And now, since we have touched upon the subject of the prophets, what we
are about to advance will be useful not only to the Jews, who believe
that they spake by divine inspiration, but also to the more candid among
the Greeks. To these we say that we must necessarily admit that the Jews
had prophets, if they were to be kept together under that system of law
which had been given them, and were to believe in the Creator of the
world, as they had learned, and to be without pretexts, so far as the
law was concerned, for apostatizing to the polytheism of the heathen.
And we establish this necessity in the following manner. “For the
nations,” as it is written in the law of the Jews itself, “shall hearken
unto observers of times, and diviners;”[1181] but to that people it is
said: “But as for thee, the Lord thy God hath not suffered thee so to
do.”[1182] And to this is subjoined the promise: “A prophet shall the
Lord thy God raise up unto thee from among thy brethren.”[1183] Since,
therefore, the heathen employ modes of divination either by oracles or
by omens, or by birds, or by ventriloquists, or by those who profess the
art of sacrifice, or by Chaldean genealogists—all which practices were
forbidden to the Jews—this people, if they had no means of attaining a
knowledge of futurity, being led by the passion common to humanity of
ascertaining the future, would have despised their own prophets, as not
having in them any particle of divinity; and would not have accepted any
prophet after Moses, nor committed their words to writing, but would
have spontaneously betaken themselves to the divining usages of the
heathen, or attempted to establish some such practices amongst
themselves. There is therefore no absurdity in their prophets having
uttered predictions even about events of no importance, to soothe those
who desire such things, as when Samuel prophesies regarding three
she-asses which were lost,[1184] or when mention is made in the third
book of Kings respecting the sickness of a king’s son.[1185] And why
should not those who desired to obtain auguries from idols be severely
rebuked by the administrators of the law among the Jews?—as Elijah is
found rebuking Ahaziah, and saying, “Is it because there is not a God in
Israel that ye go to inquire of Baalzebub, god of Ekron?[1186]”
Footnote 1181:
Cf. Deut. xviii. 14.
Footnote 1182:
Cf. Deut. xviii. 14.
Footnote 1183:
Cf. Deut. xviii. 15.
Footnote 1184:
Cf. 1 Sam. ix. 10.
Footnote 1185:
Cf. 1 Kings xiv. 12.
Footnote 1186:
Cf. 2 Kings i. 3.