BATH KOL

bath'-kol, bath kol (bath qol, "the daughter of the voice"): Originally signifying no more than "sound," "tone," "call" (e.g. water in pouring gives forth a "sound," bath qol, 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 qol 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 Daniel 4:28 (English Versions 31)-it is in the Aramaic portion-where, however, qal = qol, "voice" stands without berath = bath, "daughter": "A voice fell from heaven." Josephus (Ant., XIII, x, 3) relates that John Hyrcanus (135-104 B.C.) 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 qol). In the New Testament mention of "a voice from heaven" occurs in the following passages: Matthew 3:17 Mark 1:11 Luke 3:22 (at the baptism of Jesus); Matthew 17:5 Mark 9:7 Luke 9:35 (at His transfiguration); John 12:28 (shortly before His passion); Acts 9:4; Acts 22:7; Acts 26:14 (conversion of Paul), and Acts 10:13, 15 (instruction of Peter concerning clean and unclean). In the period of the Tannaim (circa 100 B.C.-200 A.D.) the term bath qol 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 qol 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 qol 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 do ubt and even to decide between conflicting interpretations of the law. So strong had this tendency become that Rabbi Joshua (circa 100 A.D.) 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, 194; J. Hamburger, Real-Enc des Judentums, II, 1896; W. Bacher, Agada der Tannaiten and Agada der palast. Amoraer (see Index); Jewish Encyclopedia, II, 588; "Bath Kol" in TSBA, IX, 18; P. Fiebig, Rel. in Gesch. und Gegenwart, I, under the word

J. R. Van Pelt

Jericho Itself.
... "The elders sometime assembled together in the chamber Beth-gadia in Jericho: the
Bath Kol went forth, and said to them, There are two among you, who are fit ...
/.../lightfoot/from the talmud and hebraica/chapter 47 jericho itself.htm

The Meaning of the Seventh Seal, that Is, of the Seven Trumpets.
... or inmost recess of the temple,) "voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an
earthquake." In which words is described the oracle vt qvl"Bath Kol, that is ...
/.../mede/a key to the apocalypse/the meaning of the seventh.htm

Tsippor
... The Bath Kol pronounced blessedness upon those that lamented him, excepting only
one; who knowing himself excepted, threw himself headlong from the roof, and ...
/.../lightfoot/from the talmud and hebraica/chapter 82 tsippor.htm

Appendix xviii. Haggadah About Simeon Kepha (Legend of Simon Peter ...
... As they finished their prayer, up rose an elder from their midst, whose name was
Simeon Kepha, who had formerly put into requisition the Bath Kol and said ...
/.../appendix xviii haggadah about simeon.htm

Appendix 2 Extracts from the Babylon Talmud
... He also said to me, My son, what voice hast thou heard in that ruin?' And I said
to him, I have heard the "Bath Kol," [80] which cooed like a dove, and said ...
/.../edersheim/sketches of jewish social life/appendix 2 extracts from the.htm

The Miracle of Pentecost and the Birthday of the Christian
... It is an imitation of the rabbinical fiction (found already in Philo) that the Sinaitic
legislation was proclaimed through the bath-kol, the echo of the voice ...
/.../schaff/history of the christian church volume i/section 24 the miracle of.htm

Of the Three Woe Trumpets.
... necessarily falls within the seventh [33] . But what is the voice of thunder?
Is it not Bath Kol? If so, the seven thunders will ...
/.../mede/a key to the apocalypse/of the three woe trumpets.htm