In religious study, the line between priest and prophet can often become somewhat blurred. It can be quite difficult to discern exactly what constitutes a priest or prophet, and what ultimate role they have in the fellowship and service of the church. From the days of Israel, prophets have been said and seen to bring people the word of God through direct communication with Him, while priests have to interpret his word, bring people to God, and advise them through the careful study and scholarship that they have endured. Priests and prophets alike have very unique and specific roles to the church, but they serve nonetheless.
Given the substantial overlap that exists with prophets and priests, it is entirely possible that they were once one and the same. In Biblical times, many individuals acted as both roles, since God had more direct communication with them while they still advised the people as to what to do. It is entirely possible that, once in Israel's history, priest and prophet had distinct duties, but sometimes prophets would also take on the role of priests, doing the same things to further the word of God to a needy people. As a result, it must be inferred that, at some point in Biblical scholarship, priests and prophets were separated into distinct roles, noting the individual responsibilities of each in order to possibly divorce their distinct duties from each other.
Why, then, did this divide occur? Why is it that priests and prophets are now separate entities, with wholly distinct duties and concerns after the events in Israel? Texts describing priests and prophets as different by Biblical authors may indicate the Biblical authors' desire to keep them separate to reduce accountability. In essence, when a priest's duties are different from a prophet, it makes it much more possible to have individuals giving the word of God without the benefit of direct communication. By separating the two classes, there now exists a whole class of clergy that enables scholarly advice based on the Bible and their own study, without the onus or responsibility of having their words come from God's direct command. Given the pressure and expectations of those who follow Christ to be able to receive help from him, those who do not directly hear the word of God in a Biblical sense must be able to dispense counsel without the implication that it comes from God, and is therefore infallible. Many instances of flawed and mistaken actions by incorrect or impetuous priests and their punishments by God through the word of their prophets also leads scholars to infer an antagonistic relationship between them. This is the primary motivation for the creation of the priest as separate from the prophet.
The role of prophet and priest in the Bible is somewhat combined; Biblical figures, such as Moses and the like, heard the word of God and gave it to the people, working under his instruction. In Numbers Chapter 10, Moses was told to make "two trumpets of hammered silver, and use them for calling the community together" (10:2). The sons of Aaron, "the priests, are to blow the trumpets. This is to be a lasting ordinance for you and the generations to come" (10:8). When the trumpets are blown, "you will be remembered by the Lord your God and rescued from your enemies" (10:9). In order to understand the role of priests in the Bible, one must contend with the original priest - Aaron, whose sons were asked to blow the trumpets by God through Moses. Even here, priests were meant to glorify God through the blowing of the trumpets; by performing his command, the priests demonstrate their love for the Lord while doing His bidding. Moses, on the other hand, was a prophet, hearing God's word and instruction.
In Numbers 12, however, Miriam and Aaron choose to oppose Moses, noting the dilemma and central conflict at the heart of the priest/prophet divide, which was still present in the Bible. "Has the Lord spoken only through Moses?' They asked, 'Hasn't he also spoken through us?" (Numbers 12:2). Then, in a rare exception to the priest/prophet divide, The Lord comes down and speaks to Aaron and Miriam, staying - "When there is a prophet among you, I, the Lord, reveal myself to them in visions, I speak to them in dreams. But this is not true of my servant Moses; he is faithful in all my house. With him I speak face to face, clearly and not in riddles; he sees the form of the Lord" (Numbers 12:6-8). To that end, the Lord himself denotes the difference between priests and prophets, and even labels Moses as a bit of both. While he speaks to prophets in dreams, he talks to Moses directly and allows him to lead the people - also the role of the priest. When Elijah predicts that the Lord will make it rain, he has an altar made in the name of the Lord. Despite being a prophet, he performs a priest's duty of creating rituals and sacrifices for the sake of calling the Lord to answer their calls (1 Kings 18).
In order to explore the transition between the prophets of Israel and those outside Israel, it is necessary to study the story of Samuel. Born to a childless woman, Hannah, he was born after Hannah prayed to the Lord to give her a child. The priest Eli then came to her and said, "Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of him" (1 Samuel 1:17). This was Eli's way of demonstrating his communion with the Lord, a defining trait of prophethood despite being a priest, as he assures her that her wish will be granted. After Samuel is born, and grows up helping the priest Eli, he learns that he is one of the last individuals to receive the word of the Lord in his ear. The Lord tells him that he will be punishing Eli for his mistakes as a priest - " I warned Eli that sacrifices or offerings could never make things right!" (1 Samuel 3:14).
The split between prophet and priest after Israel turns out to be quite great; while Moses, Samuel and others receive the direct word of God, priests merely follow in their stead and do the best they can. Priests are capable of making mistakes, as they do not receive direct instruction from on high. In the Bible, priests seem overly obsessed with ritual and tradition, as opposed to the prophet's sense of ethics and direct spirituality as a result of God's communication with them (Sage, Priest, Prophet p. 66). Many Biblical scholars have looked down upon priests as dry, unimaginative, restrictive and often incorrect in the eyes of the Lord, especially since the Enlightenment, which may or may not be indicative of a larger issue. It could be said that the separation of priest from prophet in terms of responsibility came about as a way to allow true prophets to distance themselves from priests - to permit God's judgment to be placed upon them and not the prophets. As priests are often characterized as self-interested, it then follows that this negative perception could follow through in post-Enlightenment Biblical scholarship, as no one wishes to identify themselves with the Elis of the Old Testament.
One of the most fundamental reasons for this favor of prophets over priests is prophetic charisma; as leaders, they possess the ability to galvanize people and charm them into following them, something the priests often attempt to pass onto themselves when reinterpreting Biblical events (History of Prophecy, p. 223). The number of prophets in the Bible are few, but those few are given great responsibility by the Lord, which the priests often attempt to usurp or turn to their own ends. Priest use the time-honored tradition of sacrifice and ritual to attempt to bring people to the Lord, while prophets bring the Lord to the people through his direct word. The overlap of these two activities grows greater the further away one gets from Israel. The story of Samuel and Eli is far removed from the priestly actions of Elijah, or the noble works of the sons of Aaron. Eli is punished for his emphasis on ritual and his inability to punish his sons, while Aaron is chastised by the Lord for daring to ask for recognition despite Moses being his prophet. All of this leads to an antagonistic relationship with priests that is picked up by Biblical scholars and portrayed in study.
The difference between priest and prophet is substantial, though it has constantly evolved since the time of the Bible. In the Old Testament, priests were obsessed with sacrifice and ritual, often at the expense of incurring the wrath of God. Prophets were always treated with favor, whether it be through power, leadership or the assurance that God exists and speaks to them. As a result, many priestly interpretations of Biblical events place their actions in greater importance than they typically are thought to be. Biblical scholarship has picked up on this contentious and flawed relationship between priests and God; without the direct, first-hand assurance of God's commands, priests are thought to be somewhat capricious, unwilling to contribute or change, and punishable by God for their wrongdoing.
With that in mind, it is necessary to understand the nuances and implications behind the divide of priest and prophet in Biblical scholarship. Many scholars take a negative view of priests pre-Israel due to their willingness to focus solely on ritual at the expense of true spirituality or following God's word. Toward that end, prophets are often seen as the favored sons of God, from Moses to Samuel to Elijah - when a dilemma or a debate between priest and prophet occurs, it is always the prophet who has God's favor.
Works Cited
Blenkinsopp, Joseph. A History of Prophecy in Israel. 1983. Print.
Blenkinsopp, Joseph. Sage, Priest, Prophet: Religious and Intellectual Leadership in Ancient
Israel. 1995. Print.
Holmgren, Fredrick C. "Priests and Prophets: Spirituality and Social Conscience." Worship vol
79 no 74, 304-316. 2005. Print.
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Petuchowski, Jakob Josef. "Faith and Works in the Biblical Confrontation of Prophets and
Priests." Judaism vol 39 no 2, pp. 184-191. 1990. Print.
Welch, Adam C. Prophet and Priest in old Israel. 1953. Print.
