1. The answer of a god, or some person reputed to be a god, to an inquiry respecting some affair or future event, as the success of an enterprise or battle.
2. Hence: The deity who was supposed to give the answer; also, the place where it was given.
3. The communications, revelations, or messages delivered by God to the prophets; also, the entire sacred Scriptures -- usually in the plural.
4. The sanctuary, or Most Holy place in the temple; also, the temple itself.
5. One who communicates a divine command; an angel; a prophet.
6. Any person reputed uncommonly wise; one whose decisions are regarded as of great authority; as, a literary oracle.
7. A wise sentence or decision of great authority.
ORACLE. It was a universal belief in the ancient world that there is a capacity in the human mind to divine the will of God (μαντικόν τι ή ψυχή, Plato, Plu∕edr., 242 C). This capacity is not equally developed in all men, and, practically, a very few persons, in whom it is strong, are distinguished from the mass as ∕Λαvτ∈ts. These are able to understand the methods by which the gods reveal their intentions to men. There occur cases where the gods speak directly to men, where a divine voice is heard issuing its commands or warnings, but these instances are confined, except in a few remarkable historical cases (such as the appearance of Pan to the Athenian messenger, i . 30 b.c., Herod., vi. 105), to the heroic age and to epic oetry. Setting these aside, we find that the divine will was revealed to the interpreting medium in two ways—by inspiration and by signs. In the former case the divine influence overpowers the soul of the medium and takes entire possession of it for the time. The medium cannot himself bring on a revelation, but is at rare intervals affected by the power of the god, his consciousness ceases, and the god speaks through him words which he is himself unable to control or even to understand. So, for example, the prophetes of Apollo Ptoios gave a response in the Carian language, which no one except the questioner could understand (Herod., viii. 135). The second method of revelation, by signs, required a distinct art of interpretation; certain events, phenomena in the heavens or in bird or animal life, the conduct of sacrificial animals and the appearance presented by their entrails, <fcc., presaged the will of the god to him who possessed the art of interpreting them. The second method was called artificial (∈vτ∈χpoς), in ...opposition to the first, which is direct and artless (ατ∈χvos).
In every case the revelation of the divine will is dependent on the direct act of the god; he affects the soul of the pavτL<i when and where he pleases; he sends, when he chooses, the signs from which his intentions can be inferred. There was, however, a belief that at certain places the god gave revelations more frequently than at others. Such places were generally characterized by some marked physical feature. At these places there were established regular institutions, with a staff of priests and prophets, to which the neighbours resorted for counsel; the Latin term “oracle” (in Greek μαντεία, χρ^σττ/ρια) is the general name. With regard to these institutions we have to consider (1) their method of interpretation, in so far as this is not most naturally given under the articles treating of the particular localities, and (2) their rank and influence among the Greeks.
1. The methods of interpretation varied greatly. Even at the same oracle several methods were often practised side by side. In the most primitive the spirits of the dead appeared and conversed directly with the inquirer. This method was rare in Greece; but an undoubtedly good example is recorded (Herod., v. 92) in Thesprotia, where Periander sent to consult the shade of his wife Melissa; a Biblical instance is the apparition of the shade of Samuel to Saul. The visit of Odysseus to the lower world is obviously a mere poetical version of the consultation of a Boeotian oracle of Tiresias, where the hero spoke directly to his devotees. In the oracle of Trophonius at Lebadea in Boeotia the method of inquiry was certainly modelled after the idea of a descent to the infernal world. Beside the oracle were the two springs of Memory and Oblivion, which, according to the mystic teaching, were the two fountains of the lower world. The inquirer descended into an underground place, and, it is said, saw such sights that he never smiled again. This method belonged to a very primitive stage of Greek history; and it is certain that Greek religion in general, and many oracles in particular, had experienced a long development before the time which we know best. Probably this method was originally more widely practised than we can actually trace.
The common method of revelation in hero-oracles, and in the oracles of some gods, was through dreams. Herooracles were certainly in their earliest form simply oracles of the dead; the word iypωs is a generic term for a dead man. We can trace occasional survivals of the most primitive form of the hero-oracle. The person who seeks advice goes to sleep over the actual grave, and the dead man appears in a dream. A type of the usual method, which was called “incubation” or tγκoiμηστς, is the oracle of Amphiaraus near Oropus, beside the spring where the hero had risen from the earth to become a god. The inquirer, after abstaining from wine for three days and from all food for twenty-four hours, slept in the temple on the skin of a ram which he had sacrificed. The oracles of Gaea or Ge are closely connected with those of the dead and of heroes. The Earth is giver of responses, as being the home of the dead, who sleep in her womb, but who can be called forth to give counsel to their descendants living on earth. Earth-oracles also belong to a primitive stage of Hellenic religion, and had in historical times either given place to oracles of more developed Hellenic type or occupied a very secondary position. In Olympia it is probable that the oracle of Gaea was the oldest institution, and it is universally recognized in ancient and modern times that the Delphic oracle originally belonged to the same goddess. Probably the cleft in the earth in the Delphic adyton was originally conceived as the passage of communication between the dead under the earth and the living on its surface. A uniform tradition (Paus., x. 5, 3; Aesch., Cho., 1 sq.} recognizes one most important fact: in the progress of Greek history, as religious thought developed, there was a progressive development in the character of the Delphic oracle. Gaea was replaced by Themis, a more moralized conception of the Earth-goddess, as the incarnation of natural order and law; but Apollo, the highest creation of Hellenic religion, finally occupies Delphi as the prophet and counsellor of his people. The oracles of Apollo work through inspiration. In Delphi the seer was a woman, Pythia, who was thrown into a state of ecstaticfrenzy by the influence of a vapour ascending from a cleft in the earth within the adyton, and while in this state uttered words and cries which contained the answer of Apollo. All the methods of interpretation by signs were practised at different oracles in Greece; even in Apolline oracles, such as the Delphic, the artificial method was employed along with that by inspiration.
2. The original purpose of the oracles was not to foretell the future, but to give counsel as to conduct in doubtful and difficult situations. In cases where human prudence and skill seemed to fail, recourse was had to the oracle, and the god gave advice to his people. Now it was the universal practice that the priests should take the answers, usually incoherent and unintelligible, of the seers and reduce them to form, often metrical; practically the oracles were worked by the priests, and it is obvious that their character depended entirely on the character of the priests and of the nation as a whole. The influence of the oracles could be good only so long as the priests were not only honest and of lofty intentions, but also in a more advanced intellectual position than the people. In the early age of Greek history, when there was no education except what was to be gained by wide intercourse, the priests of such an oracle as Delphi occupied a most advantageous position. To Delphi as the γ∙i}s <γc<∕>αλos, the central point of the civilized world, came embassies from every Greek city, and even from great non-Greek states such as Lydia and Phrygia. It was a knot where every strand in civilized life was united. In accordance with this we find that almost all the great lawgivers and sages of the 8th and 7th centuries B.c. were in close relation with the Delphic oracle. All questions of colonization were referred to the oracle, and it is due a good deal to this central guiding influence that the overflow of the teeming population of Greece was directed so systematically. It is instructive to compare the position of the oracles in Greece with those of the kindred races of Asia Minor. In the latter country the god is supreme over his people, the government is a pure theocracy, and the priests, as interpreters of the divine will, are absolute masters of the servants of the god. In Greece it is wholly different. In both cases the oracles are the creation of the national genius,—in Asia Minor Oriental and stationary, in Greece living and progressive. In the earliest time we can trace the influence of the oracles discouraging the relentless blood-feud, distinguishing classes of murder, and allowing purification and expiation in suitable cases. They make the sanctity of oaths between man and man a special duty; Apollo regards even hesitation to keep a pledge as already a sin (Herod., vi. 86; cf. i. 159). They are the centre of unions or amphictyonies which bind their members to observe certain duties and show mercy to their fellow-members; and Delphi, as the oracle of an amphictyony including great part of Greece, had an important share in promoting that ideal unity of the whole country which, though never realized, yet floated always before the Greek mind. The oracles did something towards uniting the efforts of Greeks against foreigners, and towards spreading Greek influence abroad in a systematic way.
As education became more general the qualification of superior knowledge necessary to the proper working of the oracles was more difficult to keep up. At the same time the growth of political life in the states intensified their mutual enmities, and made it impossible for the oracles to maintain an attitude of perfect justice, neutrality, and superiority. Though the custom continued till a late period in Greek history that each state should consult the oracle in difficulties, yet complaints of partiality become frequent. Concurrently with the degradation in this respect there grew a demoralization in the whole tone of the oracles: they were consulted by all in the most trivial matters. It became an object to the priests to facilitate the access of votaries who contributed to the wealth of the temple. Whereas originally the Delphic oracle spoke only once a year, the number of days on which it was open to inquirers was gradually increased; and other oracles in like manner turned their attention to the wants of every applicant. In Dodona a large number of leaden tablets have been discovered containing the questions addressed to the god by inquirers; they range in date from the end of the 5th century b.c. onwards, and do not give any very high idea of the kind of difficulties in which the god was asked to advise his worshipper.
See Carapanos, Dodone, also an important article in Fleckeisen’s Jahrbücher for 1883. The most complete work on oracles is Bouchy Leclerc’s Histoire de la divination dans Γ antiquité. (W. Μ. RA.)
9th ed. Encyclopædia Britannica, vol. 17, p. 808 [1,914 words — estimated reading time: 11 minutes]
denotes something delivered by supernatural wisdom; and the term is also used in the Old Testament to signify the most holy place from whence the Lord revealed his will to ancient Israel, 1 Kings vi, 5, 19–21, 23. But when the word occurs in the plural number, as it mostly does, it denotes the revelations contained in the sacred writings of which the nation of Israel were the depositaries. So Moses is said by Stephen to have received the lively oracles” to give unto the Israelites. These oracles contained the law, both moral and ceremonial, with all the types and promises relating to the Messiah which are to be found in the writings of Moses. They also contained all the intimations of the divine mind which he was pleased to communicate by means of the succeeding prophets who prophesiedbeforehand of the coming and of the sufferings of the Messiah with the glory that should follow. The Jews were a highly privileged people in many and various respects, Rom. ix, 4, 5; but the Apostle Paul mentions it as their chief advantage that unto them were committed the oracles of God,” Romans iii, 2. What nation,” says Moses, is there that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law which I set before you this day?” Deut. iv, 8. The psalmist David enumerates their excellent properties under various epithets; such as the law of the Lord, his testimony, his statutes, his commandments, his judgments, &c. Their properties are extolled as perfect, sure, right, pure, clean, true, and righteous altogether; more to be desired than much fine gold; sweeter than honey and the honey comb. Their salutary effects are all mentioned; such as their converting the soul, making wise the simple, rejoicing the heart, enlightening the eyes; and the keeping of them is connected with ...a great reward, Psalm xix. The hundred and nineteenthPsalm abounds with praises of the lively oracles, the word of the living God; it abounds with the warmest expressions of love to it, of delight in it, and the most fervent petitions for divine illumination in the knowledge of it. Such was the esteem and veneration which the faithful entertained for the lively oracles under the former dispensation, when they had only Moses and the prophets; how, then, ought they to be prized by Christians, who have also Christ and his Apostles!
Among the Heathen the term _oracle_ is usually taken to signify an answer, generally couched in very dark and ambiguous terms, supposed to be given by demons of old, either by the mouths of their idols, or by those of their priests, to the people, who consulted them on things to come. _Oracle_ is also used for the demon who gave the answer, and the place where it was given. Seneca defines oracles to be enunciations by the mouths of men of the will of the gods; and Cicero simply calls them, _deorum oratio_, the language of the gods. Among the Pagans they were held in high estimation; and they were consulted on a variety of occasions pertaining to national enterprises and private life. When they made peace or war, enacted laws, reformed states, or changed the constitution, they had in all these cases recourse to the oracle by public authority. Also, in private life, if a man wished to marry, if he proposed to take a journey, or to engage in any business of importance, he repaired to the oracle for counsel. Mankind have had always a propensity to explorefuturity; and conceiving that future events were known to their gods, who possessed the gift of prophecy, they sought information and advice from the oracles, which, in their opinion, were supernatural and divine communications. The institution of oracles seemed to gratify the prevalent curiosity of mankind, and proved a source of immense wealth, as well as authority and influence, to those who had the command of them. Accordingly, every nation, in which idolatry has subsisted, had its oracles, by means of which imposture practised on superstition and credulity. The principal oracles of antiquity are, that of Abæ, mentioned by Herodotus; that of Amphiaraus, at Oropus in Macedonia; that of the Branchidæ at Didymeum; that of the camps at Lacedæmon; that of Dodona; that of Jupiter Ammon; that of Nabarca in the country of the Anariaci, near the Caspian Sea; that of Trophonius, mentioned by Herodotus; that of Chrysopolis; that of Claros, in Ionia; that of Amphilochus at Mallos; that of Petarea; that of Pella in Macedonia; that of Phaselides in Cilicia; that of Sinope in Paphlagonia; that of Orpheus’s head at Lesbos, mentioned by Philostratus. But of all oracles, the oracle of Apollo Pythius at Delphi was the most celebrated; this was consulted in the dernier resort by most of the princes of those ages.
Most of the Pagan deities had their appropriate oracles. Apollo had the greatest number: such as those of Claros, of the Branchidæ, of the suburbs of Daphne at Antioch, of Delos, of Argos, of Troas, Æolis, &c, of Baiæ in Italy, and others in Cilicia, in Egypt, in the Alps, in Thrace, at Corinth, in Arcadia, in Laconia, and in many other places enumerated by Van Dale. Jupiter, beside that of Dodona and some others, the honour of which he shared with Apollo, had one in Bœotia under the name of Jupiter the Thunderer, and another in Elis, one at Thebes and at Meroe, one near Antioch, and several others. Æsculapius was consulted in Cilicia, at Apollonia, in the isle of Cos, at Epidaurus, Pergamos, Rome, and elsewhere. Mercury had oracles at Patras, upon Hæmon, and in other places; Mars, in Thrace, Egypt, and elsewhere; Hercules, at Cadiz, Athens, in Egypt, at Tivoli, in Mesopotamia, where he issued his oracles by dreams, whence he was called Somnialis. Isis, Osiris, and Serapis delivered in like manner their oracles by dreams, as we learn from Pausanias, Tacitus, Arrian, and other writers; that of Amphilochus was also delivered by dreams; the ox Apis had also his oracle in Egypt. The gods, called Cabiri, had their oracle in Bœotia. Diana, the sister of Apollo, had several oracles in Egypt, Cilicia, Ephesus, &c. Those of fortune at Præneste, and of the lots at Antium are well known. The fountains also delivered oracles, for to each of them a divinity was ascribed: such was the fountain of Castalia at Delphi, another of the same name in the suburbs of Antioch, and the prophetic fountain near the temple of Ceres in Achaia. Juno had several oracles: one near Corinth, one at Nysa, and others at different places. Latona had one at Butis in Egypt; Leucothea had one in Colchis; Memnon in Egypt; Machaon at Gerania in Laconia; Minerva had one in Egypt, in Spain, upon mount Ætna, at Mycenæ and Colchis, and in other places. Those of Neptune were at Delphos, at Calauria, near Neocesarea, and elsewhere. The nymphs had theirs in the cave of Corycia. Pan had several, the most famous of which was that in Arcadia. That of the Palici was in Sicily. Pluto had one at Nysa. Saturn had oracles in several places, but the most famous were those of Cumæ in Italy, and of Alexandria in Egypt. Those of Venus were dispersed in several places, at Gaza, upon Mount Libanus, at Paphos, in Cyprus, &c. Serapis had one at Alexandria, consulted by Vespasian. Venus Aphacite had one at Aphaca between Heliopolis and Byblus. Geryon, the three-headed monster slain by Hercules, had an oracle in Italy near Padua, consulted by Tiberius; that of Hercules was at Tivoli, and was given by lots, like those of Præneste and Antium. The demi-gods and heroes had likewise their oracles, such were those of Castor and Pollux at Lacedæmon, of Amphiaraus, of Mopsus in Cilicia, of Ulysses, Amphilochus, Sarpedon in Troas, Hermione in Macedonia, Pasiphäe in Laconia, Chalcas in Italy, Aristæus in Bœotia, Autolycus at Sinope, Phryxus among the Colchi, Zamolxis among the Getæ, Hephæstion the minion of Alexander, and Antinous, &c.
The responses of oracles were delivered in a variety of ways: at Delphi, they interpreted and put into verse what the priestess pronounced in the time of her furor. Mr. Bayle observes that at first this oracle gave its answers in verse; and that it fell at length to prose, upon the people’s beginning to laugh at the poorness of its versification. The Epicureans made this the subject of their jests, and said, in raillery, it was surprising enough, that Apollo, the god of poetry, should be a much worse poet than Homer, whom he himself had inspired. By the railleries of these philosophers, and particularly by those of the Cynics and Peripatetics, the priests were at length obliged to desist from the practice of versifying the responses of the Pythia, which, according to Plutarch, was one of the principal causes of the declension of the oracle of Delphos. At the oracle of Ammon, the priests pronounced the response of their god; at Dodona, the response was issued from the hollow of an oak; at the cave of Trophonius, the oracle was inferred from what the suppliant said before he recovered his senses; at Memphis, they drew a good or bad omen, according as the ox Apis received or rejected what was presented to him, which was also the case with the fishes of the fountain of Limyra. The suppliants, who consulted the oracles, were not allowed to enter the sanctuaries where they were given; and, accordingly, care was taken that neither the Epicureans nor Christians should come near them. In several places, the oracles were given by letters sealed up, as in that of Mopsus, and at Mallus in Cilicia. Oracles were frequently given by lot, the mode of doing which was as follows: the lots were a kind of dice, on which were engraven certain characters or words, whose explanations they were to seek on tables made for the purpose. The way of using these dice for knowing futurity, was different, according to the places where they were used. In some temples, the person threw them himself; in others, they were dropped from a box; whence came the proverbial expression, The lot is fallen.” This playing with dice was always preceded by sacrifices and other customary ceremonies. The ambiguity of the oracles in their responses, and their double meaning, contributed to their support.
Ablancourt observes, that the study or research of the meaning of oracles was but a fruitless thing; and that they were never understood till after their accomplishment. Historians relate, that Crœsus was tricked by the ambiguity and equivocation of the oracle:
Κροισος Ἁλυν διαβας μεγαλην αρχην καταλυσει.
Thus rendered in Latin:
_Crœsus Halym superans magnam pervertet opum vim._”
[If Crœsus cross the Halys he will overthrow a great empire.]
Thus, if the Lydian monarch had conquered Cyrus, he overthrew the Assyrian empire; if he himself was routed, he overturned his own. That delivered to Pyrrhus, which is comprised in this Latin verse,
_Credo equidem Æacidas Romanos vincere posse_,”
[I believe indeed that the sons of Æacus the Romans will conquer,]
had the same advantage; for, according to the rules of syntax, either of the two accusatives may be governed by the verb, and the verse be explained, either by saying the Romans shall conquer the Æacidæ, of whom Pyrrhus was descended, or those shall conquer the Romans. When Alexander fell sick at Babylon, some of his courtiers who happened to be in Egypt, or who went thither on purpose, passed the night in the temple of Serapis, to inquire if it would not be proper to bring Alexander to be cured by him. The god answered, it was better that Alexander should remain where he was. This in all events was a very prudent and safe answer. If the king recovered his health, what glory must Serapis have gained by saving him the fatigue of the journey! If he died, it was but saying he died in a favourable juncture after so many conquests; which, had he lived, he could neither have enlarged nor preserved. This is actually the construction they put upon the response; whereas had Alexander undertaken the journey, and died in the temple, or by the way, nothing could have been said in favour of Serapis. When Trajan had formed the design of his expedition against the Parthians, he was advised to consult the oracle of Heliopolis, to which he had no more to do but send a note under a seal. That prince, who had no great faith in oracles, sent thither a blank note; and they returned him another of the same kind. By this Trajan was convinced of the divinity of the oracle. He sent back a second note to the god, in which he inquired whether he should return to Rome after finishing the war he had in view. The god, as Macrobius tells the story, ordered a vine, which was among the offerings of his temple, to be divided into pieces, and brought to Trajan. The event justified the oracle; for the emperor dying in that war, his bones were carried to Rome, which had been represented by that broken vine. As the priests of that oracle knew Trajan’s design, which was no secret, they happily devised that response, which, in all events, was capable of a favourable interpretation, whether he routed and cut the Parthians in pieces, or if his army met with the same fate. Sometimes the responses of the oracles were mere banter, as in the case of the man who wished to know by what means he might become rich, and who received for answer from the god, that he had only to make himself master of all that lay between Sicyon and Corinth. Another, wanting a cure for the gout, was answered by the oracle, that he was to drink nothing but cold water.
There are two points in dispute on the subject of oracles; namely, whether they were human, or diabolical machines; and whether or not they ceased upon the publication or preaching of the Gospel. Most of the fathers of the church supposed that the devil issued oracles; and looked on it as a pleasure he took to give dubious and equivocal answers, in order to have a handle to laugh at them. Vossius allows that it was the devil who spoke in oracles; but thinks that the obscurity of his answers was owing to his ignorance as to the precise circumstances of events. That artful and studied obscurity in which the answers were couched, says he, showed the embarrassment the devil was under; as those double meanings they usually bore provided for their accomplishment. Where the thing foretold did not happen accordingly, the oracle, forsooth, was misunderstood. Eusebius has preserved some fragments of a philosopher, called Œnomaus; who, out of resentment for his having been so often fooled by the oracles, wrote an ample confutation of all their impertinencies: When we come to consult thee,” says he to Apollo, “if thou seest what is in futurity, why dost thou use expressions that will not be understood? Dost thou not know, that they will not be understood? If thou dost, thou takest pleasure in abusing us; if thou dost not, be informed of us, and learn to speak more clearly. I tell thee, that if thou intendest an equivoque, the Greek word whereby thou affirmedst that Crœsus should overthrow a great empire was ill chosen; and that it could signify nothing but Crœsus’s conquering Cyrus. If things must necessarily come to pass, why dost thou amuse us with thy ambiguities? What doest thou, wretch as thou art, at Delphi? employed in muttering idle prophecies!” But Œnomaus is still more out of humour with the oracle, for the answer which Apollo gave the Athenians, when Xerxes was about to attack Greece with all the strength of Asia. The Pythian declared, that Minerva, the protectress of Athens, had endeavoured in vain to appease the wrath of Jupiter; yet that Jupiter, in complaisance to his daughter, was willing the Athenians should save themselves within wooden walls; and that Salamis should behold the loss of a great many children, dear to their mothers, either when Ceres was spread abroad, or gathered together. Here Œnomaus loses all patience with the god of Delphi. This contest,” says he, “between father and daughter is very becoming the deities! It is excellent, that there should be contrary inclinations and interests in heaven. Poor wizard, thou art ignorant whose the children are that Salamis shall see perish; whether Greeks or Persians. It is certain they must be either one or the other; but thou needest not to have told so openly, that thou knewest not which. Thou concealest the time of the battle under those fine poetical expressions, ‘either when Ceres is spread abroad, or gathered together;’ and wouldest thou cajole us with such pompous language? Who knows not, that if there be a sea fight, it must either be in seed time or harvest? It is certain it cannot be in winter. Let things go how they will, thou wilt secure thyself by this Jupiter, whom Minerva is endeavouring to appease. If the Greeks lose the battle, Jupiter proved inexorable to the last; if they gain it, why then Minerva at length prevailed.”
It is a very general opinion among the more learned, that oracles were all mere cheats and impostures; either calculated to serve the avaricious ends of the Heathen priests, or the political views of the princes. Bayle says positively, they were mere human artificers, in which the devil had no hand. He was strongly supported by Van Dale and Fontenelle, who have written expressly on the subject. Father Balthus, a Jesuit, wrote a treatise in defence of the fathers with regard to the origin of oracles; but without denying the imposture of the priests, often blended with the oracles. He maintains the intervention of the devil in some predictions, which could not be ascribed to the cheats of the priests alone. The Abbé Banier espouses the same side of the question, and objects that oracles would not have lasted so long, and supported themselves with so much splendour and reputation, if they had been merely owing to the forgeries of the priests. Bishop Sherlock, in his Discourses concerning the Use and Intent of Prophecy,” expresses his opinion, that it is impious to disbelieve the Heathen oracles, and to deny them to have been given out by the devil; to which assertion, Dr. Middleton, in his Examination,” &c, replies, that he is guilty of this impiety, and that he thinks himself warranted to pronounce from the authority of the best and wisest of the Heathens themselves, and the evidence of plain facts, which are recorded of those oracles, as well as from the nature of the thing itself, that they were all mere imposture, wholly invented and supported by human craft, without any supernatural aid or interpositionwhatsoever. He alleges, that Cicero, speaking of the Delphic oracle, the most revered of any in the Heathen world, declares, that nothing was become more contemptible, not only in his days, but long before him; that Demosthenes, who lived about three hundred years earlier, affirmed of the same oracle, in a public speech to the people of Athens, that it was gained to the interests of King Philip, an enemy to that city; that the Greek historians tell us, how, on several other occasions, it had been corrupted by money, to serve the views of particular persons and parties, and the prophetess sometimes had been deposed for bribery and lewdness; that there were some great sects of philosophers, who, on principle, disavowed the authority of all oracles; agreeably to all which Strabo tells us, that divination in general and oracles had been in high credit among the ancients, but in his days were treated with much contempt; lastly, that Eusebius also, the great historian of the primitive church, declares, that there were six hundred writers among the Heathens themselves who had publicly written against the reality of them. Plutarch has a treatise on the ceasing of some oracles; and Van Dale, a Dutch physician, has a volume to prove they did not cease at the coming of Christ; but that many of them ceased long before, and that others held till the fall of Paganism, under the empire of Theodosius the Great, when Paganism being dissipated, these institutions could no longer subsist. Van Dale was answered by a German, one Mœbius, professor of theology at Leipsic, in 1685. Fontenelleespoused Van Dale’s system, and improved upon it in his History of Oracles;” and showed the weakness of the argument used by many writers in behalf of Christianity, drawn from the ceasing of oracles. Cicero says, the oracles became dumb in proportion as people, growing less credulous, began to suspect them for cheats. Plutarch alleges two reasons for the ceasing of oracles:...
V. answer, respond, reply, rebut, retort, rejoin, give for answer, return for answer, acknowledge, echo, explain, solve, discover, fathom, hunt out, satisfy, set at rest, determine
And he took up his parable, and said, Balak the king of Moab hath brought me from Aram, out of the mountains of the east, saying, Come, curse me Jacob, and come, defy Israel.
And Balaam lifted up an oracle, saying: “Balak brought me from Aram, the king of Moab from the mountains of the east. ‘Come,’ he said, ‘put a curse on Jacob for me; come and denounce Israel!’
And when he looked on Amalek, he took up his parable, and said, Amalek was the first of the nations; but his latter end shall be that he perish for ever.
Then Balaam saw Amalek and lifted up an oracle, saying: “Amalek was first among the nations, but his end is destruction.”
And the counsel of Ahithophel, which he counselled in those days, was as if a man had enquired at the oracle of God: so was all the counsel of Ahithophel both with David and with Absalom.
Now in those days the advice of Ahithophel was like the consultation of the word of God. Such was the regard that both David and Absalom had for Ahithophel’s advice.
Now these be the last words of David. David the son of Jesse said, and the man who was raised up on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel, said,
These are the last words of David: “The oracle of David son of Jesse, the oracle of the man raised on high, the one anointed by the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel:
And against the wall of the house he built chambers round about, against the walls of the house round about, both of the temple and of the oracle: and he made chambers round about:
Against the walls of the temple and the inner sanctuary, Solomon built a chambered structure around the temple, in which he constructed the side rooms.
And he built twenty cubits on the sides of the house, both the floor and the walls with boards of cedar: he even built them for it within, even for the oracle, even for the most holy place.
He partitioned off the twenty cubits at the rear of the temple with cedar boards from floor to ceiling to form within the temple an inner sanctuary, the Most Holy Place.
And the oracle in the forepart was twenty cubits in length, and twenty cubits in breadth, and twenty cubits in the height thereof: and he overlaid it with pure gold; and so covered the altar which was of cedar.
The inner sanctuary was twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and twenty cubits high. He overlaid the inside with pure gold, and he also overlaid the altar of cedar.
So Solomon overlaid the house within with pure gold: and he made a partition by the chains of gold before the oracle; and he overlaid it with gold.
So Solomon overlaid the inside of the temple with pure gold, and he extended gold chains across the front of the inner sanctuary, which was overlaid with gold.
And the whole house he overlaid with gold, until he had finished all the house: also the whole altar that was by the oracle he overlaid with gold.
So he overlaid with gold the whole interior of the temple, until everything was completely finished. He also overlaid with gold the entire altar that belonged to the inner sanctuary.
And the candlesticks of pure gold, five on the right side, and five on the left, before the oracle, with the flowers, and the lamps, and the tongs of gold,
the lampstands of pure gold in front of the inner sanctuary, five on the right side and five on the left; the gold flowers, lamps, and tongs;
And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the LORD unto his place, into the oracle of the house, to the most holy place, even under the wings of the cherubims.
Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the LORD to its place in the inner sanctuary of the temple, the Most Holy Place, beneath the wings of the cherubim.
And they drew out the staves, that the ends of the staves were seen out in the holy place before the oracle, and they were not seen without: and there they are unto this day.
The poles extended far enough that their ends were visible from the Holy Place in front of the inner sanctuary, but not from outside the Holy Place; and they are there to this day.
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