Old Testament Prophets and Shamans: Comparison of the Phenomena (Anthropological Approach)

The article provides a comparative analysis of the phenomena of Old Testament prophets and shamans against five key aspects: their social status, calling, intermediation, fortune-telling and magic, rituals and cosmogony, and gender. Numerous previous attempts to compare Old Testament prophets, shamans and sorcerers were based on the superficial likeness between these phenomena and often were mere descriptions. The key challenge for such a comparison is the choice of sources: Biblical texts were written in prescientific times, and information about shamans was recorded by ethnographers and anthropologists. This study is an attempt to systematize approaches to comparing Biblical prophets with shamans and to conduct an independent comparison of these phenomena. To achieve this goal, it was necessary to solve the following tasks: 1) to consider the problems inherent in the sources; 2) to clarify the basic concepts characterizing these phenomena, and to substantiate the adopted definitions; 3) to highlight the grounds for comparing the Old Testament prophets and Siberian shamans; 4) to conduct a comparison according to the selected criteria; 5) to establish the similarities and differences. The results of the study are that despite the external similarity of the socio-religious role of prophets and shamans, because of their role in mediation between the human and spirit worlds, they have nothing else in common. Firstly, shamans are integrated into the social architecture of their society (tribal affiliation), and prophets can be both part of the social system or be in opposition; the social status of shamans is higher than that of prophets, since they possessed not only spiritual but also real power. Secondly, the calling of prophets and shamans is different (the former, according to the Bible, are called by God for a specific mission, the latter, according to their experience, are tormented by spirits, forcing them to serve them). Thirdly, unlike prophets, shamans are involved in the sphere of magic and divination, and their actions themselves are inscribed in a certain ritual. Fourthly, the cosmological models of prophets and shamans have nothing in common. Finally, gender diversity among shamans is not only wider than among prophets, but also mobile. In conclusion the authors attempt to find a family resemblance between these phenomena are a crude generalization leading to a number of theoretical misunderstandings.

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