Shofetim

Pisqa’ 177

Pisqa’ 1771

1

“Now, as for the person who does not obey my words” (Dt.18:19)—

there are three

who are condemned to death

at the hands of Heaven:

[A prophet] who suppresses his prophetic message,

like Jonah b. Amitai (Jon.1:1-3);

one who adds his words to the words of a prophet,

like the companions of Micah (Jud.17:1ff.);

and a prophet who violates his own prophetic message,

like Ido2 (1Ki.13:11-19).

And there are three

who are condemned to death

at the hands of the court:

One who prophesies what he never heard,

like Zedekiah b. Chenaanah (1Ki.22:24-28);

one who said what was not said to him,

like Hananiah b. Azzur (Jer.28:1-17)—

who heard things from Jeremiah’s mouth

as Jeremiah delivered prophecy

in the Upper Market,

and Hananiah b. Azzur went and prophesied

in the Lower Market;3

and one who prophesies in the name of a foreign cult,

saying: thus says [the god of] a foreign cult!

[And he is condemned to death by the court]—

even if his words confirm the [sages’] tradition

regarding what is unclean and what is clean.4

  1. H:202-203; JN2:55
  2. =T. San.14:15; cf. M. San. 11:5.
  3. =T. San.14:14.
  4. =M. San. 11:6.