HEBREW PROPHECY The Hebrew noun Nabi ("Prophet," pl. Nebi'im) is obscure in origin. Derivations implying intense excitement (v» "to bubble up"; Assyr., "to fall in transports") are etymologically im probable. The verbal form (an intensive) used in Hebrew often denotes frenzy or even lunacy, but this may reflect merely one aspect of prophetic development, and the fact that it is an in tensive stem may imply simply that it is a loan-word in Hebrew. Conceivably it is not Semitic at all—there are Hittite possibilities. The likeliest Semitic connections are Arab. naba'a "to announce" (conjug. ii.) ; Bab.-Assyr. mini "to name" (cf. the god, Nebo, Is. xlvi. 1). Nabi, like r pockirros, may thus in origin be a colourless term : "One who utters a god-given message." The Fanatical Prophets.—From a trustworthy narrative in I Sam. x. we learn that bands of prophets (Nebi'im), devotees of the national deity, Jehovah (Yahweh), existed c. l000 B.c. at Hebrew localities (Gibeah, Ramah). Stimulated by rhythmic music, dancing and chanting, they wrought themselves into ecstasies when their frenzied behaviour and abnormal physical power exercised hypnotic effect over onlookers (I. Sam. x. 5-13), and, as it seemed to testify the might of the god whose spirit pos sessed them, encouraged popular trust in Jehovah and resistance to the Philistines. Since there is no earlier reference to collective prophesying in Hebrew history (Nu. xi. 25 sqq. cannot be regarded as of the Mosaic age), probably it was a feature of Palestinian Syrian religion, first evoked in Israel in Samuel's time. There is no direct evidence for Wellhausen's assertion that "among the Ca naanites such Nebi'im had long been familiar" but the indirect evi dence is impressive. An Egyptian record (c. liooB.c.) relates how an envoy, Wenamon, secured a hearing when a youth in attendance on a Phoenician prince prophesied ecstatically in Wenamon's favour. Very instructive is the famous passage in I. Kings xviii. 19 sqq. concerning the 85o prophets of the (Phoenician?) Baal and of the Asherah, maintained by Queen Jezebel. At a much later period the orgiastic rites celebrated by devotees in honour of cer tain ostensibly Greek deities (Apollo, Dionysos) prove to have connections with the Baal worship of Syria and Phoenicia (so T.
H. Robinson). When parallel phenomena are still exhibited by the dervish fraternities in Islam, it seems probable that this form of religious excitement was peculiarly congenial to the peoples of Western Asia Minor, and may well have been of immemorial antiquity in Palestine.
Certain it is that fanatical prophets became a feature of Israelitish society. They are mentioned in connection with many towns of special sanctity and importance, e.g., Bethel, Jericho, Samaria. Possibly they had some organization (the phrase "schools of the prophets" has no warrant), and were supported by popular piety or by kings anxious to obtain inspired counsel in perilous moments. Along with the priests and the wise men, they were esteemed one of the three indispensable sources for the guidance of the State ( Jer. xviii. 18). Even in the post-exilic period they lingered on, distinctive by their rough mantle and leathern girdle, mouthing out oracles for the superstitious (cf. the in Aristophanes, Birds, 959 sqq.)—so great a public nuisance that father and mother are exhorted to slay the son turned "prophet" (Zech. xiii. 3). The causes of degeneracy can be discerned. Thanks to Eastern respect for the psychologically ab normal, the calling afforded a livelihood and might attract im postors, for it was easy to share in, or simulate, ecstasy, and de clare "Thus saith Jehovah." The violent emotions were dangerous to the moral stability of even the honest Nebi'im, and if simpler means of inducing ecstasy failed, the temptation to use noxious drugs was great.
The fanatical prophets, it may be concluded, manifested a real patriotism that helped to establish the State during the Phil istine and the Syrian conflicts, but contributed nothing to the discernment of those dynamic religious beliefs which, as the power of Assyria and Babylon rose and engulfed the petty monarchies of Israel and Judah, alone made possible the astound ing survival of the Jewish nation.