What is the equivalency between the cities of refuge in Eretz Yisrael and the Jewish prophets?
For exactly one millennium, a dynamic, crucial phenomenon existed in Klal Yisrael: nevuah, prophecy. Many students of Tanach remember the story of Shaul, soon to be crowned king of Yisrael, approaching Shmuel Hanavi for help in locating his father’s lost donkeys. The prophets, however, offered much more than mundane information. Rav Samson Raphael Hirsch emphasizes that the primary role of the navi was not to reveal to us what we wanted to know; he was Hashem’s messenger to inform us of what Hashem wanted us to know.
An enigmatic conversation in Tanna Dvei Eliyahu sheds light on the significant role that the neviim played in daily Jewish life. Although the last navi, Malachi, passed away over 2,000 years ago, the Midrash narrates a number of subsequent exceptional encounters with Eliyahu Hanavi. One such account records the words of an unidentified questioner who sought information from Eliyahu about Klal Yisrael’s prophets.
Rebbi, how many prophets delivered prophecies to Klal Yisrael?
There were 48 prophets in total.
Rebbi, why 48? Why not 45 or 50?
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