The Gift of Prophecy

The Prophets’ Use of Sources

We saw that the Scripture finds its origin in God, but we also know that biblical writers occasionally used documents or did research when writing their books. This is what we find in the Bible itself. For instance, Luke clearly states that he did research in writing his Gospel and that it was his intention to write “an orderly account” (Luke 1:3, NIV). We could suggest that God, through the Spirit, was guiding him in the selection of the materials and that He was appropriating the information in order to make it part of His revealed will for us. ⁴⁰ We may even say that Luke, using the language of 2 Peter 1:21, was “carried along by the Holy Spirit” (NIV) as he examined the evidence, selected from it, and organized it. GOP 94.1

Another good example of this phenomenon is found in Proverbs. This book is a collection of sayings written by different composers (Prov. 1:1; 10:1; 25:1; 30:1; 31:1). Two of the collections may have been written by non-Israelites (Agur, Prov. 30; the mother of King Lemuel, Prov. 31; cf. Prov. 30:9). These two collections contain useful sayings fully compatible with the ideological purpose of the biblical writer. Since we do not have the original compositions, it is impossible to determine if the inspired writer edited the segments in any way before incorporating them into the book. Fortunately, we possess several biblical cases in which the original documents used by the biblical writer are available to us. GOP 94.2

“Instruction of Amenemope” and Proverbs

The first case is found in Proverbs 22:17-24:22, a section usually called “Words to the Wise.” It has been claimed that in this passage we have some material taken from an Egyptian wisdom document called “The Instruction of Amenemope.” When a copy of this document was found in Egypt, scholars soon realized that there were many parallels between its content and that specific section of Proverbs. The basic issue was how to explain the literary similarities. The document was dated to around 1188-945 B.C., opening up the possibility that the biblical text, composed by Solomon (reigned 971-931 B.C.), may have influenced the Egyptian one. But today even conservative scholars tend to acknowledge that if there was a literary dependence or influence, it was from “Amenemope” to Proverbs. ⁴¹ The Instruction itself is now dated to the Twentieth Dynasty (1200-1081). ⁴² GOP 94.3

The use of “Amenemope” by Proverbs should not surprise us (see 1 Kings 4:29, 30). “The Instruction of Amenemope,” consisting of 30 chapters, belongs to the wisdom literature, and its content is in general good, very similar to biblical wisdom literature. Some of the main emphases in the Instruction are the relationship between the individual and the gods, wealth, and personal relations. Here are a few of the parallels between the two documents. GOP 95.1

Some of the Parallels Between Proverbs and “Amenemope” ⁴³

“Amenemope”	Proverbs
I:5, 6 Knowing how to answer one who speaks to reply to one who sends a message	22:21 Teaching you true and reliable words, so that you can give sound answers to him who sent you
III.9 Give ears, hear the sayings	22:17 Pay attention and listen to the sayings
III.10 Give your heart to understand them	22:17 Apply your heart to what I teach
XXVII.6 Look at this thirty chapters	22:20 Have I not written thirty sayings * for you . . . ? [NIV]
IV.4 Beware of robbing a wretch	22:22 Do not rob the poor because he is poor [NASB]
IV.19 It is the Moon who declares his crime	22:23 For the Lord will plead their case and take the life of those who rob them
XI.12 Do not befriend the heated man nor approach him for conversation	22:24 Do not associate with a man given to anger; or go with a hot-tempered man
VII.11 Do not move the markers on the borders of fields	22:28 Do not move the ancient boundary
XXVII.16, 17 The scribe who is skilled in his office he is found worthy of being a courtier.	22:29 Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will stand before kings.
XXIII.12 Do not eat in the presence of an official	23:1 When you sit to dine with a ruler
XXIII.17 Look at the bowl that is before you.	23:1 consider carefully what is before you.
X.4, 5 They made themselves wings like geese and flew away to the sky.	23:5 They will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle.

There are many other similarities, but this sample is enough to make the point. They could probably be explained in several ways but the fact that they are concentrated in a particular section of Proverbs suggests that there is a literary connection between the two. ⁴⁴ If we accept that Proverbs was influenced by “Amenemope,” as it seems to me to be the case, the following comments are in order. First, the biblical writer was not simply copying from the Egyptian document but selecting passages from different parts of the original and placing them where he saw it fit. In other words, “he exercised full autonomy over presentation of the foreign material that he deemed worthy of transmission.” ⁴⁵ 45 Second, he adjusted the material to his own Israelite cultural setting. For instance, instead of keeping the reference to the geese, found in “Amenemope,” he used the eagle, which was much more common in Israel. ⁴⁶ Third, he also eliminated any reference to the Egyptian god Toth and, instead, used the name of the Lord. Fourth, in some cases he expanded the sayings or shortened them and in others cases he practically quoted verbatim or used the same illustrations. In other words, he reshaped the materials according to his own purpose and guided by the Spirit. ⁴⁷ GOP 96.1

Finally, there does not appear to be a significant ideological shift from the meaning of the original saying to the way Proverbs used it. Nevertheless, there are two important changes that we should notice. The most significant one is the elimination of the name of Egyptian deities from the biblical text. ⁴⁸ For instance, instead of the Egyptian god Moon we find, as expected, a reference to the Lord. The second shift consists in placing the content of the material within the Israelite covenant faith. For example, the reason given for not exploiting the poor flows from the covenant relation: ⁴⁹ “For the Lord will take up their case and will plunder those who plundered them” (Prov. 22:23). One could conclude that the Egyptian material “has been so refined by Israel’s faith, that whatever its origin, it belongs to the OT revelation.” ⁵⁰ Based on the biblical view of revelation/inspiration, we would suggest that the whole process of selection and adaptation took place under the direct guidance of the Spirit and consequently information that originally was not the result of divine inspiration is now part of the inspired Word of God. GOP 96.2

Paul and Aratus

Scholars agree that in his speech on the Areopagus in Athens, Paul quotes from the Stoic Aratus of Cilicia (c. 315-240 B.C.). ⁵¹ Probably his best known poem is Phaenomena, from which he is quoted in the sermon. The poem became famous and achieved “lasting popularity beyond the circle of the learned poets; it became the most widely read poem, after the Iliad and Odyssey, in the ancient world.” ⁵² The section of the poem quoted reads, “We are his offspring” (Acts 17:28, NIV). ⁵³ In order to create a bridge between him and his listeners, Paul makes clear that he is quoting from one of their poets. The pronoun “his” refers in the poem of Aratus to the Greek god Zeus, understood in a pantheistic way. ⁵⁴ Therefore the idea expressed by the poet is basically pantheistic: ⁵⁵ We all possess the divine in us. In the sermon Paul imbues the quote with Christian meaning. Now “God” is referring to the Father of Jesus, the Creator, and the idea of pantheism is totally absent. We were all created by God from one man (verse 26). What Paul is probably doing is taking “the Greek idea of the ‘spark of the divine being’ in us as tied to Zeus and speaks of being made as God’s children by the Creator, alluding to our being made in God’s image.” ⁵⁶ He is in fact using “the words to fit his Christian teaching.” ⁵⁷ Here the apostle, under the guidance of the Spirit and for a missiological purpose, uses some of his knowledge of Greek literature to express a divine message. Divine inspiration is operative at that level in the selection of the information. ⁵⁸ GOP 97.1

Jude and the Book of Enoch

The short Epistle of Jude is basically an attempt to counter the influence of false teachers in the community of believers (verses 3, 4). Jude stresses in a particular way the judgment of God against them. He supports his argument quoting a prophecy of Enoch. ⁵⁹ The prophecy is not found in the Old Testament but is found in a Jewish extracanonical book called 1 Enoch. This book contains materials composed between the fourth century B.C. and the beginning of the Christian Era. ⁶⁰ Jude introduces the quote, saying, “Enoch, the seventh from Adam prophesied about these men.” He is applying what Enoch said to the situation the church is facing in his days. Here is the prophecy: GOP 98.1

Jude (NIV) GOP 98.2

“See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones to judge everyone, and to convict all of them of all the ungodly acts they have committed in their ungodliness, and of all the defiant words ungodly sinners have spoken against him” (verses 14, 15). GOP 98.3

1 Enoch 1:9⁶¹ GOP 98.4

“And behold! He cometh with ten thousands of His holy ones to execute judgment upon all, and to destroy all the ungodly: and to convict all flesh of all the works of their ungodliness which they have ungodly committed, and of all the hard things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.” GOP 98.5

Jude quotes the passage to establish that the Lord will come to judge the deeds and words of the false teachers. He emphasizes their bad deeds (verse 16). There are several things that we should state concerning the quote. First, its content is biblical. The text is describing an apparition of God (a theophany) in which He is accompanied by a myriad of holy ones (angels). This idea derives from Deuteronomy 33:2 and, in the context of judgment, is also found in Daniel 7:10, 18, 22, 25. The language used to connote the universality of the judgment is similar to what we find in Jeremiah 25:30, 31 and Isaiah 66:15, 16. The language about the corruption of all flesh seems to echo the language used in Genesis 6-9. ⁶² In other words, the ideas contained in the prophecy from Enoch are found in the biblical canon and are, therefore, of a prophetic nature. GOP 98.6

Second, Jude is obviously adapting the quote to his own purpose. He understands the coming of God (the theophany) to refer to the return of Christ accompanied by the angels. ⁶³ The wicked ones include in a particular way the false teachers, while in Enoch they are the wicked of the earth. Third, it would appear that Jude uses the quote because he found in it an excellent articulation of the ideas he wanted to convey to the Christian community to which he was writing. He modified it a little, but retained its biblical content. Fourth, he most probably attributed the prophecy to Enoch because the document he was quoting from assigned it to him. This document was well known and respected among Jews and Jewish Christians, ⁶⁴ thus providing another good reason for Jude to quote from it. ⁶⁵ Nevertheless, 1 Enoch ⁶⁶ never reached canonical status. What is important is that a text from a document claiming to contain a specific prophecy from Enoch is now, under divine inspiration, selected by the prophet and placed at the service of Christian doctrine. GOP 99.1