Bath-Kol

BATH-KOL, or Daughter of the Voice. This is the name, whereby the Jewish Writers¹ distinguish the revelation of his will, which God made to his chosen people, after that all verbal Prophecy had ceased in Israel; that is to say, after the times of the Prophets Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. The generality of their traditions, and the customs of their nation, are founded on this Bath-Kol. They pretend that God revealed them to their Elders, not by any articulate Prophecy, but by some secret inspiration, or by some tradition, which they call the Daughter of the Voice².

The Rabbins acknowledge three ways of prophesying usual in their nation. First, by the means of Urim and Thummim, the voice of which Prophecy was heard from the extremity of the Sanctuary, or from the High-Priest’s Pectoral; the second sort was the Spirit of Prophecy inspiring the Prophets as well before the Law, as after Moses; the third was the Daughter of the Voice, or Bath-Kol.

The first continued, as they say, from the building of the Tabernacle to the Temple. The second from the beginning of the world to the death of Malachi, the last of the Prophets, under the second Temple, tho’ the use of it was most frequent under the first Temple. The third began after Malachi, and has subsisted to this day in their nation,

They pretend, that the Daughter of the Voice is a voice from Heaven, heard in an articulate manner, much after the same way as the voice which called young Samuel, when God revealed to him what was to befal the High-Priest Eli, and his Family: God then called him three times 1 Sam. iii. 4, 5, &c.with an articulate voice. Samuel replied in the same manner as he would have answered a man, not knowing as yet how to distinguish the voice of God; or the Daughter of the Voice resembles that which was uttered from the Sanctuary, when the Lord spoke to Moses, or answered the High-Priest, who consulted him by the Urim and Thummim. These two sorts of voices were, as we may say, the Mother of that other voice which succeeded them, and was called Bath-Kol, Daughter-Voice, or Daughter of the Voice, because it was as it were the Daughter of this first Voice: it was a much less perfect way of inspiration; but notwithstanding as certain as the first.

But it would be a great mistake to imagine, that the revelation of Bath-Kol was performed always by an articulate voice from Heaven, and heard distinctly by those to whom God communicated his will in this manner. We cannot certainly affirm, that even the old Prophets heard articulate voices when the word of God came to them: Factum est verbum Domini ad Isaiam, &c. It is sufficient to believe, that it was some inward speech, some inspiration, motion, or light which wrought upon them, and discovered to them in a clear and lively manner, what it was the good pleasure of God they should declare to mankind. Thus in proportion, when God manifested his will by the Daughter of the Voice, he did so either with an articulate voice distinctly heard, or by some lively impression in the mind or imagination, or lastly by a voice heard by chance, which was understood as an Oracle proceeding from Heaven.

An Example of this I shall here lay before you taken from the Talmud. Two Rabbins desirous of visiting their friend Rabbi Samuel Doctor of Babylon, said to one another, Let us follow the direction of Bath-Kol; as they were passing by a school, they heard a young lad reading this passage of the first book of Samuel c. xxv. v. i. And Samuel died. From hence they concluded, that Samuel was dead: the event justified what they had prognosticated, for they found that at that time Rabbi Samuel of Babylon had departed. We might cite many other examples of the same sort scattered up and down the writings of the Jews. These casual and odd Oracles were esteemed as voices of God’s appointment, much after the same manner as in the Church, people for many Ages drew presages of what was to befal them from the first words they read in any book which they opened at random.

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