate context, such as sacrifices and
rulers, were in fact restored to Israel following the exile, so that it would
require a blatant disregard for context to extrapolate a dogma of the ceasing
of prophecy from the brief mention of the lack of prophets “in our day.” (John R.
Levison, In Search of the Spirit, 2 vols. [Eugene, Oreg.: Cascade Books,
2024], 2:4)
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