Bath-Kol
BATH-KOL
(i.e. the daughter of a voice, ) an oracle among the Jews, frequently mentioned in their books, especially the Talmud. It was a fantastical way of divination invented by the Jews, though called by them a revelation from God’s will, which he made to his chosen people after all verbal prophesies had ceased in Israel.
Fuente: Theological Dictionary
Bath-Kol
(, daughter f the voice), a rabbinical name for a supposed oracular voice, which Jewish writers regard as inferior in authority to the direct revelation that the O.T. prophets enjoyed (Vitringa, Observ. Sacr. 2:338), although the Targum and Midrash affirm that it was the actual medium of divine communication to Abraham, Moses, David, Nebuchadnezzar, etc. (Reland, Ant. Sacr. pt. 2, ch. 9). Neither are the Jewish authorities agreed as to what the Bath-Kol itself was, many maintaining that it was merely the echo of the divine utterance (Buxtorf, Lex. Talm. s.v. ). Some scholars have incorrectly rendered the term daughter-voice, daughter’s voice (Horne, Introd. 4:149; Jennings, Jewish Antiq. bk. 1, ch. 6). It has been supposed that Josephus alludes to the Bath-Kol in the annunciation to Hyrcanus that his sons had conquered Antiochus (Ans. 13:10, 3), and the awful warning voice in the Temple prior to its destruction ( War, 5:5, 3); but these and other instances seem to fall short of the dignity required. Prideaux, however, classes them all with the heathen species of divination called Sortes Vigilanae (Connection, 2:354), and Lightfoot even considers them to be either Jewish fables or devices of the devil (Hor. Heb. ad Mat 3:17). Yet instances of voices from heaven very analogous occur in the history of the early Christian Church, as that which was instrumental in making Alexander bishop of Jerusalem, and that which exhorted Polycarp to be of good courage (Eusebius, Hist. Ecclesiastes 6, l; 4:15). See Danz, De filia vocis (Jen. 1716; also in Meuschen’s Nov. Test. ex Ta’mude illustr. p. 351-378); Haner, De (Jen. 1673); Metzler, De vocis filia (Jen. 1673). SEE WORD OF THE LORD.
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Bath Kol
BATH KOL.See Voice.
Fuente: A Dictionary Of Christ And The Gospels
Bath Kol
bathkol, bath kol ( , bath kol, the daughter of the voice): Originally signifying no more than sound, tone, call (e.g. water in pouring gives forth a sound, bath kol, while oil does not), sometimes also echo. The expression acquired among the rabbis a special use, signifying the Divine voice, audible to man and unaccompanied by a visible Divine manifestation. Thus conceived, bath kol is to be distinguished from God’s speaking to Moses and the prophets; for at Sinai the voice of God was part of a larger theophany, while for the prophets it was the resultant inward demonstration of the Divine will, by whatever means effected, given to them to declare (see VOICE). It is further to be distinguished from all natural sounds and voices, even where these were interpreted as conveying Divine instruction. The conception appears for the first time in Dan 4:28 (English Versions 31) – it is in the Aramaic portion – where, however, kal = kol, voice stands without berath = bath, daughter: A voice fell from heaven. Josephus (Ant., XIII, x, 3) relates that John Hyrcanus (135-104 bc) heard a voice while offering a burnt sacrifice in the temple, which Josephus expressly interprets as the voice of God (compare Babylonian Sotah 33a and Jerusalem Sotah 24b, where it is called bath kol). In the New Testament mention of a voice from heaven occurs in the following passages: Mat 3:17; Mar 1:11; Luk 3:22 (at the baptism of Jesus); Mat 17:5; Mar 9:7; Luk 9:35 (at His transfiguration); Joh 12:28 (shortly before His passion); Act 9:4; Act 22:7; Act 26:14 (conversion of Paul), and Act 10:13, Act 10:15 (instruction of Peter concerning clean and unclean). In the period of the Tannaim (circa 100 bc-200 ad) the term bath kol was in very frequent us and was understood to signify not the direct voice of God, which was held to be supersensible, but the echo of the voice (the bath being somewhat arbitrarily taken to express the distinction). The rabbis held that bath kol had been an occasional means of Divine communication throughout the whole history of Israel and that since the cessation of the prophetic gift it was the sole means of Divine revelation. It is noteworthy that the rabbinical conception of bath kol sprang up in the period of the decline of Old Testament prophecy and flourished in the period of extreme traditionalism. Where the gift of prophecy was clearly lacking – perhaps even because of this lack – there grew up an inordinate desire for special Divine manifestations. Often a voice from heaven was looked for to clear up matters of doubt and even to decide between conflicting interpretations of the law. So strong had this tendency become that Rabbi Joshua (circa 100 ad) felt it to be necessary to oppose it and to insist upon the supremacy and the sufficiency of the written law. It is clear that we have here to do with a conception of the nature and means of Divine revelation that is distinctly inferior to the Biblical view. For even in the Biblical passages where mention is made of the voice from heaven, all that is really essential to the revelation is already present, at least in principle, without the audible voice.
Literature
F. Weber, System der altsynagogalen palastinischen Theologie, 2nd edition, 1897, 194ff; J. Hamburger, Real-Enc des Judentums, II, 1896; W. Bacher, Agada der Tannaiten and Agada der palast. Amoraer (see Index); Jewish Encyclopedia, II, 588ff; Bath Kol in TSBA, IX, 18; P. Fiebig, Rel. in Gesch. und Gegenwart, I, under the word
Fuente: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Bath-Kol
, daughter of the voice. By this name the Jewish writers distinguish what they called a revelation from God, after verbal prophecy had ceased in Israel; that is, after the prophets Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. The generality of their traditions and customs are founded on this Bath-Kol. They pretend that God revealed them to their elders, not by prophecy, but by the daughter of the voice. The Bath-Kol, as Dr. Prideaux shows, was a fantastical way of divination, invented by the Jews, like the Sortes Virgilianae [divination by the works of Virgil] among the Heathen. For, as with them, the words first opened upon in the works of that poet, was the oracle whereby they prognosticated those future events which they desired to be informed of; so with the Jews when they appealed to Bath- Kol, the next words which they should hear drop from any one’s mouth were taken as the desired oracle. With some it is probable that Bath-Kol, the daughter of the voice, was only an elegant personification of tradition. Others, however, more bold, said that it was a voice from heaven, sometimes attended by a clap of thunder.