Not "Prophesy" but "Being Enlightened" _ Part 2

In the first article of this series, we examined the meaning of “prophet” in detail and why it is better translated as “enlightened,” “luminary,” or “shining light.” In this article, we go more deeply into this subject, looking at the verb form, prophesied, which in English has come to mean “see the future.” It clearly didn’t mean that in Jesus’s time, certainly not in the way that Jesus or the other authors of the New Testament used it.

Sometimes, asserting a point of view forces us to distort the meaning of words. The idea that the Old Testament foretold the coming of Jesus was such a persuasive element in Christianity, it changed people’s interpretation of what Jesus meant by being divinely inspired. I am not saying that some of the enlightened in the Old Testament didn’t foresee Jesus’s coming. Clearly several of them did. Others foreshadowed his coming. But this fact doesn’t change the meaning of the word at that time. And, as we will see, our new meaning doesn’t make as much sense as the meaning at the time.

The Greek and Hebrew Meaning

The Greek word translated as “prophesy” is propheteuo (προφάω). Jesus uses it in four verses, all of which we will look at here. It does not mean "to make prophesies" or "foretell the future,” which is its primary meaning in English. It means "to be an interpreter of the gods," "to be an intermediary in asking," and so on. It is from the Greek roots of pros ("before"), phos ("light) and  phaino ("shine.) so it would be heard as “to be enlightened,” “to be a shining light,” and “to be a luminary.”

The Hebrew word translated in the Greek Old Testament as propheteuo is naba (נָבָא). It means “under the influence of a divine spirit” and “being divinely inspired.” It is applied to both prophets of God and of false gods. Its sense is that when people are possessed by a divine spirit, they become spokespersons of the divine and enlightened, toward good or evil. It is the same basic word as the Hebrew word translated as “prophetes, nāḇî' (נָבָא) which means, "spokesperson." Neither word has any meaning of “foretelling the future.”

How Jesus Used It

Let us look at the four times Jesus uses propheteuo. In reading these verses, we should ask ourseves which definition makes more sense: “being divinely inspired” or “foretelling the future.”

First, we have Matthew 11:13.

NIV: For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John.
Listeners Heard: Because all the Luminaries and the Law up to John were divinely inspired.

Why does “divinely inspired” fit better than “foretell the future”? Because a great many books of the Law contained little or no prophecy. However, they were all divinely inspired. These written books of the Old Testament are what Jesus consistenly refers to with propheteuo. This is exactly how we refer to the Bible today as divinely inspired.

Next, we have Matthew 15:7.

NIV: You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you.
Listeners Heard: Actors! He was correctly divinely inspired about you. Isaiah says:

After this, Jesus quotes Isaiah, so again, Jesus is talking about What Was Written as divinely inspired.

Then we have Mark 7:6 that covers the same territory but makes the context of being written explicit:

NIV: Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.
Listeners Heard: Correctly Isaiah was divinely inspired about you. These actors!  As it has been written: this one, this group honors me with those lips. however, that heart of theirs? It keeps too far away from me. 

Finally, we have Matthew 7:22.

NIV: Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and, in your name, perform many miracles?’
Listeners Heard: Many will say to me on that day, ‘Master! Master! By this, your name, weren't we divinely inspired? And, by this, your name, we tossed out demons, and, by this, your name, we produced many powers.

It is much more consistent with the Gospels to say that people were divinely inspired by Jesus's name than that they predicted the future. Let us see what Jesus says in Mark 13:11 because it tells us about Jesus’s viewpoint on being divinely inspired. The relevant words are highlighted.

NIV: Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.

This is a description of “speaking for the Divine” and “being possessed by a divine spirit.” Jesus taught in several verses that this was what happened to those speaking in his name.

How Romans Used It

Let us look at the Gospel writers and what they have the Romans soldiers say to Jesus. The event is from the passion of Jesus, when he is being tortured.

Mark 14:65 (NIV): Then some began to spit at him; they blindfolded him, struck him with their fists, and said, “Prophesy!” And the guards took him and beat him.
Alternative: Then some began to spit at him; they blindfolded him, struck him with their fists, and said, “Be enlightened!” And the guards took him and beat him.

“Be enlightened” works better here to make it a mockery of being blindfolded. Was he being asked to foretell the future? What does that have to do with being hit? What do Romans know about Judean prophecies? What he is being asked to do is even clearer in Matthew’s version.

Matthew 26:68 (NIV): and said, “Prophesy to us, Messiah. Who hit you?”
Alternative: and said, “Be enlightened for us, Messiah. Who hit you?”

They are asking him about the past, not the future. They are asking him to “be enlightened” or “divinely inspired” with information about the past. What else make sense?

Finally, we have Paul, who clearly equates the concept of propheteuo with divine knowing and understanding, not with seeing the future.

1Co 13:9 (KJV): For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.
1Co 14:3 (KJV): But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort.
1Co 14:31 (KJV): For ye may all prophesy  one by one, that all may learn, and all may be comforted.