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590 THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Bat Kol

which not only the prophet but his generahad lo be worthy. A Bat Kol pronounced Hillel and Samuel the Little to have been worthy of having the Holy Spirit rest upon Bat Kol them, were it not for their generation and (ib.). From this point of view the Prophecy. Bat Kol was explained as a lesser gift gift of

tion

some

said, as

to Israel than prophecy, but not, as a lower degree of prophecy (Yoma 9J;

Pes. R. 160a). According to rabbinical tradition, the

co-



Bat Kol quieted him When Esau thought that his father would soon die, a Bat Kol proclaimed The hide of many a foal has served to cover its dam" (Gen. R. lxvii. 8; compare Pes. 173a and the parallel passage, Sanh. 52a, where the words are quoted as the saying of men, itW'tf 'HDN1 WTI and this gave rise to the erroneous conclusion that by Bat Kol was meant the same as " vox populi vox Dei "). A Bat Kol spoke the words, " She hath been more righteous than I," in the story of Tamar and Judah (Sotah 10J; Targ. Yer. on Gen. xxxviii. 26). When the Israelites, in their flight from Egypt, saw the Red Sea before them while Pharaoh pressed close behind, a Bat Kol comforted them with the words of the Song of Songs ii. 14 (Targ. ad he). "When, according to Ps. lxviii. 17, the mountains disputed with Sinai, a Bat K.ol cried out: "Ye are all deficient as compared with Sinai " (Meg. 29a). A Bat Kol pronounced the words (Ex. xxiv. 6): "Here is the half of the blood " (Lev. R. vi. 5). A Bat Kol reassured Moses and Aaron when they were in doubt about using the anointment oil too freety (Sifra, Lev. x. 5, etc.). When Israel was cured by the brazen serpent (Num. xxi. 8) a Bat Kol was heard moralizing (Targ. ad he. ). At the offering of the firstlings (Deut. xxvi. 2) the Bat Kol said: "Thou shalt be able to make an offering again next year " (this alludes to verse 16; Griinhut, " Likkutim," v. 153a, 7). At the promulgation of the terrible Instances threats of Deut. xxviii., the anxious Patriarchs who listened were calmed of Its Action. by a Bat K°l (Targ. Yer. on Deut. xxviii. 15). When Moses died, a Bat Kol drew the attention of the world to his suffering (Targ. Yer. on Deut. xxxiv. 5); and, as already mentioned, the Bat Kol is frequently connected with Moses' death (Sifre, Deut. 357; Sotah 13$; Num. R. xiv. 10; Yelamdenu, in "Likkutim," v. 104$; JelliWhen Saul reanek, "B. H." i. 12 -128, etc.)'. soned speciously about his expedition against the Amalekites, a Bat Kol quoted to him the words of A Bat K°l pronounced Eccl. vii. 16 (Yoma 22$). judgment in the cases of David and Uriah (M. K. 16$) and of David's attitude toward Mephibosheth (Shab. 56$, above). At the dedication of Solomon's Temple, during which the celebration of the Day of Atonement was omitted, a Bat Kol promised to all present a portion in the life to come (M. K. 9a Gen. R. xxxv. 3 in Shab. 30a the Bat Kol is not menUpon the favorable reception of Solomon's tioned).

unworthy

to

ix. 7

be

sacrificed, a

(Lev. R. xx.

2).

'"







Bat K°l uttered the verse, Cant. iv. 1 and it used Prov. xxiii. 15 and xxvii. 11 to approve Solomon's institution of the 'Erub and of the washing of the hands (Shab. 14$, below). When Solomon wanted to place himself on a level with Moses a Bat Kol warned him in the words of Eccl. When Israel separated xii. 10 (R. H. 21S, below). from Judah and chose Jeroboam as king, a Bat Kol gave warning in the words of Micah i. 14 (Sanh. 102a) and when Ahab doubted the piety of Obadiah, the governor of his house, a Bat Kol upheld his piety, quoting I Kings xviii. 3 (Sanh. 39$, below). It spoke concerning the reason why King Hezekiah would not be the Messiah and said: "This is My When King Manasseh critisecret " (Sanh. 94a). cized the Torah, it recited to him Ps. 1. 20 (ib. For eighteen years it whispered into Nebu99$). chadnezzar's ears: "Destroy My sanctuary" (Cant. offering, a

(Targ.);



Bat Kol

existed with prophecy that is, at a time when the Holy Spirit rested upon Israel, as well as at other times. When Abraham was beset with doubt as to whether Isaac had not been rejected because he was

with Eccl.

590



High,"

it

when he

" I will

ascend above the be like the Most cried: "Into the nether world must thou

R. ii. 13) heights of

said

the clouds;

go" (following



I will

Isa. xiv. 13, 14; Pes. 94a, the

dictum

When he waxed arrogant

Johanan b. Zakkai). because he had succeeded of R.

in destroying the Temple, hast killed a people already dead thou hast burned a sanctuary already burned. Yea, thou hast ground meal already ground " (Sanh. 96$ with reference to Isa. xlvii. 2 but this is lacking in the parallel passage, Yer. Ta'anit 69$, above). When he descended into Sheol, all the inmates feared that he would tyrannize over them, until a Bat Kol calmed them with the two Biblical verses: Ezek. xxxii. 19 and Isa. xiv. 4 (Shab. 149$). When the water-drinkers (Rechabites) in Jer. xxxv. brought an offering, a Bat Kol, proceeding from the Holy of Holies, declared it was acceptable (Mek., Yitro, 2). When Haman tested the gallows intended for Mordecai, a Bat Kol called out " It fits thee " (Targ. on Esth. v. 14; Esth. R. v. 3). At the feast of Aliasuerus the wine was served in the vessels carried off from the Jerusalem Temple, and a Bat Kol warned the feasters (Meg. 12a). Whenever there is no law, no high-priesthood, no Sanhedrin (II Chron. xv. 3), " Strengthen ye the weak hands " a Bat Kol cries (Lev. R. xix. 5, following Isa. xxxv. 3). When the men of the Great Synagogue counted Solomon among those kings who would not have a portion in the life to come, flames flashed forth out of the Holy of Holies, and then a Bat Kol uttered the words of Prov. xxii. 29 but they did not harken to this nor did they abandon their resolution until the Bat Kol repeated Job xxxiv. 33 (Yer. Sanh. 29$; Num. R. xiv., beginning, and parallels). It happened that the high priest, John Hyrcanus, heard a voice from the Holy of Holies, announcing that the youths who had proceeded against Antioch had obtained a victory the hour was noted, and it transpired later that the victory had been won at that very hour (Tosef., Sotah, xiii. 5 and parallel passages; Josephus, "Ant." xiii. 10, §3). remarkable parallel to this story is afforded by the legend on the martyrdom of Polycarp it is said that on the day and at the hour that he suffered death at Smyrna, IrenaBus, who was at Rome, heard a voice like a trumpet proclaiming: "Polycarp has become a martyr (Weimel, " Die Wirkungen des Geistes und der Geisit

called to

him



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Thou







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