[Avodah] (Neviim & Possible Mistakes); Akeidah & Yizchak

[Daniel Eidensohn]

hankman wrote:
> In response to the comments of RHB and RRRW below it has been my 
> understanding (Although I can not cite a specific mekor) that the 
> understanding by a Novi of his Nevuha is in fact infallible. The 
> infallibility stems from the infallibility of Hashem to communicate 
> the exact message he wishes to impart to the Novi, not metsad the Novi 
> himself.
>  

*Sefer HaIkkarim^ ** (3:17):* Even though that all the words of the 
prophets are true with out any doubt, nevertheless according to the 
greatness of the prophet and his level of prophecy will the truth that 
comes from his words be stronger. Because many prophets due to the 
weakness of their comprehension did not comprehend the clear facts 
properly. This is because what happens to the perception of the prophets 
is that which happens to perception of our physical senses. One whose 
senses are healthy and strong perceives things the way they truly are 
and one whose sense are weak will not perceive things the way they truly 
are but will only be aware of the general type or category and not the 
full details. Someone with healthy vision will see things according to 
the way they really are for example red or green and will perceive the 
hue of red or green. However the one who has weak vision will only 
perceive things in general. Even if he perceives the category i.e., red 
or green he will not perceive which hue or red or green. This is true 
also with the sense of hearing and the other senses.

This exact thing occurs also with the prophets and their perceptions. 
One who has strong perception will perceive things the way they are 
without illusion and his words will be clear without vagueness and thus 
his understanding will be true the way things are. A prophet who is on a 
lower level will perceive things as vague or as a puzzle or metaphors 
that are unclear. Therefore he won't see the truth as it is but only 
according to the appearance of the metaphor. He will thus confuse the 
metaphor with that which it alludes to and thus will fail to be aware of 
actual reality i.e., the message that he was sent. [Ohel Yaakov: for 
example Zecharya saw a man riding on a horse...That in itself was 
meaningless...what was to be seen by the prophet in this vision was that 
he was being sent by G-d to travel all over the land.]

Thus we find Yechezkeil whose prophecy took place after the destruction 
of the Temple speaking in metaphors and parables which could not be 
taken to be literally true until they complained as Yechezkiel said to 
G-d, /They say to me that I am just a spinner of parables (21:1)/.

And similarly Zechariya who was at the end of the period of prophecy - 
had all his prophecy in visions that were not true in of themselves but 
only for what they alluded to. He said he saw horses, women, and golden 
menorahs with olives. The menorah and olives were not true in themselves 
but only to what they alluded to. In contrast, Yirmiyahu who was prior 
to the destruction of the Temple - all his prophesies were extremely 
clear as to what they actually were.

G-d has already described the uniqueness of Moshe Rabbeinu's prophecy. 
The Torah (Bamidbar 12:8) states /mouth to mouth I spoke to him in 
vision but not parables./ This was in contrast to all the other prophets 
who received prophesy through the medium of parables and metaphors that 
were not self-evident and were not the message themselves. Therefore the 
words of all the prophets are of necessity subordinate to that of Moshe 
Rabbeinu. In other words the prophesy of a lesser prophets needs to be 
made totally consistent with that which a greater prophet said.

To clarify this matter we find for example that Yeshaya (6:1) said /And 
I saw G-d sitting on a throne elevated and transcendent/. In contrast 
Moshe said /G-d said that no man can see Me and live./ If we didn't know 
the relative greatness of these two prophets we might have thought that 
the words of Yeshaya are correct. We would have assumed that because of 
his great prophetic ability that he perceived from G-d that which he was 
capable of seeing and therefore his words are to be taken literally /And 
I saw G-d./  We would have assumed that Moshe had not reached the level 
of Yeshaya and therefore could not perceive G-d to any significant 
degree and thus he said /No one can see G-d and live./

But now that we know that Moshe was the epitome of the prophets...we 
know that Moshe's statements have to be taken as literally true and the 
words of Yeshaya are on a lower level and are not literally true. In 
fact according to his lower level the words /I saw G-d/ which indicated 
he thought he saw G-d are not correct and are the result of his 
imagination. Moshe in contrast did not utilize the power of imagination 
in his prophecy at all. His prophecy was to report things exactly as 
they were and thus /No one can see G-d and live/ is literally true.

Yeshaya who utilized his power of imagination in his prophecies that is 
called by our sages (Yevamos 49b) the unclear lenses - was brought to 
err by means of his imagination to think that he actually saw G-d. The 
explanation of this is that the physical essence of Yeshaya was not as 
refined as that of Moshe as Yeshaya (6:5) said /I am a man of impure 
lips/. Even his moral qualities were not proper as he said (6:5) /In the 
midst of a people of impure lips I dwell/. Dwelling amongst people with 
made moral qualities degrades the moral qualities of a good person. That 
is why he said (6:5) /Woe is me that I have imagined/. In other words I 
have been brought to error by my imagination I didn't prophesize with a 
clear lens like the prophesy of Moshe who heard the voice speaking to 
him without needing the image in from of his eyes. But I - said Yeshaya 
- prophesize with an unclear lens which is through the power of 
imagination I am not able to proper comprehend what I hear without 
seeing what I am being told and this causes me to be /a man of impure 
lips /and that /I dwell amongst a nation of impure lips/. And I know 
that this activates my imagination because concerning G-d it is 
impossible to associate any clear description or image even in a 
prophetic vision for one who has a clear lens.

This is what our sages (Yevamos 49b) say that Menashe killed Yeshaya 
because he had said /I have seen G-d/ while Moshe Rabbeinu had said it 
is impossible to see G-d... He could however have defended himself by 
saying that even in the time of Moshe the people said /they saw the G-d 
of Israel (Shemos 24:10)/ because the people also did not have a 
comprehension through a clear lens.

What is learned from all this is that a prophet can never disagree with 
a prophet who is on a higher level. Instead he must interpret his own 
words in such a way that there is no conflict between them. Since the 
Torah has stated that the prophecy of Moshe Rabbeinu was on the highest 
level of all the prophets, it is impossible for any prophet to disagree 
with him or nullify his words. However if it is possible to reconcile 
the apparent disagreement by saying that there were



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