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Prophetess Chalduh, A Great Israelite Matriarch

Posted by Moshe Ben YAH on July 14, 2014 at 11:50 AM


The Extraordinary Prophetess Chuldah


There were three leading prophets in Chuldah’s generation - Yirmiyah, Tzefaniah, and she, Prophetess Chuldah, was the third one. Yirmiyah prophesied in the marketplaces, Tzefaniah in the buildings where people congregated, and Prophetess Chuldah prophesied to the women according to the sages but the narratives in the Tanach seem to show something different.


Prophetess Chuldah was involved in one of the most important stories in the Tanach twice in second Kings 22 and again in second Chronicles 34. I will share short form here. Melachim II 22 records an event involving King Yoshiyahu. Yoshiyahu came after two wicked kings, who had attempted to destroy Torah - Menasheh (who repented at the end of his life) and Amon. Yoshiyahu took the throne at age 8, and he was a righteous king. At age 26, Yoshiyahu decided it was time to turn the treasury toward fixing up the Beis haMikdash. In the course of the work, a scroll was discovered.


Chilkiah the Kohen Gadol, Shafan the scribe, and others, brought the scroll to Yoshiyahu. It is not clear what was in the scroll. It may have been a normal Torah opened to The Eternal's threats of punishment to the Israelite people. It also may have been a book of Debarim. Alternatively, it may have been a Torah which Moshe recorded, himself.


Whatever it was, it warned of punishment, which frightened Yoshiyahu. Yoshiyahu ordered them to petition The Eternal for guidance, and so they went to Prophetess Chuldah. Prophetess Chuldah informed them that The Eternal was going to bring punishment upon the Israelite people, but that their personal goodness would spare them this experience. The suffering would come after their deaths.


The sages offered an interesting question - Why did they go to Prophetess Chuldah, when Yirmiyahu was around? They respond that it may have been because he was not in Yerushalayim that day, or because they were hoping she would be merciful. Yirmiyahu was known for his harsh rebukes; they thought that Prophetess Chuldah, a woman, might be more merciful. However, the truth may be that The Spirit of The Eternal gave them the guidance to seek her out for it was her whom He revealed the revelation. For extraordinary times and events, Abba has things done in His own way, which often defies what cultural traditions dictates to mankind.


Now more on the Prophetess Chuldah. Prophetess Chuldah's husband was also an interesting person. He was the guardian of the king's (perhaps the Kohen Gadol's) special garments. Jewish Midrashic sources link him to a story involving Elisha. Elisha had been promised that his miracles would double those of Eliyahu. Eliyahu revived one person. Elisha's famous resuscitation was the son of the Shunamis. Where was the second? The sages suggest that it may have been in 2Melachim13, when a body was put in Elisha's freshly-dug grave, and it came to life and popped out of the grave. Some suggest that this man went on to become a great man, sitting at the gate of Yerushalayim and providing water for travellers, and that he married Chuldah the Prophetess.


Prophetess Chuldah had another unique point. The standard rule is that nobody is buried in Yerushalayim (bodies aren't even left in Yerushalayim overnight; they are taken out and buried outside, even at night). I find it very amazing that the only exceptions are the tomb of King David, and the tomb of our Matriarch, Prophetess Chuldah. Various sources explain that a specially constructed tunnel allowed for the flow of impurity to leave the city out to Nachal Kidron, so that people walking in Yerushalayim would not become impure.


There was a gate to the Temple named for Prophetess Chuldah, and the Jewish Midrash says this gate was never destroyed. One Jewish sage, named Rashi comments that this was the gate where she sat and taught; it is referred to as "Mishneh" in the verse (2Melachim 22:14).


"15 She told them, “Adonai the God of Isra’el says to tell the man who sent you to me 16 that Adonai says this: ‘I am going to bring calamity on this place and on its inhabitants, every word in the scroll the king of Y’hudah has read; 17 because they have abandoned me and offered to other gods, in order to provoke me with everything they do. Therefore my anger will burn against this place and will not be quenched.’ 18 But you are to tell the king of Y’hudah, who sent you to consult Adonai, that Adonai the God of Isra’el also says this: ‘In regard to the words you have heard, 19 because your heart was tender, and you humbled yourself before Adonai when you heard what I said against this place and its inhabitants — that they would become an object of astonishment and cursing — and have torn your clothes and cried before me, I have also heard you, says Adonai. 20 Therefore I will gather you to your ancestors, you will go to your grave in peace, and your eyes will not see all the calamity I am going to bring on this place.’” So they brought word back to the king."




Alternatively, "Mishneh" may refer to the walls which were there. There is a comment added to Rashi's commentary on that verse in Melachim, suggesting that Prophetess Chuldah taught Mishnah to the sages by that gate. If this is true, then there is evidence here that Prophetess Chuldah surely did more than prophesize to women. According to the sages, she actually taught the learned men of Israel and prophesized to them as well at the gate but not inside of the Temple. I believe Prophetess Chaldah is one of the most interesting Matriarchs of our Hebraic Roots.

 


 

 


 


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