“Thus says the Lord, ‘By this you shall know that I am the Lord.’”[227]

It has been said that “religious authority represents the right which a religion exercises upon its followers as individuals and as a community.”[228]  The authority of the religion of Biblical Israel is “derived from its constituting the revelation of the will of God, on the one side, and, on the other, from its social character as the governing principle of the nation.”[229]  The prophet and priest were the central characters in maintaining these two phases of religious authority during this time period.[230]

In the traditionalist view, the prophet gives “the authentic disclosure of a message received word by word from God, a view referred to as ‘the doctrine of verbal inspiration’”[231]  He is called by God:

“And he said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, [I] the LORD will make myself known unto him in a vision, [and] will speak unto him in a dream.” [232]

Many traditionalists believe the prophet was simply a receptacle of the divine will, similar to the modern tape recorder.  However, others believe the prophet functioned in a more comprehensive capacity.  The Anchor Bible Dictionary states:  “For some, the prophet is the critic of society; for others, the prophet is the announcer of the future; for yet others, the prophet is the charismatically authorized messenger.”[233]  This responsibility gives him “the place of preeminence in the religious history of Israel.”[234] 

In the Hebrew Bible, prophets were portrayed as holders of divine favor and protection:

“Now therefore restore the man [his] wife; for he [is] a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live: and if thou restore [her] not, know thou that thou shalt surely die, thou, and all that [are] thine.”[235]

If people did not listen to a true prophet of the Lord, then they could expect God to condemn them:

“The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken… And it shall come to pass, [that] whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require [it] of him.”[236]

Since only prophets of Yahweh carried this divine favor and legitimacy, prophets of other gods who tried to proselyte the Israelites were to be killed:

“IF there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them; Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him. And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he hath spoken to turn [you] away from the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the LORD thy God commanded thee to walk in. So shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee.”[237] 

The Bible also warned people to be aware of false prophets. The people were to test prophets and ignore those whose prophesies did not come to pass:

“When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that [is] the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, [but] the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.”[238]

If a prophet spoke something in the name of the Lord which was his own idea and not the Lord’s will, then he was to be killed:

“But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die.”[239]

Yet, even true prophets were not all considered equal in statue:

“And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face”[240]

Because “the temple was the place where one found God,”[241] the priests—like the prophets—held a preeminent place in the life of Ancient Israel.  They were “the principal functionaries in divine services, their special task being to engage in cultic ceremonies which they conducted mainly in the Temple.”[242]  It is clear that “the temple played an essential and central role in the religious life of the Jewish people.”[243] Using the ephod[244] and the urim velummin,[245] they also had responsibility for interpreting the will of God.[246]  However, “the primary and outstanding cultic function of the priests was the offering of the sacrifices on the altar which stood in the Temple court.”[247]  Through the cultic sacrifices, the priests allowed the people to demonstrate their repentance and gain reconciliation with God.  Through this function, “the priest stands as the embodiment of the social side of religion, as guardian of tribal traditions, customs, tabus, and religious rites.”[248]  Kohler said:  “Among all religions the priest is considered especially holy as the mediator between God and man…He alone may approach the Godhead, ascertain its will, and administer the sacrificial cult in the sanctuary.”[249]

In the Hebrew Bible, Melchizedek stood as an early prototype priest to whom even Abraham paid tithes:

“And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he [was] the priest of the most high God. And he blessed him, and said, Blessed [be] Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth: And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all.”[250]

In addition, Jethro—the father-in-law of Moses—is also mentioned as a priest:

“Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters: and they came and drew [water], and filled the troughs to water their father's flock.”[251]

However, with the construction of the tabernacle, it is Aaron and his descendants who take up most of the priesthood discussion in the Bible.  Aaron and his sons are set apart to maintain and officiate in the tabernacle:

“In the tabernacle of the congregation without the vail, which [is] before the testimony, Aaron and his sons shall order it from evening to morning before the LORD: [it shall be] a statute for ever unto their generations on the behalf of the children of Israel.”[252]

            Since the prophets and priests both were central in formulating the religious values in Israel, it is not surprising that occasionally the groups came into conflict.  While the prophets held the temple in high regard, they frequently turned their voices of dissent “against it and its operation.”[253]  Seeing that the people committed wickedness and then fled to the temple for protection, Jeremiah proclaimed:

“The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, Stand in the gate of the LORD'S house, and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word of the LORD, all [ye of] Judah, that enter in at these gates to worship the LORD. Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place. Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, [are] these.”[254]

Malachi saw that the priests violated the law by offering blemished sacrifices and condemned them:

“A son honoureth [his] father, and a servant his master: if then I [be] a father, where [is] mine honour? and if I [be] a master, where [is] my fear? saith the LORD of hosts unto you, O priests, that despise my name. And ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name? Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar; and ye say, Wherein have we polluted thee? In that ye say, The table of the LORD [is] contemptible. And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, [is it] not evil? and if ye offer the lame and sick, [is it] not evil? offer it now unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy person? saith the LORD of hosts.”[255]

In the passage of time, the moral and spiritual precepts of the prophets along with the laws and teachings of the priests were codified as Torah.[256]  Within traditional “text-centered”[257] Judaism, Torah serves as “the main source of religious authority”[258] and defines “the very essence of Judaism”[259] itself.  In fact, Judaism and Torah are “virtually interchangeable”[260] terms in modern usage.  Traditionalists believe that “Torah reveals God’s explicit, verbally revealed will for the Jewish people…”[261]  Because of the supreme value placed upon Torah, it is without question that “Torah and its study is the dominant religious preoccupation throughout the history of Judaism…”[262]

However, as traditional Judaism has evolved, “the ultimate authority”[263] in Judaism is not the Biblical text itself, but the interpretation of Talmudic Rabbis.  This definition “was not reached without many conflicts of parties and sects and more than one grave political and religious crisis, but in the end the tendency which most represented the historical character and spirit of the religion prevailed, and accomplished the unification of Judaism.”[264] 

For example, one of the grave crises just mentioned was the rise of the Karaite sect in the eighth century CE.  The Karaites rejected “the Rabbinic interpretations of Scripture found in the Talmud.”[265]  They accepted “only the Hebrew Bible, the Tanakh, as the source of divine revelation.”[266]  The Karaites believed that the Rabbis were not interpreting scripture, but were really replacing the divine will with their own ideas.  It has been suggested that for a time there was some doubt as to whether the Karaites would prevail in their quest to define Judaism in a way different from that of the Talmudic Rabbis.  “The first prominent Rabbanite to attack the Karaites was Saadiah Gaon,”[267] who is generally credited with ensuring that the interpretations of the Talmudic Rabbis became normative or “official” Judaism.  Saadiah believed that the true purpose of Talmudic Rabbis’ interpretations were to prevent common readers of the scriptures from misunderstanding them:

“What, however, our Sages did try to prevent us from doing was to brush aside the prophetic Scriptures and to rely on our own personal judgments in our speculations…”[268]

This is not to imply that Judaism has become or was ever a monolithic religion. Patai suggested:  “In contrast to the Roman Catholic faith with its single body, the Church, Judaism has never adopted a monolithic structure which could super-impose its authority upon all Jewish communities in the many lands of their diaspora.”[269] For example, “Judaism of the last two centuries B.C.E. and the first century C.E. saw a rich, variegated development of groups, sects, and parties, and tendencies, points of view, and concepts.”[270]  Simply put, “Judaism has always heterodox variants.”[271]

Today, the decisions of the past regarding “‘official’ Judaism—that crystallization of the religion which represented  the consensus of most of the religious leaders of a certain time and place—”[272] are being revisited.  The Conservative movement believes a reappraisal was required of some basic concepts in light of modern historical research.[273]  The Reform movement believes that even more drastic changes are needed to Judaism to bring the religion in conformity with “Western thought, values, and culture…”[274]  As we progress into a new millennium, only time will tell us what “official” or “authoritative” Judaism of the future will be.