Editing Revelation (section)

====Prophets====
Although the [[Nevi'im]] (the books of the Prophets) are considered divine and true, this does not imply that the books of the prophets are always read literally. Jewish tradition has always held that prophets used metaphors and analogies. There exists a wide range of commentaries explaining and elucidating those verses consisting of metaphor. [[Rabbinic Judaism]] regards Moses as the greatest of the prophets, and this view is one of the [[Thirteen Principles of Faith]] of traditional Judaism. Consistent with the view that revelation to Moses was generally clearer than revelation to other prophets, Orthodox views of revelation to prophets other than Moses have included a range of perspectives as to directness. For example, [[Maimonides]] in ''[[The Guide for the Perplexed]]'' said that accounts of revelation in the Nevi'im were not always as literal as in the [[Torah]] and that some prophetic accounts reflect allegories rather than literal commands or predictions.<ref>''Jewish Theology and Process Thought'' (eds. Sandra B. Lubarsky & David Ray Griffin). SUNY Press, 1996.</ref>

[[Conservative Judaism|Conservative]] [[Rabbi]] and [[Jewish philosophy|philosopher]] [[Abraham Joshua Heschel]] (1907–1972), author of a number of works on prophecy, said that, "Prophetic inspiration must be understood ''as an event'', not as ''a process''."<ref>{{cite book | author=Heschel, Abraham Joshua | title=God in Search of Man: A Philosophy of Judaism | publisher=Noonday | year=1955 | isbn=0-374-51331-7 | page=[https://archive.org/details/godinsearchofman0000hesc/page/209 209] | url=https://archive.org/details/godinsearchofman0000hesc/page/209 }}</ref> In his work ''[[God in Search of Man]]'', he discussed the experience of being a prophet. In his book ''Prophetic Inspiration After the Prophets: Maimonides and Others'', Heschel references to continued prophetic inspiration in Jewish [[rabbinic literature]] following the destruction of the [[Temple in Jerusalem]] and into medieval and even Modern times. He wrote that:<ref>[[Aryeh Kaplan]], ''The Handbook of Jewish Thought'' (1979). e
Maznaim: p. 9.</ref>

:"To convey what the prophets experienced, the Bible could either use terms of descriptions or terms of indication. Any description of the act of revelation in empirical categories would have produced a caricature. That is why all the Bible does is to state that revelation happened. How it happened is something they could only convey in words that are evocative and suggestive."<ref>{{cite book | author=Heschel, Abraham Joshua | title=God in Search of Man: A Philosophy of Judaism | publisher=ason Aronson Inc. | year=1987 | isbn=0-87668-955-1}}</ref>