born was occasioned by the operation of a pestilential air, which affected the Egyptians and caused it, and had no influence on the Israelites. Thus the miracles of Moses in these instances are elevated to the same standard as those of Joshua and Elijah; whereby the doubt is solved. The ancients also attribute another superiority to the miracles of Moses over those of other prophets, inasmuch, as his were not performed by means of previous prayer, entreating the Lord to hear his voice, as we perceive was done by Joshua when he commanded the sun to stand still, as the text says, "And there was no day like that, before it or after it, that the Lord hearkened unto the voice of man"4 (in such a matter). And when Elijah brought down fire from heaven against the fifties, and resuscitated the child, he also did it by prayer. We consequently find, that for all other prophets prayer was requisite in such cases; but Moses was so highly favoured, that with him a declaration of what he was about to do, and its certain occurrence, required no previous intervention of prayer, as if God had subjected to his control nature itself. The Lord therefore delivered the wand or rod (of empire) into his hands, (which he did to no other prophet,) in demonstration that he gave him jurisdic tion over nature, and that he might use the royal sceptre of command at discretion. With this idea the doubt is also solved, and the verses would then be thus expoundable, " And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses," is immediately followed by the declaration in what his superiority consisted, in saying, "Whom the Lord knew face to face"-" In all the signs and the wonders which the Lord sent him to do in the land of Egypt;" &c. signifying, that all the other prophets did not perform such by the previous order and command of God, but at the instigation of a zealous virtuous zeal, or from some other pious motive: it was, therefore, necessary that they should pray, and entreat God that he would manifest himself on their behalf, whereas the contrary was the fact with regard to Moses, all he did being by divine command, as it says he was "sent," and therefore had no occasion to pray, being superior in this to all other prophets, for, as Don Isaac Abarbanel says, the performance of miracles by prayer is the human act of a holy man, entreats God, and his prayer is heard; while their performance without prayer indicates the highest prophetic perfection, and the prophet's grade and superiority resulting from divine union and connection. According to this, the excellence attributed to Moses over other prophets in this text, refers to his miracles being wrought without the absolute necessity of prayer. who Nachmanides gives another interpretation, which is, that Moses' superiority over other prophets consisted, not only in its resulting from divine conference, "face to face," but also in the miracles themselves, according to the verse, "In all the signs," &c., and if any like these were performed by others, as stated in the Question, they did not perform so many nor such stupendous ones. The miracles by other prophets were likewise not continuous, like the manna which lasted forty years; and the pillars of cloud and fire, &c., which solves the doubt, where it is considered that the greatest possible miracle was the descent of the Divinity on the day of giving the Law, by virtue of the favour shewn to Moses, and the communication of the divine influence to the whole community of Israel, which far surpassed the act of stopping the sun, or resuscitating the dead; for the former was a general good, and performed in the sight and for the benefit of all Israel. Thus explaining that neither Joshua, nor Elijah, nor Elisha, exceeded Moses by the particular miracles wrought by them. 4 Joshua 10:14. 5 Don Isaac Abarbanel, in his exposition of the law, and in another of his learned works, makes an elegant discourse on the subject. He says, the reason why some authors depreciate the miracles performed by the prophets subsequent to Moses, while others elevate and raise those wrought by him, is founded upon the principle of the greater the prophet the more surpassing should be his miracles; but he reproves this idea, saying, that the superiority of the prophet does not consist in his miracles, but in his grade of prophecy, for what is performed by prophets during their lives, is limited to the necessity of the time, and the urgency of the case, some prophesying in a very exalted degree, but requiring no miracles, no necessity existing for their display, nor opportunity to perform them. This is proved in the case of Abraham, who enjoyed the prophetic spirit in a sublime degree, and although superior to Elisha, performed fewer miracles; and this very Elisha performed more than his master Elijah. We thus find that some prophets performed but few miracles, as Isaac, Jacob, and Samuel, performed but one each; Nathan, Gad, Ahijah, Jehu, Azariah, Jemaiah, Hosea, Amos. Joel, Obadiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, do not appear by holy writ to have performed any. It is, therefore, not wonderful that Joshua should stop the sun, or Elijah and Elisha raise the dead, which Moses did not, for miracles were only performed by him when the occasion required them. If in Moses' time no peculiar contingency of battle required day-light beyond its usual duration, there was no need to stop the sun. If no one complained to him of the sudden death of his child, why was he unnecessarily to work the miracle of reviving the dead? And he never attempted to alter or stop the course of nature but on urgent occasions, and by divine command. As Maimonides says, Israel did not believe in our legislator Moses from the miracles he wrought; for belief so founded is always subject to the idea of necromancy and witchcraft; necessity, therefore, led to all the miracles he performed. When it was requisite to frustrate the object of the pursuit of the Egyptians, he divided the Red Sea, and then overwhelmed them in its waters. The people wanted food, and manna descended. When they were thirsty, he struck the rock, and water rushed out in abundance. When Korah and his faction rebelled, the earth swallowed them up; and so with all his other acts: they were only exerted when the necessity of the occasion required them. It is thus demonstrated that the magnitude of miracles did not necessarily depend on the superior degree of prophecy, enjoined by their performance. With this proposition the said author proceeds to say that, although some of Moses' miracles were imitated by other prophets, yet he was superior. The dividing of Jordan by Joshua bears no comparison to the parting of the Red Sea by Moses, that sea being so much deeper and more boisterous than Jordan; for Jacob says, "With my staff I passed this Jordan," independent of the other circumstances attending the act of Moses in the Egyptians being drowned, while the Israelites passed safely in the midst of it on dry land. Nor was Elijah's abstinence from eating during forty days equal to that of Moses; of whom it says, He neither ate bread nor drank water;" "8 but of Elijah it says, "And he went by the strength of that food,"9 and does not mention drink, which did not fail him. As the angel said "Arise and eat," but does not say drink, or it may be said that probably Elijah being old could not pursue his journey, but became weary on the first day; which the Lord seeing, gave him that cake (being celestial food sent from "Miphalot Elohim. Yesod Torat. 7 Gen. 32:18. 8 Exod. 34:28. 9 1 Kings 19:7. heaven) and water from the fountain of salvation, so that by eating of that divine food, he might continue his journey: it therefore says, "that he went by the strength of that food," but does not say that he did not partake of natural food, when he met with it elsewhere, at other times. The descent of the Divine glory in Solomon's time was not equal to that in Moses. For of the Tabernacle it is said, "For the cloud of the Lord was on the Tabernacle by day, and fire was in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel;" 10 but in Solomon's temple the cloud only is mentioned and not the fire. The miracle of destroying the forty-two young men by Elisha was as nothing compared to the Egyptian darkness and the death of their first-born by Moses; and his not staying the sun, nor reviving the dead, was owing to no necessity existing for such miracles in his time. While admitting that the superiority of Moses consisted in the nature of the miracles he performed, it must be observed, that as prince of all prophets, he alone performed more than all the others together, and Scripture therefore very properly says, "And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses in all the signs and wonders," &c. Don Isaac Abarbanel in his " Miphalot Elohim," with his accustomed erudition and precision, gives a list of those performed by or for Moses, and recapitulates those of the other prophets; by which it is seen that Moses not only surpassed all other prophets in the nature, but also in the number, of his miracles; he wrought seventy-six, while all the other prophets, from Noah down to the destruction of the first Temple, collectively, only performed seventy-four as hereunder detailed. Besides which, Moses excelled in every thing; for he wrought miracles in the elements, in minerals, plants, irrational animals, man, the angels, and heavens; and even favour was vouchsafed to him to cause the Divinity to be attracted to him, and he spoke with "The Lord face to face;" so that it may well be said, "There arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, who knew the Lord face to face;" signifies his enjoying direct communion with the First Cause "In all the signs and wonders which the Lord sent him to do in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, and to his servants, and to all his land," alluding to his performing miracles in the sight of the adverse party, so manifest that they were obliged to admit them as being of Divine origin," and in all that mighty land," signifying the opening of the Red Sea; "And in all the great terror," the delivery of the law, with such stupendous wonders, that Moses was deputed by God to "shew in the sight of all Israel." |