Guide
Ancient Rabbinic Narratives of Forceful Intercessory Prayers
2nd–6th Centuries
Restricted
By Carol Bakhos
Scholars have identified a particular “forceful” style of rabbinic prayer, modeled on law-court patterns, in which God is taken to task and “bested” on the deity’s own moral grounds. The style appears mostly in narratives about intercessory prayers for rain and in the imagined prayers of biblical characters (see Rabbinic Depictions of Individual Prayers).
Related Primary Sources
Primary Source
Ḥoni’s Prayers for Rain and Cessation of Rain
b. Ta‘anit 23a
Once, most of [the month of] Adar had passed but rain had [still] not fallen. They sent [this message] to Ḥoni the Circle Drawer: Pray, and rain will fall. He prayed, but no rain fell. He drew a…
Primary Source
Levi’s Prayer on Occasion of Drought
b. Ta‘anit 25a
Levi ordained a fast, but no rain fell, so he exclaimed:
Master of the Universe!
You have ascended and taken Your seat on high, and You will not show mercy…
Primary Source
Nakdimon ben Gurion’s Prayers for Rain
b. Ta‘anit 20a
Once when all Israel went up for a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, it happened that there was no water for them to drink. So Nakdimon ben Gurion went to a certain gentile lord and said to him: Lend me twelve…
Primary Source
Rabbah’s Prayer for Rain
b. Ta‘anit 24b
[King Shapur’s mother] sent a message to Rabbah: Concentrate your mind and pray for divine mercy, for there is no rainfall. He prayed:
Master of the Universe!…
Primary Source
Ḥanina ben Dosa’s Prayers for Rain and Cessation of Rain
b. Ta‘anit 24a
R. Ḥanina ben Dosa was travelling when it began to rain. He prayed:
Master of the Universe!
The whole world is at ease while Ḥanina is in distress?!…
Primary Source
Rabbi Tanḥuma’s Prayer for Rain
Genesis Rabbah 33:3
R. Tanḥuma proclaimed a fast [ . . . ] but rain did not fall. He said to the people, “My children! Be filled with compassion for one another, and the Holy One, praised be He, will be filled with…
Primary Source
Levi ben Sisi’s Prayer on Occasion of Ravaging Troops
y. Ta‘aniyot 3:8, 66d
When ravaging troops entered the town of Levi ben Sisi, he took a Torah scroll and went up to the rooftop, exclaiming:
Master of the Universe!
If I have…
Primary Source
Rabban Gamaliel’s Prayer at Sea
b. Bava Metsi‘a 59b
Rabban Gamaliel was aboard a ship. A huge wave came up to drown him. He thought: “It seems to me that this is only happening on account of Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus” [who had been put under a ban].…
Primary Source
The Prayer of the Priests after Blessing the People
b. Sotah 39a
Master of the Universe!We have done that which You have ordained us to do.Do for us that which You have promised us to do—Look down from Your holy habitation, from heaven, and bless Your people Israel…