PROMISE

In Ps 105" the change made in the RV reminds us that God's 'holy word' is always a 'holy promise.' Simi-larly, the Heb. verb dObhar is usually tr. 'speak'; but 'promise' is found in Ex 122s, Jer 32« etc. In several , passages, as, e.g., Dt 10», Neh 9*8, the RV gives 'speak' or 'say' instead of 'promise.' A complete study of the subject would therefore require a consideration of the whole question of OT prophecy. ' For thy word's sake ' is the ultimate appeal of those who can say ' thou art God, and thy words are truth, and thou hast prom-ised' (2 S 7"- 28). See Prophecy.

1. In a few passages (Jos 9», Neh S'"-, Est 4', Mt 14', Mk 14", Ac 7^ 2 P 2") the reference is to a man's promises to his felloiv-man; once only (Ac 23^') the noun has this meaning in the NT. In Dt 23^' the verb refers to man's promises to God, and is synonymous with vowing unto God. This passage is instructive, on account of the stress that is laid on the voluntary nature of the obligation that is incurred by him who promises or makes a vow. Driver renders 'according as thou hast vowed freely unto Jehovah, thy God, that which thou hast spoken (promised) with thy mouth ' (ICC, in loc). The thought of spontaneity is an essential part of the meaning of the word when it is used of God's promises to man, and especially of 'the promise' which comprises all the blessings of the Messianic Kingdom (Ac 2" 7" etc.).

2. The Gr. word epangellesthai, tr. 'promise,' is found only in the middle voice in the NT; its root-meaning is 'to announce oneself,' hence it comes to signify 'to offer one's services,' and 'to engage oneself voluntarily to render a service.' Dalman derives the NT concep-tion of the 'promise' from the Rabbinic phraseology concerning 'assurance.' A typical example is Ber. R. 76: 'for the pious there is no assurance (promise) in this age'; cf. Apoc. Bar 53', 'the promise of life here-after' (The Words of Jesus, p. 103). The promises of God are numerous (2 Co I''"); they are also 'precious and exceeding great' (2 P 1'). 'His every word of grace' is a promise; even His commandments are assurances of grace, conditional only upon men's willingness to obey. When God commanded the children of Israel to go in to possess the land, it was as good as theirs; already He had 'lifted up' His hand to give it them; but the promise implied in the command was made of no effect through their disobedience. The possession of Canaan, the growth of the nation, universal blessing through the race, are examples of promises of which the patriarchs did not receive the outward fulness (He 11"). On the one hand, Abraham 'obtained the promise,' because the birth of Isaac was the beginning of its fulfllment (6"); on the other hand, he is one of the fathers who 'received not the promise,' but 'with a true faith looked for a fulfilment of the promises which was not granted to them ' (cf . Westcott's note on He 11'').

3. The NT phrase 'inherit the promises' (He 6"; cf. 11», Gal 328) is found in Ps. Sol 13= (b.c. 70 to B.C. 40). This passage is probably 'the first instance in extant Jewish literature where the expression "the promises of the Lord" sums up the Msurances of the Messianic redemption' (Ryle and James, Com., in loc). In the Gospels the word 'promise' is used in this technical sense only in Lk 24", where 'the promise of the Father' refers to the gift of the Holy Spirit (cf. Ac 1' 28'- 89, Gal 3», Eph 1'8). The Ep. to the Hebrews is especially rich in passages which make mention of promises ful-filled in Christ (4> 6" 7» 9>8 etc.); but both in his speeches and in his Epistles St . Paul looks atjthe Christian gospel from the same point of view (Ac 13'8- 88 26"-, Ro 98, Gal 428, Eph 38; cf. the only Johannine use of 'promise' in 1 Jn 2"). There are promises to en-courage believers as they strive to perfect holiness (2 Co 7'), whilst 'to them that love him' the Lord hath 'promised the crown of life' (Ja l'^); there is also the unfulfilled 'promise of his coming' (2 P 3«). But ' how many soever be the promises of God, in him

PROPHECY, PROPHETS

is the Yea: wherefore also through him is the Amen, unto the glory of God through us.' J. G. Tasker.

PROPHECY, PROPHETS.— Hebrew prophecy rep-resents a religious movement of national and world- wide importance, not paralleled elsewhere in history. Most significant in itself, it has acquired deeper and wider import through its connexion with Christianity and the philosophy of religion generally. The present article will deal in brief outline with (1) the history, (2) the inspiration, and (3) the functions and specific teach-ing, of the prophets of the OT; also (4) with the special topic of Messianic prophecy and its fiilfilment in the NT.

1. History and prophecy. — The prophetic period proper may be said to have extended from the 8th to the 4th cent. B.C. During these centuries at least, prophecy was a recognized, flourishing, and influential power in Israel. But a long preparatory process made ready for the work of Amos, Hosea, and their successors, and it is not to be understood that with the last of the canonical writings the spirit of prophecy disappeared entirely from the Jewish nation. It is not surprising that the begin-nings of Hebrew prophecy are lost in comparative obscurity. Little light is shed upon the subject by a comparison between similarphenomena in other religions. It is true that among Semitic and other peoples the idea was widely prevalent of an order of men who were favoured with special intercourse with the Deity and entrusted with special messages from heaven, or an unusual power of prognostication of future events. The line which separated the priest from the prophet was in early times a very narrow one, and sometimes the func-tions of the two offices were blended. In Israel also, during the earlier stages of history, lower conceptions of the Divine will and human modes of optaining knowl-edge of it prevailed, together with practices hardly to be distinguished from pagan rites. The description in Dt 18'"-" proves how long these mantic ideas and cus-toms lingered on in the midst of clearer moral and spiritual light. When the true significance of prophecy came to be understood, the contrast between it and heathen divination was very marked, but the process by which this stage was reached was gradual. Its course cannot always be clearly traced, and down to the Chris-tian era, the lower and less worthy popular conceptions existed side by side with the high standard of the pro-phetic ideal.

No certain information can be gathered from the names employed. The word most frequently used in OT (more than 300 times) is na65,lbut its derivation is doubtful. It was long associated witii a root which means to 'bubble up,' and would thus denote the ecstatic influence of inspiration, but it is now more usually connected with a kindred Arabic word meaning to 'announce.' Two other words — ro'eh, which occurs 9 times (7 times of Samuel), and chozeh, about 20 times — are of known derivation and are both translated *seer." The historical note in 1 S 98 marks the fact that ro'eh passed comparatively out of use after Samuel's time, but both it and chozeh are used later as synonyms of ndbi, and in Chronicles there appears to be a iBvival of earlier usage; We shall probably not be far wong if we find in the words the two main characteristics of the prophet as 'seer' and 'speaker,' — the spiritual vision which gave him knowledge, and the power of utterance which enabled him to declare his message with power. Other phrases employed are — 'man of God,' usea of Moses, Samuel, and others; ''servant of God,' a term not limited to prophets as such; 'messenger of Jehovah, 'chiefly in the later writings; and once, in H03 9', the significant synonym for a prophet is used, 'man of the spint,' or 'the man that hath the spirit.'

We may distinguish three periods in the history of prophecy: (1) sporadic manifestations before the time of Samuel, (2) the rise and growth of the institution from Samuel to Amos, (3) the period marked out by the canonical prophetic writings.

(1) In dealing with the first, it will be understood that the literary record is later than the events described, and the forms of speech used must be estimated accord-

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