Theophany - Hebrew Bible

Hebrew Bible

The original Biblical terms used for the former were mar'eh ("sight") and maḥazeh, ḥazon or ḥizzayon ("vision"). The Bible states that God revealed himself to man. Only occasionally is the state of mind of the persons seeing God described. God speaks with Adam and Eve in Eden (Gen. iii. 9-19); with Cain (iv. 9-15); with Noah (vi. 13, vii. 1, viii. 15) and his sons (ix. 1, 8); with Abraham.

The first revelation that Moses had of God at the burning bush was "a great sight"; "he was afraid to look" at Him (Ex. iii. 3, 6); so the first revelation Samuel had in a dream is called "the vision"; afterward God was frequently "seen" at Shiloh (I Sam. iii. 15, 21, Hebr.). Isaiah's first revelation was also a sight of God (Isa. vi. 1-5); Amos had his visions (Amos vii. 1, 4; viii. 1; ix. 1); and so with Jeremiah (Jer. i. 11, 13), Ezekiel (Ezek. i. 1 et seq., viii. 1-3), and Zechariah (Zech. i., vi.), and, in fact, with all "seers," as they called themselves.

Balaam also boasted of being one who saw "the vision of the Almighty" (Num. xxiv. 4). Most vividly does Eliphaz describe such a revelation: "In thoughts from the vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth on men, fear came upon me, and trembling . . . a spirit passed before my face; the hair of my flesh stood up. He stood still, but I could not discern his appearance; a figure was before mine eyes, a whispering voice I heard" (Job iv. 13-16, Hebr.). The Torah lays stress on the fact that, while to other prophets God made Himself known in a vision, speaking to them in a dream, He spoke with Moses "mouth to mouth," "as a man would speak with his neighbor," in clear sight and not in riddles (Num. xii. 6-8; comp. Ex. xxxiii. 11; Deut. xxxiv. 10).